Decker was still working on the Avalon, standing on a ladder and trying to tighten a bolt on one of the portside cowl flaps when Selena approached him.
“Hello again,” she said perkily.
“Hey,” he said without turning around.
“I see you got rid of all the lucky cats,” she said, just trying to make conversation.
“Uh-huh.” He glanced over at her for a second. “Would you believe that out of that entire shipment, just one God-damned cat made it in one piece?”
“Oh.”
“Faulty ceramic.”
“I see. Maybe you could keep him — for luck, I mean.”
“I might just do that.”
“You could call him Rakesh!” She let out a loud laugh but then silenced it when she saw the look on his face. “Perhaps not…” She paused a moment. “I was wondering if I could ask you a question before we go our separate ways?”
“Don’t tell me…”
“Would you like a job, Mr Decker?”
He set the wrench down and stood up. He wiped his hands on the oily rag he’d stuffed down through his belt. “A job, huh?”
She nodded. “If you like.”
“If I like? What does that mean?”
“Well, I…”
“I already have a job.”
“Yeah, we all saw the smashed cats, mate.”
“Shhh, Riley,” Selena said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “It’s just that I wondered if you might like to work for me, rather than do your cat-transporting thing.”
“Hey — I transport more than damned porcelain cats. Avalon Cargo is a dependable company with a great future ahead of it.”
“If you say so.”
“But just out of interest, how much would you pay?”
She fought back the grin that wanted to spread across her face and fixed serious business eyes on him. “Atticus will pay whatever the going-rate is for pilots, of course, plus you’d get the pleasure of assisting the London Museum of Archaeology in its endeavours to acquire ancient relics from around the world.”
“I thought you didn’t like my plane?”
“I’ve grown somewhat fond of it — I mean her over these past few days as a matter of fact.”
He turned and looked out over the vast airfield stretching out north to south ahead of them. Turning to face her he squinted as the sun flashed on the front of the airport building behind them.
“Not just you and me though, right?”
“Oh, good God no,” she said rather too quickly. “I don’t go anywhere without Riley, and of course Charlie and Diana are also pretty keen to sign up and join the fun.”
“Are they now?” he said.
“They are.”
“Looks like you’ve been cooking up quite the stew these last few days.”
“Well — are you interested?”
“I don’t know, but just for once I have a question for you.”
“Fire away.”
“Who the hell is Atticus?”
Riley and Selena shared a quick glance, and then the Australian said, “He’s her old man, mate.”
“My father,” Selena said. “Atticus Moore. He owns the museum in London.”
“He owns a museum?”
“It’s really not very big, but discovering Shambhala will do wonders for our reputation,” she said, and then sighed. “Seriously though — why not? I’m sure working for us would pay better than the cargo business.”
“You can’t be serious? You want me to fly you around the world so you can explore crazy places like Shambhala?”
“And what’s wrong with that?” Selena said.
“Gotta be more fun than flying fake plastic turds around Asia,” Riley said.
“It was cats!” Decker said. “I was flying lucky cats, for Pete’s sake.”
“Of course you were, Decks,” Charlie said.
“So are you interested or not, Mr Decker?”
He stepped down the ladder, sighed and pushed the brim of his hat an inch or so up his forehead with a weary forefinger. “I might be, and will you stop calling me Mr Decker. It’s Mitch… and not Decks, either,” he said with a withering glance at Charlie.
Selena, Riley, Charlie and Diana all shared an excited look.
“And no more complaints about the Avalon,” Decker said. “She doesn’t like it.”
“Of course,” Selena said. “It… she… needs a woman’s touch though.”
Decker finished cleaning the grease off his hands. “Good job we have Riley then.”
“Ha fuckin’ ha, mate.”
“So you will?”
“I’ll think about it,” he said. “I still have my business to consider.”
Riley and Charlie high-fived each other.
“I said I’ll think about it,” the American said, seeing the celebration.
“While you’re thinking about it, Mitch,” Selena said. “Could I ask one last favor?”
“Oh, God…”
“It’s just that I’ve always wanted to see the Taj Mahal, and we’re so close.”
“Go on,” Decker said. “Say it.”
She looked up at him, and saw the sunshine light up the silver in his chin stubble. “Just as far as Agra… please?
“All right,” he said with a warm smile. “As far as Agra — but no farther.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I hope you enjoyed this escapist adventure as much as I enjoyed myself when I was putting it all together. I have even more excitement lined up for Decker and the rest of the Avalon Crew but next up is going to be Joe Hawke who returns very soon in The Sword of Fire.
In addition to this I’ve been working on a “mystery project” on and off since last November, which I’ve mentioned here and there along the way. There are some cryptic ‘clues’ about this project on my Facebook page and I’ll update soon with more on this… so brace for impact!
Finally, let me thank you for reading this novel, and a special thanks to those who have taken the time to leave my novels such amazing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. I take neither of these things for granted and sincerely appreciate them. It helps keep the books visible and this allows me to continue with new releases.
Till next time, Dear Mystery Reader
Rob
Other Books by Rob Jones
The Vault of Poseidon (Joe Hawke #1)
Thunder God (Joe Hawke #2)
The Tomb of Eternity (Joe Hawke #3)
The Curse of Medusa (Joe Hawke #4)
Valhalla Gold (Joe Hawke #5)
The Aztec Prophecy (Joe Hawke #6)
The Secret of Atlantis (Joe Hawke #7)
The Lost City (Joe Hawke #8)
The Sword of Fire (Joe Hawke #9)
The Hunt for Shambhala (An Avalon Adventure #1)
The Armageddon Protocol (A Harry Bane Thriller #1)
The King’s Tomb (Joe Hawke #10)