Chapter Two
"Not For All The Tea In China"
"If it isn't Indiana Jones. Have a seat and I'll deal you a hand."
He grinned. "I'll have a seat but I wouldn't take up a game with you for all the tea in China." He sat and motioned to the bartender for a drink.
"So how have things been since your little excursion in Egypt?" She opened the conversation.
Now it was his turn to be surprised. "You…you know about that? But how? It was a private dig…"
She laughed out loud. "Oh, I know plenty about your little 'private' digs. Seems your reputation precedes you. There aren't many of your digs that don't attract certain spectators."
"Really? Such as whom?" Jones was thoroughly interested, and suspicious.
"Such as all your competitors. I was working for one of them at the time, and wanted to see what I was up against."
"And who exactly are you?" he asked.
She thought for a moment. "Hmm…I guess you could call me a seed in the wind. I don't take root, I don't get chummy, and I do what I need to do to survive."
"Like rip guys off of their money with a crooked deck?"
She gasped. A real, offended and sudden gasp. "How did you…how?"
He grinned. "This-…" he lifted the first card. "Is the trademark of every crooked deck I've ever come up against." The card was the Ace of Spades. "And this-…" he continued, lifting the deck and showing the bottom card, the Queen of Hearts, "is the insignia of one Audrey Hammar, the Rogue of the Sands, the Poker Alice of the Desert. Hello, Audrey."
She smiled the most seductive smile he'd ever seen…and he'd seen many.
"Well, so you've caught me. And I suppose you've been on my trail for day now, hoping to cash in the bounty?"
"Nah, I figure you'd get away within ten miles of the police station, like you did for every other captor of yours. I just wanted to talk."
She sat back in her chair and sighed.
"Whew! I though you were going to arrest me. You know, it's not many men who would just want to talk to a woman in this country. Oh well. So, what do you want to know?"
He leaned forward. "Tell me about the Pharaoh's Heart."
Audrey's eyes became wide with surprise and terror.
"Oh god…I never thought you'd want to talk…about that! No. Ask me anything else, but I'm not talking about that goddamned ruby." She spoke as if it was the end of the conversation. But, as we all know Indy, it only sparked his interest.
"Alright, I'll make you a deal. You tell me what you know, and I'll play a game with you. One hand of poker for one minute of fluent conversation. Are you gonna go for the bait or leave the worm to drown?" He grinned, knowing what the outcome was going to be.
She sighed and bit. "I was never one to turn a game down. Fine. The Pharaoh's Heart was a myth until a few years ago. When some treasure hunter dug it up out of a pyramid in Egypt, his employer knew nothing about it. The hunter kept it a secret, hoping to sell it on the black market. He never made it there.
"When it was discovered next, a rich stock market player bought it at a jewelry store to give to his fiancée. She wore it for two days, and they were both found, murdered and robbed, in his penthouse suite in Cairo.
"It finally ended up in a museum, where specialists and priests were hired to study and guard it. The priests were merely there from public superstition and to ease the people's minds. Until they were brought in, no one would step foot in the building."
Audrey stopped. "That's all I know. I was even hired to pinch it, but even I know where to draw the line. They say the gem's only as red as the blood spilt to own it."
Indy smirked. "Well, I'd say that's two hand's worth. Deal me in, Audrey, I'd hate to rip you off of your game of ripping other people off."