Thief (10 page)

Chapter 19.

I awoke next morning, with Martina 's arms still wrapped around me. She was still sleeping, so I gently extricated myself and got dressed. I wandered into the kitchen and found Paul and Bella already there. Bella was looking at Paul with adoring eyes and hanging onto his arm as if she never meant to let go.
Another
conquest for him
, I thought, with my pride in his accomplishment and my jealousy warring with each other. How does he
do
it? Just for once, I'd like to have someone look at
me
like that. I jumped a little with fright as Martina 's arms unexpectedly snaked around my waist and squeezed. I felt her head resting on my back as she said “Good morning, Kim, you beautiful,
wonderful
person.” What was I thinking? I already
had
someone who adored me. And she was right behind me. I turned around in her grasp and kissed her thankfully.

“Good morning, honey,” I said. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Like a baby,” she replied. “Having sex is
exhausting
, isn’t it?”

“
Martina
!” I gasped in mortification, glancing quickly across at Paul and Bella in apology.

Bella chuckled. “It
sure
is,” she agreed, giving Paul a sly, mischievous grin.

Paul’s smile mirrored Bella’s as he winked at me. “Let’s have some breakfast,” he urged, “then we can plan our next move. Nobody comes up with brilliant strategies on an empty stomach.”

We filled up on cereal, sausages and eggs. Martina, irrepressible as always, supplied most of the conversation, but no one minded. After the night’s activities, we were all in a happy mood, secure in each other’s affections. After we had eaten our fill, we adjourned to the living room to discuss our next move. Bella sat next to Paul, her hand securely fastened to his arm once again. It would have been amusing, except that Martina was next to me,
her
hand just as securely attached to
my
arm. Look at us, I thought to myself wryly, we’re like two old married couples. But it was a comforting image. I wouldn’t have to be lonely anymore, or go to bed wishing that I had someone to hold during the night. Giving a contented sigh, I put my hand over Martina’s. She awarded me with an affectionate smile, then bent over and brushed her lips against mine.

“
Love
you,” she whispered, warmly.

“Please, you two,” Paul objected with a grimace, “at least try to uphold
some
semblance of dignity.”

His attempt to control the agenda fell apart as Bella began to nuzzle his neck.

“Bella,
behave
yourself!” he protested half-heartedly, much to everyone’s amusement, especially Bella’s.

“Sorry,” Bella unconvincingly apologised. “I just can’t seem to keep my hands off you. And that’s all
your
fault, you know. You shouldn’t have been so amazing last night.”

“Oh,” I said to Paul with some curiosity, “you were
amazing
?” Then I asked Bella, “Just
how
amazing?”

“
Amazingly
amazing,” she dreamily replied.

“That’s really not very helpful,” I told her. “I’d like a few more details.”

“Which you
aren’t
going to get,” Paul interjected, hastily.

“I’ll talk to you
later
, Bella,” I announced.

“No, you
won’t
,” Paul commanded. “
Concentrate
, people! Can we now get down to business?”

- You know, I never
did
get to ask Bella about your ‘amazing’ performance.

- That’s just as well. Don’t you have
any
sense of shame at all?

- Not really.
Curiosity
will always trump shame in my book.

- You’re disgusting.

- And you’re a prude. So, where does that leave us?

-You, wallowing in your shameless disgust, and me, stuck in my narrow minded prudery. So what?

- So what, indeed. I guess we just carry on as normal –
me
, with my healthy sexual curiosity and
you
, secure in your staunch championing of individual responsibilities.

- Well said. It’s my turn at the continuing saga now.

I finally convinced the others to stop being so amorous and to think about our plans for the future. Not that it was easy, mind you. Kim and Martina appeared to be on the brink of going back to
bed
– and they weren’t giving any indications of being particularly sleepy – while Bella was driving me to distraction with her neck-nuzzling antics.
What we need around here was more professionalism
, I thought, although I have to admit that I almost succumbed to Bella’s importunities to indulge in a few bedroom relaxation exercises. But I hardened my mind to the thoughts of all pleasurable activities, reluctantly moving out of range of Bella’s deliciously inviting lips, and asked the assembly what they planned to do next in our pursuit of ……
whatever
the hell it was we were after.

“Well, we know where to
go
, thanks to you two,” Bella remarked, indicating myself and Martina, who was still draped all over Kim.

“Martina, for heaven’s sake,” I expostulated, “leave Kim
alone
! We’ve got
work
to do.”

“Okay,
okay
,” Martina said, unwillingly retreating to a neutral corner, but continuing to grip one of Kim’s hands. “Let’s just drive there. It isn’t all that far.”

“True,” I commented. “What will we have to take?”

“It could be dangerous,” Bella said, timidly. “Look at what happened the
last
time. These people are playing for keeps.” She rubbed her now healed neck wound in an absent minded way.

“True,” I replied, “but we have the location co-ordinates and, as far as we know, they
don’t
, so we should be safe.”

“Unless they
follow
us or something,” Martina put in.

“
Also
true,” I agreed. “We’ll have to make sure that we’re not tailed when we leave.”

“Paul can drive and I'll stay in the back seat as look out,” Kim suggested. “I'll make sure that nobody is following.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I concluded. “Okay troops, let's pack up and leave.”

Chapter 20.

And so we set off on our journey of discovery. Kim suggested that we start in the
opposite
direction of where we really meant to go, just to confuse the baddies. I agreed, and it's just as well we did, because Kim reported that a car was follow us.

“Is it a black limousine, like you see in movies?” Martina asked, excitedly.

“Afraid not,” Kim replied. “It's just an ordinary white sedan.”

“How do you know it's following us?” Bella asked, a little apprehensively.

“Well, I'm just a little suspicious of any car that stays behind us through all the twists and turns we've made so far,” Kim tersely replied.

“Let's ram their car and
bop
them on the head,” Martina suggested, gleefully.

“Not a chance, you bloodthirsty little maggot,” Kim replied, looking over at Martina with an amused smile. “We'll
lose
them in the back alleys. There’s a whole labyrinth of side streets and dead ends just ahead. Paul, you know the ones?”

“Sure, no problem,” I replied. “Once we get in there, they'll need a Sherpa to find their way out again.”

Our ruse worked like a charm. If the other car
was
following us, it
wasn't
by the time we reappeared on the main road. So, we changed direction and headed for our
real
destination, with Kim still keeping a lookout just in case of a
second
car. Nobody else appeared to be tailing us and so, after a few hours driving, we arrived where ‘X’ marked the spot on our Google Map. It was indeed a cave, rather larger than our last one, and fairly isolated from any commercial activity.

We tumbled out of the car and stood there, visually investigating the area.

Bella appeared beside me and gripped my hand.

“It looks creepy,” she announced, “but don't mind me. I've got a
thing
about caves.”

I smiled reassuringly at her, and put my arm around her waist. “At least we appear to be here by ourselves,” I told her.

“We won't get anywhere by just standing around and looking,” Kim announced forcefully. “Let's grab our backpacks and do some exploring.”

We entered the cave with the light from our torches skittering everywhere, exhibiting a degree of group nervousness. The cave floor was fairly level and the ceiling arched above us in cathedral-like splendour.

“Do you think there'll be
bats
?” Bella murmured to me. “I
hate
bats. All that squeaking and rustling of wings. They terrify me.”

I squeezed Bella's hand in encouragement. “Bats are
harmless
, sweetheart. They're just noisy.”

“Maybe so,” she replied with a shudder. “But I still don't like them. Maybe I watched too many Dracula movies when I was a teenager.”

“I
loved
Dracula movies,” Martina interrupted. “I've always
wanted
to be a vampire. It'd be so
cool
.”

“Everybody keep
quiet
!” Kim whispered in a commanding tone. “I'm trying to listen for hostiles.”

We obligingly fell silent as Kim slowly led us forward.

After about five minutes of stealthy and hushed progression, my nerves were stretched as tightly as violin strings. The darkness began to press in and the oxygen level of the air appeared to be lessening, although I realised that the feeling was purely psychological. I began to breathe more shallowly, despite the fact that I knew there was no logical need to do so. I heard a sudden hiss of air and halted in alarm. My torch lit up a scenario of Bella standing transfixed in shock and Kim clutching an arrow, mere centimetres from Bella's mesmerised eyes.

“Nobody
move
!” Kim hissed, urgently. We all obeyed with alacrity, not even daring to breathe.

“The place is booby-trapped,” Kim informed us unnecessarily.

“I think we
got
that impression,” I snidely told her. “The
arrow
was a bit of a giveaway. Bella honey, are you
okay
?”

Bella gulped and cleared her throat. “Yes,” she answered, her voice high with fright, “thanks to
Kim
.”

“What do we do now?” whispered Martina. “Do we retrace our steps?”

“That would be safest,” Kim replied, “but it would also mean that we ran away.”

“Sounds
good
to me,” I commented. “Running is marvellous exercise.”

“Let’s keep going,” Martina remarked. “Now that we
know
about the traps, we can be more careful.”

“Are you
insane
?” I challenged. “Bella was nearly
killed
! I’m not about to risk her for
any
amount of treasure….or
whatever
it turns out to be.”

“Okay, calm down everyone,” Kim interrupted. “We’ve obviously got a bit of a problem. We don’t know how many
more
traps there are. For all we know, there may be dozens of others. Or this may be the only one. The point is, do we risk it? I vote that we
do
.”

“If
you’re
going on, then so am I,” Martina announced with finality.

“
No
, sweetie,” Kim said, anxiously. “You have to go back. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Forget it, Kim,” Martina proclaimed stubbornly. “I’m coming along! What sort of life would I have
without
you? If we’re going to die, I want us to be
together
when it happens.”

My torch light glinted off the sudden moisture in Kim’s eyes as she said, “You’re crazy, dear heart, but I
love
you for it. Very well, we’ll go on. What about
you
, Paul?”

I looked around at my compatriots. Kim was eager to continue, but I always knew that she would. Danger had never fazed her. In fact, she
thrived
on it. Martina was the adventurous type as well, and besides, she’d tail Kim to hell and back just to be next to her. They were so
suited
to each other. Bella was still white-faced with shock, but her stance was resolute. I knew enough about her to be certain that she would go with me no matter
what
I decided to do. But I couldn't just turn about and leave. Throughout my entire life, Kim had instigated most of our adventures and I had
always
tagged along, albeit a little reluctantly and with a certain amount of grumbling, but I had been there for her. It was just the way things were. She led and I followed. It was a genetic chromosomal defect or something in my makeup.

“Very well,” I unenthusiastically conceded, “it looks like it's still a group adventure, but I want to give Bella a chance to escape in one piece.” I turned to her. “What do you
say
, honey? You've had
one
close call already. You can leave if you want to. Actually, I really wish that you would. At least
that
way I'd know you'd be safe.”

Bella inhaled a ragged breath and said, in a tense voice still tinged with fright, “I'll admit to being terrified, but where
you
go, I go.” She hesitated for a few seconds and then added in a reflective tone, “Sometimes I hate being in love. It makes you do the
stupidest
things.” Then she flashed a courageous little smile at me. “But I still wouldn't change it for anything.”

I reached over to her and caressed her cheek with the tips of my fingers. “You're
so
brave, my lovely,” I told her with sincerity. “Here, hold my hand. It'll stop
me
from running away.”

Bella giggled and imprisoned my hand with hers.

“Okay, people,” Kim began, “let's get this show on the road. It'll probably be safer if we stick to the
edges
of the cave and not walk down the middle. If you see or hear anything usual, stop immediately and crouch down. If there are any more arrows, they should miss you then.”

“I was going to ask you about that arrow, Kim,” Bella said. “How did you manage to catch it anyway? I mean, I didn't even
see
it until you grabbed it.”

Kim shrugged. “Just my training, I suppose. I've spent thousands and
thousands
of practice hours with my martial arts. After awhile you get to a stage when you do it without thinking.”

“Does anybody else think the arrow trap was a little…….
strange
?” Martina questioned.

“What do you mean by ‘strange’,” I asked, curiously.

“An
arrow
? In
this
day and age? What is this,
Robin Hood
territory or something? I'm thinking that the person behind all this is
more
than a little odd.”

“It's what we talked about when we found the spice rack,” Kim pondered. “That's why we have to be
extra
careful. A mind like that can be pretty devious. Anyway, we can't do anything about it right now.
I'll
go first. Keep in a line directly behind me. If I stop, or fall to the ground, do
exactly
the same. I can usually sense traps. Is everybody ready?”

Everybody said ‘yes’ but I threw in a ‘no’, just to break the tension. Kim snorted at my weak attempt at humour, and very carefully proceeded further into the cave.