'Look, Professor, we don't know how and why you got mixed up with that train caper the other night. We do know that some bigtime operators used a plane to snatch the real goods. Not them funnymoney dimestore things the papers wrote about.'
Carboni took a deep breath. 'One million dineros for that pyramid.'
'What pyramid?'
'You think you're a hard case, doncha? We know you got it, Jones.'
'And you want to make an exchange. I give you the pyramid I'm supposed to have, and you hand over a million dollars.'
'Cash.'
'When?'
'The sooner the better, Professor. In fact, if it's sooner, you get to live longer.'
'What if I told you I don't have it.'
'I'd call you a liar.'
'And you'd be right,' Indy laughed.
Carboni's eyes narrowed. 'So you do have it.' His breathing grew heavier.
They get that pyramid, and it's permanent occupancy in a deep hole in the ground for me and Gale, Indy knew without any question.
'The problem, Carboni, is that it's not for sale. At any price.'
'No? We'll see about that.' Carboni pressed a call button on his desk. A side door opened and two thugs came in fast, guns in hand. 'Cover him,' Carboni ordered. The weapons held level at Indy.
Indy paid close attention to his nails, rubbing them against his jacket. 'This is so dumb,' he said.
Carboni moved with unexpected speed, crossing the room to Gale. In a sweeping motion he gripped her hair and snapped her head back. The room lights glinted off the knife blade he held at her throat.
'You tell me where it is, Professor, or this little lady won't ever need to breathe through her nose again.'
Indy scratched his stomach. 'Go ahead.'
Gale's eyes were huge, and she was in obvious pain from the angle at which Carboni was twisting her neck. 'You're bluffing, Jones!' Carboni said wildly. 'First she gets it and then you!'
'You won't do it, because if you do I'll have to take on all three of you mugs, and since your two buffoons have the drop on me, I'll probably go down—' 'I guarantee it, Jones!'
'And if I go down your Mr. Big will never know where that pyramid is, and that means you and these twinkletoes, here, are next in line for cement shoes. Get stuffed, Carboni. You're just a big bluff.' 'I swear I'll cut her heart out, Jones!' Indy shifted slightly in his seat. Again he scratched his stomach, a cover for his fingers depressing his belt buckle. Barely a second later the door leading out the back way of the office burst open, a dark figure rolled like a great ball on the floor, and Tarkiz Belem remained in a crouch, firing with deadly aim. The Mauser in his hand, silencerequipped and modified to full automatic, sprayed a dozen rounds with a lethal hissing sound. Both men holding guns on Indy hurtled backwards, blood spurting.
Carboni had only that moment to see the carnage beginning when a loud crack! came to his ears; in the same instant Indy's bullwhip, freed from around his waist, slashed through the air to whip about Carboni's knife hand. Indy jerked down hard, breaking Carboni's wrist with the violent motion and sending him crashing headfirst against the marble table.
Gale fell back into her seat, a thin line of red showing along her neck. Indy was by her side immediately. 'Barely cut the skin,' he said casually, bringing a handkerchief to her neck. 'You won't even have a scar for a souvenir.'
'Indy, I'll— you set me up for this!'
'True,' he admitted.
Tarkiz snapped another magazine into the Mauser. 'What do we do with this one?' he motioned to Carboni.
'Don't you dare touch him!' Gale hissed. She came out of her seat with catlike speed. She jerked back Carboni's head with a handful of his hair and in another swift move she brought out her .25 automatic and jammed the short barrel as far as it would go into Carboni's left nostril. His eyes rolled like a madman's as he focused on the Beretta. Gale brought back the hammer with an audible click.
'If I cough or sneeze your brains are going to be all over the ceiling,' she said quietly. 'Any reason why I shouldn't squeeze this trigger?'
Carboni gurgled. 'Ease off, Gale,' Indy said quietly. 'He still has the message to carry, remember?'
For several very long seconds she held her position, then looked Carboni in the eye. 'Byebye,' she said softly, and her finger curled back on the trigger.
A metallic snap mixed with a gurgling scream from Carboni. Gale stood slowly, wiping the barrel of the gun on Carboni's jacket. She turned to Indy. 'Imagine that,' she said with a thin smile. 'I must have forgotten to put a round in the chamber.'
She looked down at Carboni, sprawled unconscious on the floor. 'What's with him?' she asked.
Indy laughed. 'Our tough boy has fainted. Let's go.'
In moments they were in the back seat of the Packard, Tarkiz at the wheel.
'Wonderful!' he shouted. 'It is good, good! to do something again!'
