Chapter 18
“I don’t like this,” Darius hissed as we neared the entrance/exit of the tunnel system.
“So you’ve said a million times,” I hissed back, looking around to making sure nobody was paying us any attention. Not that there were a lot of people around to avoid.
Other than the homeless, the housewives and househusbands who were shopping with their children, and the odd gangster who walked around trying not to be noticed, we were alone.
“It should be around the corner. We should put the masks on now.”
“No, what we should do is wait until dark so we blend in better with our surroundings.” I glared at Darius and his lips compressed, keeping more of his scathing words to himself. I made sure he pulled the mask out of his back pocket and began to put it on before I put my own mask on.
The mask was made of a super soft and light fabric, but it did limit my vision as all masks do. In fact if I hadn’t had this problem, I would never have noticed it was even covering my face because it was so light and soft. This slight flaw was to be expected, however, because you could only make a ski mask so thin before they lost their effectiveness.
I felt hands on my back. “Hurry up,” Darius urged. “I don’t want someone getting suspicious of us and calling the berries.”
“The berries, the berries, is that all you’re worried about?” I griped, even as I walked faster toward the entrance.
“No, I’m really worried about the mafia. But since I can’t convince you this is a horrible, horrible idea, I need something else to worry about.”
“Then worry about finding the package.” We’d finally arrived at the grate and after another look around I opened the door and descended the stairs. Now that we were actually inside the tunnel, neither of us was going to speak. We wanted to give the microphones nothing to pick up except the beeping of the microchip detector Darius held.
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and waited for him to come beside me. Darius fiddled with the detector for a minute or so before the beeping started. The microchip detector worked along the same lines as a metal detector. When it got close to its target, it would beep faster and faster and when it was right on top of the target, the beeps would turn into one long continuous beep until the detector was moved or turned off.
Darius nodded his head and we started the long walk down the tunnel. Every so often the detector would go off, but I eventually figured out that it must be the microphones and video recorders generating false positives.
But that didn’t stop my heart from pounding whenever we got a hit. Every time the beeping picked up speed, I was sure this time we’d find it, but every time I was let down.
We had just passed the vent I’d used to escape that hellhole of a root cellar when the detector began beeping. I waited for the beeping to stop like it always did when it picked up something else, but it didn’t. If anything, the beeps got faster and louder the closer we got to a small black vent which was about a foot from the floor.
Darius crouched down and shut off the detector. He ran his hands around the edge of the vent, looking for a way to get the cover off.
His hands finally found the lip on the right side of the cover, which was bent out, enabling him to get his fingers under the edge. He gave the cover one great pull and it came off so easily that Darius stumbled backwards, lost what little balance he’d had to begin with, and rolled onto his back.
I moved closer to the vent shaft, excited to see if the jewels really were inside. I bent down, shining the light I’d brought with me into the shaft. At first I didn’t see anything, but then I saw something shoved about an arm’s length into the shaft.
My breathing sped up when I saw the black briefcase, which was jammed into the vent at an angle, reflected in the beam of my flashlight, but I steadied myself. I didn’t know they were in there. It could just be some random briefcase its owner had discarded. But in my heart, I knew it was the case full of my beautiful jewels Meredith had no right owning or touching or even breathing on. Yes, here was the case of my pretties, I could feel it within my bones.
I thrust my arm into the vent until my shoulder was jammed against the lip of the vent. My ear and temple were pressed tightly to the cold cement wall. So tightly in fact that my earring was digging into me like a needle, making me wince in pain. But even this wasn’t enough to get the case out of the vent. I flailed my hand up and down, trying as hard as I could to grasp the case, but it was too far away and my arm wasn’t long enough.
Finally giving up, I pulled my arm out of the shaft, backed up, and faced Darius. I nodded my head and waved my hands at the hole, indicating I wanted him to grab the case.
He approached the hole with more caution than I had. Using my light, he took a good look at his goal before putting his arm into the shaft. His entire arm disappeared from view and I could see the concentration in his eyes as he tried to grasp the briefcase.
He quietly swore, his words muffled by the mask. His head was flush to the wall and I began to worry. What if his arm wasn’t long enough? How were we going to get it out?
But all my worry was for not, for Darius pulled out his arm gripping the briefcase handle after a few seconds of ritualistic mumbled swearing. I may not have believed much in the power of prayer, but I was huge believer in swear power. The more you swear, the more things work out the way you want them to. Don’t know why it works, just that it always does.
He sat on the floor with the case in his lap and I came to his side. He looked at me and I nodded, trying to tell him without words he should open it to make sure it was all there.
And that this was the case we wanted.
It wouldn’t do to take something that wasn’t the jewels. All we’d end up doing is making someone else very, very angry and I did not want any mafia members coming after me over a case I wasn’t even interested in, no matter how much money was contained within.
He released the latches and lifted the lid. At first all I saw was some tiny sparkles from the minimal light, but once I shined my light on the insides, my breath was taken away at the beauty before me.
Diamond encrusted rubies, emeralds the size of a child’s palm, jadeite and blue garnet laden tiaras. The King Lace I broach next to an Iuven ring. A Late Min tiara nestled next to a Early Min necklace. The sheer size and scope of everything before me made want to jump with glee and that was just the first few pieces I could see.
I reached in and lifted the top layer up, revealing…nothing except empty spaces which had held bracelets, rings, and necklaces. My hands were shaking. This must be a mistake, for surely the briefcase had been full when she’d taken possession of it. Where had the missing items disappeared to?
I lifted to see the last layer of jewels and saw it was only half-full. A brocade bracelet, a dozen or so Vetu pins.
While the beauty was still breathtaking, I felt numbed to the bountiful harvest before me. My mind was swirling with possibilities and scenarios as to what had happened to the others. Yes, the jewels before me were worth close to a half million dollars, but where were the others?
Darius hadn’t taken his eyes off of the jewels since he’d opened the case, but I’d known he’d be enamored by their shininess. I snapped my fingers in front of his face to get his attention. He shook his head like a wet dog before looking at me.
I leaned down and breathed into his ear. “Half are missing.”
His glazed over expression cleared some letting me know he was returning to the real world. “Here?” he breathed.
“Maybe,” I answered back. I shut the case, making sure it was closed tightly before removing it from his lap. I held out a hand and helped him to his feet. He tilted his head down the tunnel, in the direction we’d been walking. I knew he was silently asking if we were to go on to continue searching or go back now that we’d found half the treasure.
The decision was simple. I turned my back on the exit and took a step forward. I wanted to go on. I had to search the entire
tunnel. There was always a possibility she’d hidden the rest of the jewels in another vent, lessening the chance of losing the entire lot to a miscreant.
Darius pulled the detector out of his pocket and the beeping started again.
Time to continue the search.
Planet Secrets Page 18
