Dangerous Treasure

by Olivia West

  “People do strange things when they are in a bind. Easy enough to have it melted down into gold bricks and sold quickly to get fast cash instead of taking the time needed to properly process the sale of the statues,” he suggested.

  “I just can’t see Hank doing that,” she said.

  “I don’t know. He didn’t seem to have any problem believing one of us would do it,” Pete told her. “I guess time will tell. What we need to do right now is protect ourselves from the fallout. We both have reputations to protect. Being suspected of something like this could really hurt our relationships with clients who trust us to handle their most precious finds,” he added.

  “I know that very well. I’ve already gotten a call this morning to cancel my trip to Cairo for a follow-up dig I was to do there after they reopened some tunnels on some previous work,” she said.

  “Because of this?” he asked.

  “They didn’t say that, but I suspected as much. It was confirmed when a friend phoned to tell me that he had been contacted to take my place because they were concerned with a recent incident on a dig in the States and my possible involvement,” she told him.

  “Word travels fast, doesn’t it?” he said, shaking his head.

  “It certainly does,” she replied, turning toward the waitress as she arrived to take their order. The two of them ordered some breakfast and then went back to their discussion.

  “Well, nothing we can do but just wait it out and do the best we can with damage control,” he said.

  “That’s not good enough. I’m not going to sit around and wait while they destroy what I’ve spent my whole life building. Whether Hank was somehow involved in this or not, someone took that statue and I’m going to find out who it is,” she said.

  “So, you are a detective now too?” he laughed.

  “If I must be,” she told him stubbornly.

  “Well, I guess I might as well help you then. We are both in this sinking ship together,” he told her.

  “Where do we start?” she asked.

  “I have no idea,” he told her. “We just need to put our heads together and sort out what we can, then make some sort of plan of action.”

  Their breakfast arrived and they settled into it as they continued to discuss the possibilities and a plan for finding the truth. By the time they left the restaurant they had made a list of avenues to pursue on a napkin that Jana had tucked into her purse. It was by no means complete, but they hoped it would get them going in the right direction.

  “Where are you staying?” Jana asked, standing outside the restaurant with him.

  “At the Mulberry,” he replied.

  “No way. Me too,” she said, marveling that out of all the hotels in the city, they had somehow wound up at the same one. Perhaps they truly were in sync more than she had considered.

  “You realize that being in the same hotel only makes us look guiltier?” he said.

  “Probably, but they can’t prove we are guilty with no evidence to back it up and that is what is important,” she said.

  “What is more important is keeping them from dragging us through the mud in the process of finding out who did this,” he said. “You are right about the damage this could do to our reputation even without ever being found guilty.”

  “Very true,” she replied. “I’ve worked way too hard to let that happen.”

  “We both have. Alright, we each have calls to make. Let’s take care of that and we’ll meet back up in a few hours. Your room or mine?” he said with a smile.

  “What floor are you on?” she asked.

  “Fourth,” he told her.

  “Mine then. I’ve got a great view from the penthouse suite,” she told him.

  “Pretty pricey,” Pete commented, an eyebrow raised in her direction.

  “I’ve got a lot of points built up from living out of this hotel chain for years and they tend to give me free upgrades,” she said, offering up an explanation for the expensive room.

  “I see,” Pete said with a smile. “Your room it is then.”

  There was something in his manner that gave Jana the impression he might be skeptical or was she just being paranoid? If she were being honest, she would have to say that she wasn’t completely convinced that he had nothing to do with the missing statue either. She didn’t want to believe that, but she would be lying if she said there wasn’t just a hint of a doubt. He had access to the keys while in her cabin, something she hadn’t told the cops. She had only told them he was with her when she put the statue away and if they had asked the right questions, she would have been honest about him being there with her, but they didn’t. She saw no reason to cast suspicion on him, but now she wondered if that had been a bad decision on her part. If it was discovered, it could look bad for her.

  “Miss Sebastian? Mr. Abernathy?” a man in a dark suit asked as they entered the lobby of the Mulberry.

  “Yes,” each of them responded, exchanging a worried glance.

  “I have warrants for your arrests,” the man told them, holding out a shield as a young man beside them held up a handful of papers. They both looked pretty pleased with themselves.

  “Arrest for what?” Pete asked angrily.

  “Grand larceny,” the man said flatly.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Jana blurted out. “On what evidence?”

  “We’ll discuss that down at the station,” he replied, reading them their rights as his partner handcuffed them. They were led out, embarrassed as onlookers gawked in their direction and angry at being arrested for no apparent reason that they could see.

  “Ask for a lawyer right off the bat, Jana. Don’t say anything,” Pete whispered to her as they were put in the back of a waiting squad car.

  “I don’t have anything to hide!’ Jana protested. She wasn’t going to make herself look like she had done anything wrong by hiding behind an attorney.

  “It doesn’t matter. You have to protect yourself. They could twist what you say. It is better to keep quiet and have your lawyer do your talking for you,” he told her quietly. He looked at her, his eyes reflecting just how serious their situation was.

  “I can’t believe this,” Jana said, looking out the window, her thoughts whirling about in her head. All she could think about was how she had never been in a situation like this and how unreal it seemed now. She was mad at Hank for accusing her and mad at Pete for possibly having anything to do with this. Then, she was mad at herself for doubting him.

  At the station, they were taken to separate rooms. The detectives began hurling questions at her rapidly. Ignoring the advice that Pete had given her, she answered their questions at first, but then the detective threw her an unexpected curve. She stared at him for a moment, completely dumbfounded as he spoke.

  “Your local police department has searched your home,” he said.

  “Under whose authority?” she said angrily.

  “They were granted a warrant earlier today. Do you know what they found?” he asked.

  “Dust bunnies? I’m not home much,” she said sarcastically. The detective was unfettered.

  “They found some statues that no one even knew were missing. No one but you, that is,” he said.

  “What? What statues?” she insisted, confused.

  “The ones you snuck out from your last Cairo dig, we are guessing. It is being verified at present,” he told her.

  “That is absurd,” she told him.

  “The only thing absurd is you thinking you could get away with it,” he replied.

  Jana studied him for a moment, weighing the gravity of what was happening. Pete was right. This wasn’t something she could handle merely by telling the truth. Her jaw clenched as she met his gaze and didn’t look away.

  “I want my lawyer,” she replied.

  “I don’t blame you. You’re going to need one,” he said, nodding toward the glass two-way behind him. A buzzer sounded and he left the room. Jana waited quietly, trying to figure out what was
going on. She had no stolen statues from Cairo or anywhere else. Someone was setting her up, but who and why her? Another officer brought her a phone and let her call her attorney, Samson Carter, even though he wasn’t local. He told her to keep quiet and he would find someone in San Diego to come get her out of there. Twenty minutes later, a young man was escorted by one of the detectives into the room.

  “Miss Sebastian? I’m Marcel Fleming. Samson Carter asked me to come down here to assist you. I’ve talked to the detectives. Come on, we’re getting you out of here,” he said.

  “What? Just like that?” she asked.

  “They have nothing on you for the current missing statue. All they have is word that some statues that may have been stolen were found in your home in another jurisdiction. It isn’t enough to hold you. Let’s get you out of here before they find a better reason,” he said.

  “A better reason? I’ve done nothing wrong,” she told him.

  “Don’t be offended, Miss Sebastian, but I don’t care whether you are innocent or guilty. My job is just to get you out of here and back home so that Mr. Carter can take over your case. That is what I am doing,” he told her, knocking on the door to the interrogation room. An officer opened the door and let them out. After a quick stop by the front desk to collect her purse, they left the station.

  “What about Pete?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, but we need to go,” he said.

  Jana reluctantly left with the lawyer. He took her to her hotel and let her get her things and check out, then drove her to the airport where she booked the first flight back home. All the way home, she thought about Pete, wondering if he was okay. It felt awful that she had just left him there. Hopefully, he had followed his own advice, lawyered up and left just as she had. By the time she touched down, she had several messages on her phone from him.

  “Pete?” she said into the phone, dialing him as soon as she was in a car headed home.

  “Jana, where are you?” he asked.

  “The lawyer came and got me out and insisted that I come back home immediately. Are you okay? Where are you?” she asked.

  “I’m back at the hotel. I’m packing. They claim that they found missing artifacts from my last dig in my apartment and that was the basis for their arrest, but the lawyer said it wouldn’t stick,” he said.

  “Same here. What is going on, Pete? Someone is trying to make it look like we did this, but why?” he said.

  “Someone who just needs to divert the attention away from themselves, I’m guessing. Even if they can’t nail us for it, they might be able to create enough suspicion and confusion to get the heat off while they get the statue where they need it to be for a big payoff,” he said.

  “How do I know you didn’t do this and are just trying to bring me into it as a diversion?” she said, not wanting to believe that, but having to consider her own best interests. Was it wise to share too much information with Pete? He could very well use it to twist things against her.

  “Are you serious right now, Jana? I could ask you the same thing. You are the one that had the keys, not me. You are the one that took me along with you to put the statue in the safe. Why?” he said.

  “You have some nerve,” she said.

  “That makes two of us then,” he replied.

  “Look, I’m going to let my lawyer deal with this. I am sure you will do the same. Good luck to you,” she said, hanging up before he could respond.

  Jana knew that wasn’t the truth. There was too much at risk here for her just to trust it to an attorney, even one as good as Samson Carter. Her hard-earned reputation was already being scrutinized and it was going to get much worse once they started asking questions in the archaeology community that made her look guilty of wrongdoing. So much for innocent until proven guilty. If she was going to survive this fiasco, she was going to have to get to the bottom of things herself. She had to find the missing statue. If she found that, she would find the real thief.

  Chapter 9

  Pete couldn’t decide if he was more hurt or angry that Jana had hung up on him after accusing him of being the one who took the statue. He stood looking at the phone blankly for a moment before laying it down on a nearby counter and making his way to the bathroom to retrieve his shaving kit and essentials. He was still steaming by the time he tossed his luggage on a hotel cart and wheeled it downstairs.

  “Mr. Abernathy, we’d like a word with you,” a man in a dark suit told him as he stepped off the elevator.

  “Seriously? I just left the police station. If you have questions, you’ll need to speak to my lawyer,” Pete said in an agitated tone, walking past them.

  “We’re not with law enforcement, Mr. Abernathy,” one of them told him quietly.

  “Who are you with then?” he asked suspiciously.

  “Let’s just say that the man that employs us has some interest in your current legal problems,” he said.

  “Friend or foe?” Pete asked flatly, knowing it would do no good to ask more at this point.

  “Friend,” the man told him with a smile. “Perhaps the best friend you could have right now.”

  “Alright. What the hell,” Pete replied. “I’ll meet you at the diner down the street in about twenty minutes.”

  “We will be there. It would be in your best interests not to flake on us,” the larger of the two men said, giving Pete reason to pause and reconsider.

  “Don’t mind him. He missed his morning coffee,” the other man commented. “We will see you in twenty minutes.”

  Pete took his things to his company truck and put them inside, his mind racing. These guys said they were friends, but who was to say they truly were. Still, he was too intrigued not to go see what they wanted. It could be a dead end, or it could be a way to get down to what was really happening here. Even with a lawyer on his side, this could really go bad for him if he didn’t do all he could to minimize the blowback. Just being accused was going to be devastating to his company and he had employees to protect, as well as himself. It was important that he not only prove he was innocent, but also find the true guilty party to erase any doubts in his circles. Sitting at the table with the two men, twenty minutes later, he listened quietly before speaking.

  “Mr. Abernathy, we know that you were looking for some very valuable statues. Our client was in line to buy one of them,” one of the men told him.

  “Then, where is your client and what does this have to do with me?” he asked

  “There is a certain hierarchy in our trade. Our client doesn’t speak to people directly. Neither do the people that view us as their client. It folds out from there, that the person responsible for actually obtaining the statue is an unknown party,” he said.

  “You mean the person that stole it?” Pete asked.

  “We prefer to use the term ‘obtained’ rather than saying it was stolen,” he replied.

  “Semantics,” Pete replied dismissively. “If you called me here to see if I have the statue, you are barking up the wrong tree.”

  “We know you didn’t take the statue. We don’t know who did, but we know you didn’t,” the man replied.

  “Then why am I here?” Pete asked.

  “Because someone on your crew did it,” the man replied.

  “What? No. My guys are carefully vetted. I’ve never had a problem with theft,” he replied.

  “This last crew was mixed though, right? Not all of them were employed by you? Weren’t there some workers that were placed there by Hank Daltry?” he asked.

  “Are you saying that Hank had one of his own statues stolen by someone he placed on the crew?” Pete asked.

  “That remains to be seen,” the man told him. “I am telling you that it was definitely one of the crew members placed there by him.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Surely he checks out his guys as thoroughly as I do. He has a lot at stake and to not do so, well . . . could easily land him in a situation just like this one,” Pete said.

&nb
sp; “Exactly. So, why does a man with so much to lose let a thief in his midst if he doesn’t have a reason for it?” the man told him.

  The second man had been silent the whole time, speaking only when the waitress arrived to take their order and only to her. Pete sensed he was only there as the muscle of the group. That made him wonder why muscle might be needed. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been so quick to join this pair, after all.

  “So, what is it that you think I can do about any of this?” Pete asked.

  “We need to know who was on that crew that wasn’t employed by you. If we find him, we can get to who he really worked for. The thief isn’t important to us other than that. He was just a man paid to do a job, someone whose only job was to get a statue. We find him, we find who he handed it over to and we go up the chain however far we need to, but we have to get it done quickly,” he said.