Have Artifact, Will Travel (The Immortality Curse Book 5)

by Peter Glenn

  “They did?” Now that sounded promising. A race of werejaguars using the Jade Jaguar as their idol. I could believe it.

  Margarita nodded. “Well, it’s not a for sure thing or anything. There’s no actual written proof, but some people believe that the giant Olmec heads are of werejaguars that acted as their rulers.”

  “Do you know where we could find one of these werejaguars?” I asked.

  Margarita shrugged. “It’s all just tales. No one’s actually seen one of them in at least a thousand years, if they ever even existed in the first place.”

  My heart sank. I’d been given a lifeline, and now she was dragging it away.

  “But I suppose if anyone could tell you for sure, it would be one of the Tarascan people.”

  “Tarascan?” That name sounded familiar to me somehow, like I’d seen it in one of the guidebooks or something.

  Margarita nodded. “They’re one of the oldest living civilizations in Mexico. They have a small village a little west of here. It’s a long shot, but if anyone could tell you more about the Olmecs or their werejaguars, it would be them.”

  I offered my hand to Margarita. “Well thank you, you’ve been a huge help.”

  She took the offered hand. Her skin was soft and warm, like her hands had never seen a hard day’s work in her lifetime.

  “It’s the least I can do for you gentlemen.” She gave me another smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe the tour group has almost made its way up here.”

  Margarita bowed again and turned to leave the interior. I glanced after her and could see the big throng of people making their way up the steps toward us.

  I turned to face Isaiah. “What do you think of her story?”

  Isaiah grimaced. “She seems like a welcome find. A little too welcome, if you ask me.”

  “Yeah, I hear you.” I’d been thinking the same thing. I was lucky, but that little bit of luck almost seemed too good to be true.

  “Still,” Isaiah continued, “it’s a better lead than we’ve had so far.”

  “Fair enough.” I gave the interior of the pyramid one last longing look. “Shall we find that Tarascan settlement then; check it out?”

  Isaiah nodded. “So long as they have a bar. I could use a stiff drink.”

  Now he was talking my language.

  A few hours later, my phone blared at me to tell me we’d made it to the small village of Tarasco.

  To be honest, it wasn’t much to look at. If Margarita hadn’t told me it was someplace important, I never would have thought anything of it at all. It looked like a rather basic town with regularish houses and buildings. Well, regular for the area at least.

  Plus, the place wasn’t exactly that big. There were a few restaurants and shops along the main stretch, but really, it wasn’t anything you wouldn’t find in any other small town in any area of the world.

  Isaiah pulled the car over at a small bar called Tres Tequilas, and we piled out of the car. It was well into midday now, and the sun was beating down on me so hard that I was ready to welcome some shade and cooler temperatures, whether or not they led us anywhere.

  The interior of the bar was nothing remarkable; a long wooden bar with several stools out front and a smattering of tables with chairs that looked like they were about ready to fall apart if anyone actually sat in them. A thin layer of dust coated just about everything I could see, including several of the liquor bottles on the shelves behind the bar.

  Tres Tequilas obviously didn’t do a brisk business. It certainly was no Mei’s, but then, nothing was. Still, as long as the liquor flowed freely, that was all that mattered to me in that moment. My lips were feeling particularly parched after the morning’s eccentricities.

  I sat down at one of the several open stools in front of the bar, and Isaiah plopped down into the one next to me.

  “What’ll it be?” the barkeep said in a thick accent. It was hard to understand even those few words.

  He was a round, older gentleman with thinning hair and a wide moustache. His shirt was a dusty red color, and he was holding a stained bar rag in one hand. I hoped he wouldn’t use that thing to clean our glasses, but I probably wouldn’t be that lucky.

  “Two tequilas, por favor,” Isaiah told him, holding up two fingers.

  The barkeep nodded and went to work preparing the drinks.

  I frowned a little that Isaiah had ordered for me, then thought better of it. The bartender didn’t look like he knew how to spell Manhattan, let alone make one. And even if he did, it was going to pale in comparison to Mei’s anyway. Much better to drink something they specialized in locally, even if I’d never tried it before.

  Besides, Isaiah was still paying, and free booze is still free booze.

  The barkeep came by with our drinks a moment later, setting them down in front of us. Isaiah placed a few crisp bills down on the counter, and the barkeep took them with a nod. I thought about asking him for his name but let the matter drop. It didn’t really matter.

  “A toast?” Isaiah offered, holding his shot glass high in the air.

  I nodded. “To the Jade Jaguar,” I said with a grin.

  “To the Jade Jaguar,” Isaiah agreed.

  We clanged our glasses together, and then both downed our glasses in one gulp. The harsh liquid burned as it went down my throat. This tequila was a lot stronger than the types of alcohol I’d gotten used to in the last fifty years. I could grow to like that.

  Isaiah motioned for the bartender to pour us both a refill, and he nodded and got to work. The next round went down as quickly as the first, burning my throat once again. At the back of my head, I could feel the slightest hint of a buzz forming already.

  Man, this stuff was good. I’d have to see if Mei kept any tequila in stock. What would hers be like?

  I settled back against my chair after the second round, letting my mind wander. The barkeep came around with another round of refills, but I didn’t touch it right away. My itch for alcohol had been scratched, and I wanted to enjoy the ambiance of being in a bar that wasn’t eighty plus degrees for a moment before I went about getting sloshed.

  “So,” Isaiah said, turning his attention back to me, “where do you suppose we go to start looking for a guide in this town?”

  Ugh. Business should always wait until after the third round. New rule, I decided.

  I shrugged. “A local church, maybe? Priests typically know everyone’s secrets.”

  “True. But they’re a little tight-lipped, in my experience.”

  “Valid point.” I raised my shot glass in the air and gave him a wink, then took a small sip of the liquid and put it back down. “All that confidentiality and stuff.”

  Isaiah nodded. “Still, it’s a thought. It’s better than nothing.”

  “Unless you have a better idea?”

  Isaiah shook his head and downed the rest of his drink. “Not really, no.”

  He motioned for the barkeep to bring him yet another refill, which the man did readily enough.

  I was starting to wonder whether or not I was going to have to drive for Isaiah after four shots of tequila, but he’d managed well enough after four rounds of drinks at Mei’s back in Seattle, so maybe he had some sort of superhuman constitution, too. He hadn’t even been winded after running up the pyramid steps. He certainly wasn’t a normal human.

  “Well, anyway,” Isaiah said after downing his fourth shot. “We should get going soon. I don’t want to sit around all day waiting.”

  “Amen to that,” I told him. I raised my glass in the air once more and downed the rest of it, feeling that delightful burn as it went down. It was an interesting sensation. Mei’s drinks had never burned like that. Even the harder ones.

  Just what did this place put in their tequila, anyway?

  “Excuse me,” a voice from behind us said, breaking my train of thought, “but did you say something earlier about the Jade Jaguar?”

  I spun around to face the new voice. Another woman. This one
was shorter, maybe five and half feet tall, with straight black hair and browned skin. She was wearing a bright pink blouse and a long, flowing gray skirt that went down to her feet.

  What was with women coming in and interrupting us today? This was the second time, and it wasn’t even dinner time yet.

  I flashed the girl a smile. If she’d overheard us earlier, there wasn’t much I could do about it now. “We might have said that, yes,” I admitted.

  Isaiah grimaced and looked like he was about to shoot me, but I waved him off. If he wanted to keep things quiet about our search, he shouldn’t have brought me with him. I was many things, but quiet was not one of them.

  “And who would you be?” I asked.

  The girl gave a slight curtsy. “Alejandra Martinez,” she told us. “Though my friends just call me Allie.”

  “Allie, huh?” She nodded, and I shot her a grin. “That’s a very pretty name.”

  She smiled right back at me. “Thank you, kind sir.” She curtsied again and batted her eyes. “And might I have your name?”

  I felt like she was flirting with me. I was no expert at flirting, of course, but I was pretty sure that’s what she was doing. At the very least, she was trying hard to get on my good side.

  Which only made me even more wary about her.

  Still, there was no harm in sharing a name. “Damian,” I said. “And this is my friend Isaiah.” I nudged him on the arm, and he smiled and nodded at her, too.

  “Well met, Damian, and Isaiah,” Allie said with another bat of her eyes.

  “Indeed,” I said with a half-smile. “Now what do you know about the Jade Jaguar?”

  There was no sense in dragging things out or hiding it that much. She’d come to us asking about it, so if she knew anything, the direct approach was our best bet.

  Allie looked deep into my eyes. “The question is, señor, what do you know about the Jade Jaguar?”

  Heh. I’d have to give her points for that one. It was smooth. But the last thing I needed was another person that spoke in half sentences. Isaiah could be bad enough.

  “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, miss, but we’re not interested.” I turned to face Isaiah. “Shall we be on our way?”

  “Certainly,” Isaiah agreed.

  We both got up out of our stools and started to head toward the door, muscling past Allie on the way.

  “Wait!” Allie cried when we were almost at the doorway.

  I turned around to face her again. Her face had paled, and there was something new in her eyes. Desperation, perhaps?

  “Yes?” I asked, trying to sound as annoyed as I could.

  “Okay,” Allie said. “I’ll tell you what I know, but only if you do the same.”

  I folded my arms in front of my chest. “You tell us what you know first, then I’ll decide if I want to tell you anything.”

  A war raged in Allie’s head. I could see it plainly on her face. For a moment, it looked like she was going to crack. Then finally, she sighed and nodded.

  “Very well. I will tell you what I know. Come. Sit.” She patted a chair that was next to her.

  I eyed Isaiah cautiously. He just kind of shrugged and threw his hands in the air.

  “Okay, Allie.” I made my way over by her and sat down. She followed suit, and Isaiah took the seat on her opposite side. “Now, tell us what you know.”

  Allie peered about the room for a moment then leaned in and lowered her voice. “Not much is known about the Jade Jaguar. Supposedly, it can grant miracles, though no one knows for sure. But I know one thing that no one else does—where it is hidden.”

  My ears perked up. Now that was promising.

  “Go on.”

  She leaned in even closer and lowered her voice until it was just barely over a whisper. “It is buried far beneath the ground in the Olmec city of San Lorenzo. The Olmec used to bury all their artwork as part of their rituals to their gods. If you go there, you will find it beneath the earth.”

  I frowned slightly. “Why tell us this? Why should we believe you?”

  How many people had been looking for this thing with no ideas on where to find it? And the first random person we meet in a bar knows? Her story was just a little too good to be true. But if it was...

  Allie beckoned for me to lean a little closer. “You are right to doubt me, señor,” she said. “I would doubt me, too. But I speak the truth. Only, it is not as easy to find the artifact as you might think. There are several traps that must be undone to reach it.”

  Great. Ancient traps. Just what I needed. Of course, I’d kind of expected as much. Rare artifacts stayed rare either because no one knew where they were, or because people died trying to reach them.

  It appeared our Jade Jaguar might be one of the latter after all.

  “Okay, so how do we disarm these traps,” I asked.

  Allie shook her head. “No. I will not share that information. Not unless you tell me your part first. What do you know?”

  I glanced at Isaiah, who just shrugged again. “Fine,” I said. I told her everything we knew about the artifact, which wasn’t much, really. After a moment, she looked satisfied.

  “Now tell us how to disarm the traps, and we’ll be on our way.”

  “It’s not that easy, señor,” Allie insisted. “I will tell you, but only if you allow me to come with you. Trust me, it will be better for you this way. I can lead you through the traps in person.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Nice try, but we don’t need any people tagging along.”

  Allie leaned back and folded her arms in front of her chest. “Very well. Good luck with your artifact hunt, señors.”

  She got up out of her seat and started heading for the door.

  My mind raced. How quickly things change. Just a moment ago, we’d been in the position of power. Now she had it all.

  I knew she was right. We had no chance of finding the artifact on our own, even knowing the city it was in. Heck, if it was that easy, someone else would have found it by now.

  “Wait!” I said at last.

  Allie turned back to face us, a wry grin on her face. “Did you have a change of heart, señors?”

  I looked at Isaiah again, who shot his hands up and gave me a look that said “do what you want.”

  I bit my lip and turned my attention back to Allie. “Fine,” I said at last. “You have a deal. You can come with us.”

  Allie walked back over to where we were sitting and smiled even broader. “I knew you would see things my way, señors.” She stuck out her hand. “You won’t regret this.”

  I took the offered hand. It was warm and soft. Too soft. My suspicions rose once more. Her words were sweet enough, but something told me they were dead wrong. Somehow, I knew I would very much regret all of this.

  6

  “You want me to do what?”

  I glared at Allie and balked. The nerve of some people.

  We were sitting in the back of an SUV. Isaiah had changed the corvette out for a car that had more seats. It had taken a while to get everything sorted, but we couldn’t have very well taken Allie along in the two-seater car, no matter how nice it had been.

  At any rate, it was several hours later on the same day. Near dinner time, really. My stomach was starting to growl. All I’d had for lunch was that tequila, which, while it had been mighty tasty and given me a good buzz, hadn’t really filled up the old tum tum.

  Part of me wondered if there was anywhere to go around here that didn’t serve Mexican food. It wasn’t really my favorite. But then, we were in rural Mexico, so I kind of doubted it.

  “Oh, come on,” Allie countered. “Like you’ve never done it before.”

  My cheeks grew bright crimson, and I reared back a bit. “So what if I have? That doesn’t mean I want to do it again.”

  She waved her hand at me dismissively. “It’s just a little theft and breaking and entering. It should be no big deal for people like yourselves.”

  I scoffed. “No big deal
? It’s kind of illegal, you know.”

  Granted, I’d done many illegal things in my life. But outside of a particularly dark period in the 1970s, it had always been for a good cause. To help someone dear to me, or to save a client. I’d never gone out of my way to do illegal things just because. I needed a reason, darn it.

  Allie rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about it so much. It’s not like the museum will miss it or anything. They’re not even displaying it right now! They won’t miss it.”

  I glanced over at Isaiah sitting in the front seat, hoping for some sort of backup. He just shrugged and shot me a wry grin.

  Ugh. No help there, then.

  “Like that makes it any better.” I huffed. A few hours into the relationship, and I was already regretting taking Allie with us. It was a little late to go back, though.

  “It’d help if I knew the reason,” I said finally, folding my arms in front of my chest.

  Allie scooted forward slightly in her seat, closing the distance between us. I leaned further back, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. The only woman I’d been this close to in recent past had been LaLuna. And that’s how I wanted to keep it. Allie’s little tactics wouldn’t work on me.

  “Let’s just say it’s important to the overall mission,” Allie said. “You want the Jade Jaguar, right? Well, this other artifact will help us retrieve it.”

  For the dozenth time, I wondered if the Jade Jaguar was really worth all the trouble. I’d already had someone try to assassinate me down here. Was it because of the jaguar? I’m not sure what else it would have been for. I mean, I wasn’t the most popular guy or anything, but assassins didn’t come for me in strange places that often.

  And now I was about to break into a museum. Sure, the thing could supposedly grant unlimited money, but that wouldn’t do me any good if I didn’t live long enough to use it.

  There I was, thinking positively about life again. What was wrong with me?

  Besides, that unlimited money, though. If it was real... Well, it sure was enticing.