Pak answered, clearly eavesdropping. “Bhutan is one of the best kept secrets in the world. We like to keep it that way.”
“Makes sense,” Tommy said, looking out the window at the mountain range. “Heaven knows we’ve screwed up enough of our pretty country by overpopulating and overselling tourism.”
Pak nodded. “Some visitors good. Like you two.” His smile beamed in the rearview mirror. “But too many make mess.”
Sean kept his thoughts to himself, hoping that the same mess that happened in Israel and Indonesia didn’t happen here. Just in case things got sticky, he and Tommy had replenished their ammunition supply before getting off the plane. They usually traveled with extra magazines and a spare weapon each, just in case. More often than not, they weren’t needed on ventures with the IAA. Lately, though, things had been different.
About twenty minutes after leaving the airport, the vehicle came to a stop in a small, shaded parking area surrounded by a ranch-style wooden fence. Pak put the car in park and stepped out to open the door for Tommy. He was a second too late, as his passenger was already exiting and had one foot on the gravel. The air was much cooler in the mountains and smelled of spruce, hemlock, and pine. The forests were thick and kept most of the ground in a cool shade throughout the day.
The men surveyed the area, tracing the outline of the fencing until they found where it opened into a high wooden archway at the trailhead. Words were written in various languages, including Chinese characters and English, describing the Taktsang Trail. In a clearing just beyond the fence, a dozen ponies and four donkeys loitered near the edge of the forest. All of the animals were saddled and ready to transport any late arriving visitors to the top of the trail. The smell of horsehair mingled with the scent of the forest.
Sean’s eyes lingered on a faded white five-door hatchback on the far side of the parking area. It sat in the shadows, keeping the car’s interior dark. He was sure a woman sat behind the wheel, but it was difficult to make out her face.
“You can take one of the pack animals if you prefer. They move pretty slow, though.” Pak pointed at the ponies as he spoke.
“We’ll be fine walking, Pak. Thank you,” Sean said, removing his gaze from the white vehicle.
Tommy handed the driver a fold of cash and asked, “Are you going to wait here, or should we let you know when we are heading back down?”
Pak graciously accepted the tip with his trademark grin. “I wait for you to come back. No mobile phone service up here.”
The two Americans looked at each other and shrugged. “Perfect.”
“Your phones might work on top. Not down here, though.”
“Well, there’s that,” Tommy said. “We’ll plan on seeing you when we get back down here. I think we should only be at the monastery for an hour.”
“Okay. When it start to get dark, the park close. So you hurry.”
The visitors nodded and walked away toward the trail.
The archway and fencing surrounding the trailhead were covered in a wild array of colorful flags and pennants. Some of the cloth had things written in Chinese: prayers, words honoring ancestors, and blessings of various kinds.
Sean led the way up the short slope and over the rolling hill. The narrow trail cut through the evergreen forest, disappearing at times as it weaved back and forth among the trees. The two friends kept on full alert, watching every possible angle. The thick forest provided an excellent place for trouble to hide, and even with their diligent observation skills, someone could easily sneak up on them.
The trail flattened out at first then sloped up dramatically. It swung right and left, zigzagging its way up the mountain, making the journey a little more bearable. After twenty minutes of hiking, the altitude and the steep incline began to take its toll on both men, particularly Tommy. He breathed heavily as he walked in line behind Sean, laboring to keep up the pace.
Sean’s legs burned, but he knew that they needed to hurry. The slower they went, the less time they’d have to look for the relic upon reaching the top. So he pressed on, forcing himself to keep going.
The two passed a few other visitors who were on their way down. They were older folk, a man and a woman with fanny packs attached to their belts. When the two were out of earshot, Tommy cast a quick look back and then said to Sean, “How in the world did they make it to the top of this mountain alive?”
Sean shook his head in disbelief at his friend. “When we get back, you’re going to a gym every day.”
The two kept pushing on up the winding trail. They had to stop more than a few times to let Tommy catch his breath before pressing on. Every once in a while, Sean thought he heard something in the woods behind them, but when he turned around he saw nothing. It was probably just a chipmunk or a bird scrounging around in the pine needles and leaves. He sighed. Maybe he was a little too high strung.
The journey up the mountain had taken much longer than expected when they reached an observation spot on the trail. The monastery and the cafeteria below it were both visible, as if the people who designed the trail had put it there as a carrot to keep people going just a little farther.
The two Americans soon learned that the observation point was more like a mirage. The final length of the journey took another twenty hard minutes of walking before they reached the cafeteria. People were beginning their descent in earnest now, clearing out of the visitor’s center and eating area in droves. The sun had already retreated to the west of the mountain, leaving the monastery in the cool shade of approaching twilight.
“We’ll have less than an hour here if we want to get back to the parking area before dark,” Sean said.
Tommy was still struggling to catch his breath, but he nodded and pointed at a bridge that crossed over from a steep staircase to a landing at the foot of the monastery. “Looks like we have to go down some steps and then back up those over there to reach the bridge.”
Sean’s heart sank. He swallowed hard as his mind began to run wild with the fear that had corrupted his courage since he was a boy. Tommy meandered over to where the descending staircase began and took a step down. He turned around and looked back at Sean with tired but determined eyes. “Come on, man; like you said, gotta hurry.”
Sean’s feet involuntarily shuffled across the ground, carrying him closer to the point where it looked like the earth dropped off into an eternal abyss. He told himself with each step that it wouldn’t be as bad as he thought, that there would be a slight drop with a staircase complete with a walled-in guardrail to keep him safe. Upon reaching the edge, he realized it was the complete opposite.
The ancient stone steps dropped dramatically down almost a hundred feet before reaching a narrow plot of ground. A thin trail stretched over to a similar set of stairs that reached up to the bridge. There were no guardrails. No safety wall. Just an agonizingly long drop to a sudden stop at the bottom.
24
Tommy passed his friend a disparaging glance. “You know, for an international man of mystery, you sure do have a problem with heights. What’s the deal with that anyway? You can dodge bullets, but a cliff terrifies you. I would have thought you’d be over that by now.” He was already down five steps and didn’t seem at all bothered by the precipice. “Were you dropped on your head as a child or something?”
Sean crouched down low and moved his first foot over the edge, carefully placing it on the step. “Mom pushed me out of a swing,” Sean snapped. “And yes, I fell on my head.”
“Really? That’s why you’re so scared of heights?”