Turning back was not an option.

He lost that opportunity when he got into his Jeep and drove off into the desert all by himself an hour previous.

Dust, sand, and small rocks scattered as the tires of his vehicle sped along a poorly marked road.

A road that hadn't existed four months ago.

In the distance, a solitary, bright light cut through the darkness.

His phone started buzzing.

"Answer the call," he said to the phone in a lightly German accent. The phone obeyed the command, and the vehicle's speakers relayed the sound on the other end.

"Give me an update," came a deep voice.

The driver's heart began to race, and he took a deep breath before speaking. "I am on my way to the site, boss. I don't know how long I can hold off the extraction if I can hold it off at all."

"Do everything you can. I will be there in two hours," his boss replied. Then he hung up.

Muttering to no one in particular, the driver stepped on the gas.

Concentrating, he thought of the biggest rainstorm he'd ever witnessed. In the distance, thousands of bolts of lightning snaked across the black horizon.

Fifteen minutes passed before the driver arrived at the source of the bright light. Several tents littered the area. Though it was 4 o'clock in the morning, the camp was buzzing with activity.

There are too many witnesses, he thought as he drove through the camp. It was going to be difficult enough to convince a madman to stop what he was doing without people around.

Rain, the man thought.

Droplets began hitting his windshield.

The dozen men who were outside celebrating put their hands above their heads and ran for cover.

In an instant, the camp was quiet.

The man breathed a sigh of relief as he sped along the muddy ground.

He stopped driving and turned off his vehicle.

Getting out, he stepped to the edge of a man-made pit. Looking into the distance, he saw the outlines of three men.

Two were bent down over a large crate, while the third was barking orders. His gruff voice carried up the walls of the pit to the driver.

The third man was annoyed. He was always annoyed.

The driver took a deep breath. Then he began his descent.

"Flynn!" the driver shouted, as he reached the bottom.

The man barking orders turned around. There was fire in his eyes.

Lightning struck again, and this time the driver heard thunder.

"A storm is coming. It's too dangerous," the driver said.

"You know why we need to get this out of here," Flynn rasped. "Better than anyone else, you know why."

Though the fire was still present in his eyes, Flynn's features softened a little. "We have a traitor in our camp. Someone told Garek about our little discovery."

The driver winced as he heard the name of his employer. Then he nodded to Flynn. "Who was it?"

"That remains to be seen," Flynn replied. "But it also doesn't matter. Garek will be here in two hours. As long as we're long gone before then ...," the man's voice trailed off.

Lightning struck again. It was now striking every few seconds, only miles away, and closing in fast.

In the distance, the driver could hear the distinct sound of helicopter rotors.

"We need to talk," the driver said to Flynn as he closed the final 20 feet separating them, "privately." He gestured to the other two figures working on the box.

Flynn nodded and dismissed the two men.

After the men were out of earshot, the driver spoke again. He had to raise his voice slightly as the helicopter sound was escalating. "How do you know there's a traitor?"

"He left for Siwa earlier today," Flynn answered. "I had him followed."

The driver silently cursed himself for being so careless.

"I didn't know what you were up to Heinrich, but with your past, I had to make sure." Flynn's voice changed. Now it was laced with contempt.

"I'm sorry, Flynn," Heinrich said, shaking his head. "It was never meant to come to this. You weren't supposed to find anything."

He began circling the crate. The sound of the helicopter continued to increase in volume.

Heinrich stopped and stared at Flynn. "I need you to call off the helo, or I'm going to have to stop you myself."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Flynn replied.

Nodding, expecting that answer, Heinrich answered: "Then you leave me no choice." He thrust his hand at his old friend.

A sudden gust of wind rushed past him in the direction of Flynn.

The wind slammed into Flynn with hurricane force and knocked him back several yards, forcing the man to his knees.

As quickly as it had come, the wind was gone.

"You've changed, Flynn. The man I used to know wouldn't act like this."

"You, of all people, should understand," Flynn spat.

Heinrich looked down at his feet. He did know.

"That night in the Andes everything changed," Flynn continued.

"You're acting irrational, Flynn. You need to call off the helo," Heinrich repeated.

In the distance, he saw the helicopter's lights. It was rapidly closing in on the site.

Flynn wiped grime out of his eyes. Without warning he rushed at the driver with unnatural speed, closing the distance between the two of them in a millisecond.

The driver was ready, and he sidestepped, allowing Flynn to rush past. He sent another blast of air into the man's back, knocking him to his knees once again.

A moment later the driver reached his hand into the sky. As he did so, a bolt of lightning came down and struck the ground, just feet from Flynn.

"I am only going to tell you one more time, Flynn. Call the helo off."

Flynn stood up and turned around. "No!" he shouted, as the helicopter crested the nearest dune.

Nodding, knowing that this was going to happen, the driver reached up to the sky one more time.

Instead of lightning, the clouds opened up and millions of gallons of rain poured from the heavens. The earth was instantly drenched, and the helicopter was lost from view.

He turned to face Flynn, who was now completely drenched.

The driver was completely dry.

"You are only delaying the inevitable!" Flynn raged. "There's no way you'll be able to hold onto this storm for two hours!"

Flynn was right, of course. He was always right.

Already, Heinrich could feel his control over the weather was fading.

Flynn rushed at the man once more.

The driver side-stepped again, this time a fraction of a second slower. He felt a sharp pain as Flynn's fist connected with his gut.

Air rushed from the man's lungs, and the contents of his stomach threatened to surface.

Holding onto the rain to keep the helicopter at bay, the driver couldn't call on the wind any longer to help. He took in a sharp breath and stood straight.

The rain lessened slightly, though it was still too thick for the helicopter to land.

Flynn landed another blow to the man's side, this time hitting him in the kidneys.

The driver hit the ground, pain lancing through his body. He noticed the rain begin seeping into his clothes. He tried to get up but slipped on the ever-thickening muck on the ground.

A moment later he turned to face Flynn. As he did so he heard a sharp click. What he saw made his heart sink. He was staring down the barrel of a gun.

"You've gone too far," Flynn said.

With the last of his energy, Heinrich let go of the storm and focused on a singular bolt of lightning.

"If I go, we both go, Flynn," the driver responded. Then, looking towards the helicopter, Heinrich raised his hand.

A bolt of lightning shot out of the sky and connected with the helicopter. The resulting explosion caused Heinrich's heart to sink.

Those men had been innocent, but he had no choice.

Heinrich looked at Flynn.

"What have you done!" Flynn screamed at Heinrich.

Reflexively, the driver put his hands up to protect himself, knowing it would not save him.

He only hoped he'd done enough.

If you want to read the entire book - you can purchase it from Amazon. Stay tuned for the next chapter.