AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I chuckle. "So, it's all right when you try to spy on me having a poke with a lass, but how dare I upgrade the security system. If I'd known you wanted to spy on me, maybe I wouldn't have made those changes." I rub my chin, pretending to think hard. Then I grin. "No, I still would've done it. But I also would have hunted you down and skelped you good."
"Let me go, Errol. I'll give you twenty percent of the treasure."
"Twenty percent of stolen property? Donnae think so, Christian."
The lass kneels beside me. She has the gun tucked inside her waistband, nestled against her spine. "What should we do with these guys? They're criminals. But we can't risk exposing our illegal expedition."
"Oh, I have an idea about that. But I'll need to pop outside to make a call on Munro's satellite phone."
"I'll stay here with Munro and the bad guys."
"Back in a moment."
I grab the phone and duck outside, but I can't get a signal right in front of the doorway. Even satellite signals aren't available everywhere, though they have a much bigger range than mobile phones. I slowly move away from the cavern entrance until I get a good signal, then I dial a number I know well.
When the man I need to speak to answers, he sounds a wee bit sleepy. Well, it is several hours later over there.
"Hello, Alex," I say. "It's Errol."
"Errol who?"
"Murdoch. Your wife's cousin." I hold the phone away from my face and shout, "Wake up, Alex Thorne!"
"Bloody hell, Errol," Alex says when I return the phone to my ear. "What do you want? It's very late."
"Not here in the Grand Canyon."
"I repeat, what do you want?"
"Ashley, Munro, and I need your special expertise."
He yawns loudly. "I don't understand."
"We need the only man in the world who is both an expert archaeologist and a con artist. Feel like visiting Arizona to stop a thieving bastard from getting away with it? Or aren't you interested in adventures anymore?"
Silence follows for several seconds.
When Alex speaks again, he's wide awake. "Tell me exactly what you want me to do, Errol."
I quickly outline my plan for him. "What do you think?"
"You don't need me, that's what I think. You can do this on your own."
"But I'm not a con artist. My skills—"
"Are up to the task. It would take at least nine hours for me to get to Arizona, then I'd need to find a helicopter to get me close to your location. Do you really want to wait that long inside an ancient cave with a man who wants to destroy you?"
Well, when he phrases it that way… "No, I don't. But I have no other options."
"Of course you do." Rustling in the background of the call suggests Alex is getting out of bed. "Everyone knows about your adventure with Magnus and Piper. And Magnus loves to tell the rest of us what a consummate actor you are, and how you talked your way out of being captured by the villains."
"It wasn't my acting that did that. It was my explosives."
"But you also convinced a murderer to confess. That takes top-notch conning skills. You can do this, Errol. And you don't need me."
I've never told anyone how I talked Dilara Terzi into confessing, and I won't explain that to Alex now. Maybe I should tell Ashley. Nobody else needs to know.
"All right, Alex," I say. "Thank you for the advice. I think I know what I need to do."
