Aztec Gold

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.

Now…

Caitlyn laid a hand across his shoulder. “Well done, sir. This is… incredible. The Gold Team earn their stripes.”

“What happens next?” Cruz wondered. “The Nahua will want to know that we have found their birthright.”

“Next?” Crouch repeated, still dazed. “Well, next we find the second trove.”

“All this,” Cruz said. “Needs to be safeguarded.”

“Of course. We’ll slip out of here and I’ll make the calls. What do you take me for? An idiot? We always knew we’d find a treasure sooner or later. We have protocols in place to secure and preserve the find.”

Cruz smiled. “I knew you were the right choice.”

“Oh God,” Healey groaned. “Does that mean we have to tackle those bloody rocks again?”

“Afraid so.” Caitlyn swatted his behind. “C’mon bucko, giddy up.”

Healey sprang forward as if he’d been stabbed. Caitlyn watched him go, then made a face at Russo when the young man didn’t look back.

“Whoops, hope I didn’t offend him.”

“Nah. After that slap he’s probably hiding an erection.”

Russo strode off, leaving Caitlyn blushing. After a minute Crouch retreated out of the gold room, camera in hand. He proceeded to document the find, covering both caves with infinite care. Cruz wandered over to the drawings again as their boss worked.

“My heart breaks for these warriors,” he said. “Sent on a perilous journey away from their home they were gone many months, but finished their task, lost men along the way and still some returned. To find what? A city destroyed. Homes razed. Families murdered. The burden that fell to them was insurmountable.”

“And this is how they would want to be remembered,” Crouch said. “Knowing that they safely preserved their city’s wealth and cultural treasures to be returned to its descendants another day.”

Caitlyn saw that Crouch was finished and headed out of the cave. Darkness enfolded her once again, but Healey and Russo waited just ahead, ready with their flashlights. The way back was much easier and quicker. Soon they were scrabbling up the slick slope where the watercourse branched off and then back among the standing stones.

“Shit,” Russo said. “Look at that.”

Caitlyn stared in the direction he was pointing. A faint red glow buffed up the far horizon, making the skies appear lighter.

“Dawn?” Caitlyn was amazed. “We’ve been down there all night?”

“Well, technically we’ve been beyond the fence all night,” Healey said. “Took a while to find the cave.”

“Sure, but—”

“Time flies when you’re treasure seeking.”

Russo squeezed out from the final stone, turning around to help steady the others. At last they were free, standing on hard ground and searching for the most direct route back.

“All we have to do,” Crouch said. “Is head back down to the stream, then go northwest, stay away from the camp, and retrieve our vehicle. After that I’ll start making the calls and we can plan our next move.”

“I wouldn’t make too many plans,” a rough voice said from behind them. “They’re hard to fulfil when you’re dead.”

The sound of dozens of rifles being cocked sent Caitlyn’s heart into overdrive.