Hey gang! I have the outline for the next chapter almost done so expect some tomb raiding soon.
Chapter 10 – Trouble Brewing
Lara was not sure if she was more furious with Alex or herself for thinking - or was it hoping - that he had changed. She clutched the medallion and jabbed it fiercely back into the hiding place that had protected it from Sosa thus far. Alex was ten times a fool. If it was found in their possession now, it could be the death of them all.
The jaguar medallion was all the evidence that Lara needed to be convinced that Alex was the same mercenary treasure hunter he'd always been. He had wanted to recover the Talisman for himself all along and his greed tripped him up and landed them all in this mess. Lara stalked out of the cabin without a word, leaving a confused Bryce and Hillary in her wake. She was loath to explain to them how she'd been taken for a fool yet again - they'd figure it out on their own soon enough, she mused grimly.
So help me God, she swore silently to herself. If anything happened to her two friends, she would kill Alex with her bare hands. Her fingers flexed unconsciously at the thought of wrapping them around the scoundrel's neck.
Before Lara knew it, the determined energy of her stride carried her to the edge of the activity centered on clearing the results of Alex's sabotage. A brush-covered hill, too symmetrical to be a natural formation, hid the entrance to tomb that Alex and Sosa were convinced led to Huascar's final resting place. Several dozen men were toiling to move the obstruction to the tomb entrance. Rocks were carried out by hand and dumped into waiting wooden carts that carried them a short distance to a refuse pile. Looking at the amount of debris already cleared, Lara suspected that they were no more than a day or two a way from breaching the tomb's entrance. Something was gnawing at her, but she couldn't put her finger on what was wrong with this picture.
Alex wanted the Talisman…
The second medallion was likely located in the tomb…
Alex blew up the entrance to the tomb…
Alex is bright enough to know his little foray into sabotage would not delay Sosa for long…
Alex was buying time…
Of course.
Alex had located a 'back' entrance to the tomb.
"That bastard," she whispered under her breath. For a moment her cool, unflappable exterior caved a bit, as one hand dashed at eyes that burned with sadness and shame at being duped once again.
"Two can play at this game, Alex West," Lara swore fervently to herself. She'd use him to get the Talisman and leave him with nothing but the view of ever diminishing form as she made off with his treasure. She'd like nothing better than to rip his heart out as well, but since he seemed to have none, it would be a futile gesture.
"Yes, how did that English poet of yours put it? Mr. West does seem to be a man if infinite jest."
Recovering from almost being taken unawares, Lara endeavored to turn and face Sosa with an unfazed expression.
"Yes, Alex is quite a joker," Lara remarked dryly. It was difficult for Lara to prevent some of her annoyance from adding a bit of a bite to her words.
Sosa's predatory smile left little doubt as to whether she had hidden all of her annoyance and it seemed to please him immensely. "So you have come to see how close we are to entering the tomb, Ms. Croft?"
"It looks like your team has made quite a bit of progress."
"The peasants in this area are uneducated, but given the right motivation, they are quite industrious."
Lara had no doubt as to the creativity of Sosa's type of motivation. The smile she bestowed on Julius Sosa did not reach her eyes. "No doubt."
Sosa seemed to ignore Lara's dry reply and continued. "We are only a day and half from breaching the entrance - two at the most." Sosa's smile this time seemed mildly lecherous as he added, "If you are at loose ends, I would be pleased to entertain you."
"Actually, I have in mind to use the free time to explore the area further. Who knows what other interesting finds we might make in the vicinity." Lara could tell from Sosa's lack of interest that his pursuit of archaeology was of a very single-minded nature. His pursuit of her on the other hand was heating up. She was just as determined to avoid his oily attentions.
"Entertain yourself as you wish, but I would like your company for dinner this evening." Lara thought to decline the invitation, but one look at Sosa made her realize that this was not an invitation. Rather more like a royal summons. "Bring your friends along, if you like. I'll be serving cocktails at seven."
Lara got the distinct impression that this was the equivalent of a royal summons - little choice to be sure. She simply inclined her head, not willing to give verbal acquiescence. Turning, Lara headed to the larger hills directly behind the temple mound. She did not bother looking back to gauge the effect her lack of interest had on the drug lord.
Stretching her legs out to keep up a ground-eating pace, Lara soon realized that the larger hill behind the man-made hill was a larger ridge - not a hill - and it extended further than she first imagined upon seeing it from the perspective of the village.
Oddly, she thought, the tracks did not move in a predictable pattern as one would expect from someone one conducting a search. Instead, the footprints followed a direct line. Lara had almost convinced herself that the trail could not have been Alex's when she noticed that the trail had been marked. Subtle, Lara thought. If you were not looking for sign, the bent twigs and missing bark might look no more suspicious than the evidence of animals passing through an area. She knew better.
Alex obviously wanted to make sure that he could easily find his way back to the location ahead with little effort or wasted time. Lara smiled with grim satisfaction. Wasn't it thoughtful of Alex to make finding the back entrance to the tomb so easy for her? She doubted that he would appreciate the irony.
She did – immensely.
It took Lara two hours to hike to the back of the ridge. At first, she followed a well-worn path. Near the top of the ridge, Lara spied a set of tracks that veered off the main course. About the right size to be Alex's shoe prints. Lara decided that it would be just as well to follow the tracks as strike out on her own vector. Just a short while later she was drawing close to an odd outcrop in a steep area on the west side of the mount. The area underneath fell under a deep shadow. Not remarkable normally, but Lara's keenly honed observation skills told her that the shadow hid more than just harmless vegetation. Drawing closer, the precise lines of a man-made structure became obvious in the dim shadows. Though she doubted anything about this adventure would be so easy, Lara put a shoulder to the stone portal and heaved. Solid as the mountain that surrounded it, she mentally groused. Nothing was going to come easy for her here. It had to be punishment for her gullibility, she mused. If fate intended her to work twice as hard to earn her reward, well then – dammit – she'd work three times as hard and make it look like a walk in the park.
Concentrating on the door, she pulled out a notebook and sketched the pictograms that decorated the portal. There was no evidence that the entry had been breached in the last 400 odd years. Alex, luckily, had not gotten any further. She would need to make plans for a quick departure and come back tonight to liberate the medallion from the tomb.
Then she would need to figure out how to ditch Alex and retrieve the talisman. Lara was angry with him, but not so vengeful as to leave him in Sosa's hands. But it was a close thing…
If he crossed her just one more time…
TBC…