Aztec Gold

TWENTY SIX

Beyond the archway there were no more secrets, no more pretense. Gold and gems, wealth and riches glittered in the lights of the flashlights as if a thousand campfires had suddenly been lit. Piled high around the chamber, stashed against the walls, a nation’s fortune beyond imagining lay in opulent abundance, catching and reflecting the new light with an eagerness that matched that of its discoverers.

Crouch fell among the strewn treasures. “This is so much more than I imagined.”

Alicia moved to his back, mouth open, still trying to wrap her brain around the sight before her eyes.

Caitlyn said, “It’s… wonderful.” Tears deepened her voice.

Alicia stopped trying to take it all in and focused instead on one area at a time. Here were Aztec gold coins, heaped, stacked and amassed in endless dunes. Over there was a huge lifelike solid gold alligator head, snarling in the shadows. Bird and snake sculptures occupied one entire corner of the vast chamber, only now revealing its scope as Lex and Cruz ventured further inside. Cruz was practically crawling, stunned, eyes shiny with pride, amazement and undiluted awe.

To her right sat objects studded with gems; emeralds, rubies and garnets of deep hue. To her left dozens of double-headed snakes. Masks of silver and deep turquoise lined the way before her, guides that formed a path through endless wonder. Ceremonial figures stood around the walls, clutching staffs, spears and swords formed of beaten gold.

Crouch found his feet. “I guess that now the cavalry can be called.”

“Wait,” Caitlyn said, reveling in the moment. “Just wait.”

Crouch didn’t need telling twice. Like an old pirate, gold digger or a treasure hunter from ancient days he dug his hands into the stack of gold coins and threw them into the air. Alicia couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

Then Cruz cried out and the whole team looked up.

It wasn’t through fear, it wasn’t pain or doubt; it was through that which he finally beheld — the wonder of all wonders.

There, fixed to the black rock at the rear of the chamber, hung the greatest treasure imaginable — the Wheel of Gold — and it was indeed a wonder, shaped like and as bright as the sun. The god for which it had been formed sat at its center, the circle around him made up of glyphs with square, triangular and circular shapes creating the outside, eight of them, which was how the cartwheel had earned the nickname — pieces of eight.

Intricately carved, gloriously finished, the Wheel of Gold was a wonder itself, but as a part of this vast treasure — mindboggling.

Caitlyn made her way to the back of the chamber, staring up as if in worship. All around her the Aztec treasures sat in state as they had for half a century; lost, lying spellbound in the darkness, a richness of wasted energy and effort, taken by chance, time and vicious circumstance.

“I don’t mind saying I doubted you, Michael,” Alicia said. “But after this… ” she shook her head.

“First time out.” Crouch couldn’t tear his eyes away from the Wheel. “We all had a few doubts. But now… ”

Healey and Caitlyn stood together, as close as possible without touching. Alicia blinked in wonder as the treasures that surrounded them seemed to catch fire, gold reflecting light.

“They should reproduce this cave for the eventual display,” she said. “It would make a great spectacle.”

Crouch shrugged himself into life. “Yes, yes, and we should get moving. Coker can’t be far behind us. He dug around for the satphone.

“How’s the signal?” Cruz asked him.

“Non-existent. God knows how far under the rock we are.” Their boss looked like he might never want to leave this place.

“Well, if we ever want to see sunlight again,” Russo rumbled, “the way is up.”

Lex, the only one of the team who had remained quiet during the staggering discovery, backed toward the cave entrance. “Yeah, and I guess even I can lead us out since there’s only one path.”

Alicia, engrossed in the surrounding riches until now, suddenly fixed the biker with a calculating stare. A small revelation hit her — that ever since they’d arrived in London she hadn’t had much time for Laid Back Lex. Small wonder, since she’d been put in charge of a new team and had been trying to prove she was worthy. Earning the respect of soldiers was one of the hardest things in the world. Alicia had moved everything else in her life to the backburner in order to lead. Not to fit in, she could never do that, but to become accepted as a team leader. Factor Lex and his moods into that and you eventually fashioned a ticking time bomb. On a good day Lex was self-destructive, stand-offish and aggressive. Alicia originally took the man under her wing after dozens of his friends were killed in action, determined at some level to save him from the terrible downswing she knew his exploits would begin to take. At least by her side, she could control his behavior.

Time to re-evaluate.

Instantly forgetting the treasure she moved to his side. “Let’s go.”

Lex eyed her. “What’s your deal?”

“No deal. I said let’s go.”

The biker had to be handled just right. Too much compassion would make him hostile. Too small an insult would make him suspicious. Alicia wondered briefly what the hell she was doing. Caring really wasn’t in her nature.

Something drove her. An instinct that said now was the time to learn how to become a better person; now was the time to shine.

Their entire future would soon change. And not because of Aztec gold.

Thinking of Crouch and his new venture, of Matt Drake and his woman, Mai Kitano, of the world as it was and how it might become, she ushered Lex out of the chamber and made sure the others were following. Russo came last, not through awe but because Caitlyn and Cruz lingered until the last possible second and had to be coerced. Alicia watched Caitlyn stumble into the rock wall as she stared transfixed at the receding horde of riches.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “It’ll still be there when we return.”