The Artifact: Natasha Burrows Series Book One

by Phillips, Michelle

  He grinned at her “after last night I thought you might be used to a little rough and tumble.” He pressed his foot down even further on the accelerator like he had a lead brick attached to it, weaving dangerously through traffic.

  “It's becoming quickly apparent that you love danger” she said, her fingers clutching into the black leather seats for grim life.

  “Or more likely” an evil grin flashing across his face, fire in his eyes “danger likes me. Look at that car behind us.”

  She looked in the rear vision mirror. “I can’t see which one?” she said surveying all the cars that following behind them.

  “Look again” he said, planting his foot and swerving across behind a car and then gunning it and swerving back in front of another, changing lanes twice in a zigzagging fashion. Three cars back, a midnight blue SUV copied his moves, maintaining the same distance behind them.

  “Idiots don’t know how to tail properly” he muttered “they have been following us since the hotel.”

  Tasha looked at Xavier nervously. “What do we do?” she asked.

  “At this stage; nothing.”

  “Nothing?” cried Tasha, “but they are after us, can’t you get rid of them!”

  Xavier cocked one eyebrow “well look who has turned into a regular Nancy Drew.”

  “You’re mocking me now, great” she said with her arms folded, like an obstinate child throwing a tantrum.

  He laughed “Did you always get your way, from when you were a little girl?”

  She eyed him darkly “why aren’t you taking this seriously?”

  “Oh I am. This is the best possible outcome.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “If we are to be followed, then it is best to know who is following you. If we lose them now, we could pick up another tail at any time in the future. Right now we know who they are, and we have them exactly where we want them.... In our sights.”

  She thought about it for a moment. “It makes sense I guess.”

  “Don’t worry, we can keep an eye on them from now on in, and once we get to the jungle…” he trailed off.

  “What? Once we get to the jungle what?”

  “It’s anyone’s game then. The jungle has a way of sorting things out. Separating the men from the boys.”

  She looked at him a little concerned. She had to admit, she didn’t really like the sound of that much, and not having been in the jungle before, she was feeling pretty anxious about the whole experience. Not to mention in the rush she had forgotten her antibacterial wipes. (There she went again, like a blathering idiot, glad he didn’t hear all that).

  Xavier pulled into the long-term parking at Caracas airport. He drove around for a few minutes looking for a parking spot, carefully keeping an eye on the midnight blue SUV that followed them in. The long-term parking was out in the open so he was able to track where they parked. He went around the back of the SUV, lugging both their bags out and throwing them over his shoulders.

  “They are in the parking” he told Tasha, “and they have parked a few rows back from us. We should be able to get a look at them on the way into the airport.”

  She looked at him skeptically. “That’s if they don’t mug us first.”

  “I don’t think that will be an issue” he said “They are following us for a reason, I assume they want what is on that map of yours.”

  “You know about the map?” she asked shocked raising her eyebrows. “Uncle….” she complained raising her eyes and rolling her head.

  “For an old guy, he certainly knows how to drink” said Xavier “and his tongue gets a bit loose in the process.”

  “For heaven's sake,” she moaned “how many other people know about this map?”

  “I’m not sure. When I found him in the El Mani he was talking to anyone who would listen, about trying to find himself a guide. Luckily, most thought he was a rambling old drunk.”

  She snorted derisively “the old fool” she said. “So why are you helping then? I can’t imagine your motivations are completely altruistic.”

  “Me?” he asked pointing to himself with his hand “I’m a man of adventure. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of a good old-fashioned adventure, and of course” he grinned like a Cheshire cat “money.”

  “Of course, and how much is my uncle paying you for this ‘adventure’ Indiana Jones, sorry I mean Bush Boss?”

  “Enough to keep me happy and you safe,” was all he would say.

  She cocked one eye at him “So, basically you knew everything the night you first met me? Why did you get me to meet you in that hell hole?” She felt a bit miffed now she thought properly about it.

  “That? That was a test.”

  “Whatever for?” she asked incredulous.

  “I need to know what or more importantly who I’m dealing with. I put my life at risk on these adventures, I need to know the person I’m going to be ‘partnered’ with can hold their own. When you are in a life or death situation, you need to rely on your partner, otherwise they can get you killed.” She was silent, she hadn’t thought about it like that. “I learnt about it early in my career” he continued “when I was asked to get a wealthy man’s son out of the country, he had gotten himself into, let's just say, a difficult situation between the authorities and the mafia. When shit hit the fan, he left me hanging and I barely got out with my life.”

  “So, did I pass?” she asked.

  “Huh? Oh” he laughed “barely. It was a bit touch and go when you walked in wearing that Armani suit.”

  She blushed “Ok, I admit, not my smartest moment.”

  “Your acting after that though” he grinned wickedly “was superb.”

  “And that’s what is was” she said matter of factly, “acting. Anyhow is everything all just a game to you?”

  She looked across to see that he was no longer paying attention. He had spotted two men who had exited the SUV, they were walking parallel to them several rows of cars across.

  He nodded to her slightly “there they are, do not look directly at them.” She looked at them out of the corner of her eye. One was an extremely large man, both tall and fat, and the other, well the best she could describe him was that he looked like a weasel, and he scurried like one. They were both wearing Hawaiian style shirts and sandals, like they had just stepped out of a bad detective movie.

  “They look like they are locals” said Xavier.

  “Does that mean anything.”

  “Yes and no. They could have been hired by someone else. The disadvantage is that they know their way around. It will be harder to get rid of them.”

  “Then what do we do?”

  “Harder I said, but not impossible” he winked at her quickening his pace.

  They entered the airport, and headed for the ticket counter.

  “So what do we do?” she asked quite unnecessarily out of the side of her mouth.

  “Watch” he said. “Can we please get two tickets to Ciudad Bolivar?” he asked the lady behind the counter smiling sweetly at her and handing her their passports. His voice sounded like pure velvet, his slow southern drawl like viscous honey dripping slowly from a honey dipper. It was all she could do but to hold back a groan at the cheesiness of his flirting.

  The woman fluttered her eyelashes like a charming-waif back at him “luggage?” she asked. He heaved his navy hiking bag that he had retrieved from the back of his SUV and Tasha’s own black hiking bag onto a squealing darkish conveyor belt.

  “I was wondering,” he asked looking at her with a look that could melt butter “are you the only one taking tickets to Ciudad?”

  She twinkled, seeming to swoon a little over him, “myself and my friend over there” she self consciously brushed a stray hair from her face and pointed to another attendant at the check-in desk.

  He lowered his voice and lent forward as if telling a tawdry secret, “you see, my sister and I feel like we have been followed by a couple of men. Those two weird guys over there.
” he indicated without actually pointing to the two men skulking behind a potted bird of paradise. “I was wondering if you could help us?” he winked at her in an effort to seal the deal.

  It worked, she literally beamed, “I may be able to Sir, what are you asking?”

  He slid some one hundred bill notes across the counter under his hand “I was wondering if you could make sure that they don’t make this plane.”

  She smiled sweetly “Certainly Sir, I can accommodate this request” she said carefully taking the money, crumpling it and slipping it up her sleeve.

  “Thank you very much” he said.

  “My pleasure, have a pleasant flight.”

  “What just happened?” asked Tasha shocked. “Women, actual women, actually fall for that routine?” She grimaced like she had inadvertently stepped on a piece of gum.

  “This isn’t America, practically all the airport employees here are corrupt.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, I’m actually surprised they didn’t get you on the way through. There is a scam going on where they tell you that you can’t take a certain item through customs, like a camera, binoculars, laptop, and they ‘confiscate’ it on your way through.”

  “What?” she looked at him shocked.

  “Well, who’s going to stop them? They deny you access to leave or don’t allow you in the country unless you hand it over. Normally they take you to a private room to do it.”

  “So this, woman is actually going to stop them?” (she lingered on the word woman because in her eyes she was hardly such. Jealousy? perhaps!)

  “Yes, it will be easy she will have them delayed in customs or tell them the flight is full and they will have to get the next one.”

  “What if they offer her money to get on the plane?”

  “Ohuh? Oh well I never thought about that one, with any luck they won’t have any handy.”

  They made their way onto the plane.

  “Hopefully we have managed to get rid of them” she said taking her seat.

  “Well if we haven’t” he said sitting alongside her “they aren’t the worst of what you have to worry about.”

  Her eyes widened “Really?” she was really starting to wonder what she had actually gotten herself into.

  “Ciudad Bolivar is capital of the Bolivar state and the diamond capital of Venezuela.”

  “Diamonds? I thought this area was known for gold?”

  “Yes, gold and also diamonds. In 1942 they found a 155-carat exceptional quality D colour diamond in the Bolivar Province. Only around 1 to 2% of naturally occurring diamonds are classified as a D or IIa type which means it was absolutely colourless. They named it the El Libertador in honour of Simon Bolivar who you might know from your history lessons as the nineteenth century liberator of Venezuela, and the other Spanish colonies of Columbia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, from the yoke of Spanish imperialism.”

  The stewardess walked past them jauntily in her azure blue mini on crotch watch. The cabin crew were getting ready for takeoff.

  Her eyes widened, “Yes, I know a little bit about history, but not diamonds.”

  “I learnt about diamonds from my last employer. A rich gentleman who wanted to try his hand at alluvial diamond mining. We panned, or should I say, he hired men to pan in the Caroni River, whilst he mainly watched. It wasn’t quite as exciting as he had envisioned, the romance of his imaginings died when he realised he would be getting into that cold muddy water and digging around for hours amongst roots and rock to find gold and gems the size of small specs. Not to mention, the crocodiles.”

  She looked at him her eyes enlarged, like a match struck in the dark, an awakening epiphany. “Ahh” he said, now I see you are finally getting it. It took you a while.”

  “Is that what they think, that this map leads to treasure, diamonds and gold?”

  He shrugged casually “Why not, it is possible isn’t it?” She looked at him, wondering if he was digging for information or just having a laid-back conversation. He sensed her distrust immediately “You don’t trust me?” he asked.

  “No, no” she said “well I don’t know, it's been a crazy few days. I don’t hardly know you.”

  “And yet, I saved your life and cooked you breakfast” he chuckled, putting his hand to his mouth. She eyed his strong hand and the seductive curve of his lips.

  She grinned, “the absolute truth is, I have no idea what that map leads to. The only thing I can know for certain is that it is old, in fact, very old given the age of the map. It may not even still be there, it could have been taken, or it could have been destroyed over time.

  Time can be a cruel mistress, and it has been a very, very long time. It is a gamble of epic proportions, but my Uncle thinks it's worth it, and he generally has a nose for these sorts of things.”

  “Yes, your Uncle, quite the character.”

  “You wouldn’t know the half of it. He’s been in and out of trouble for a good part of the last 15 years that I have known of. Probably longer.”

  “Yet you still come to his aid?”

  She smiled wistfully “My father used to, but he is dead now.” The airplane suddenly hit a patch of turbulence, causing it to drop abruptly. She felt like her stomach left her, it didn’t get the memo and was still sauntering along at a higher altitude, waiting to get an invite to the party down below. She gripped at the armrests for dear life, her knuckles white from the force of her grip.

  The pilot's voice sounded over the intercom “I’m sorry, it looks as though we just hit a pocket of turbulence. I have switched on the seatbelt signs as a precaution, it appears as though we are heading into some mild turbulence.”

  “Great” groaned Tasha rolling her eyes. “Can we get some alcohol?”

  Xavier chuckled “For someone dashing headlong into the Amazon, I would think that flying would be the least of your worries.”

  “It’s only natural to experience a fear of flying, I think it's abnormal not to, it's not exactly like we were built to fly or anything.”

  “Interesting argument” he said “but I think that our odds of survival up here are way better than our chances in the Amazon. There is literally a million ways you can die in the deep dangerous southern jungles of Venezuela.”

  She looked at him her eyes widening. “Oh no” she said with trepidation. “And you’re about to tell me aren’t you? I beg you - don’t.”

  “I’d be remiss not to” he said with a villainous grin, like a schoolboy teasing a girl he was sweet on he continued, counting them off on his fingers along the way. “Let me see, there are tigers and jaguars, oh and eight-foot-long electric eels that are capable of electrocuting a man with 900 volts.”

  “900 volts? Are you kidding me?”

  “Yep, that’s plenty enough to stop a man's heart. Not to mention the man-eating piranha in all rivers and streams.”

  “Ah, well then I should be fine, since they are only man-eating” she said mustering up a weak smile and an even weaker joke.

  “Ha, ha, ha” he said. “Nice try. Have I mentioned the Canero or vampire fish? That little guy is a vampiric parasite. It will go straight up your” he pursed his lips and made a whistling noise pointing upwards.

  “We are both adults here” she said “you can say bum.”

  “Oh no, not your bum” he said “the other…”

  “Oh my god!” she exclaimed covering her hands with her ears and going white “don’t say it.” She lowered her hands “It’s easily solved” she said with determination, folding her arms. “I’ll just stay out of the water.”

  “Good plan” he said, “but the bushmaster snake doesn’t live in water, however the Anaconda doesn’t mind it so much. It makes it much easier for it to haul its massive body around. You know they can swallow a person whole?”

  She pretended to cover her ears “la, la, la” she sang quietly to herself. He chortled at her childish behaviour and continued unperturbed.

  “But back to the Bushmaster, it should
n’t be dismissed too quickly. It is the longest pit viper in the world, and it's not afraid to chase a man either. You can even see the venom squirting out of the fangs as the snake starts to make a strike. Its one of the most terrifying experiences I’ve ever seen.”

  “Are you enjoying yourself?” Tasha asked looking at him her face still white, akin to a sad Pierrot doll sans the tear.

  He nodded “Very much. Well, it looks like we are almost here” he said looking at his watch.

  “Well as much as I enjoyed our scintillating discussion” she unclasped her seatbelt with a definitive click, “I need to visit the little girls room, and you need to seriously reconsider your sales pitch. Continue on like that and you’ll scare all your customers away.” She got up and attempted to skirt around him elegantly. The weather, a fickle mistress at best, had entirely other ideas in mind, and the plane hitting yet another spot of turbulence managed to throw her inelegantly at his lap, like a tantruming toddler tossing a rag doll.

  She grasped at the chair in front of her for dear life, imagining the smug look on his face as her derriere collided coincided with his manhood for the briefest of seconds, and bustled flurried and blushing to the toilet as he smugly pointed to the ‘seat belt on’ light which had not yet been switched off.

  She couldn't believe herself. She had been actively flirting with him, enjoying his company, and violating all her rules. Rule number one was ‘avoid bad boys.’ She pressed on the tap with one cautious finger, patting some water to her flushed face. She could hardly believe the time had gone so quickly, sitting conversing with him had been interesting, not exactly the uneducated nightmare she had envisaged. On top of that, he had helped her forget her fear of flying, albeit by making her terrified of entering the jungle now, and the one-hour trip had gone smoothly and without event.

  They departed the plane, realising that they were no longer being followed.

  “Looks like she came through for us.” He smiled referring to the attendant who he had bribed. She nodded gratefully, apparently there were some advantages to being a lady’s man. “The next flight is in a few days time, so I guess they will be waiting a while” he chuckled. “Where to next?” he asked looking at her.