Damn, almost five hundred years. That’s impressive.
Shay lifted the lantern with a smile. Time to get the hell out of the cursed desert.
Chapter Five
Shay stretched as she stepped out of her car into Warehouse Two. The mouthwatering smell of freshly-baked pizza hung in the air. She blinked, having not expected it. A large pepperoni pie lay near the pizza oven, cooling.
She slammed the car door and made her way toward the office. It felt like months instead of weeks since she’d last been in the place. After her adventure in Australia, she’d decided to follow up on some ruins in Japan rumored to have alien symbols on them. The trip had been low-key compared to her tomb raid Down Under, with the only real excitement a popped tire.
Peyton emerged from the office with a wave. Today he wore a powder blue double-knit polyester suit, circa the 1970’s, but Shay couldn’t even work up the energy to make a snarky comment.
Lily was in a white apron, still quiet, working on pulling a pizza out of the oven.
“I’ve been showing her the ropes.” He gestured toward the pizza. “How about a little lunch?”
Shay shrugged and slapped a slice on a paper plate. She sat down in the office and brought the pizza to her mouth. Not the best, but far from bad. She smiled around the bite. So many weeks in the field served as a spice all its own.
“Pretty good,” she commented.
Peyton grinned and shrugged. “I’m leveling up. Slowly, but I am.”
“Just so you know, I’m only sticking around for a few days. I have some errands to run in South America, concerning Brownstone’s amulet and the symbols. I still don’t know if his shit is linked to the stones.”
Lily looked up suddenly, interested.
The man stared at her. “That’s uncanny. You really do have perfect timing.”
Shay took another bite of her pizza before bothering to respond. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I was waiting until you got here to tell you that I’ve ID’d the retrieval specialist working with Project Nephilim.”
“Oh?”
“Francois Durand.”
Shay gobbled down the rest of her slice as she processed the information. She frowned and shook her head. “I don’t know that name.”
Peyton nodded. “I’m not surprised. The guy’s almost a ghost. Like you, Gray Ghost.”
Lily punched him in the arm, eliciting a short yowl out of him. “Friendly kidding about the truth,” protested Peyton.
“Like two people who faked their death?” asked Shay.
“More like a guy who is very, very careful to let only his name get out, nothing else.” Peyton pulled out his phone and tapped it for a few moments.
He held it up to display an image of a lean dark-haired man with a jagged scar across the side of his face in a suit. “But when you’re as good as I am, you can always grab a picture from a camera somewhere.”
Shay nodded, studying the photo in detail. She wanted to recognize the guy instantly if she saw him in a crowd. “What’s this guy’s deal?”
“Well, he’s a French national. Not a big surprise from the name, I know. He’s got a good reputation, but not for freelance tomb-raiding work. Mostly organizational contracting stuff. He describes himself as an artifact-retrieval consultant who can be hired for the right price.” He pointed toward the picture with his free hand. “That’s the good news.”
“How?”
“Everything I’ve ever read about the man suggests he’s neutral. Only cares about cash, not politics.”
Shay grabbed another slice of pizza. “Doesn’t help me if a man screws with me because he’s getting paid rather than because he’s a true believer. I don’t think deep politics are Yulia’s motivation.”
“She’s pure essence of bitch,” muttered Lily.
“Just saying that he’s not some sort of US Special Forces guy who’ll fight you for truth, justice, and apple pie.”
“True enough. What’s this guy’s rep for dealing with interference?”
“I couldn’t really find much, just that he’s skilled in a number of relevant areas. Research, firearms…that sort of thing.”
“I care more about if he’ll try and blow me up with a rocket launcher if he happens to see me near an artifact. If I have to take someone down during a tomb raid because they are going after me I’ll do what I have to, but if I’m not careful, Aletheia will end up with a bounty on her head just like Shay Carson.” She shrugged. “Guess I’ll just have to beat this guy to the artifacts. What else you got? Anything personal?”
Peyton put his phone back in his pocket. “When Durand isn’t on a job, he’s been spotted around watering holes in DC, London, and Munich.”
“But not Paris?”
“Nope.”
“Interesting. Has he had any trouble with the French government?”
“Not that I’ve found, but we’ll keep looking. I’m teaching Lily how to hack. We’re like Alison’s school but instead it’s the school of necessary life skills.”
“Like online stealing.”
Peyton gave Lily a gentle nudge. “I believe we called that lesson, online reappropriation. C minus.” He pointed at Shay’s pizza. “Eat up before Lily moves on in. The girl can pack it away. You won’t be getting seconds if you don’t put a move on.”
Lily put down the long wooden paddle and slid three pieces onto a paper plate as Peyton nodded in her direction.
Shay was already learning how to let most of their conversations just flow over her, picking out the information she needed and ignoring the rest.
“Keep searching. If there’s someone else we can point at this guy to make our lives easier, I’d rather do that.” Shay took a bite of her pizza, letting the savory flavors linger on her tongue.
Great. First Yulia, now this guy.
A few days and a visit to South America later, Shay sat at one of the larger tables in Warehouse Four with some books, including several on South and Mesoamerican pyramids and the notes from an expedition to an
