A flash of metal, however, quickly crushed Stubby's confidence. Although it all happened in an instant, for Stubby it seemed as if time stopped. Seth drew his sword as he turned, the blade slicing right through the bullet and the two halves harmlessly passed by him.
Seth jumped, sailing across the gap between him and Stubby. As he landed, the blade sliced right through Stubby's wrist. The Magnum hit the floor with Stubby's hand still wrapped around it.
“YOU SONNUVA BI—!”
Seth elbowed Stubby in the nose. “What did I tell you about language, Mr. Stubby?”
“My...you just...”
Seth sighed. “I cut off your hand, yes. Quit being such an infant.” He knelt down and picked it up, pulling the gun free from the fingers and throwing it behind him. Then he offered the hand back to its owner. “Here, would you like it back?”
“You sick, twisted—”
“Oh please, you tried to shoot me, it was self-defense,” said Seth. “Now if you don't mind, I have a plane to catch.”
Seth sheathed his sword once more and went to the exit. He opened the door but before walking out, he gave one final glance back at Stubby. “One more thing, good sir. Do you know what's good for a wound like that?”
“What?” asked Stubby. Then he remembered the gas cans nearby. Seth struck a match and smiled.
“Cauterization.”
“NO!”
Seth tossed the match at the gas cans and it fell perfectly inside the open cap. They instantly burst into flames. Stubby ran for the office and out the back door just in time to watch his shop completely go up in flames.
He was able to make it to the front of the shop, wrapping his vest around the stump of a hand. But by the time he got there, Stubby fell to the ground, passing out from the blood loss.
As he drifted into unconsciousness, he only prayed that Elisa had been able to find the tablets by now so hopefully, she wouldn't have to contend with Seth as well as Davalos and the Order.
Unfortunately for her, Stubby knew the odds were definitely not in her favor. Elisa was going to have a lot of trouble on her hands and he hoped she had someone on her side.
CHAPTER 8
Lucas Davalos stood on a street in Mumbai, watching as the police dragged the car from the water beneath the bridge. He removed the cigarillo from his mouth and flicked it into the water, turning away and finding his unfortunate shadow standing on the street corner. Dressed, just as before, in a Hawaiian shirt with an oversized straw hat and large sunglasses.
“Wade, inconspicuous as always,” said Lucas as he passed by the larger man.
“This isn't good, Davalos,” said Wade. “We need to know where Hill is going. She may have a lead on the Churchward Tablets that we don't. And it's your job to find out what it is.”
“Don't blame me, these were your blasted men.” Lucas moved into an alley with Wade following. He took out a pack of cigarillos and drew a fresh one, offering one to Wade.
“No thanks. Filthy habit, takes ten years off your life.”
“Yeah, but that's off the end of your life, and those years are miserable anyway.” Lucas lit the cigarillo. “But if you find shitting in a bag appealing while nursing home employees rob your ass blind, more power to you. Besides, in this line of work, do you really think I'll make it long enough for cancer to be an issue?”
“If there's a god, then no,” said Wade.
“Back on topic, then.” Lucas pointed the fingers gripping the cigarillo at Wade. “These were your men, so don't blame me if they couldn't do their damned job. Maybe the Order should think about improving their hiring practices if your boys can't even handle a simple matter like tailing someone from the fucking airport.”
“Temper, temper, Mr. Davalos. Perhaps if you were better at your job, you wouldn't need Elisa Hill to do your hunting for you.”
“And this omniscient Order you represent certainly doesn't know much,” said Lucas. “'Just go to India, that's where the tablets were last seen.' Yes, searching for tablets that are centuries old in one of the most densely-populated countries in the world. It's like searching for a microscopic needle in a haystack the size of the Empire State Building.”
“Need I remind you that we are paying you quite handsomely for this task?”
“No, no you don't,” said Lucas. “I know how much money I'm getting and I know how important this is to your bosses. You're my client, you hired me and I'll stay on this job until either it or myself are finished, understand?”
“That's exactly what we like to hear, Mr. Davalos.”
“Good, now we've got another matter to worry about, and that's how do we find my old friend, Elsie? Your men were supposed to hold her in customs, what happened?”
“Apparently, she has some good friends who ranked a bit higher and took care of her luggage problems,” said Wade.
“Do we know who her friend is? If we do, we could probably lean on him, get the information that way. It's the best chance we have to figure something out.”
“We have no way of finding out that information,” said Wade. “But there is something else.” He handed Lucas a photograph taken from the airport security cameras.
“And who might this tasty little number be?” asked Lucas.
“That's Lakita Rai, professor of archaeology at Mumbai University. She was the one who picked up Hill.”
“Really? What else do we know about the dear Professor Rai?”
“She's an expert in her field, knows more about eastern mythology and archaeology than anyone else.”
“A myth hunter with this much knowledge and I've never heard of her? That seems kind of strange to me.”
“There are two possible reasons for that, Davalos. The first is that she's not really a myth hunter, but she's obviously an associate,” said Wade. “And the second is maybe you don't know as much as you want others to believe.”
Lucas shook his head with a grin on his face as he puffed the cigarillo. “Y'know something, you really hurt me, Wade. And here I thought we were becoming such good friends.”
“We're not friends, Davalos. I am the liaison to your client, that is all. Do we understand each other?”
“I suppose that means we won't be hitting up a titty bar any time soon.”
“To say the least.”
“Fine, so tell me something I can work with,” said Lucas. “You got an address for Rai?”
“I'm surprised a famed myth hunter like you wouldn't think to explore all sides of an issue,” said Wade.
Lucas took a long drag on the cigarillo and examined the photograph. He turned it over and on the back an address had been written in black ink. When he looked up again, Wade had already gone.
“Snarky little bastard,” he muttered.
***
Dusk had fallen when Lakita Rai searched through the bookshelves in her office, trying to locate the book she had left behind. She mentally kicked herself for not being prepared earlier. When she first began to help myth hunters three years ago, she had just started working at Mumbai University. She met Maxwell Finch during her doctoral studies and she impressed him with her knowledge and open minded perspective.
Of course, her lack of experience with combat training meant she would be a liability in any sort of field work. But myth hunters who were active in the field were different from ones who did their work in the world's research libraries. Elisa Hill, for all her intelligence, still had limitations to how much time she could devote to research. So did Maxwell at one time. That's when it helped to have people like Laki Rai on call.
There were times when Laki wished she did have the kind of training to perform Elisa's work. This moment had been one of those times, when a hand wrapped around her mouth and pressed the barrel of a gun under her chin.
“See that?” asked Lucas Davalos in a low whisper. “That's a Zastava CZ05. Semi-automatic. And that narrow barrel at the end? That's a silencer. For the uninitiated, a silencer means I could empty several clips into your tig
ht little body and no one would hear a damn thing. See, loud noises and I aren't exactly what you'd call simpatico. Hence the silencer. So if you scream, if you make a sound, if you so much as breathe in a way I don't like, I'm gonna get spooked and I might accidentally squeeze this here trigger. Now, nod your head if we understand each other.”
Laki carefully nodded.
“Good,” said Lucas. He turned her around and pinned her against the bookcase with one hand around her throat, the other holding the gun against her forehead. “This is what we call point-blank range. From here, I couldn't miss painting these books with your brains, not even if I wanted to. My understanding is you're not used to this kind of work. You're a bookworm, aren't you? Spend your time flipping through texts and doing that cross-referencing and translating shit you're so good at, right? So that means this must be a pretty scary situation for you, am I right?”
Laki nodded once more.
“I have some questions and you're going to answer them for me. The first one is where is Elisa Hill going to look for the Churchward Tablets?” He pushed the barrel hard against Laki's forehead. “And I swear on my mother's grave, if your voice rises above a whisper, I will put a bullet between your eyes.”
“I understand,” said Laki in a low voice. “And you're right, I just do research for hunters. I'm not one of them myself. And yes, this is the scariest situation I've ever been in.”
“I don't need you to repeat my words to me, I'm the one who said them.”
“I'm telling you this because I want you to know that despite all that, there is nothing you can do that will make me tell you a damn thing,” said Laki with a smile. “You're Davalos, right? And by coming here, you've told me that you don't know anything. Right now, I'm your only lead to the tablets. If you kill me, you get nothing and I find it hard to believe that the Order is very forgiving.”
Lucas frowned and Laki knew her assumption had been correct. He really didn't know where to find the tablets. He needed her and maybe she could find a way to use him against the Order.
“So first off, lower the gun,” she said. “They make me nervous and when I get nervous, I keep my mouth shut. Or I scream.”
“You know, I don't have to kill you,” said Lucas, a slight grin creeping up the side of his face. “I could always torture the information out of you.”
“And I could always send you on a wild goose chase,” said Laki. “Face it, Lucas—you've tipped your hand. You have no idea what you're doing out here, you don't know anything about the jobs you take on. You're nothing but a scavenger.”
He pushed her against the bookcase to reassert his dominance. Laki winced.
“Here's what we're going to do,” he said. “You are going to tell me everything you know about the Churchward Tablets, including where we can find them.”
“Go to hell.”
Lucas lowered the gun. “Fine. If you won't help me out, then what good are you anyway?” He brought the Zastava back up, about to fire a round between Laki's eyes, just as he had promised. Before he could squeeze the trigger, his body arched forward and he cried out in pain.
Laki looked down where Lucas had collapsed, seeing four red marks through the tears in his shirt. She looked up to find the source of the attack and saw a silhouette by the window. The figure turned and looked at her with eyes that seemed to shimmer like gold. Just as quickly as it came, the third party had left, leaving Laki alone with Lucas Davalos.
She picked up the Zastava and pointed at him. With her free hand, she took out her cell phone and dialed Elisa's number.
Lucas slowly started to get up, but Laki had him dead to rights. “There are a lot of differences between us, Davalos. At the moment, the biggest of those is that while you need me, I have absolutely zero use for you. So if you piss me off, you will be dead.”
Lucas laughed.
“What's so funny?” asked Laki.
“You're right, there are a lot of differences between us,” he said. “And one of those differences?”
Lucas grabbed her arm and flipped her over his shoulder, throwing Laki on her back, the gun now having fallen from her grip. He drew the dagger he kept concealed in his boot and held it to her throat as he pinned her to the floor with his knee.
“I'm a professional. So I know to stay out of reach of someone I hold a gun to.”
His eyes quickly glanced around the room. “Whoever you are, get out here now before I cut her throat!”
No response came.
“I know you're here, Elsie! I didn't just imagine these cuts on my back, so come out now!”
Lucas waited a few more moments and when he realized he and Laki were alone, he sheathed the dagger and picked up the Zastava then got to his feet. He pulled Laki up and pressed the gun against the small of her back.
“You do what I say when I say it and maybe—just maybe—you'll get out of this alive. We on the same page?”
Laki nodded.
“Good,” said Lucas. “Now, you're going to take me to the Churchward Tablets.”
CHAPTER 9
When Elisa emerged from her shower, she saw the note Laki left, saying she had gone to her office to get something she left behind. Almost immediately after that, Elisa's phone rang.
On the other end, she heard the sounds of a struggle and then the voice of Laki's attacker—a voice Elisa recognized immediately as Lucas Davalos.
“Dammit!” she cursed and went back to the bedroom where her suitcases were. Elisa dressed quickly in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and donned her kukri daggers, affixing the sheaths to the back of her belt and then covering it up with a leather jacket.
Laki took the car, which forced Elisa to get a taxi instead. To the driver's credit, he did get there as fast as he could, but even that was too late and Elisa knew it. Once she found Laki's office, Davalos had been long gone and Laki with him. Elisa saw some specks of blood on the floor and examined them. Was this Laki's blood?
No, Davalos wouldn't hurt her. Not when he needed her. Right now, she was his only lead to the Churchward Tablets. Elisa saw Laki's cell phone lying on the ground as well. She picked it up and saw something on the display.
68
Two numbers, that's it, the only clue Elisa had. She checked the buttons on the phone and paid attention to the letters below the first number—M, N and O. And beneath the second were the letters T, U and V.
“What were you trying to tell me...?” she asked. Looking up at the bookshelf, Elisa checked the letters once again. She combined the letters in her head, trying to decipher the possible meaning.
“M-U—Mu.” She realized the answer and went to the bookshelf, searching through the various volumes. One of the books she saw had written on the spine: Mu, The Motherhood of Man. She sighed and set it down.
“Churchward's book? There's nothing in there that tells me where the tablets are.”
Elisa sat in the chair behind Laki's desk and struggled to think. Davalos could be anywhere and without Laki's lead, Elisa now had to fly completely blind. And at that moment, her cell phone began to ring.
Elisa answered it instantly but sighed once she heard the voice on the end wasn't Laki, somehow escaping from Lucas' clutches. Instead, it was Max.
“I've got my flight booked and all my arrangements are made,” he said. “How are things going on your end?”
“Davalos has Laki,” said Elisa.
“What? How?”
“I was in the shower and Laki went back to her office to get something she left behind.”
“Why did you let her go alone?”
“I didn't, she didn't tell me she was going, just left a note,” said Elisa. She went on to recap the rest of the night so far. Once the story finished, Max considered what she had said, running it over in his head.
“So the Order is as lost as we are right now.”
“Not anymore, they've got Laki,” said Elisa. “And she had a lead on the tablets. She left her phone with the numbers 68 on the display and I thought she
was trying to say Mu. But the only reference to Mu I found in her collection was Churchward's book.”
“This is all my fault,” said Max.
“What? How is this your fault? You didn't know Davalos would do this. You didn't know Laki would forget that she's not supposed to go off on her own.”
“By asking her to pick you up at the airport, that made it easy for the Order to mark her. I shouldn't have been so sloppy, should have had you take a cab to the university.”
“Mark...” That word stuck with Elisa. She picked up the book once more and held it so the spine faced up. She grabbed each of the covers and shook before a slip of paper fell from between the pages. “Got it!”
“What?”
“Bookmark,” said Elisa. “Churchward may not have given us any hints, but looks like Laki kept hers with the book.” She picked up the slip of paper that fell out. “A name and an address. This might be where the tablets are, or at least a lead as to where we can find them.”
“Then go, I'll be there as soon as I can. Hopefully by that point, you'll have found both Lakita and the tablets as well as left Davalos in your wake.”
***
Laki sat in the passenger seat of Lucas' rental car. She had sent him on a twisting journey, taking unnecessary turns and routes into the countryside and away from the city. She could only hope that by choosing this course of action, she was giving Elisa the time she needed to get to their destination first. With any luck, Elisa would be waiting by the time they arrived to surprise Davalos, take him out and then the two women could get away with the Tablets before any other fate befell them.
“Why do you do this?” she asked.
Davalos removed the cigarillo from his mouth. “For the same reason anyone does anything—money.”
“There are better ways to make money than stealing priceless artifacts for shadowy organizations.” Then she added in a lower voice, “or kidnapping young professors...”
“Guess you're right, it's not just about the money—hell, I've got quite a bit saved up now, doubt I'll ever be able to spend it all in my lifetime,” said Davalos. “It's also about the rush.”
The Lost Continent Page 5
