Secrets Of The Serpent's Heart (The Arkana Archaeology Mystery Series Book 6) (20 page)

Griffin finally stepped into the light.

Cassie retrieved her backpack and ran to stand beside him, taking care to keep the gun pointed at Hunt.

“You’ll have to allow us twenty minutes’ head start,” Griffin told Daniel. “Agreed?”

“You have my word,” the Scion assented. “We won’t leave this place for twenty minutes.”

Hunt snorted in disgust but held his tongue.

Griffin handed Cassie the artifact and, with a look of deep regret, she brought it to Daniel. “What a waste,” she murmured dolefully.

Giving the cowboy a wide berth, the two thieves scuttled out of the cave.

“See you at the finish line,” Cassie called back before darting out of sight.

Hunt made a move toward the entrance. “What you waitin’ for, boy?”

Daniel hastily put the artifact on the ground and rushed forward to block his exit. “Didn’t you hear me promise them twenty minutes’ head start?”

“I don’t recollect hearin’ no such thing. Feller stole my pistol and I mean to get it back.” Hunt was on the point of shoving Daniel aside when a noise made him freeze in his tracks.

Voices were approaching rapidly. It sounded like a heated conversation in Chinese between two people.

The men exchanged baffled looked.

“Must be tourists,” Hunt speculated.

Before they could decide what to do, a young couple entered the cave arguing vehemently. They paused, silhouetted in the doorway. The male pointed at what appeared to be a map. The female shook her head and uttered a string of protests.

They both ended their conversation abruptly when they noticed the Westerners.

“Harro.” The young woman smiled cheerfully. Her accent was very thick.

The young man bobbed his head and murmured, “Ni hao.”

 
Daniel assumed this must be a greeting in Chinese. “Hello,” he responded awkwardly.

“Howdy,” Hunt said, tipping his hat.

The newcomers were instantly attracted to the cowboy’s Stetson. They flanked him, pointing and smiling at his head, all the while chattering rapidly in their native language.

Hunt seemed pleased by the stir he was creating. He smiled down at them benevolently.

“Prease?” The young woman peered up at him beseechingly. “You show us.” She said several more words to her companion in Chinese and he unfolded the map he was carrying.

Thrusting it in front of Hunt’s face, he asked, “Where we?”

The cowboy squinted at it, trying to get his bearings. “OK, my little yella buddy. Let’s see what you got here.” He took the map with both hands, scrutinizing it intently.

In a motion so quick that Daniel could barely register what had happened, the young woman jammed a small object against Hunt’s leg. He convulsed and immediately collapsed in a heap on the ground.

The Scion gaped in shock. The young man whipped a gun out of his jacket. In an accent even thicker than the woman’s, he said, “Money! You give!”

Daniel had no difficulty translating that these were bandits who preyed on tourists. This isolated cave was the perfect location for a hold-up. He took out his wallet and handed it over.

The young man rifled through the contents, taking only the cash and leaving the credit cards. Daniel hoped the bandit wouldn’t look deeper into the cave and notice the gold statue lying on the ground a few feet behind him. He moved slightly to block the bandit’s view. He needn’t have worried. The man was intent on counting the cash.

Meanwhile, the female bandit was rooting through Hunt’s wallet. The cowboy had been reduced to an inert lump on the floor of the cave. He twitched periodically. She too removed only the cash, taking nothing else. Then she stood up and said something to her companion in Chinese.

The two of them advanced toward Daniel. He warily stepped back a few paces.

The woman lunged in close to his face and spoke in a tense whisper. “You go to porice?” She made a slashing motion across her throat and gave a wicked grin. “You dead men!”

Still pointing his gun at Daniel, the male bandit backed toward the entrance. The female ducked behind him.

The Scion could hear their triumphant laughter as they ran down the stairway, presumably to some secret lair on the mountainside. Daniel dropped to the ground in a stupor, almost afraid to breathe while he waited for Hunt to recover.

***

Half an hour later, the cowboy stirred to life. He sat up, rubbing his head. “What the hell happened?”

Daniel regarded him gloomily. “We were robbed. They took all our cash.”

Hunt cursed loudly. “Goddam it! If’n I get bug-zapped by one more tiny female, I’m swearin’ off women for life!” He crawled on all fours to retrieve his hat then, swaying slightly, he stood upright. “When I catch up with them bandits,” he snarled ominously.

“They threatened to kill us if we notify the police or try to pursue them.”

“That don’t scare me none.” Hunt dusted off his jacket with offended dignity.

“We have no time for vengeance, Mr. Hunt. Our mission has been accomplished.”

The cowboy seemed perplexed. “You mean they didn’t grab the doodad?”

“I don’t think they saw it.” Daniel rose and retrieved the artifact.

Hunt walked over to study their latest find. “Well, ain’t that somethin’.” His tone bordered on reverence. “You think it might fetch a good price?”

“My father has no interest in selling it,” Daniel replied inexpressively. “Still, it would be worth a king’s ransom if he did.”

“I’ll surely bear that in mind.”

Daniel peeped anxiously at the cave entrance. “Given the value of the artifact we’re carrying, I don’t believe it’s safe for us to linger here. This region is obviously infested with scoundrels.”

Surprisingly, Hunt didn’t contradict him. “We best saddle up and hit the dusty trail before sundown. We need to get this little dingus locked up someplace safe.”

The Scion treated him to a puzzled look. “So you’ve lost interest in pursuing the bandits?”

Hunt shrugged. “All they got is chump change. We’re walkin’ away with the jackpot.”

“True enough.”

The two men exited the cave and made for the chair lift station.

“We still have a few hours of daylight left,” Daniel remarked distractedly while scanning the path ahead for lurking assailants.

“I bet Yu can get us back to the big city in two shakes.”

“No, I can’t. I wouldn’t try driving these treacherous mountain roads during the day much less after dark,” the Scion objected.

Cassie and Griffin stared worriedly across the table at one another in Cassie’s hotel room.

“I hope they’re alright,” the Pythia remarked. “It’s been hours.”

A quiet tap on the door made them both jump.

Griffin rose to answer.

Rou and Rinchen entered the room exuberantly.

“All is well!” the girl announced.

Cassie stood up and let out a deep sigh. “Don’t scare us like that. We’ve been biting our nails about you ever since we left the mountain.”

“Rou and I wanted to make sure they got on the road,” Rinchen explained. “We rented an electric scooter in Nisai and rode over to the village where they’re staying. Then we staked out their hotel.” He chuckled. “Just like you thought, their driver loaded up their bags and off they went.”

Rou giggled as well. “The one you call Daniel seemed nervous as he got into the car. The one called Hunt looked very sour.”

“We must have really thrown a scare into them.”

“This is hardly a laughing matter,” Griffin rebuked them solemnly.

“Why didn’t you call?” Cassie demanded. “It’s not like the villages don’t have cell service.”

Rinchen regarded them both with wry amusement. “You do realize we’re all about the same age, give or take five years, but you two are carrying on like fretful parents.”

“That’s because when it comes to the Nephilim, we’ve got what amounts to decades of experience over you both,” Cassie retorted.

“You truly have no idea what they’re capable of,” the Scrivener added. “We’ve seen things...”

“I get it.” Rinchen raised his hands in surrender.

In a chastened tone, Rou said, “We are sorry to have upset you.”

“Apology accepted.” Griffin’s stern expression softened.

The Pythia smiled. “OK, guys. Lecture over.”

Relieved to be off the hook, Rou immediately changed the subject. “You must tell us what happened when you were inside the cave with them.”

Griffin moved toward the door. “Since it’s well past dinnertime, I suggest we postpone that discussion until we’ve found a place to eat. Now that the Nephilim have left the area, we are at liberty to move about the village.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Rinchen eagerly approved.

***

Ten minutes later, the four Arkana operatives were wandering down the main street of Luoshui Village to find a restaurant. This wasn’t hard to do since the entire Lugu Lake district seemed to specialize in outdoor barbecues. They found an open-air eatery and seated themselves. Rou and Rinchen claimed a wooden bench together while Cassie and Griffin took the bench opposite. Between them sat a rectangular stone table with a recessed charcoal grill in the middle. A waiter provided them with plates, chopsticks, sauces, and food on skewers to cook and eat. Their meal consisted of pressed chicken and assorted chunks of vegetable including mushrooms and eggplant. They were also given yak butter tea and Sulima beer to wash it all down. As one or another of them turned the skewers and tended the food, they caught up on the events of the afternoon.

“Now you have to say what happened after the Nephilim entered the cave,” Rou urged.

“They totally bought it.” Cassie smiled triumphantly. “I took a run at the door like I was trying to escape. It’s a good thing I gave you my stun gun because they searched me.”

“Just as you thought they would,” the girl noted.

“That was a pretty big risk,” Rinchen said. “I mean, to dangle yourself as bait. That cowboy might have shot you point blank.”

“Oh, he wouldn’t do that,” the Pythia countered. “Leroy hates me too much to kill me outright. He’d want to taunt me first. Besides, Griffin and I have run into them often enough to know what makes them tick. Daniel needs us to get his artifacts and Hunt needs Daniel to stay employed. I figured we’d be OK.”

“It was a clever plan, if I do say so myself,” Griffin interjected. “We knew we wouldn’t have enough time to hide the artifact.”

Cassie flipped a skewer of vegetables to brown them evenly. “Which turned out to be a good thing since there was no guarantee those nimrods would manage to find it even if we did have time to hide it.”

The Scrivener handed plates and chopsticks across the table. “So we needed to stage a scene to make it look as if we’d been caught in the act of taking the relic.”

“Stage a scene is right.” Cassie picked up the narrative. “You should have heard Griffin. He really sold it. Called me ‘love’ and everything.”

“Why would he do that?” Rou squinted in puzzlement.

“The reason seemed pretty obvious to me,” Cassie replied casually.

Griffin abruptly dropped a bowl of dipping sauce with a clatter.

“Careful, butterfingers, or you’ll be wearing your food.” Cassie absent-mindedly righted the dish before resuming her explanation. “Griffin called me ‘love’ because it made our story more convincing. It would seem far less suspicious that he’d surrender the relic without a fight if the Nephilim thought we were involved. Right?” She turned to the Scrivener for confirmation. “That is why you said it.”

Griffin stared at her open-mouthed. After a few seconds he rallied. “Yes... um... Of course. That’s why I said it. ‘Love’ is a common endearment among the British. We apply it to everyone. Greengrocers, postmen. I thought it lent a certain verisimilitude.”

“And you should have seen Daniel’s face when Griffin threatened to destroy the inscription.” Cassie laughed.

“I wish we had a video.” Rinchen sounded wistful.

“And by the bye, thank you for lending me your pistol. It came in quite handy,” Griffin said to the agent.

“No problem. Good thing you remembered to hand it back to me on your way down the mountain. I wouldn’t have been a very convincing bandit without it.”

“Speaking of which,” Cassie prompted. “How did your part of the act go? Give us details.”

Rinchen slid a cooked piece of chicken onto a platter. “First off, Rou can mimic the worst Chinese accent I ever heard. ‘Harro’?” He turned to the girl with mock surprise. “Since when did you forget how to pronounce an ‘L’?”

Rou laughed softly. “You are a fine one to point a finger at me when you say things like ‘Where we’?”

Noting the puzzled faces of his listeners, the agent explained. “I needed to distract the cowboy with something so I pulled out a map and asked him for directions.”

“And while he read the map, I stunned him,” Rou summed up proudly.

“He never saw it coming?” Cassie asked.

“Nope.” Rinchen winked at Rou. “I have to say, this girl has a great future as a field agent. Cool as a cucumber in a crisis. It’s hard to believe she hasn’t had any training yet.”

Rou blushed with pleasure at the compliment.

Sensing how close the two had become, Cassie cautioned, “You’d better not be toying with this young lady’s affections, Rinchen. Your brother warned me about you. He said you’re a real heartbreaker.”

“What?” The agent gasped. “He’s one to talk. Rabten is the player in the family. I think he’s overcompensating.”

“What on earth for?” the Scrivener asked.

“Because Rinchen received the good looks,” Rou concluded sagely. “Rabten only received the brains.”

Cassie and Griffin traded baffled glances at the observation.

“Rou, surely you realize that Rabten and Rinchen are identical twins,” the Scrivener ventured.

The girl remained unfazed. “Oh no. Rinchen showed me pictures. I can tell the difference.”

“You see,” Rinchen agreed without a hint of irony. “She can tell.”

“Let it go,” Cassie mumbled under her breath to Griffin.

“Here is your stun gun.” Rou presented the object to the Pythia with both hands as if she were handing over a samurai sword.

Cassie pocketed it. “I’m going to send you one of these engraved with your name on it.”

Rinchen scratched his chin. “I know we had only minutes to put this plan together before the Nephilim got to the cave but here’s something I don’t understand. Why the bandit ruse? If all you wanted to do was put Hunt out of commission long enough to escape, you could have pistol-whipped him when you left.”

“Ah, there was more to the scheme than that, my friend,” Griffin retorted. “If I had dispatched him, he would have turned these villages upside down trying to find us and take revenge. We needed to make his departure a matter of some urgency.”

“That’s where you guys came in,” Cassie continued. “Luckily for us, you’re both Asian so you could pose as locals.”

“Bloodthirsty local bandits,” Rou piped up gleefully.

“If Daniel was convinced that the area is crawling with desperados, he would have believed the artifact was at risk here,” Griffin concluded. “Even Hunt would have to agree that their top priority would be to get the relic to a safe location.”

“And I think we guessed right.” The Pythia poured herself a cup of tea. “You two saw their getaway with your own eyes.”

Griffin leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. “All things considered, our plan went swimmingly.”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Cassie confided. “Maddie texted me that the real artifact arrived at the Vault today.”

“Speaking of all’s well that ends well.” Griffin treated Rinchen to a quizzical look. “You’ll be escorting Rou back to Liaoning tomorrow, yes?”

“I’ll make sure she gets home safe and sound.”

Rou beamed at him adoringly.

The Pythia nudged Griffin. “It’s time we booked a flight home too.”

“After our assorted trials during the past few weeks, I must say I’m looking forward to a quiet predictable environment. Thank heaven nothing eventful ever happens at HQ.”

Cassie’s gaze narrowed as she regarded her partner. “You know you’re just asking for trouble when you say stuff like that.”

“Are we about to have another dire prediction from Mr. Murphy?” Griffin’s eyes twinkled with mischief.

The Pythia sighed and gave a lazy smile. “Nope. I can’t bring myself to harsh your mellow on a night when the stars are this bright.”

Griffin looked upward. “They are indeed.”