common, and you made a good team, you know?'
Sam inclined her head and swallowed the lump in her throat. In a practiced motion, she swept her long, raven-black hair behind her ears and studied this specter from her past through deep blue eyes. She felt like a child in his presence, as though in a heartbeat her skirt and blouse had reverted to dirty jeans and a baggy T-shirt.
The last time she saw Leo was following her mother's funeral. She had just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a doctorate in Cognitive Anthropology and Ethnoscience after spending two consecutive summers, and then a full year, excavating the Chachapoya ruins at Kuelap and the Karajia Tombs. Wide-eyed and overflowing with principles, she had lit into him with a ferocious tirade about his practices of raping the sites he discovered, pillaging the heritage of vanished cultures for profit, and stealing natural resources that should rightly belong to the impoverished masses. She had said things she knew she could never take back, and in doing so had tarnished her father's memory as well, but her beliefs hadn't changed one iota in the interim, and she wasn't about to recant.
As if he knew what she was thinking, Leo said, 'Perhaps we didn't part on the best of terms last time we spoke, but I hope to make amends. I won't apologize for the life I've led. With your father by my side, we built a financial empire and salvaged lost societies from their own ruins. And we did so by the letter of the law.'
'I don't want to have this argument with you again. Not now.'
He waved her off. 'That's not why I'm here either. Nor am I here just to catch up with an old and dear friend whom I've always thought of as a daughter.'
Sam flashed a wan smile. 'Who are you calling old?'
Leo returned the smile. This time it was genuine, not forced, though it contained a measure of sadness that she could feel, even from across the desk.
'I've been thinking a lot about my legacy lately,' Leo said. His eyes latched onto hers. 'I had always thought that Hunter would follow in my footsteps and take the company to a new level. And now there's no one. Certainly not you. No offense.' He sighed. 'But this isn't about me. Advanced Exploration will persevere, and your father's share---your share---will be there when you decide to claim it.'
'I don't need the money, Leo.'
He shook his head as though she had made a poor joke. 'Indulge an old man and hear me out. All of this thinking about my legacy led me back to Hunter. In the end, I really don't care what people think about me, or if they do at all, but it's important to me that everyone knows that Hunter mattered, that his life made a difference to the world. And that's why I flew all the way out here to talk to you in person.'
Sam saw the sincerity in his eyes. But what could he possibly need from her?
'I want to show you something,' Leo said. He removed an envelope from his jacket pocket and passed it across the desk. 'Go ahead. Open it.'
Sam lifted the flap and slid out a small stack of photographs. She tried to maintain her poker face as she flipped through them one at a time.
'Looks like Mochica. Early eighth century possibly. They were a Pre-Inca society that flourished in the Peruvian coastal region. Renowned for their metallurgy and specifically their headdresses.' She scrutinized the images of the ornate golden sculpture. The smooth, arched crown was framed with long filigreed feathers that nearly glowed, rather than the traditional Mochica motif of the eight arms of their sea god. The rounded front was lined with pointed teeth and twin jeweled eyes of what she assumed to be chrysocolla, a blue-green quartz found in copper deposits, which would have made the wearer appear to have been looking out through the open jaws of some frightening mythological creature. The Mochica was definitely a warring tribe; however, their rulers were considered gods, and dressed the part. Yet the mask didn't fit the traditional mold. She looked up at Leo, whom she now suspected already knew as much and was holding out on her. Was he testing her? 'Where did you find this?'
'It was recovered with Hunter's belongings, several miles northwest of Pomacochas, Peru.'
'That's outside the known Mochica range.' She paused. 'If I didn't know better, I'd say it looks almost Chachapoyan. But they didn't demonstrate such craftsmanship or skill working with metals until after their conquest by the Inca. And that section of the Andes would have been well north of their established territory.'
'So what's your professional opinion?'
'I'll need to do some research. Can you give me a little time to think about it?'
'Can you think on a plane?'
VII
Eldon nearly fell out of his chair halfway through the article when he saw the dollar amount. He leaned closer to the screen and started reading again from the top. There must have been some crucial information he'd missed. His heartbeat raced and his hands trembled. He skimmed:
'Two million dollars,' he said aloud.
He closed the article and initiated a new search. There were hundreds of nearly identical recounts on as many sites. The words changed, but never the dollar amount.
The Consul-general abruptly rose from his chair and sent it clattering to the floor. The room spun around him as he narrowly averted tripping over his own feet in his rush to the small closet in the corner of his office. He threw open the door, grabbed the wooden crate from the shelf, and staggered back to his desk. Casting aside the lid, he swept out a blizzard of Styrofoam popcorn and removed the headdress. He shoved the box away and gently laid the exquisite sculpture on the antique surface. It wasn't quite as elaborate as the headdress on the monitor, which appeared significantly larger with its curling, stylized octopus arms, nor was the craftsmanship quite as stunning, but it was every bit as beautiful. Say it was worth even half as much as the other. That was still a million dollars. Even through discreet channels he could surely get that amount. A million dollars would go a long way toward buying him a seat in the Senate.
The rational portion of his brain struggled to the forefront. What he was considering was wrong. The headdress rightfully belonged to the people of Peru, which was the whole reason he had confiscated it in the first place. If he were to get caught trying to sell it, not only would he lose his job and his tenuous standing in the world of politics, but he would undoubtedly find himself a long-term guest in the ghastly San Juan de Lurigancho prison. There would be no more dreams of grandeur, only the reality that even the life he now lived would no longer be within his grasp.
But if he managed to get away with it...
He racked his brain. Who all knew about the headdress? The man who had brought it to him, Wes Merritt, had secreted it from the local authorities, and presumably hadn't mentioned it to anyone else out of some overdeveloped sense of integrity. Eldon had been prepared to return it to the Peruvian government himself, but for whatever reason had decided to wait a few days, which had turned into a week. Maybe these thoughts had been brewing all along and his subconscious had caused him to drag his feet. Regardless, the internet search had confirmed what he already suspected. He was sitting on a veritable fortune, and the only person with whom he had shared the existence of the headdress was the dead man's father, who hadn't seemed to care about it in the slightest, and whomever he might have told. Granted, the elder Gearhardt's political connections gave him pause, but his only proof was a handful of photographs, and he hadn't once so much as called since. For all Gearhardt knew, Eldon had already sent the treasure to the government, which certainly wasn't world-renowned for its honesty. It could have disappeared at any level in that chain.
So what was the worst-case scenario? Gearhardt contacts the Peruvians demanding the headdress. If that were going to happen, it would have already come to pass. The only real threat now was time. The longer it remained in his possession, the greater the chances someone might discover it. If he quickly offloaded it, who
