Cassie rose beside him to assess the effect. “Do you think the bad guys will notice anything out of place?”
“I’m more worried that they’ll miss the spot entirely,” Griffin countered. “It’s very dark in here, even during the middle of the day.”
They packed their tools and were about to start forward to the mouth of the cave when they heard voices approaching.
“Shhh,” Griffin warned in a whisper.
“Maybe it’s Iker and Erik,” Cassie said hopefully.
They both strained to hear.
To Cassie’s horror, she recognized one of the voices.
“Like I told you, boy, next time we gotta do some climbing, you get one of your flunkies to come with you. I ain’t doin’ nothin’ like this again! Prob’ly threw my back out!”
“Bollocks!” Griffin cursed under his breath. “What’s become of our sentinel?”
“And where the hell is Erik?” Cassie added. “We need to hide.” She picked up their gear, and the pair scrambled off into the darkness.
They’d gone about twenty feet when Cassie grabbed Griffin by the sleeve and pulled him toward a deep crevice in the cavern wall.
“We’re trapped. There’s nothing up ahead but a wall of rock. This is the only hiding place we’re likely to find. We need to wedge ourselves in here and keep quiet.” She shuffled backward as far as the niche would allow, pulling Griffin along in with her. They had to squeeze in sideways. Seconds later, they could hear footsteps crunching on the gravel at the entrance to the cave.
“Well, well, ain’t this pretty.” Hunt’s voice reached them across the dark interior. “Another dang hole in a rock. What we lookin’ for again?”
They could hear him turn to speak to a companion who was apparently standing behind him.
“The lily symbol, Mr. Hunt, the lily symbol,” came the impatient reply.
Cassie recognized that voice as well. Daniel.
“How you expect to find anything in here is a wonder to me,” Hunt grumbled.
“Please turn on your flashlight and help me look.” Daniel’s reply was sharp. “Pay attention to the walls on both sides.”
They spent several minutes combing the rock face at the entrance. Inch by inch, they moved deeper into the cave and closer to where the pair were hiding. Cassie could hear the men pause in their search. They had to be close to the artifact by now. She felt conflicting emotions at their approach. She wanted them to find the relic as much as she wanted them not to find the people who put it there.
“What’s that?” It was Hunt’s voice.
“Where?” Daniel asked absently. He must have been looking at the opposite wall.
“There, boy. Right there. Don’t it look like some kind of flower to you?”
Silence for a few seconds while Daniel came to scrutinize Hunt’s find.
“It does, Mr. Hunt, it does indeed.” There was wonder in Daniel’s voice. “I believe you’ve found it.”
“Hot damn!” Hunt exclaimed eagerly. “Now where’s the doodad?”
There was a pause in conversation as the two men swept the walls and floor with their flashlights.
“There!” Daniel said. “Look at the floor directly below the lily symbol.”
Hunt let out a low whistle. “That’s gotta be it.”
Cassie could hear scuffling as the two men dropped to their knees. Then the sound of fingers scratching at dirt and rock.
“Hold on. This’ll help.”
There was the sound of something metallic hacking away at the ground.
“You brought a hunting knife with you on this expedition?” Daniel sounded appalled.
“And why not? We’re huntin’ relics, ain’t we?”
“Yes, but I don’t expect you’ll have any occasion to skin them,” Daniel protested.
“You do things your way, and I’ll do things mine. Now help me with this goddam box!”
Next came the sound of the container being lifted out of the ground and the cover being pried off.
“Jiminy Christmas!” Hunt’s voice was jubilant. “Will you look at that!”
“It’s remarkable.” Daniel’s voice held a note of reverence.
“What you figure somethin’ like that’d be worth?”
“It’s priceless.”
“Yeah, yeah, but what’s it worth?”
“Considering its antiquity, millions of dollars, I suppose.”
“Yep, that’s what I thought too.”
There was a pause. Then Hunt sprang to his feet. “You smell that?”
Another pause before Daniel replied. “Smell what?”
“Some kind of perfume. You ain’t wearin’ any and I ain’t wearin’ any.”
The blood in Cassie’s veins congealed. Hunt must have the instincts of a wild predator. Griffin’s sweater carried the scent of fabric softener, but it was so faint that she could barely smell it and her face was pressed up against his shoulder.
“And that ain’t all.” Hunt seemed to be shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I hear breathin’.”
“It’s probably just an animal,” Daniel replied dismissively.
“Uh huh.” Hunt’s voice was dripping with contempt. “Probably one of them perfume-wearin’ bears like we got back home. It’s plain as day you ain’t no hunter, boy. Somethin’ ain’t right here. I can feel it.”
Although she might be imagining things, Cassie thought she heard the squeak of leather as if Hunt were drawing a gun out of a holster.
The sound of footsteps advanced closer. “Fee-fi-fo-fum.”
She heard the crunch of gravel as Hunt came within a few feet of their hiding place.
Without warning, Griffin yelled and launched himself directly at Hunt. The Brit tackled him around the waist, sending Leroy’s flashlight spinning through the air and crashing against the rocks.
Cassie was so shocked that it took her a few seconds to react. Before she could wriggle out of her hiding place to help Griffin, a shot rang out and echoed off the cave walls.
“Mr. Hunt, what’s happened?” Daniel’s voice demanded from farther forward in the cave.
His voice was joined by the sound of others—one speaker or possibly more shouting something in Spanish. They were somewhere outside, but their voices carried into the interior of the cave making it impossible to tell how far or near they were.
“Mr. Hunt!” Daniel ran toward his bodyguard.
Cassie could hear the sound of Hunt struggling to sit up and throw Griffin’s motionless body off of him. Daniel flew to the mercenary’s assistance, dragging the scrivener away a few feet.
There was silence for
