“I prefer to think of them as patriots,” Lee said. Caroline rolled her eyes. Lee laughed.
“You can own gold. You can sell gold. But in any kind of quantity, you have to report to state and federal agencies. They’re going to have questions, and you have no answers,” Lee said.
“That’s why we’re turning to you and your patriotic friends,” Caroline said.
“What kind of quantity are we talking about?”
“We were only able to bathroom scale weigh it, but we think it’s around a ton and a half or two tons, give or take,” Dwayne said.
Lee choked on a bite of burger. He drained his beer in two gulps and drew in a breath.
“Well, none of my friends are that patriotic. For that kind of weight, we’re going to have to go to actual criminals,” he said at last.
“They won’t pay the going rate, will they?” Caroline said.
“No, they won’t. The gold is off the books, which makes it hot. We’ll need to come up with some kind of story for them. Any buyers will be outside the law, but they’ll still need to know where it came from. Or at least believe they know. Purity will be an issue, too. This stuff wasn’t refined under any kind of modern conditions.”
“I think we can assume it’s as raw as it gets,” Caroline said.
“Do we move it all at once or in increments?” Dwayne said.
“Every sale is exposure. The more sales, the more times we’re exposed,” Lee said. “That’s more chances the law might become involved. And more importantly, we don’t want to be going back to the same buyer over and over. Too many opportunities for fuckery that way. I say we find one buyer and make one big sale, even if we have to sell at a deep discount.”
“I suppose that makes the most sense,” Caroline said.
“Do you have a sample I can get tested?” Lee said. Caroline took a small padded envelope from a case and slid it over the table. Lee pocketed it.
“So, do I get a piece of this? I got screwed on our last deal,” Lee said. “I’m down nine million from what I was supposed to get to go to the Wayback and find the lady here.”
“Nine million, then, if you get us fifty cents on the dollar.” Caroline pushed her plate away, untouched. “And half of any more than fifty percent you can get.”
Dwayne started to object, but Caroline held up a hand.
“This is going to be a big chunk of untaxed cash,” Lee said. “What are you planning on spending it on?”
“Science,” Caroline said. Dwayne grinned.
Dwayne and Caroline had driven to the Hilton together. They stayed behind to pay the check and let Lee Hammond leave. Caroline suggested they have another round of beers.
“That’s one hell of a commission you’re letting him get away with,” Dwayne said. He sprinkled salt on his beer and the head foamed up.
“Let me try that,” Caroline said, taking the shaker from his hand.
“So, why so generous with Hammond?”
“We’ll need his connections going forward.”
“Going forward?”
“Next time we have him fence for us, it will be straight commission,” Caroline said and hoisted her beer. “Hey, I like it with the salt. All my time in London and I never tried that.”
“Hold on. Next time?” Dwayne said.
12
The Book
“A treasure map?” Dwayne said.
“It’s a codex from a Greek named Praxus. The original was written two hundred years before Christ,” Caroline said.
They were in Dwayne’s truck. He was driving them on 215 back to the Residence Inn in Cottonwood.
“Codex?”
“Like a Reader’s Digest version of the original text. Praxus’ handwritten manuscript was lost when the library at Alexandria burned in 391 AD. Imagine if we used the tube to go back and visit the library before...”
“Stay on topic, Caroline.”
“Sorry. Beer makes me chatty. Anyway, Praxus was a slave aboard a ship, a Phoenician ship, that turned pirate. They raided shipping in the Aegean Sea. Praxus was sold to a Syrian merchant then eventually freed. He wrote the story of his time as a captive of the pirates.”
“We’re talking buried treasure?” Dwayne said.
“Well, hidden, anyway. People have tried to find it for years. The codex identifies the island as Nisos Anaxos in the Cyclades chain. According to Praxus, the Phoenicians hid a fortune in coins, gold plate and jewels somewhere on the island. They were heading into Rhodes pretending to be legitimate traders and didn’t want the Greeks finding their hold full of stolen goodies.”
“This treasure is famous?”
“Oh yeah. The locals still talk about it. Treasure hunters show up all the time. The Greek government had to ban digging on their beaches. You can only use a metal detector these days.”
“And no one’s turned anything up in all these years?”
“Nope.” Caroline shook her head.
“How many miles of beach are we talking?” Dwayne liked the way her blonde hair belled out when she shook her head.
“Twenty? Maybe more?”
“So, why would we have any more luck?”
Caroline turned and smiled at him. The galaxy of freckles across her nose wrinkled.
“Because we can go watch the Phoenicians hide it.”
Back at the Inn, Caroline laid out maps on a table and had the text of the codex of Praxus’ odyssey pulled up on a laptop. She was talking a mile a minute. Morris made a pot of strong coffee in the kitchenette. Dwayne popped a fresh beer. He had a feeling he’d need it.
“It’s an Oxford translation, but I’ve compared it to the original Greek and uncovered some useful details I think they missed in their interpretation,” she said as she smoothed the topographic map of the Cyclades on the tabletop.
“You read ancient Greek?” Dwayne asked.
“Caroline is that species worse than a scholar. She’s a hobbyist,” Morris said.
“So, you can you speak it?” Dwayne said.
“It’s not a phonetic language, silly. But I can probably manage with some practice.” Caroline laughed at that, but Dwayne couldn’t see the joke.
“Okay, I get that this guy was there when they buried the treasure. I get that,
