10 / Rescue
Nehemiah strained to hear above the crack of gunfire. Above him, on the spiral staircase, Melanie sprinted for the lantern room. Cody had already disappeared around the tight corner to the entrance. At least he was safe from the gunmen below. He was trying to get the door open as he shouted about an earthquake. The way the air shook made it feel like an earthquake, but Nehemiah was sure it wasn’t.
Finally, he identified the sound. It was a helicopter. He wondered what a chopper was doing up in that area with the weather like it was. Certainly not a sight-seeing tour.
The masked gunmen were shouting to each other now; they had heard the helicopter too. Nehemiah watched them for a moment. From their actions, he could tell they hadn’t been expecting it. But who is it?…Only one way to find out, thought Nehemiah. He cast one final glance over his shoulder and sprinted to the top of the staircase. The shouting from the gunmen increased — several shots were fired — and Nehemiah felt a searing pain rip across his left shoulder. He could feel the fresh blood seeping into his shirt. Hope that’s not too deep, he thought as he switched the dusty box to his right hand and tucked his gun under his arm.
Gritting his teeth, he half-ran, half-jumped up to the landing where he found the lantern room door open. Melanie apparently had shot the lock out. She and Cody reached out and yanked him inside just as another storm of bullets riddled the door frame.
It was colder inside the lantern room. The floor was stone. There was a small table off to one side, but the room was dominated by a huge piece of machinery that looked like an over-sized gas lamp surrounded by several panes of glass — the lantern itself.
Nehemiah listened to the sounds of the men climbing the staircase. They were coming fast. “We have about thirty seconds to get out of here,” he said. “Or we’re gonna have to die trying.”
Just then, the wild sound of the chopper blades ruptured the frigid air.
“I wonder who that is,” said Nehemiah. He tried to see out the windows, but they were too crusted over with years of dirt and grime for him to be able to see anything clearly.
“I called for backup,” said Melanie coolly. “Felt we would need it.”
“Good,” said Nehemiah. “Cause we do.” The footsteps of the gunmen were close to the door. Nehemiah opened the largest window in the room. The draft from the blades of the light gray Seahawk helicopter whipped his face as it passed a few feet overhead. “Okay, you first,” he said to Cody raising his voice to be heard over the noise. “Climb out there and hold on to the railing. Don’t move till they drop down a fast rope, then grab it and hold on tight.”
Nehemiah stepped back as Cody climbed out the window and grabbed the railing. He looked down. “Dad, there’s more gunmen on the ground,” he shouted.
Nehemiah stuck his head out and cautiously inched along the railing around the lantern. There were at least six other men outside the door of the lighthouse — all masked and dressed in black like the first six. They were pointing at the helicopter and running around the side of the lighthouse seeking a better position from which to shoot.
The chopper was now circling back to the lighthouse. A camouflage-wearing door gunner crouched in the opening and started hauling out a fast rope.
Inside the lantern room, Melanie shoved the table up against the door. It will delay them at least a little, she thought. She hurried to the window and climbed out after Nehemiah.
The helicopter ascended until it was directly above the lighthouse, then the fast rope came down swinging several times in a wide circular arc.
“You see them?” Melanie shouted pointing to the men below, as Cody grabbed for the rope.
