by J C Ryan
“You’d have to see where it was. At a distance it’s impossible to tell. I plan to put it back where I found it.”
Flo quickly put a snack together from their stores of food and promised to get Barry to help her feed the llamas.
A little smile played on Flo’s face when she said, “We’ll leave a light on for you, and I’ll have something for you to eat when you get here.”
Rex and Luciana walked abreast on the trail, with Digger ranging ahead of them. On the way, Luciana questioned him about Alexandro’s absence.
“We haven’t seen him since he ran away when we discovered the fake. The villagers don’t know what to make of it. Fortunately, they haven’t turned against us. In a way, it’s like they’ve decided to wait and see what happens, and then they’ll make up their minds who to follow.”
“You’re probably right,” she answered. “These people are wise in the ways to survive up here, and they aren’t unintelligent. But they are gullible. They’ve had no experience of the modern world.”
“Lucky them,” Rex said. “Do you think it’s wrong to enlist them to help us pull off this sting?”
“I think they’ll take it as a great joke. But I’m worried about Alexandro’s whereabouts. How will the sting work out if he’s gone to Roper?”
“I guess we’ll have to factor that in,” Rex said. “I don’t know how we’ll learn whether he has or not.”
When they got to the ruins, Luciana agreed with Rex that the artifacts looked authentic enough to fool a non-expert, when viewed from the window slot. She was impressed that Digger found the way in. Rex took the time to wriggle back in through the tunnel and replace the artifact, and then they raced nightfall for the village, arriving as the last glow of twilight left the sky.
***
TWO DAYS LATER, a senior officer from the Policía Nacional del Perú arrived, bringing with him the promised high-end fake artifacts they’d need to pull off the sting. Before turning the fakes over, he insisted on interviewing all four of them, even Luciana, separately and then together. Only when he was satisfied that their stories were genuine and their plan solid, did he agree to work with them and ‘deputized' Rex. Rex assumed it wasn’t a legal deputizing, at least not one that would've been legal in the US since he was in Peru under a false name and forged passport. But, so long as his documentation held up, he supposed it would be fine. Besides, the planned actions were aimed at Roper and cohorts—there was no reason to scrutinize his background.
The officer had also offered to deputize Luciana, but when he explained that accepting could mean she'd lose her entitlement to the bounty she’d otherwise earn on the capture of a major league criminal, she declined. Rex and the Markses had told her they weren’t interested in the reward; only retrieving the fifty-thousand dollars and putting Junior et al out of business. Anything more they got would be given to the villagers, who had heard over and over from Alexandro that their silence and cooperation would eventually improve their lives, and who had been disappointed time and again. It would be a major undertaking to gain their trust now, when their own leader had betrayed them.
Then the officer had left the fakes with them and gone back to Santa Teresa to make up a posse to hunt down Alexandro.
Now it was time to let the villagers in on the plan, because their support would be needed.
On the following day, Rex, Digger, and Luciana left with one of the llamas bearing what they’d need to camp near the ruins and prepare the site. They’d survey the ruins and select areas where they could begin a genuine dig, set the villagers to the work, and do a little ‘salting’ of their own. When they’d drawn the plans out with precise measurements, they’d return to enlist the villagers.
Chapter Sixteen
THE SET-UP TOOK three weeks. Luciana’s training in archaeology and Rex’s tireless work in the back-breaking task of measuring, cataloguing the true nature of the ruins, and helping set up the grids paid off when it was time to involve the villagers. A group of ten men who had lost faith in Alexandro’s promises were being trained in the painstaking art of an archaeological dig, which sometimes more resembled fine sculpting than digging.
Luciana had placed the fake artifacts in such a way that they could be ‘found’ whenever Junior took the bait.
The rest of the village went about its usual business, though they were in on the secret. Alexandro had not been apprehended, but if he returned, he’d see nothing to cause him suspicion of the elaborate scheme afoot.
Rehka had contacted him a few days before to let him know she’d located Junior Roper in Cuzco.
At Luciana’s request, instead of picking him up, National Police were watching him and trying to get a lead for where his accomplice, the man he’d claimed was his uncle, might be. There’d been no sign of Alexandro around him. That was good news. If Alexandro didn't get in touch with Roper, the sting had a chance of working.
Now there was nothing to distract him from the task at hand. The site was ready, enough time had passed to make the next step look plausible, and the Ministry of Culture was prepared to do its part. That day, the Ministry would release a press report saying a pair of amateur archaeologists had made an accidental but important discovery.
The report would mention the Markses, state they’d been given a limited permit to dig and had broken through to an older temple beneath the pre-Colombian ruins they were excavating. Within, they’d found countless artifacts of gold and precious gems, an unprecedented and invaluable treasure of the Incas.
It would go on to say that professional archaeologists were on their way to help catalog the hundreds of artifacts, and the Markses were seeking partners to fund a more extensive dig.
Rex had done his part by posting a few hints on his fledgling blog. It was taking shape, and he had received a sudden insight while asking Rehka to do some clever search engine optimization to get the blog noticed by Google and other search engines. While building the site with Rheka's help, it struck him that it would make a great one-time cypher device for future missions, if he needed one. Meanwhile, it would serve as the tripwire for the bait they were dangling in front of Roper. Rehka had reported the blog had one visitor prior to her publicity efforts. The IP address was from Cuzco—Junior.
He was the only one besides the Markses who knew of it yet. He must be keeping track of them by lurking on the blog. Rex hoped if the reports of a discovery didn’t bring him running, Junior would at least contact him through the blog. The stage was set. All they needed now was for Junior to play his part.
***
REX HAD DONE one other thing when he spoke to Rehka again. As usual, they’d talked of personal matters for a few minutes before getting down to business. But this time, when Rehka asked where he was, he told her—because of his need to find and hire a doctor for the sick children of the village. He didn’t know how long they had before their illnesses couldn’t be reversed, and in any case, he couldn’t justify allowing them to suffer longer to guarantee his safety.
This situation with the children somehow also led him to the point where he had to take stock of his life since he’d escaped from Afghanistan and dropped off the radar. It seemed every time he tried to find peace and quiet, and just be a tourist interested in history, someone in need of his unique skills crossed his path. Rehka had been one of them. She’d begun as a rescue, but now he relied on her for her IT and hacking skills as well as to administer his money as he required.
If he could trust her with his money and with secrecy as to the odd information requests he’d made over the past year and a half, why not trust her to know where he was, at least this time? He’d have to also trust her enough to tell her why it was important his whereabouts were their secret.
So, he’d told her, “I’m in Peru. You probably guessed that.”
Rehka admitted she had. “But I don’t know where in Peru. Are you in Cuzco?”
“No, I’m in a village high in the Andes, and I have my hands full here. But I need a d
octor up here. Do you think you could find and hire one to come out here soonest?”
The line went quiet and Rex realized his choice of words could’ve upset Rehka. He imagined her staring at the phone with her mouth agape.
But before he could set her straight, she answered, “I’m sure I can, but I need more information. What do you need the doctor for, so I’ll know what kind of doctor to seek? How will he or she know how to find you? What equipment or medications will be needed?”
As she peppered him with questions, Rex realized he didn’t know the answers to most of them. He stopped her in midsentence and said, “Rehka, just take a few deep breaths first and relax, the doctor is not for me, it’s for the children up here. Just find someone who knows about diseases in Peru. I think it started with Leishmaniasis, so antibiotics or antivirals or whatever they use for that. But something else is going on, and I don’t have a clue, but it’s killing the children. So I need someone who can think outside the box.
“As for the rest, set up an encrypted email for me and give the doctor the address. It would probably be best for us to speak directly.”
“Okay, Ruan, I’ll get right on it. One question, though. You’ve never told me where you were before, or what you do. Has something changed?”
“Yes, and I wanted to talk to you about that. But that’ll have to wait until I can get back, so we can talk in person. In the meantime, all I ask is that you trust me a little longer.”
“Of course, Ruan. I would trust you with my life. I have trusted you with my life.”
“Then let me just say that I’m now trusting you with mine. There are people who would like to know where I am, and they may not have my best interests at heart. Do you understand?”
“I think so. If questioned, I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing.”
“Perfect.”
“But I’d like to.” She laughed. “I think your life must be very exciting.”
“Punctuated by moments of sheer terror,” he quoted to her without context. “Rehka, we need that doctor ASAP.”
“I’m on it.”
***
THEY SETTLED IN for the wait for Junior but were surprised when at about midday on the day after the Ministry’s press release, he turned up in person. Rex knew he must have been flown in by plane and helicopter to get close enough to make the trip from Cuzco, in a day.
He, the Markses, and Luciana had talked about how to respond to any overture Junior made, brainstorming the possible approaches he’d take and speculating on whether they’d be in person or long-distance. Now they knew it was a direct frontal assault, but of course Junior was a self-assured master con artist and manipulator.
He greeted them all with enthusiasm, even taking Luciana’s presence in stride without comment or apparent curiosity. Of all the scenarios they’d considered, this one had eluded them. But they were not unprepared.
Junior didn’t say a word about artifacts, obviously trying to create the impression he was totally oblivious about the ‘discovery’.
Instead, he joyfully shared the news that his uncle had made a full recovery without the expensive surgery. He thanked the Markses profusely for their help and produced a big brown envelope and handed it to Barry. It contained fifty-thousand dollars, in cash.
Here it comes.
Four pairs of eyes, five if one counted Digger’s, stared at him as they listened to Junior’s suggestion that since he and his uncle hadn’t needed the money after all, they just unwind the deal. He’d returned the money, and they’d tear up the deed he’d hand-written. No harm, no foul.
Rex reckoned he wasn’t the only one struggling to suppress the urge to start smiling as Junior played straight into their hand. Rex kept his eyes on Junior, he didn’t dare look at the Markses or Luciana, and he hoped they were also keeping their thoughts to themselves.
It was time for Barry to take over as they’d planned. Barry hadn’t become a successful businessman because he was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. He became a self-made multimillionaire through astuteness and hard work. He was a skilled negotiator and dealmaker.
Walter Henry Roper—aka Junior, you’re about to be handed your ass. Rex wiped his hand over his face to hide the grin he couldn’t stop.
“Junior, hmm… well I’m afraid we might have a bit of a problem with that. You see, the thing is, after you left, we went to the site, found an entry, and examined the artifacts. Alexandro tried his level best to stop us from doing that, and at the time we couldn’t understand why. But we soon found the reason. Those artifacts were fake, all of them, made from lead covered in gold-colored paint. That’s when Alexandro ran away, and we haven’t seen him since.
“So, I’m afraid Alexandro took you for a ride when he sold the rights to the site to you. We, Flo and I, have been thinking about it since we made the unpleasant discovery, but then remembered that you told us that you didn’t have much interest in the site per se, but that you really just wanted to help his people to get a doctor for the village.”
Junior feigned shock and surprise, even anger at what Barry told him.
He was good, but not good enough to fool Rex, who could see the young charlatan was in a tight spot. Rex, who was trained and had much experience in the art of interrogation, knew how to look for the micro-expressions which people unconsciously displayed when they were distressed or lying.
Barry continued, unfazed. “We’re really grateful and happy that your uncle is okay and that it turned out to be not as serious as you feared it would be. So, now that Alexandro has left his people in the lurch, they are still without a doctor and there seems to be an urgent need to get one here without delay.
“So, Junior what do you say, we hand this money over to the villagers and let them use it for what you intended it for all along.”
Junior didn’t blink or hesitate, “Of course, no problem, but in that case, I would still like to nullify our contract. I take it that would be okay with you?”
Barry looked at Flo as if seeking her permission before he continued.
“I don’t really understand why you want that to happen. I mean, you wanted to donate the money to these people to help them, and the rights to the ruins was just a means to an end. We, on the other hand, would like to keep the site and excavate it.”
“But you just told me it’s worthless. It was ‘salted’. Why on earth would you want to keep it?” Junior replied. It was obvious he was having difficulty mustering enough control over his emotions not to snap at Barry.
“Well, you’re right. What Alexandro showed us is worthless. No doubt about that. But I take it the fact that you’ve been on the road over the last few days traveling to get here prevented you from seeing the news about the momentous discovery we’ve made?”
Junior’s performance was expert. He asked for details. His pretence of surprise looked genuine, and he congratulated them with evident sincerity.
Barry then deferred to Luciana. “Luciana is our consultant from the Ministry of Culture. Why don’t you tell him a little about our find?”
She picked up the cue with aplomb. “Of course.” She proceeded to describe the site they’d prepared in superlative terms, throwing in ‘solid gold’, ‘precious gems’, and ‘priceless artifacts’ generously. She finished by saying it was fortunate for the Ministry that the entrance to the cavern was so well-hidden in the ruins, or it would surely have been looted by now.
When she fell silent, Barry said they were grateful for the introduction to the site but unfortunately, they had no intention of canceling the agreement.
“So, as you can see, circumstances have changed, Junior. We’ve made an important discovery, and we can’t let it go.”
Junior couldn’t subdue his frustration any longer and turned to Rex. “You know I wouldn’t have sold it if I wasn’t desperate. How is this fair? Can’t you talk reason into them?”
Rex took up his role with relish. “I’m afraid not, buddy. Flo and Barry were kind enough to
let me in on the opportunity. We’re partners now, and we’ve got a sweet deal going here. Miss Guzman here,” he said, indicating Luciana, “has made us aware of a way to profit from the find in a way… how shall I put it… geez… well, let’s just say the Ministry won’t know about it.
“All we need are the permits, and we’re in business.”
“So, you were digging without the permits?” Junior asked.
Rex could see the scheming going on in his eyes. He twitched the line, teasing the hook far enough away for the fish – Junior – to create the fear of losing it and luring him to snatch it.
“No, we got the permits for the site Alexandro showed us. But the site we discovered is below that level. We need special permits to allow us to send the locals down in an underground excavation, instead of an open one. We’ve brought up one of the artifacts to examine and establish the authenticity. We’ve determined without a shadow of doubt those artifacts are indisputably genuine. And the great thing is, there are so many down there, no one will know if a few go missing, if you know what I mean.”
Junior had become feverish with his pleading but after a while appeared to give up and asked to see the item they’d brought up from the purported underground cavern. Barry and Rex looked at each other, hummed and hah’ed and pretended to be very reluctant. Junior said it was the least they could do, since they’d snatched up the opportunity for a song and weren’t being fair about letting him back in on the deal. In the end, they ‘let’ Junior ‘persuade’ them and told him to come by a bit later to look at it.
As they all walked back to the hut, Rex dropped back and spoke to Luciana in a whisper. “Thanks for going along with that.”
“Why did you give him a false name for me?”
“Because, if he decides to double-cross us and report this, he won’t have your real name.”
“Ah. Good idea.” She smiled. “But that means he also won’t have my real name if he decides to investigate my bona fides, though.”
“No chance of that. He’s a crook, through and through. You can bet he won’t want to have anything to do with the Ministry.”
