Thursday:

In the morning, the camp woke up to find young Jason and Crawford stone cold dead. At least four other miners were seriously ill, including Dennis who looked ready to flatline at any minute. That left the digging and burial crew seriously short-handed. But Boarensky had a solution for that.

"Sondra." He said. "Why don't you give the men a hand?"

"Why don't you do it yourself, big guy!" she immediately retorted. "Or is all that brawn just for show?"

Boarensky took off his sunglasses, his face furious.

"You little..."

Before he could take two steps forward, Andrew stepped into his way. Three other miners also stepped in, forming a human barrier between Boarensky and their favourite cook. The Russian stopped and reassessed the situation, before seemingly deciding it wasn't worth it.

"Fine. You guys get it done and then get back to work." Boarensky strode away, then stopped and turned back to them. His eyes bored into Sondra's and a smile of pure pleasure stretched across his face. "And Sondra? This isn't over."

Andrew and Robert helped wrap up Jason's body. His young face, tormented in his final moments, now looked eerily peaceful. Andrew could have wept at the wastage of a life. And he held Boarensky responsible.

As they left the gravesite after the burial, Kairo fell into step beside him. A wave of hatred and jealousy surged through Andrew, but he took a deep breath and suppressed it.

"Everything is ready boss," Kairo said coolly, as though he never tried to run off with another man's wife just yesterday. Andrew nodded and motioned to the other men.

"You guys go on to the pits. I'm going to help my wife cook lunch. You guys are getting lunch delivered to you today, pit service."

This prompted half-hearted laughter and someone whooped. Having had little to no breakfast, no one was keen to trudge back to camp for lunch on an empty stomach. Then Andrew and Kairo split from the rest of the men and headed into camp, neither saying a word to each other.

It was true that his wife had not decided to run off with the Indian. But Andrew had spent a restless night tormented with wondering if his wife had feelings for Kairo. Those thoughts refused to go away, no matter how much Andrew tried to focus on the mission.

They waited on the edge of the forest, discussing their plan while slapping away mosquitoes buzzing in their ears until Sondra emerged from the tent and went to the storeroom. She returned with one of the ATV's and loaded food boxes and bottles of swank onto it. Then, with a last look around the camp and towards the forest, she revved the engine and rode off towards the mining pits.

It was time.

Kairo stepped out first and quietly went around Boarensky's tent. When he was in place he gave Andrew a thumbs-up sign. Andrew moved in and casually stood near the tent flap.

"Boss? Sorry to disturb, but I wanted a quick word." Andrew called. Kairo peeped around the tent corner, quickly pulling back when the tent flap opened and Boarensky emerged.

"What?"

"Well. I've been thinking about yesterday."

Boarensky looked smug.

"And you've come to confess?" The Russian asked, holding up a thick Cuban cigar under his nose and sniffing.

"Hell no," Andrew replied and on cue, Kairo ran forward and leapt at Boarensky, snatching his chain with the keys clean off his neck. Then Kairo turned and ran for dear life, while Boarensky's mouth fell open in disbelief and the cigar fell to the ground.

Andrew did not know a word of Russian, but Boarensky let out a string of what could only be Russian curses as he fumbled with his gun. He finally got it loose and raised it towards the fleeing Indian.

And at that moment, Andrew saw an easy opportunity to get even with the philandering Indian. Boarensky had a clear shot. He would hit Kairo square in the back and either kill or maim.

But the moment passed. Out of pure instinct, Andrew grabbed the bucket from the ground and swung it at Boarensky. It hit him in the shoulder just as the gun fired. The fact that Kairo did not miss a step as he plunged into the bushes told Andrew that the shot had missed its mark.

Boarensky turned to him, his red face twisted with rage. Andrew turned to run but the gun exploded and left his eardrums ringing. He gasped as he felt the impact of the shot, like if someone had struck him with a bat and crushed his ribs. Andrew's legs gave out under him and he fell heavily in the mud, his chest burning as though it was on fire. Through blurred eyes, he saw Boarensky take off behind the long-gone Kairo and then darkness descended on him