On Friday morning Lara arrived at Boothby's auction house and entered a
crowded room. For once she blended in with everyone else there, dressed as
she was in a dark pinstripe trouser suit, hair pulled into a neat bun at
the back of her head. Lara hated dressing like this, although Alex had told
her that she looked incredibly sexy that morning, and she pulled at the
jacket uncomfortably. However, Lara couldn't afford to stand out on this
occasion. She found a place to stand at the back where she could survey the
entire room and breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted the silver-
haired man from the museum sitting near the front. She saw Alex standing at
the other side of the room dressed in a pale grey suit, but she avoided
letting her gaze linger in that direction.
After working his way through a few tedious furniture lots the auctioneer finally came to the lot Lara was there for, which Alex had dropped off only that morning.
"Item number 4619, an ancient coin or medallion with an unusual design, dated at around 200 AD," the auctioneer began in a slightly bored expression. "Lets start the bidding at £50,000 for this artefact."
After a pause Lara saw the silver haired gentleman raise his card. She hoped he didn't suspect anything, and that Alex's reputation for selling everything he found had preceded him.
"Fifty at the front, do I hear sixty for this interesting item?"
"Sixty thousand by the door, seventy sir?"
Someone else in the room had made a bid! Lara scanned the room trying to discover who it was. She caught Alex's eye for the briefest second and saw that he was also trying to discover who was bidding. The price had got up to £100,000 before she spotted a tall middle aged man with a neat goatee at the side of the room give a slight nod. The older man looked angry and seemed to be unable to work out who was opposing him and as the price was now rising in increments of £50,000 he was beginning to look anxious.
"£900,000 with the gentleman at the front. Do I hear one million pounds?" the auctioneer was beginning to get excited now, but the bearded man shook his head regretfully and pushed past a few people to get out of the room. "Going once at £900,000." the first bidder was looking relieved.
"One million pounds on the telephone...one point one million with the gentleman...two...three..." he kept going, up to one point nine million. He looked at the clerk on the phone, who nodded to bid two million.
Lara smirked, good old Hillary, trust him to leave it until the last possible second to come in with the phone bid. The man shot an angry look in the direction of the phones, obviously taken aback by the fact that another person was competing with him for the item. Lara maintained a calm expression, safe in the knowledge that she didn't actually have to pay whatever it cost her to win, only the commission to the auction house. As long as Alex didn't get greedy that was - Lara had to pay Boothby's for the item, who would then pass the money onto Alex minus commission, then he would return the money to her. She hoped.
"What will you give me to beat the phone bid, sir?" he asked.
The man looked as if he was calculating something, possibly how much the treasure was actually worth, or possibly how difficult it would be to recover the item should he let this anonymous bidder pay for it. Eventually he shook his head angrily.
"Sold then, to the phone bidder for two million pounds." Everyone in the room turned to ask their neighbour what was so special about the rusty lump of metal.
Lara carefully watched the elderly man making his way towards the door just to her left. Her mobile phone vibrated silently in her trouser pocket and she quickly drew it out. Alex had just sent her a text message. 'OTHER BIDDER WAS DUVAL, I'LL CHECK HIM OUT'.
So, Alex's ex-employer had figured out that he'd found the 'real' treasure and decided the only way to retrieve it from him was to pay for it. Lara had to entertain the possibility that it was Duval who had stolen the scroll from the museum, rather than the men she had seen there. Lara followed the grey haired man out into the entrance hall and hid herself behind a pillar to eavesdrop on a phone conversation he was now making.
Alex ducked behind a pillar, across the other side of the hall from the one Lara was currently hiding behind. Luc Duval strode out of the main doors, heading for a large black saloon. Alex followed him out and slid into his own car unnoticed. He grabbed a pair of dark glasses from the pile of junk on the passenger seat and pulled out of the car park behind his quarry. "Two million pounds," he muttered to himself as he drove, "Two million pounds that could be mine if I'd sold it for real. This had better be worth it Lara."
"Two million pounds," the older man was saying in an agitated tone as he paced the floor. He held the handset away from his ear and Lara heard angry noises coming from it. "Duval," he continued, "but it wasn't him that got it, it was a phone bidder..I don't know how!...Yes, we'll figure it out, just give me a few more days...yes alright." the conversation ended and Lara drew back, pressing herself against the masonry as the man turned, surveyed the room and then made for the large glass doors. Lara followed a short distance behind.
After working his way through a few tedious furniture lots the auctioneer finally came to the lot Lara was there for, which Alex had dropped off only that morning.
"Item number 4619, an ancient coin or medallion with an unusual design, dated at around 200 AD," the auctioneer began in a slightly bored expression. "Lets start the bidding at £50,000 for this artefact."
After a pause Lara saw the silver haired gentleman raise his card. She hoped he didn't suspect anything, and that Alex's reputation for selling everything he found had preceded him.
"Fifty at the front, do I hear sixty for this interesting item?"
"Sixty thousand by the door, seventy sir?"
Someone else in the room had made a bid! Lara scanned the room trying to discover who it was. She caught Alex's eye for the briefest second and saw that he was also trying to discover who was bidding. The price had got up to £100,000 before she spotted a tall middle aged man with a neat goatee at the side of the room give a slight nod. The older man looked angry and seemed to be unable to work out who was opposing him and as the price was now rising in increments of £50,000 he was beginning to look anxious.
"£900,000 with the gentleman at the front. Do I hear one million pounds?" the auctioneer was beginning to get excited now, but the bearded man shook his head regretfully and pushed past a few people to get out of the room. "Going once at £900,000." the first bidder was looking relieved.
"One million pounds on the telephone...one point one million with the gentleman...two...three..." he kept going, up to one point nine million. He looked at the clerk on the phone, who nodded to bid two million.
Lara smirked, good old Hillary, trust him to leave it until the last possible second to come in with the phone bid. The man shot an angry look in the direction of the phones, obviously taken aback by the fact that another person was competing with him for the item. Lara maintained a calm expression, safe in the knowledge that she didn't actually have to pay whatever it cost her to win, only the commission to the auction house. As long as Alex didn't get greedy that was - Lara had to pay Boothby's for the item, who would then pass the money onto Alex minus commission, then he would return the money to her. She hoped.
"What will you give me to beat the phone bid, sir?" he asked.
The man looked as if he was calculating something, possibly how much the treasure was actually worth, or possibly how difficult it would be to recover the item should he let this anonymous bidder pay for it. Eventually he shook his head angrily.
"Sold then, to the phone bidder for two million pounds." Everyone in the room turned to ask their neighbour what was so special about the rusty lump of metal.
Lara carefully watched the elderly man making his way towards the door just to her left. Her mobile phone vibrated silently in her trouser pocket and she quickly drew it out. Alex had just sent her a text message. 'OTHER BIDDER WAS DUVAL, I'LL CHECK HIM OUT'.
So, Alex's ex-employer had figured out that he'd found the 'real' treasure and decided the only way to retrieve it from him was to pay for it. Lara had to entertain the possibility that it was Duval who had stolen the scroll from the museum, rather than the men she had seen there. Lara followed the grey haired man out into the entrance hall and hid herself behind a pillar to eavesdrop on a phone conversation he was now making.
Alex ducked behind a pillar, across the other side of the hall from the one Lara was currently hiding behind. Luc Duval strode out of the main doors, heading for a large black saloon. Alex followed him out and slid into his own car unnoticed. He grabbed a pair of dark glasses from the pile of junk on the passenger seat and pulled out of the car park behind his quarry. "Two million pounds," he muttered to himself as he drove, "Two million pounds that could be mine if I'd sold it for real. This had better be worth it Lara."
"Two million pounds," the older man was saying in an agitated tone as he paced the floor. He held the handset away from his ear and Lara heard angry noises coming from it. "Duval," he continued, "but it wasn't him that got it, it was a phone bidder..I don't know how!...Yes, we'll figure it out, just give me a few more days...yes alright." the conversation ended and Lara drew back, pressing herself against the masonry as the man turned, surveyed the room and then made for the large glass doors. Lara followed a short distance behind.