The Ruby and the Aristocrat
It was a warm morning in Manhattan Beach; Sully was fast asleep and snoring rather loudly. Sully was then unpleasantly awoken by a loud ringing sound. He rolled over and grunted but the ringing didn't stop. Sully opened his eyes, "Oh the phone." Sully said tiredly. He picked up the phone, "Hello? Oh good morning Mr. Cortez, I see. Great I'll leave for Panama this Afternoon, see you tonight bye." Sully hung up the phone. Mr. Cortez was a private collector of rare artifacts in South America. He was one of Sully's old clients who was always giving Sully jobs. This however might be the first job from Mr. Cortez that Nate might not be joining him.
A couple of months ago Sully and Nate set out to find El Dorado, Nate had convinced a TV reporter to fund the expedition for her TV show. Things didn't go to plan as usual but they managed to leave with some treasure and Nate left with a girlfriend, Elena. Since they got back to the states Nate hadn't been on a single trip, he was too busy with Elena. Sully was pretty sure Nate would decline the offer, but he still had to ask. Sully picked up the phone and rang Nate. A tired Nate answered "Hello?" "Hey its Sully, Mr. Cortez has just hired me to retrieve a ruby in panama, I wanted to know if you're in?" Sully asked. "Sorry Sully, but I'm kinda busy with Elena, but good luck." Nate said. "Yeah I figured, see you later kid." Sully said then hung up the phone.
Sully spent the morning packing for the job. His Wes 44 and a couple of ammo boxes, 3 Havana Shirts, red, blue and brown, two pairs of khaki trousers, and a weeks' worth of underwear. He then took a cab to the harbor and got on his yacht. He arrived at the Panama port at early evening. Sully had a quick cigar before going to see Mr. Cortez. Sully arrived at Mr. Cortez's mansion, he rang the doorbell and Mr. Cortez's assistant answered. "Ah Mr. Sullivan, he's been expected you go right ahead."
Sully walked into the lounge where Mr. Cortez was watching the soccer world cup. "Good evening Victor, where is Nathan?" Cortez asked. "He didn't come; he's got a girl so he's been really busy lately." Sully explained. "Ah the mujers do that, well here is your map to the ruby, it once belonged to the ancient ruler of Panama." Cortez explained. "Yeah you can skip the History lesson, Nate was the one interested in all that." Sully explained. "Oh I see, well call me as soon as you get the ruby, see you soon Victor." "See you soon Mr. Cortez." Sully left the mansion. He wouldn't set out into the Panama jungle until tomorrow morning. He'd relax tonight.
Sully went to a beach bar and got a beer, He was staring off into space when he noticed a beautiful woman at one of the tables. He'd recognized her but he wasn't sure why. Something about that plait and blue tank top. Sully approached her. "Now what's a pretty woman like you doing sitting here all by yourself?" Sully asked her. She put down her book and glared at him. "There's no law stating that a woman must be escorted by a man everywhere she goes." The woman had a posh English accent. "True, but some guys can get a little crazy around a beautiful woman like yourself." "I can handle myself fine thank you." "Well that's good to know. I'm Victor Sullivan, but you can call me Sully." The woman sighed. "Lara Croft." She said bluntly.
That's how he recognized her; she was on several covers of Archaeology magazines that Nate reads when looking for new leads. She'd apparently found Atlantis and big foot. "So Lara what brings you all the way here to Panama?" "Please address me as Lady Croft. But if you must know there's a dig here which I'm currently working on." "Well that sounds interesting." There was a short silence, Sully then decided to move in for the kill. "Look Miss Croft, I visit this town very frequently so I could show you around, take you to all the hotspots. Then we could return to my yacht and have some fancy champagne I've been saving."
A look of disgust was on Lara's face. "Look Mr. Sullivan I have some very important work to do, I don't have time to go around getting drunk and sleeping with men old enough to be my father, so please leave me alone and look for some other bimbo to satisfy your urges." Lara snapped. Sully then backed away, and Lara continued reading her book. This wasn't the worst rejection he'd gotten, but there had been some better ones. The rest of the night was uneventful.
Sully woke up the next morning and set out into the Panama jungle. The map provided by Cortez was quite straightforward. Just a simple drive into the jungle, it took him a couple of hours until he arrived at a dark cave. Sully got out of the Jeep and turned on his flashlight. Sully slowly walked into the cave while examining the place for traps. It seemed pretty empty. Sully walked deeper into the cave and spotted the ruby shining on an elevated platform.
Sully then noticed some kind of markings at the base of the platform with three buttons. "Damn it, Nate was always the one who solved those damn things." Sully said annoyed. The markings must have been in the ancient Panamanian language; no way could Sully read it. The three buttons were in different shapes, a square, a circle, and a triangle. Sully decided to press a random button and hope for the best. He pressed the square and held his breath. A flight of stairs then appeared which ascended to the platform. Sully then took the ruby with ease.
When Sully left the cave his eyes needed several seconds to adjust to the bright sun. When his eyes had adjusted he saw Lara pointing two pistols at him. "Hand it over Sullivan." She said impatiently. "Now wait a Goddamn minute, I just busted my ass getting this ruby and there's no way I'm handing it over without a fight!" "Fine try and fight me, I dare you. Oh wait, I have my guns trained at you while yours is conveniently still in the holster. Hand it over, I won't ask again." It would be suicide to even attempt to fight her.
Sully got out the ruby; Lara then put her left pistol in her holster and grabbed the ruby. She then placed it in her backpack without even looking. "Also hand over the revolver." "What?" Sully asked confused. "I don't want you to shoot me when my backs turned, so hand it over." Lara demanded. Sully did as she said. "Thank you cooperating Mr. Sullivan, it really makes things that much easier." She then ran off into the jungle. Sully didn't see the point in chasing after her; she was younger, fitter and had a decent head start. Sully then got in the jeep to drive back to town.
Sully rang Mr. Cortez to tell him of the news, he wasn't too pleased but it couldn't be avoided. If Nate were there Sully might've had a chance, but he wasn't. Sully sailed home that very day. No need to face an angry Mr. Cortez.
While sailing home Sully left Nate a voicemail. "Hey Nate it's Sully, the job went awry as usual so I'll be back early, call me if you've got time for a drink this evening." While Sully had been through worse jobs, this one felt exceptionally bad because he didn't have Nate with him to lighten the mood. Sully then decided to take a break from treasure hunting; hopefully when Nate had more time. But with Elena around, Nate's free time was scarce. But Sully would find a way.
Fin-