A person like Shay.
Who are these assholes?
The tomb raider who was pretending to be nothing more than a simple professor made her way through the crowds and away from the rental-car pick-up area. If something went down, she didn’t need people witnessing her ass-kicking skills and Austrian cops taking her in for questioning.
Shay continued walking away from the main gates. The crowds thinned out, and the men picked up their pace. She no longer had any doubts that they were following her.
She glanced around, looking for cameras. The great thing about airports was they often wanted the surveillance to be obvious, with the thought that it would be a deterrent in and of itself. The cameras were sparse in the area, so as long as she controlled where she walked, she could easily avoid them.
The tomb raider altered her course with that in mind. After a quick final survey of the area, she turned the corner and entered a long, empty hallway.
This will do. Probably don’t have much time before someone shows up.
Shay stepped a few yards into the hallway and waited, reaching into a hidden pocket in her jacket. About thirty seconds later, the three buzzcuts walked around the corner. They blinked, clearly surprised to see Shay waiting for them.
She didn’t hesitate, just charged the men. A quick throat-punch sent one man to the floor, and an elbow to the second’s face put him down. She whipped out a butterfly knife from the hidden pocket and had it to the third man’s throat in an instant.
“Who the hell are you?” Shay demanded.
“Fuck you, bitch,” the man responded. His accent sounded vaguely French.
Could he work for Durand? No, this doesn’t seem like his style.
Shay slammed a fist into the man’s stomach. Two more quick punches had him on the floor unconscious. She strolled to the two other groaning men and knocked them out with kicks to the head.
Shit. Someone’s either targeting me or the expedition. Shay took a picture of the men, then glanced both ways.
She couldn’t kill them without causing too much trouble. At least, she couldn’t kill them there, but she was sure she would be seeing them again soon.
It was time to contact Peyton and get a few things figured out.
Her rental Mercedes barreled down B145. She’d called ahead, and the team was expecting her and already almost set up. The only problem was that she doubted they’d be ready to do anything before nightfall, and that was even before considering her new friends from the airport.
Shay’s phone rang with a call from Peyton, and she answered it on speakerphone.
“Find anything?” she asked.
“Those guys are trouble.”
Shay snorted. “I already knew that. Can you be more specific?”
“Turns out they used to work for Alpha Explorers. “
The tomb raider frowned. “So, what, this is revenge for Oak Island?”
“I don’t think so.” The clicks of Peyton’s typing came over the line. “I don’t honestly think they know who you are. I mean, that you’re a tomb raider.”
Shay glanced into her rearview mirror to make sure she wasn’t being followed. “What do you mean?”
“The new guys they work for aren’t tomb raiders in the same way Alpha Explorers were. Instead, their new strategy is to track research around the world. They find out who the leader is, capture them, get the info, kill the leader, and steal the prize.”
“Perfect. Fucking idiots. If they know enough to target me, then they know enough to come after the expedition.”
“Probably. You could tell everyone that someone’s after you.”
“No. I don’t want my new CIA friend getting suspicious and digging deeper. It’s a miracle he hasn’t seen through the fake identity shit, especially the college stuff.”
Peyton huffed. “Hey, that was quality work.”
“Not saying it wasn’t, just saying this guy’s CIA.” Shay frowned. “I’ll just have to take these assholes down, along with any friends, without anyone seeing me do it.”
Peyton laughed. “Good luck with that. Sounds impossible.”
She snorted. “You forget what I used to be.”
“Nope. Not that. Never that. Don’t think I’ll ever forget again.”
A soft wind blew over the surface of Lake Toplitz and cooled Shay’s face. Some of the tents ruffled in the wind. This wasn’t a tomb raid. It was a true expedition.
So this is what it feels like.
She grinned at the dozen men working on finishing their inspection and unloading of three huge submersible cargo drones from trucks. The drones all had manipulator arms, and with careful guidance, would be able to help move the logs and ferry out the heavy gold.
The tomb raider wasn’t sure if they’d be able to gain access to the magical artifacts without an actual person. It depended a lot on the nature of the spells, although her last trip to the lake might have already triggered all the defensive magic.
A girl can hope.
The first time, she’d come to the lake by herself and nearly died. Now she had an entire government-sponsored expedition. It was nice to be appreciated for her knowledge rather than her killing skills.
Is this what could have been? Do I have my own Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future hanging over me?
Shay wanted to be free of her past but had mercilessly gunned down, stabbed, and blown up the Phoenix Gang the other day. She’d never escape it if she kept running into its bloody embrace whenever it was convenient.
She sighed.
Wonder if I should tell James about working for the CIA as a consultant?
Shay frowned and shook her head. Daniel knew too much about aliens, which meant she needed to make sure he was kept far away from James. Too many plates were spinning. At some point, they would start to fall, and Shay would have to make some hard choices about which ones to save.
The beautiful orange-pink of the setting sun and the deepening shadows announced the coming darkness. The team had erected light poles along
