Hunter's Hope

by M. J. O'Shea

  “So, you ready?” Kendra asked.

  It sounded like nervous chatter. Alo was obviously ready, seeing as they were in the back of a town car on the way to JFK. Of course, ready was a... loose term. His day was going to end in another country on the way to looking for stolen treasure.

  And hopefully not getting attacked again. There wasn’t really a way to get ready for that.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” he muttered.

  Alo tried not to notice that Jack reached over and squeezed his thigh comfortingly. He was halfway between pushing his hand away out of reflex and telling him to never let go. Even with everything that had been going on, Alo had noticed things about Jack—how his mouth quirked up on one side when he smiled, how a strand of hair on the right side of his face always fell down so he was constantly tucking it behind his ear. Alo noticed a lot of things about Jack. He bit his lip.

  “I think that’s how we feel every time,” Kendra said. She smiled at him like they were friends and hadn’t just met five minutes before. “You’ll be okay, Alo.”

  I’ll be okay....

  He watched the buildings slip by, blocks that he’d known all his life, familiar and easy. Alo was about to take a huge leap into the unknown. He hadn’t thought about it very long, and he probably hadn’t made the choice in the most rational of moments, but he’d made it. And he was going. He’d sent his mom a text message and turned off his phone.

  It simply said, I’m taking care of it. I’ll be away for a couple of weeks. You guys need to go too.

  Dramatic, maybe. But he didn’t want a Charlotte Green smackdown in the middle of some European city, and she most certainly would do that if she had the chance. He also wanted them to go. And stay safe. Spending a few days in December on the beach in Florida wasn’t exactly a punishment.

  “Let’s do a bit of planning, guys,” Jack said. “I think we’re going to need to act fast once we land. I want to get in and out of each location before people realize what we’re doing.”

  Brad cleared his throat nervously. “You think the people who went after Alo last night are going to follow us?”

  “I doubt it. But wouldn’t you rather be safe?” Jack raised one full eyebrow.

  “You’re right.”

  Alo tried to push away the thoughts of people in dark clothes jumping him on some foreign street. Instead he concentrated on how he could feel Jack breathing, in and out, in and out. It was comforting in a way, although Jack’s presence should have done little to comfort him.

  They were practically strangers. Somehow it did, though. Maybe it was just the warmth of his big solid body. Maybe it was how he’d saved Alo the night before. All of a sudden Alo realized, mistake or not, he’d rather be doing this with Jack than anyone else.

  Alo hadn’t done a lot of traveling. He wasn’t the best with sitting for long periods of time, despite what he’d chosen for his occupation, and he didn’t like being cooped up in tiny spaces. He was lucky he even had a passport. He probably wouldn’t have if his cousin hadn’t gotten married in London two summers ago.

  Still, he sat twitchy in his seat and waited for the plane to take off. He was trying not to be claustrophobic. Ironically, being on a window side helped a little. He could look out the window and watch all the little carts zooming across the runway with bags piled in them. At least Treasure Quest sprung for business-class seats, so Alo didn’t have to fold his too-tall body into a tiny coach-sized hole. He’d done that once all the way to Europe. It wasn’t an experience he’d like to repeat.

  He was seated next to Jack on the long flight from New York to Berlin. He was glad they’d at least managed to snag a nonstop. Once he got off the plane, he wasn’t going to want to get back on it for a long time. He downed a couple of Dramamines, the very drowsy version, and tried to pass out. He hadn’t really slept much the night before, after all. He’d spent more time on Jack’s couch holding his jacket closed and waking up every ten seconds, sure someone was after him and the letters than actually sleeping.

  Alo had looked down at the busy tarmac, full of luggage carts and people bustling around. He scanned the other passengers on the plane. None of it looked particularly sinister. Which of course meant nothing. He wondered if the Dramamine he took was going to make him fall asleep, or if he was going to stay awake the entire time, too worried to move.

  He had the letters locked away in a toiletry bag in a compartment in his carry-on that he’d put underneath the seat in front of him with the strap around his ankle instead of in one of the overhead bins where anyone could get to it. That didn’t mean he was happy with the situation. If it were up to him, he’d have put them on a drive that he disguised as a coin or some other super secret spy thing. Too bad he wasn’t friends with anyone at the CIA.

  “Hey, man. You’re going to have to relax,” Jack said. He bumped Alo’s shoulder with his own.

  “Easier said than done,” Alo muttered.

  “I didn’t sleep much either last night. Kind of hard, I know. But it’s fine. The letters are safe, and we can chill out. We have a long time to sit still, might as well get used to it.”

  “I should’ve put the letters on my laptop. They’d be safer there than—” He broke off. “Than where they are.”

  Jack shook his head. “I disagree. Listen, maybe I’m old- fashioned”—he smirked—“or just plain old. But everything is so digital these days. It seems every other day you’re hearing stories about what’s been stolen off of people’s computers and phones. Do you want that to happen?”

  Alo grumbled and shut his eyes. “No.” Still should’ve made a copy. Somehow. He decided when they landed, he’d figure something out. For the time being, the drugs were actually working, and he was starting to feel his eyes get heavier and heavier. He had his carry-on clamped between his feet under the seat and the strap was secure-ish. Alo decided that he was safe for the time being.

  When Alo woke up, the plane was getting close to landing. The little readout on the seat in front of him said there were only about forty-five minutes left.

  “You slept a long time,” Jack said quietly. He had a travel magazine in front of him, but it didn’t look like he was actually reading it.

  “Drugs are great,” Alo said.

  Of course he’d be awake by the time they landed, which worked out since it would be breakfast time in Berlin if Alo had done his calculations correctly.

  Jack chuckled softly. “Might want to grab a coffee to counteract them. I think we have a long day ahead of us.”

  Alo was glad Jack wanted to start right away. As far as he knew, they’d gotten away from whoever was following him back home. That didn’t mean they were incapable of finding him. He knew it would be dangerously naive to think that, no matter what Jack had told Brad.

  Two very strong coffees later, the captain was announcing their descent into Berlin Tegel Airport. Alo’s heart raced, and not just from too much caffeine. He hadn’t done anything so absolutely insane in his life.

  It was terrifying.

  It was stupid as hell.

  It kind of felt... amazing.

  By the time they got through baggage and customs and into the van Brad had rented for them, it was about eleven in the morning. Alo was starving. He realized the last thing he’d even attempted to eat was when he’d met Jack at the coffee shop. That had been.... Jesus. He didn’t even want to hurt his brain trying to figure it out. He bought what was essentially a sausage roll in the terminal and happily shoved it into his face.

  “You want more than that? I’m hungry too,” Kendra said. “Yesterday was interesting.”

  “Interesting’s the word for it,” Alo said with his mouth full.

  He was nervous. Sure he was nervous as hell. But there was something in it, a thrill that he’d certainly never felt in his orderly life on campus, that made him want to grin. And eat more. But that had always been his reaction to nerves.

  “I’d like to drop our bags off at the hotel and then get going
if that’s okay,” Brad said. “We have a lot of footage to shoot today, and we want to go for the item first.”

  “Necklace,” Alo said. “I think it’s going to be a necklace.”

  Brad nodded. “Let’s get to the hotel first, get cleaned up and ready to shoot. Kendra, you’re going to have to do Alo’s makeup.”

  Alo stood back. “Makeup?”

  Jack chuckled. “Yes. We usually have a bit of a larger crew with us. Makeup and hair woman, a few kids who deal with Brad’s equipment. But I thought this one would be better to run small. Kendra, you’re okay with doing makeup and hair, aren’t you?”

  “I love how you assume that because I’m a woman,” she snapped.

  “Well, are you?”

  “Yes.” Kendra didn’t look like she wanted to admit it. “But let’s remember that I have two master’s degrees, okay? I’m here because of that, not my makeup brushes.”

  “Or your boobs,” Jack grumbled. “It had nothing to do with them either.”

  Oh. Shit.

  Alo had to keep from cringing visibly. He’d thought that Brad, Kendra, and Jack were a pretty tight team. Looked like there were some things boiling under the surface. It was also a bit of a shock to realize he wasn’t the most educated person in the van.

  They pulled up to a hotel, which looked to be nice but not too nice, in a clean touristy area.

  “Let’s blend in. It’s Christmas, and a lot of tourists are in the European cities for the season, so we’ll have to try to look like them. I don’t want to bring any attention to ourselves if we don’t have to. I’m going to get out and check in, if you guys want to pull the van around into the parking area and meet me up in our suite.”

  Brad nodded and let Jack out of the van. Kendra sat silently in the back.

  Alo decided that he’d rather go with Jack than stay in the van with sullen Kendra and Brad, whom he’d never even spoken to. He hopped out as well and followed Jack into the hotel.

  “You settling in?”

  “I think so.” Alo put the last of his clothes into the drawers. He knew they weren’t staying in Berlin long, or anywhere for that matter, but he hated the idea of living out of a jumble of clothes at the bottom of a suitcase. Even more the idea of losing something. He’d keep it neat even if it wouldn’t last long in any location.

  Alo wondered why he was sitting there wasting time thinking about clothes and not what he was about to start—what they were all about to start.

  Pretty obvious, I guess.

  “Hey, you okay?” Jack asked.

  Alo laughed softly. He didn’t mean for it to come out as bitter as it sounded. “No. Of course I’m not okay. Are you?”

  Jack grinned. “Sure. Why not?” He shrugged like he didn’t have a single care in the world.

  “Maybe because your show will get canceled if I end up being crazy,” Alo snapped. “Or we could die. That’s always a distinct possibility.”

  Jack snorted and reached out to ruffle Alo’s hair. Alo didn’t even flinch. “We’re not going to die, kid.”

  “You don’t know that. And don’t call me kid.”

  “I do know that. You’re going to be fine. I’m going to be fine, and I think we’re going to be very successful finding your great-grandpa’s stuff and showing it to the world.” Jack pulled his hair out of the stubby ponytail it had mostly fallen out of anyway, and massaged his head. “Airplane headache,” he muttered.

  Right. Alo swallowed and didn’t think at all about how thick and soft and golden Jack’s hair looked. Really. Not the time for that.

  At least he remembers Ira was my great-grandfather now.

  “So what now?”

  “Kendra and Brad are dealing with some transportation issues. Then we’re going to get ready to head out.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yeah. Like I said earlier, we’re running really low on this one. Didn’t want to take the usual crew along. For safety reasons and all that.”

  “Probably better,” Alo said.

  He had no idea what was actually better. He was running at full tilt in the dark, about to go out searching for things he’d probably never find with people he barely knew—and only a vague plan in place if they did happen to find anything. He literally had no idea what he was doing.

  “I thought so too. Listen, do you want to spend this time getting ready? Scan the letters and see if there’s anything else that might help us?”

  Alo nodded. “Okay.”

  “So first the Brandenburg Gate?” Jack asked.

  “Yeah. Let’s do that one first.”

  Alo’s hands shook as he pulled the first Berlin letter out of the pile.

  He’d organized them by city, although most cities only had one, unlike Berlin. Brandenburg Gate. He was so sure that’s where the letter was leading.

  “Okay,” Jack said. “We’ve looked at this place. It’s huge. We could be there all day combing the area and never find some little crack or crevice where a necklace could’ve been hidden.”

  Alo had a moment where he remembered the conversation he’d had with Watson back at the Christmas party—about that amulet with Hathor on it. He got a cold shiver that slipped down his spine. “Yeah. I know.”

  “Is there anything else?”

  Alo shook his head. “I don’t think so. Let me go over it again.”

  He read and reread the letter. Ira spoke of how much he missed his wife, how kind Goering had been to him, how he felt well taken care of. He just kept bringing up the necklace. He said it was one that he’d given to her for their anniversary a few years back. It had to be something.

  “I swear it’s the necklace thing. That keeps popping out at me. It doesn’t seem like it belongs.”

  “Tell me about it again.”

  “He keeps reminding her of the necklace he bought her years ago. He says it over and over. Wouldn’t it be weird to keep talking about some old gift like that? Unless it’s significant?”

  “I have to say I agree. Do you know anything about the necklace?”

  Alo shook his head. Why would he? He hadn’t thought much about the repetition of the necklace story when he’d first started researching the letters. Just assumed it was a quirky story and meant to pad the more important details about the item’s location. He felt stupid for not at least noticing and asking his dad.

  “Well, then, that detail might have helped your great-grandparents, but it’s not going to help us, is it?”

  “Probably not,” Alo said.

  Alo slumped down a little, letting his spine curve. He was already exhausted, and they hadn’t even begun. Exhausted and scared. He had to admit he liked Jack’s warmth next to him, like he had in the car back in New York. Or next to him on the long flight.

  “Sorry. This isn’t something I’m used to doing,” Alo said. He felt a little deflated.

  “You’re doing great,” Jack told him. He put his hand lightly around the back of Alo’s neck. Alo had to keep from shuddering. Jack’s touch felt good. “This would be hard for anyone. Especially after the other night. We’re going to get through this. We’ll both get what we want.”

  “Yeah,” Alo said. “I hope so.”

  Jack turned to face him, and Alo found himself mirroring Jack until they were face-to-face on his stiff hotel bed. “If you want to quit”—Jack winced—“we can go home.”

  “No, that’s stupid. We’ve come so far. I just don’t know if we’re going to find anything here. I really don’t. I don’t even know what the necklace clue means.”

  “Maybe when we get to the monument we’ll get lucky. Maybe it’ll be obvious.”

  Alo snorted. “I bet. There will be a huge sign saying ‘the necklace is hidden here,’ and in all these years nobody’s ever noticed it, but we’ll find it easily. You’ll see.”

  “Remind me never to get on the wrong side of your sarcasm, kid.”

  “Don’t call me kid.” Alo glared at him for a minute, and then Jack chuckled.

  “Ja
ck, let’s be realistic.” Jack was starting to hate the sound of Marshall’s voice. He whined even from another continent in Jack’s ear like the annoying jackass he was. “There’s nothing wrong with gracefully bowing out. I’m sure you have lots of other options.”

  “None that I know of,” Jack growled.

  The suits had gone for his idea. At least they would’ve if he’d had another opportunity to get them pumped by it.

  “News, travel shows, eco-adventuring… There will be networks lining up to get you next,” Marshall said.

  “When we talked a week ago, you told me I had to bring in something great to keep my slot. This has the potential to blow everything else I’ve ever done out of the water.”

  “Potential, yes. Vague potential. Do you really think it’s prudent to base your career on a school paper written by a kid?”

  “A PhD student who is twenty-two,” Jack snorted. “You make it sound like he’s some junior high boy with a wild idea. I’ve seen the letters, Marshall. I think he’s right.”

  “You thought you’d find a Muiscan idol hidden in a cave in Colombia too. That didn’t pan out very well.”

  “No. It didn’t. Thanks for the reminder.”

  Kendra had shown him such good research to back that up too. Of course, she was the one who came to him with Alo’s claims as well. Jack wasn’t a moron. He knew Kendra wanted his job — or at least she was doing her damndest to act like she did.

  He didn’t know if she was dumb enough to think that sabotaging him would get it for her. Either way, Alo was smart. Exacting. Research was his life. He wouldn’t have made his claims off the top of his head. And apparently other people agreed with Jack.

  “Listen, Marshall. There are people after this kid. People who want the letters and are trying to hurt him to get them. Does that sound real enough to you?”