Treasure of the Deep (8 page)

Chapter Sixteen

They say sincerity can never be determined by tears.

That’s good, because there weren’t any from Marie. Granted, it’s not how she’s put together. She’s a unique mixture of beauty and grace, coupled with a few girlish qualities. But, after dealing with her dad being murdered by her uncle for buried treasure, she developed a hard shell to protect her from life and those around her. She doesn’t give her trust easily, as is obviously true in my case. And, it takes a while to uncover the softness that I’ve always sensed lies deep inside her. I’d foolishly begun to believe her need for self-preservation was no worse than my own. That is, until yesterday morning when Ishi and I woke up all alone on a deserted beach.

“
So, what was so damned important in Cairo that you couldn’t bring us along—especially since you know about my and Mario’s unfinished business in Egypt?” I asked her, once I had calmed down some from my initial anger.

The helicopter had cleared the next few islands in the Maldives, and we would reach the southern coast of India by nightfall, a few hours from now. From there, a private limousine would take us up to Bangalore, where a corporate jet from Da Vinci Industries was waiting to take us to Cairo. Marie said we’d leave at 9:10 p.m., local time, and the flight would get us to Cairo in just under six hours. However, it would roughly be 11:30 p.m. in Egypt upon our arrival.

A jetlagged headache was just around the corner. Oh joy.

“
As you know, Uncle Leo stole the rights to the dig you had started in the desert,” she began, sipping on a glass of Merlot from a chilled bottle resting in an ice bucket near her seat. She had asked Ishi and me to join her in having a glass...I needed some answers first, despite my overwhelming need for a drink. “When Mario Thomas died and you were sent back to the United States, my unscrupulous uncle had filed the necessary paperwork with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to ensure his crew could commence the excavation of what he hoped was the legendary pyramid of Sehkmet.”

“
What the hell? We were digging for the remains of a relatively unknown chieftain, and following an eighteenth-century map that came to Mario from his maternal grandfather in Milan...”

My voice trailed off, and its harshness this time hadn’t been directed at her intentionally...well, maybe a little. But to think Mario was murdered for some fabled bullshit that didn’t even exist, instead of the horde of Hittite gold supposedly buried in the remote southwestern Egyptian desert she alluded to...well, it seriously chapped my hide.

The face of the best friend I’d ever had up until then flashed before my eyes. His murder was senseless, and I had begged Leo Da Vinci to take my life instead, since it was my fault he discovered what we were up to. I had no idea who he was when Mario and I had finished packing our Scout and left Cairo for our five-hour journey to the site. But chatting casually about the Battle of Kadesh with Da Vinci at the rental pickup has haunted me ever since. The mother of all mistakes. Trust me, I have since learned to keep my mouth shut.

“
Don’t beat yourself up over this, Nick. Please,” she said, reaching over to rub my exposed knee affectionately.

Ishi and I were still clothed only in our cholis, and she avoided the jokes he and I expected about being half-naked and dressed in women’s clothing. I believe it was the overpowering smell of fish and shit that still lingered on my arms and hands that stopped her. Thankfully, Marie had a few moist towelettes for me to use from her purse, and after she tenderly dressed the slight wound to my throat, she knew better than to make light of anything we’d gone through.

I sighed heavily. “Let’s move on...I don’t want to think about Mario right now, or your uncle,” I said, trying hard to be nice...and trying even harder to protect my heart from those gorgeous blue eyes with gold flecks inside them. I could feel the weight of her penetrating gaze, attempting to siphon out the distrust and rage that had built up inside me since she went AWOL. “So, we’re on the way to Egypt. Did you get an extension on your uncle’s claim?”

“
Yes,” she said. Disappointed, I’m sure, that my reaction wasn’t elation at the news. Her eyes turned darker...it’s gonna take more than a quick-dip effort to break through my barriers this time, sweetie. “That’s why I had to leave yesterday. My father’s attorney, who had been tracking down Uncle Leo’s overseas activities, discovered the contract about a week ago. When the Ministry denied an extension of the rights via mail or fax, one of us had to make an appearance at the Ministry’s Cairo office, and the deadline was yesterday.”

“
And, you couldn’t have just told me that?” My blood began to boil again.

“
I couldn’t take a chance of you blowing this, since there were questions about Mario on the contract. I’m certain now that Uncle Leo forged his signature in order to override a previous document filled out by you and Mario,” she said. There went the eyes again...resuming their drilling efforts into my soul. “If you had reacted adversely in any way, the rights would be revoked, and you would never get the chance to make good on the promise you made to your friend—the promise you told
me
about.”

“
And, you’d be missing out on a shit-load of gold and priceless relics, huh?” I observed, liking her less. Yet, she was right. I would’ve blown a gasket once I saw what Leo had done after disposing of Mario and dispatching me back to America. As bad as this news hit me, as we flew back to the Indian shore, it would’ve been so much worse had it clobbered me out of the blue. Especially, while sitting in the Ministry of Culture’s office—likely the very same room where I signed my name as a giddy kid with my equally excited buddy, twelve years ago. “But what does Sehkmet have to do with this?”

“
You won’t like the answer,” she said. “But, Uncle Leo believed—and there’s plenty of evidence from my father’s research that supports my uncle’s belief—a sunken pyramid truly
is
buried in the area. Unlike all the other pyramids in Egypt, it follows Mayan design and was built for a goddess and her attendant deities that serve her. Much like the pyramid themes you’ve seen in Mexico and Latin America.”

“
A sunken
Mayan-styled
pyramid?” I chuckled, sadly, thinking about Mario, Marie, and a subterfuge waste of a trip to the Maldives as a dangerous diversion. Suddenly, Norema’s face came to the forefront of my mind. I could almost hear her telling me to shut the hell up and take it all in before making any judgment. “I thought a sunken pyramid was just an old wives’ tale, born from ancient superstitions.”

“
But, you pride yourself on seeking out such myths, darling,” she said. “That’s why I hired you to find Ciudad Blanca. I knew you believed in the place, and had spent years looking for it.”

“
Just a year and a half,” I countered, eyeing her solemnly as the wheels were now rolling in my head, too. “Did you hire me then, knowing I’d be game to come back to Egypt?”

“
It was actually two years and three months,” Ishi, interjected, smiling wryly until Marie and I both shot him matching stern looks. The smile disappeared and he returned to his previous preoccupation of watching the chopper speed past the tiny islands below.

“
Yes,” she confessed, after a moment’s hesitation. “I had heard from reliable museum sources in the States that you were the best at locating artifacts and places believed to be mere legend.”

I nodded thoughtfully as I looked away. I caught a glimpse of the pilot, an older Indian man...someone local to the area. He seemed thoroughly immersed in his navigational duties, but something told me that he followed our conversation just fine. Quite a feat, given the prevalent hum from the aircraft.

“So, you think I don’t have feelings for you, is that it?” she said, drawing my attention back to her. What I said earlier about tears? Nah, there weren’t any...but there was some mistiness, and I could tell she was fighting to keep her emotions at bay. Unlike outright tears, that does something for me. “What I told you the other day came from my heart. If you’ll trust me again, Nick—if you’ll take one last chance on what I’m telling you, I swear it will
all
make sense when we reach our destination. The connection between us, and the feelings we’ve shared during the past week are quite real. I know it, and
you
know it, too!”

Again, I nodded thoughtfully. She was right about some of it. The feelings part was true enough...but I’ve always thought of ‘connections’ as happening between two people who are totally on the same wavelength. It was too damned early to say for sure on that one. We had entered into a precarious romance. It’s how I like to think of that sort of thing...one more screw-up and kaboom!

“What’s so funny?” she asked, when I grinned wryly.

“
I think I’ll take you up on that drink,” I said. “I could use a smoke, too...badly.”

“
You’ll have to settle for Merlot for now, and as many cigarettes as you’d like after we land.” She chuckled, and her somber countenance brightened.

“
So, it’s a drink now and a smoke later...in that order, huh?”

Ishi shot me an amused glance, chuckling softly as he continued his vigilant observation of the island chain below us.

“Yes...for now,” she said, pouring herself a little more Merlot before pouring me a glass. Ishi took a refill on his glass. She smiled confidently as she handed mine to me, but her eyes were on fire once more. “To lasting happiness for the three of us, my love!”

I met her smile with my own, and all three of us clinked our glasses in salute. A trio of hopeful compatriots pulled to wherever this crazy journey took us next. On to Egypt...where a personal score, ancient mysteries, and new dangers surely awaited us all.

To find this pyramid of the gods.

Sounds like fun.

Oh, and when things died down, to swing back to the Maldives and recover my treasure.

Oh, yes...
my
treasure.

Cheers,

Nick.

The End

Nick Caine returns in:

Pyramid of the Gods

Nick Caine #3

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The adventures continue in:

Judas Silver: An Adventure Novel

by J.R. Rain

Thirty cursed coins.

A plot to unleash hell on earth.

And one relic hunter who’s in way over his head.

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~~~~~

The Lost Ark

by J.R. Rain

A missing professor.

A mysterious map.

The archaeological discovery of a lifetime.

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~~~~~

The Forgotten Eden

by Aiden James

Hidden deep in the woods...

...is something out of this world.

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Zombie Patrol

Walking Plague Trilogy #1

by J.R. Rain and Elizabeth Basque

(read on for a sample)

On the day that changed his life forever, Lieutenant Commander Joseph Carter fought anxiety as he veered his government vehicle off the freeway.

He headed toward the
naval base in Seal Beach, pondering who and what awaited him. He knew he wasn’t supposed to smoke in the car. He lit a cigarette anyway. He told himself that he hadn’t done anything wrong. Nothing to worry about. But still...

Why had he been summoned?

“You know why,” he told himself, but he didn’t want to think about it now. He inhaled deeply, turned up the radio and opened the car’s windows to clear out the tobacco smoke.

The
base was less than ten minutes from the freeway. That meant, the Lieutenant Commander told himself, that he had ten minutes to gather his thoughts. Not that he hadn’t been doing so since earlier today when he was first ordered to report to Seal Beach. He wasn’t feeling well, and his sunglasses did little to shield the blinding rays that made his head ache even worse. He had little appetite. No surprise there. This morning, he’d consumed about a half-gallon of water, which he’d later upchucked.

“
Must be the flu,” he muttered, remembering that his buddy, Mike, had displayed the same symptoms. Thinking of Mike, he glanced in his rearview mirror. “Hey, wake up!” He’d almost forgotten about Mike, and that was strange. Jesus, his thoughts were scattered.

Mike didn’t move, so Joe tossed an empty water bottle back to wake his comrade. Mike finally sat up, clearly bewildered.

“We’re almost there,” Joe said. “Get your shit together.”

Mike didn’t look so hot but did his best to comply.

“Can’t afford to get sick,” Joe muttered, whether to himself or Mike, he wasn’t sure. But Joe decided to squeeze in a clinic visit and ask for some antibiotics while he was on base. That would take care of whatever was ailing them. It was probably just the flu.

He almost missed the entrance, swerving into the left-turn lane at the last moment. He knew this exit like the back of his hand. How could he have almost missed it?

I’m just distracted and not feeling well,
he thought.

It’s just the flu
, he told himself again as he flashed his ID to the guards and was waved through the gate. He veered the car toward base headquarters.

* * *

“Let’s go over it again,” said the Agent in Black.

Lieutenant Commander Joseph Carter wanted to bury his head in his hands
, but he knew better. This agent had now been questioning him for three hours. Joe knew the drill. It could go on for several more if this asshole didn’t get the answers he wanted.

Don’t lose your temper,
he thought.
Show respect. No matter how crappy you feel.

And Joe was feeling increasingly crappy.
He was flat-out sick. He pushed thoughts of the sickness aside and focused on his surroundings, though he did note the location of the nearest wastebasket. Just in case.

The office was small and
it would have been cozy if he had been there under more pleasant circumstances. The guards outside were the only hint of threat. The problem was that Joe Carter was having a very hard time remembering what had happened two nights ago. His thoughts felt scattered, incoherent, almost as if he was drunk. Or high. Or both.

The small room and guards outside were also making him feel claustrophobic. God, his head ached, too. He wanted to put
on his sunglasses, even though the blinds were closed. The glass of water on the desk sat untouched. Joe was thirsty, yes, but he didn’t want to barf all over the office. Then again, maybe it would speed up this whole process.

Joe sighed. “Where do you want me to begin?”

The Agent in Black was seated on the corner of the desk—a position that allowed him to look down on the Lieutenant Commander. Joe knew all these tactics, but had never had them applied to him. His pristine record in the military spoke for itself. He’d never been in trouble and he didn’t think his actions the other night were unwarranted.

“
You and your friend were returning to your quarters from the bar, when...?”

“
I saw what I thought was a meteor,” said Joe.

“
But it wasn’t a meteor.”

“
No.”

“
And?”

“
It landed in the middle of a field.”

“
Inside the base?”

“
Yes.”

“
What did it look like, falling to the ground?”

“
I just told you.” Joe tried to hide his frustration. “At first, it looked like a meteor. A falling star. It had a trail. But as it came closer, we realized it was very small, and it was going to hit the ground.”

“
How small was it?” asked the Agent in Black for the hundredth time.

“
About the size of a basketball,” Joe answered tiredly.

“
And you two just ran over to it?”

“
Yes.”

“
You didn’t think to report an unidentified object landing on military ground?”

“
No, I...we...weren’t thinking, I guess. We’d had a few beers...we were off-duty.”

“
Lieutenant commanders are never completely off-duty.”

Joe Carter remembered
that he was supposed to be on leave. “I know. It was a mistake.”

“
So, what did it look like?”

Joe looked longingly at the water. He lit a cigarette instead. He
raised his bloodshot eyes to the Agent in Black. “It looked like a sphere, I told you. About the size of a football...” Joe trailed off. No, that wasn’t right.

“
A football?” The Agent in Black was right on it.

“
No, that’s not what I meant.” Joe Carter’s brain felt like jelly. He felt truly ill. He frowned. He concentrated. “A basketball. I meant it was the size of a basketball.”

“
You just said football. Which was it?”

“
A basketball. It was round. I got my words mixed up. I’m sorry.”

The Agent in Black regarded his detainee
, for a detainee was exactly what Lieutenant Commander Joseph Carter was. For the moment, anyhow. The Agent in Black studied the man below him, and figured the man was either withholding information, or was coming down with something. Or hung-over, which the agent doubted. After all, Carter had been under surveillance for the last forty-three hours, ever since “The Incident.”

In fact, both Lieutenant Commanders Joseph Carter and Mike Mendoza had been watched closely—followed, even, from San Diego to Seal Beach. The Agent in Black was slightly surprised
that they hadn’t been aware of it. At least, they hadn’t given any indication of knowing that they were being tailed, other than nearly missing their freeway exit.

The agent sipped his coffee, and glanced at Carter’s untouched water. “You thirsty?” he asked.

“No.”

Silence.

“What did you do when you reached the fallen object?”

Carter sighed. “
Like I said, we got to it and...we looked around to see where it came from. It just fell out of the sky. We didn’t see any aircraft, and no, the wind wasn’t blowing, and no, the thing wasn’t hot, and yes, it looked like a round rock. Gray in color, but that impression might have been due to the moonlight.”

W
hile the agent watched him closely, the lieutenant commander stood and crossed over to the room’s only window. The guards watched him closely, too. Carter tried to close the blinds just a little more, but couldn’t seem to make the damn things work. Blast it! The light was just too damn bright.

“
What happened next?” the agent calmly asked.

Frustrated, Carter gave up and faced the Agent in Black. “I...I don’t remember. Wait. Yes, I bent down to touch it. I know, I know, I know I wasn’t supposed to. I was just so curious, you know? So
, I touched it. I’m sorry. I touched it and a piece broke off in my hand. I showed it to Mike.”

“
Lieutenant Commander Mendoza?”

“
Yes.”

“
And he touched it, too?”

“
Yes.”

“
And that’s when you decided it might be time to report the incident?”

“
Yes. I called my commanding officer from my cell phone.”
But you dicks showed up first,
Joe thought to himself. Aloud, he said, “You know the drill from there.”

The Agent in Black knew. His CREW had tracked several such “Incidents
.” Over the past two days, small objects had landed on various military sites worldwide. The CREW was on the spot in most locations before anyone else. Lieutenant Commanders Carter and Mendoza were two of the six in the world who’d seen the landings firsthand. As well as these two LCs, three witnesses in Mexico City and one in Istanbul were being interrogated.

There was a
knock on the door.

“
Excuse me.” The Agent in Black left Carter with his own thoughts.

Carter and Mendoza got a glimpse of the goon in the hallway and exchanged glances before the door closed.

In the hall, the agent met with what could have been his clone. “You get anything?” he asked.

“
Not much. Same story.”

The Agent in Black nodded. These two unfortunate
LCs knew next to nothing. Neither had top-secret clearance. Even if they had, they wouldn’t have had any access to The CREW’s intelligence information. “What should we do with them?”

The clone spoke. “They don’t know anything.”

“They’ve seen the crash.”

The clone nodded. “True, but t
hey aren’t aware of anything else.”

The Agent in Black’s first priority was to contain this information. No matter what.

The clone read his mind. “Any additional attention to this could be catastrophic.”

The Agent in Black nodded and considered the whole picture. These two had
spotless records. Obviously, they were potential “lifers” for the Navy. Containment of these events also meant silence. The Agent in Black had the authority to lock them up. Hell, he had the authority to make them disappear, too. Few knew the agent’s real name, and he liked it that way. He was known simply as the Agent in Black, a name that struck fear in those he crossed paths with. Fear was a good thing in his line of business. He and his CREW were above Top Secret; that is, they didn’t officially exist. Indeed, few knew of the CREW’s existence, including the president. A cabal of intelligence leaders had created the CREW, along with other shadow agencies, to clean up messes just like this one.

And it’s a helluva mess,
thought the Agent in Black.

But
their disappearance would attract attention. Families didn’t need to know, but military colleagues would wonder, even in private. Besides, both men looked ill. Additionally, both men were supposed to be on leave.

He sighed and made his first mistake. His biggest mistake. “Have them sign a confidentiality agreement. Then they can go.”

The clone hid his disagreement. He would never contradict his superior. Or so he thought at the time. “I’ll draw up the papers.”

Zombie Patrol

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