Southwood was exactly thirty-seven seconds early, Cameron thought sourly
when his cell phone rang. The thing was driving him crazy. He couldn't
afford to answer it when a familiar number had come up, and a few
unfamiliar ones as well. Parents. Telling them to get their worthless
selves home right then and there and don't make it worse on them. And all
that could be said without leaving voicemail. But they had to do this, and
as quietly as possible. If they could just make the trade and run, then
that would be much better in the long run. Maybe. Hopefully.
But then Cameron's phone rang and the same number that had come up on Liz's phone was there. Southwood wasn't giving them even a second of leeway on if they had the statue or not. But they did have it. Liz had been looking at it a lot since they had made it back to Europe, her fingers tracing out the hieroglyphics on the base. What was so special about this thing? It was kind of ugly as a matter of fact. Cam was the history buff in the group and he enjoyed looking at artifacts and the like. He had even spent a few weeks in Egypt the last couple of digging seasons, helping to excavate a tomb. In all of his studies of lost art, this wasn't anything he had come across before. It looked kind of cheap. Something that might have been made a few hundred years ago for visitors to Egypt, but not something that would have been buried with a Pharaoh.
Cam answered the phone with a rough German accent, trying to step into the role of Jaqui's bodyguard, not Janna's cousin. It would be proper that he was annoyed with the situation, but not passionate about it. This was business, not personal. "Jaqui," he greeted curtly.
"Bon jour, Franz," Jaqui greeted as if she was making a social call to see how they were enjoying their vacation. "I trust that you have received the package from my clients."
"They delivered it to us as promised," Cameron replied. There was a soft hiss in the background that was a hallmark that someone else was listening in on this call. "They had some other commitments to attend to unfortunately, so they had to leave shortly after delivery."
"Ah well," she said. "As long as you and Anna will not mind dropping it off for me, then there should be no problems."
She was suddenly no longer on the line and a man began giving instructions for where to meet them. They were to take a high-speed train to Athens in Greece. A warehouse, how predictable, and then they would make the trade. No police. Like that was going to happen. Officers, our cousin was kidnapped because we stole something else when we were only supposed to be snatching a multi-million dollar necklace. Can you help up get her back?
On the plus side, even with trying to disguise his voice, Cameron recognized Bentley, Southwood's lawyer. This was just about the statue and nothing to do with their hyped genetics. That was something that him and Liz had talked about and worried over on the way to Europe. What if they were supposed to get caught so that Southwood could get his hands on a transgenic while it was in jail? Crazy, but then again the whole situation was as well. Maybe it was a good thing that Heather knew what was going on. All of the action that they had seen was in the shadows, trying to not be part of it. She had actually been in the line of fire before. Still, if Bentley thought that putting a handkerchief over the phone was fooling them, then he had no idea about their hearing and if he didn't know about that, then he wouldn't know about the rest.
Liz called Heather and left a message with the plans on her cell phone. For her to have it off had to mean they were already on their way over to Europe. That was sort of comforting in a way. It was good to know that there was going to be backup. Unfortunately, this backup was coming with a price. They were going to be in a world of hurt when this was over. As a matter of fact, chances of family lining up and each having a few minutes to "explain" the error of their ways was quite likely. Well, not much they could do about it now.
The second they got on the train, there was that "creepy" feeling. They were being watched. Probably had listening devices close to them as well. It was all being done rather well and would have been quite successful had the targets not been strong telepaths. It was reassuring in a way. If they were trying such typical ways of spying, then Janna hadn't said a word. Hadn't been forced to say anything. Both of them remembered to make some occasional, light conversation, most of it centered around how annoyed they were at having to do a piddling little errand for Jaqui when they were supposed to be on vacation. There better be a bonus in their pay. They were hired hands, nothing more, nothing less. Mentally, their conversation revolved around losing their followers, casing where the trade was going to be made and getting in and out of there as quickly and painlessly as possible. They weren't going to even try and keep the statue. Neither of them cared how valuable it might be; Janna was worth a great deal more.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"They're going to be here soon aren't they?" Emilie asked. She knew the answer already. Jaqui had exhibited absolutely no fear whatsoever that her partners, or whoever they were, weren't going to show up. Family, Emilie thought. You don't trust employees this implicitly. Trust like she was showing was reserved for people that you have a tight bond with. And there were very few bonds tighter than blood. In any case, Emilie wanted Jaqui to start talking again.
"Of course," Jaqui replied with all of the confidence she had been showing since she had been thrown in the cell. "I am willing to bet that if they missed their train then I would already be dead." She grinned. "Besides, it is quite difficult to get a paycheck when you let your employer get killed."
Emilie laughed. "You got a point there. That must be a good thing then. Get you out of here quicker."
There was a slight tone of wistfulness that made Janna glance down. Over the last seventeen hours or so she had gotten to know Emilie and felt rather bad at the prospect of leaving her here. Chances of her surviving this mess were rather slim. "Is it possible that you can translate the map for them and leave with me?" she asked Emilie. They really hadn't talked much about the map and it's specifics. It seemed to upset Emilie. "Once you have the statute you can do it."
Emilie smiled bitterly. "It's not a map like you think. No X to mark the spot. It's more a key to a puzzle. The map tells you which hieroglyph to pick. The rest of the instructions are within the caves where the treasure is hidden. If you don't have the map and pick the wrong set, then you die." She shrugged. "I know that sounds like something out of a children's movie about finding a lost treasure, but it could be true. In either case, there are still a lot of places that haven't been fully explored. Entrances get blocked, earthquakes change the landscape. What I do know for certain is that man out there knows where the start is and he's very desperate to find the end. I'm not going anywhere until he's got his mountains that glitter." She paused and looked at Janna with a rather thoughtful smile. "And you're not French are you?"
Janna jumped a little. She wasn't expecting two people in less than a week to realize her ruse. What was wrong with this? Most of the people she spoke to in France thought that she was French. And that was when she was being Janna fooling around. When she was in Jaqui mode, Antonio had been the only one to ever suspect that she wasn't what she said she was. And that included the client that had been from Paris. He was the one that said he had been nervous about going to them, but since he was dealing with a fellow countryman, it made him feel better.
"Why on Earth would you ever think that?" she asked, not letting her confusion show.
Emilie let out a little laugh, her voice lowering. "Your grammar is excellent, vocabulary even better. But do not try and fool a linguist. We're rather clever at hearing things you know."
Janna had to laugh. This day was just getting better and better. She was so going back to the States and not coming out for a few years. At least. Antonio could visit her there. Antonio. How was she going to explain him to Liz and Cam? That was another worry that she was going to have to deal with later. Right now, she needed to prioritize. And right now, her priority was getting out of this mess and getting Emilie out with her. She wasn't going to let Emilie know that her employees were actually cousins that could qualify as superheroes if they would be all truth, justice and the American way. But one way or another, she wasn't going to just leave Emilie to die here.
"Perhaps," Janna said, not losing the accent, "I could just say that I like being French and let you draw your own conclusions."
Emilie pretended to pout. "That's not exactly helpful," she complained. "I rather like being Irish myself and I know that I was born in Dublin."
Before anything else could be said, the door was flung open and the minion with the twisted scar came shambling in. He glared at the two women and then his gaze focused on Janna, eyes glittering full of hate and lust towards her. She had to fight from swallowing against the lump that suddenly formed in her throat. It was all fine and good to pretend to be Jaqui and be totally confident and in control of herself, but it was Janna's body that was going to die if the slightest thing went wrong.
"You," he grunted, a thick meaty finger pointing at Janna. "Boss wants you."
Janna got up, determined not to tremble. Were they here? Had the deal been done already? Maybe they could leave and then watch the place and get Emilie when bad guys moved. Maybe. And there was still the question of where the necklace was. Janna did want to get that back if they could. Keep calm, she ordered herself. No freaking out now. Just relax and let things happen. It would be okay. It would work out. As long as she didn't pee her pants, it would all be okay.
But then Cameron's phone rang and the same number that had come up on Liz's phone was there. Southwood wasn't giving them even a second of leeway on if they had the statue or not. But they did have it. Liz had been looking at it a lot since they had made it back to Europe, her fingers tracing out the hieroglyphics on the base. What was so special about this thing? It was kind of ugly as a matter of fact. Cam was the history buff in the group and he enjoyed looking at artifacts and the like. He had even spent a few weeks in Egypt the last couple of digging seasons, helping to excavate a tomb. In all of his studies of lost art, this wasn't anything he had come across before. It looked kind of cheap. Something that might have been made a few hundred years ago for visitors to Egypt, but not something that would have been buried with a Pharaoh.
Cam answered the phone with a rough German accent, trying to step into the role of Jaqui's bodyguard, not Janna's cousin. It would be proper that he was annoyed with the situation, but not passionate about it. This was business, not personal. "Jaqui," he greeted curtly.
"Bon jour, Franz," Jaqui greeted as if she was making a social call to see how they were enjoying their vacation. "I trust that you have received the package from my clients."
"They delivered it to us as promised," Cameron replied. There was a soft hiss in the background that was a hallmark that someone else was listening in on this call. "They had some other commitments to attend to unfortunately, so they had to leave shortly after delivery."
"Ah well," she said. "As long as you and Anna will not mind dropping it off for me, then there should be no problems."
She was suddenly no longer on the line and a man began giving instructions for where to meet them. They were to take a high-speed train to Athens in Greece. A warehouse, how predictable, and then they would make the trade. No police. Like that was going to happen. Officers, our cousin was kidnapped because we stole something else when we were only supposed to be snatching a multi-million dollar necklace. Can you help up get her back?
On the plus side, even with trying to disguise his voice, Cameron recognized Bentley, Southwood's lawyer. This was just about the statue and nothing to do with their hyped genetics. That was something that him and Liz had talked about and worried over on the way to Europe. What if they were supposed to get caught so that Southwood could get his hands on a transgenic while it was in jail? Crazy, but then again the whole situation was as well. Maybe it was a good thing that Heather knew what was going on. All of the action that they had seen was in the shadows, trying to not be part of it. She had actually been in the line of fire before. Still, if Bentley thought that putting a handkerchief over the phone was fooling them, then he had no idea about their hearing and if he didn't know about that, then he wouldn't know about the rest.
Liz called Heather and left a message with the plans on her cell phone. For her to have it off had to mean they were already on their way over to Europe. That was sort of comforting in a way. It was good to know that there was going to be backup. Unfortunately, this backup was coming with a price. They were going to be in a world of hurt when this was over. As a matter of fact, chances of family lining up and each having a few minutes to "explain" the error of their ways was quite likely. Well, not much they could do about it now.
The second they got on the train, there was that "creepy" feeling. They were being watched. Probably had listening devices close to them as well. It was all being done rather well and would have been quite successful had the targets not been strong telepaths. It was reassuring in a way. If they were trying such typical ways of spying, then Janna hadn't said a word. Hadn't been forced to say anything. Both of them remembered to make some occasional, light conversation, most of it centered around how annoyed they were at having to do a piddling little errand for Jaqui when they were supposed to be on vacation. There better be a bonus in their pay. They were hired hands, nothing more, nothing less. Mentally, their conversation revolved around losing their followers, casing where the trade was going to be made and getting in and out of there as quickly and painlessly as possible. They weren't going to even try and keep the statue. Neither of them cared how valuable it might be; Janna was worth a great deal more.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"They're going to be here soon aren't they?" Emilie asked. She knew the answer already. Jaqui had exhibited absolutely no fear whatsoever that her partners, or whoever they were, weren't going to show up. Family, Emilie thought. You don't trust employees this implicitly. Trust like she was showing was reserved for people that you have a tight bond with. And there were very few bonds tighter than blood. In any case, Emilie wanted Jaqui to start talking again.
"Of course," Jaqui replied with all of the confidence she had been showing since she had been thrown in the cell. "I am willing to bet that if they missed their train then I would already be dead." She grinned. "Besides, it is quite difficult to get a paycheck when you let your employer get killed."
Emilie laughed. "You got a point there. That must be a good thing then. Get you out of here quicker."
There was a slight tone of wistfulness that made Janna glance down. Over the last seventeen hours or so she had gotten to know Emilie and felt rather bad at the prospect of leaving her here. Chances of her surviving this mess were rather slim. "Is it possible that you can translate the map for them and leave with me?" she asked Emilie. They really hadn't talked much about the map and it's specifics. It seemed to upset Emilie. "Once you have the statute you can do it."
Emilie smiled bitterly. "It's not a map like you think. No X to mark the spot. It's more a key to a puzzle. The map tells you which hieroglyph to pick. The rest of the instructions are within the caves where the treasure is hidden. If you don't have the map and pick the wrong set, then you die." She shrugged. "I know that sounds like something out of a children's movie about finding a lost treasure, but it could be true. In either case, there are still a lot of places that haven't been fully explored. Entrances get blocked, earthquakes change the landscape. What I do know for certain is that man out there knows where the start is and he's very desperate to find the end. I'm not going anywhere until he's got his mountains that glitter." She paused and looked at Janna with a rather thoughtful smile. "And you're not French are you?"
Janna jumped a little. She wasn't expecting two people in less than a week to realize her ruse. What was wrong with this? Most of the people she spoke to in France thought that she was French. And that was when she was being Janna fooling around. When she was in Jaqui mode, Antonio had been the only one to ever suspect that she wasn't what she said she was. And that included the client that had been from Paris. He was the one that said he had been nervous about going to them, but since he was dealing with a fellow countryman, it made him feel better.
"Why on Earth would you ever think that?" she asked, not letting her confusion show.
Emilie let out a little laugh, her voice lowering. "Your grammar is excellent, vocabulary even better. But do not try and fool a linguist. We're rather clever at hearing things you know."
Janna had to laugh. This day was just getting better and better. She was so going back to the States and not coming out for a few years. At least. Antonio could visit her there. Antonio. How was she going to explain him to Liz and Cam? That was another worry that she was going to have to deal with later. Right now, she needed to prioritize. And right now, her priority was getting out of this mess and getting Emilie out with her. She wasn't going to let Emilie know that her employees were actually cousins that could qualify as superheroes if they would be all truth, justice and the American way. But one way or another, she wasn't going to just leave Emilie to die here.
"Perhaps," Janna said, not losing the accent, "I could just say that I like being French and let you draw your own conclusions."
Emilie pretended to pout. "That's not exactly helpful," she complained. "I rather like being Irish myself and I know that I was born in Dublin."
Before anything else could be said, the door was flung open and the minion with the twisted scar came shambling in. He glared at the two women and then his gaze focused on Janna, eyes glittering full of hate and lust towards her. She had to fight from swallowing against the lump that suddenly formed in her throat. It was all fine and good to pretend to be Jaqui and be totally confident and in control of herself, but it was Janna's body that was going to die if the slightest thing went wrong.
"You," he grunted, a thick meaty finger pointing at Janna. "Boss wants you."
Janna got up, determined not to tremble. Were they here? Had the deal been done already? Maybe they could leave and then watch the place and get Emilie when bad guys moved. Maybe. And there was still the question of where the necklace was. Janna did want to get that back if they could. Keep calm, she ordered herself. No freaking out now. Just relax and let things happen. It would be okay. It would work out. As long as she didn't pee her pants, it would all be okay.
