Once Healey and Russo had joined them the team set about wriggling down the narrow tunnel. The going was wet and slippery, the rock unforgiving. When Russo became stuck it took all of Healey’s strength to pull him free.
“Christ, you’re going to have to cut down on the burgers, mate.”
“Every ounce pure muscle,” Russo returned. “It’s what separates the men from the boys.”
“Muscle? I thought it was brains and chivalry.”
“Yeah, and that’s why you’re a twenty-three-year-old virgin.”
Healey choked. Caitlyn managed a smile even as she crawled, soaked, into the all-enveloping darkness. They followed the tunnel Cruz had spotted, lights shining ahead. The rocky ceiling sloped down and down, away from the direction of the stream. The external surfaces were slick, making the going easier. Cruz crawled ahead for some time before slowing considerably.
“Okay, I have total darkness.”
Crouch peered past him. “Oh yeah, that’s darkness all right. I believe it means we have a large void ahead.”
Caitlyn had no idea what it meant. She said as much.
Healey laughed. “Just ask yourself — what would Lara do?”
“Lara?”
“Lara Croft. Tomb Raider.”
“I don’t play video games, Zack. Maybe you could ask yourself that same question and go from there.”
They crept forward. Crouch pointed out that this all-consuming darkness could be part of a vast cave, a deep recess or even a sudden drop-off. Their powerful flashlights picked out the ground a few feet ahead and no more. Presently the whole team could stand five abreast and join their beams to help penetrate the darkness. Crouch broke out the glowsticks and threw a few into the air.
The way ahead gradually became clear.
They were standing at the entrance to a cave. The entire place was a vault of rock, and completely empty. The floor stretched away two dozen feet toward another tunnel on the far side.
“Bit of a let-down,” Caitlyn voiced the feelings of the group.
Then Cruz squealed again. Caitlyn flicked her gaze at him, worried he might have fallen, but changed her mind when she saw him loping off to the right. His flashlight illuminated a large part of the cave wall.
“Aztec art,” he said, his tone charged with exhilaration. “These are drawings of warriors, maybe the very warriors that guarded the caravan!”
Caitlyn peered at the crude depictions. Many showed men clad in a kind of uniform, reminiscent of an animal. They all carried shields and clubs and what appeared to be a kind of machete-like weapon.
Cruz continued. “See their helmets? That signifies the warrior group to which they belonged. Eagle. Lion. And so forth. The one with the Jaguar head and skin is a Jaguar Knight. All carry a weapon called a Maquahuitl, basically an Aztec sword. It’s short and made of oak, and has volcanic stone embedded into the edges.”
“Looks a little basic for what we know about the Aztecs,” Caitlyn said.
“Don’t underestimate them. The Spanish said one of these could chop off the head of a horse in a single blow.”
“Why wear a uniform?”
“The more elaborate the uniform the higher the rank,” Cruz said. “But this is proof that they were here. My god, this is proof.”
“These aren’t the only Aztec drawings to be found in North America,” Caitlyn reminded him.
“And where’s the treasure?” Russo asked. “Can’t have just upped and strolled out.”
Crouch headed for the far tunnel. “Let’s see. Hey, that’s not a tunnel, it’s a room. Oh—”
His flashlight beam suddenly seemed to irradiate, light being reflected back from a solid surface. The further he walked the more the illumination increased. It was a phenomenon that creased Caitlyn’s brow in confusion.
Until Crouch fell to his knees and three staggering words fell from his lips.
“This is… fantastic!”
NINETEEN
Alicia heard the commotion begin sometime after midnight. The four bikers had gathered their motorcycles in a front-facing half circle and lay with their backs to a solid brick wall. Feigning sleep for over an hour now, and lying with her head positioned so she could see under the bikes, Alicia was relieved when the militia began to show their true colors. It put an end to all the dicking around.
She nudged the others with her foot but they were already preparing. As Pitts approached she eased a concealed blade from the small of her back to the side.
“Did you know about this? Is this you?”
Alicia rose into a melee. Pitts strode into their makeshift refuge, face and neck an unsightly shade of fire-truck red. The rifle he carried swayed carefully between them.
A swarm of angry militia men backed him up. Alicia quickly counted over thirty eager guns, at least half of them being brandished under the heavy influence of alcohol.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You!” Pitts ignored her and spat his words straight at Lex. “Is this you?”
Lex shrugged. “Is what me?”
Alicia moved to within striking distance. Pitts didn’t notice. He fired a shot between Lex’s feet that kicked up a swirl of dirt. Alicia would have pounced then, but knew to do so now was suicide. They had to find a way to thin the herd.
“Lights were seen out by the old stream. We have trespassers.”
Lex spread his arms. “It’s just us, man.”
Pitts waved his rifle. “Cover them.”
His men spread out to all sides, weapons raised and well apart. Alicia had just seen her problem grow existentially.
“You’re coming with us,” Pitts growled.
“With you?” Alicia repeated. “Where the hell are you going?”
“Gonna smoke us some intruders,” Pitts said. “Bastards are about to wish they’d never been born.”
Crouch was speechless, rocking from side to side on his knees, flashlight wavering ahead. Caitlyn dropped to his side, her own vision stunned into stillness. By the time Cruz, Healey and Russo joined them Crouch was finally able to speak.
“In all my years I have never seen anything like this. Never.”
The small cave revealed by the light of the flashlight was full of gold cladding. It was attached to the walls, stacked high on the floor, leaning against all four sides. Where it had fallen from its original perch it appeared tarnished, spoiled by layers of dust, but even then nothing could prepare the treasure hunters for the true measure of what they’d found.
“So this is all the gold they stripped off the walls?” Russo asked in his quietest tone ever. “Must have been quite a city.”
“Greatest of its time,” Crouch said. “Destroyed by greedy men that coveted what they did not have.”
Caitlyn sighed. “And so it goes.”
Healey walked forward, approaching the entrance to the gold room. “It’s solid gold, not too thick, but still — entire planks of the stuff. One thing’s for sure, we can’t hump it out of here.”
Crouch squeezed past him, basking in the glory of the find. With the gold all around him it appeared that he was standing in the deepest underground cave, immersed in sunlight. He closed his eyes for a second but the light didn’t dim, it lit up his dreams and substantiated every decision he’d made so far.
All his life he’d been heading toward this moment.
As a boy he’d read the books, dreamed of the sparkling buried troves, watched the movies; and then life had intruded, offering him a fresh journey of discipline, camaraderie and leadership. As a man he’d fully embraced the challenges, leaving little time spare to pursue his dreams, even when work was done. Through the years he’d pushed the old urges aside, drowned them in new responsibility. The dreams had faded and almost been forgotten like a boyhood pet — an old love that forever owned his heart but had no significance in the present. When unfortunate opportunity landed him with a second chance he’d jumped straight in, determined to give it his all.