Eruptions worsening. Nearly swamped by rogue wave. Have ordered crew to prepare for emergency departure.
“Here we go,” Sam murmured. He tapped the touch screen and another log entry filled the screen:
27th August 1883, 0800.
Proceeding flank speed, course 041. Hoping to reach leeward side of Pulau Sebesi. Unidentified clipper ship still anchored south side of Pulau Legundi. Again refused hail.
Sam kept scrolling, then stopped. “That’s it. The Minden’s last entry. Could be her. The time frame is right; so is the description: eight cannon ports. The same number as the Shenandoah.”
“And if it was?” Remi replied. “The Minden’s last entry was two hours before Krakatoa’s final eruption. Whatever ship they saw probably made a run for it and either got clear or was overtaken by the tsunami or the pyroclastic flow.”“There’s one more possibility,” Sam replied.
“Which is?”
“She suffered the same fate as the Berouw . She was picked up and carried inland.”
“Wouldn’t she have been found by now?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“Sumatra’s a big island, Sam. Where do you propose we start?”
Sam pointed up at the picture again. “The last place she was anchored.”
“Hello, Fargos,” a voice said behind them.
Sam and Remi turned around.
Standing before them was Itzli Rivera.
Sam said, “We keep running into each other. Frankly, it’s something we could do without.”
“I can arrange that.” “As long as we help you finish what you haven’t been able to on your own.”
“You read my mind.”
“The problem with that plan,” Remi said, “is that it ends with you killing us.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”
“Yes, it does,” replied Sam. “You know it, and we know it. Even now we know enough about Garza’s dirty little secret to topple his government. Compared to your other victims, we’ve got a mountain of information. You murdered a woman in Zanzibar just because she found a sword.”“And eight others for much less, probably,” Remi added.
Rivera shrugged and spread his hands. “What can I say?”
“How about, ‘Where’s the tallest building I can jump off of?’”
“Here’s a better question: Why don’t you give me all your research, and I’ll tell my boss I killed you?”
Remi said, “After all we’ve been through together, you still think we’re that gullible? You’re a slow learner, Mr. Rivera.”
“You’ve been lucky so far. It won’t happen again.”
Sam said, “Let me see if I’m understanding you correctly: Option one, we give you everything we’ve got and you murder us; option two, we give you nothing and see how much farther our luck takes us.”
“When you put it that way, I can see your point,” Rivera replied. “So let’s change the terms: You give me what I want and I promise to kill you quickly and painlessly. Or we continue to play our cat-and-mouse game, and I will eventually catch you and torture your wife until you give me what I want.”Sam took a step forward. He stared hard into Rivera’s eyes. “You need to learn some manners.”
Rivera pulled back his jacket a few inches to reveal the butt of a gun. “And you need to learn some discretion.”
“So my wife tells me.”
“You’re stubborn. Both of you. We’re going to leave together right now. If you fight me or try to attract attention, I’ll shoot your wife, then you. Let’s go. I have a boat outside. We’ll walk outside and-”“No.”
“Pardon me?”
“You heard me.”
“I’m not bluffing, Mr. Fargo. I’ll shoot you both.”
“I believe you’ll try. Don’t think I’ll make it easy.”
“Nobody will stop me; I’ll be gone before the authorities arrive.”
“Then what? Did you really think we’d come here carrying all our proof? You’ve really got a problem with underestimating people. You’ve searched our hotel room and found nothing, correct?”“Yes.”
“All we’ve got with us is a few pictures, and they’re nothing you haven’t already seen. If you kill us here, everything goes public. By the time you get back to Mexico City, every news channel will be running the story.”“You wouldn’t be here if you had everything you needed. You don’t have what Blaylock found or what he was after.”
“That makes two of us.”
“What you’re forgetting is, I’ve dedicated myself to keeping this secret for almost a decade. You’ve been involved for a few weeks. Whatever you find, whatever story you tell, we’ll spin it the other way. You know who I work for and you know how powerful he is. Even if you manage to survive, by the time we’re done with you you’ll be a pair of money-hungry, spotlight-seeking treasure hunters who created a fantastic lie for their own personal gain.”“We’ll still have our health,” Remi said sweetly.
“And our sense of humor,” Sam added. “If you’re so confident, why don’t you go home and let the chips fall where they may?”
“I can’t do that. I’m a soldier. I’ve got my orders.”
“Then we’re at an impasse. Either shoot us or walk away.”
Rivera considered this for a few moments, then nodded. “Have it your way. Remember, Mr. and Mrs. Fargo, I gave you a chance to make this easy. No matter what else happens, I’m going to make sure you die in Indonesia.”
CHAPTER 43
LAMPUNG BAY, SUMATRA
SAM EASED BACK ON THE BOAT’S THROTTLES AND BROUGHT THE bow around until they were beam on to the wind. The boat slowed to a stop, then began rocking from side to side. A few hundred yards to port was Mutun, one of the dozens of tiny forested islands that lined both coasts of the bay; to starboard, in the distance, Indah Beach.“Okay, one more time,” he said.
“We’ve been over this, Sam. Several times. The answer’s still no. If you’re staying, I’m staying.”
“So let’s go home.”
“You don’t want to go home.”
“True, but-”
“You’re starting to make me angry, Fargo.”
And he knew it. When Remi started using his surname, it was a sign that her patience was wearing thin.
Following their encounter with Rivera at the museum, they’d caught the next ferry for the Sol Marbella landing, about fifteen miles from the Cartita Beach docks. While they waited for the ferry to get under way, Sam kept his eye on Rivera’s speedboat until finally losing sight of it when it passed behind the Tanjung headland to the southwest.
Once back on the Javan mainland they hired a taxi to take them back to the Four Seasons, where they quickly packed, headed for the airport, and boarded the next Batavia Air charter across the straits to Lampung. They touched down shortly before nightfall and found a bayside hotel down the coast a few miles, where they called Selma.
The sooner they reached Pulau Legundi, the better, Sam and Remi reasoned. Though they’d half expected Rivera to turn up, his sudden appearance at the museum, combined with his menacing promise, drove home the point that they needed to move quickly. To that end, Selma worked her magic and arranged for a twenty-four-foot motorized pinisi-a type of narrow, flat-bottomed ketch-and all the necessary supplies to be waiting for them at the docks before sunrise. Now, nearing noon, they’d covered a third of the distance to Pulau Legundi.Remi said, “We’ve never let people like Rivera run us off before. Why should we start now?”
