A/N: Sorry the update has taken a while but I just got back to school and I've had trouble with the internet connection at home. Not to mention I've been having a major writer's block. My point is though, I care about my readers and I am not giving up on this story because there is a lot more good stuff to come. Anyway, here's an extra long chapter to make up for the delay and I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 5

Deception Point

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"Jasmine went where with Dirk and Al?" A worried Kathleen asked over the line

"I know you're afraid that something's going to happen to her but I assure you that she's in good hands with Dirk and Al. They won't let anyone harm her. In fact we thought it would be safer for her to go with them because we don't really trust this Morgan guy." Jim explained

"So then why did you take him up on the offer in the first place?"

"Because we need the money and if he really is going to give the treasure back to Turkey then it would be a good deed as well but if he's playing us, I'll make sure the three of them take the next plane back here."

"Who exactly is this guy?"

"Rudi did some research on him, he was born rich and has an interest in archaeological history and he doesn't have any criminal records."

"That's a good thing isn't it?"

"Let's hope so Kay, let's hope so."

/LINE/

"Okay, we're in Turkey, now where is this archaeologist friend of his."

Being in Greece one moment and then the next in Turkey was weird to Jasmine. When she had woken up that morning she had thought that she would just be spending a couple of hours with her cousin not go on a treasure hunt that would take them to India. She didn't know if she should be excited about it because a part of her thought it was a little scary. She knew Dirk wouldn't let anything happen to her, that's not what scared her but it was the fact that things could change so fast. Even if Turkey and Greece weren't that far away from each other, there was certainly a difference in climate and the 18 year old carefully observed her surroundings.

"Ah, there you are. I'm sorry I took so long."

The three of them looked up and saw a medium man with a rather wide figure walking up to them. He looked as if he was in his late 30s and had short dark brown hair. Jasmine assumed that he was probably from Turkey. He shook hands with all three of them and Dirk still wasn't entirely sure if he was a friend or foe. I guess time will have to tell, he thought.

"What exactly are you going to show us Dr….?" Dirk asked

"Hassal, Ari Hassal."

"Dr. Hassal."

"The plan is to show you the old dig site and then you'll spend the night at my house and continue to India tomorrow morning."

"Do we have any sort of clue to go after regarding the treasure? You can't just let us off in India without any sort of trail to follow." Al said

"Oh we do have a clue Mr. Giordino, but first the dig-site. This way please."

/LINE/

"Step one completed Sir, but what do we do if they suspect anything?"

"If they suspect too much we'll move onto plan B immediately." Morgan replied

Morgan hoped he wouldn't have to use Plan B but Dirk Pitt was already suspicious to go on this mission. If you know what's best for you Mr. Pitt, you won't cause any complications. It could end in despair, he thought as he took a zip of his brandy.

/LINE/

Jasmine had always been interested in history and being at the dig-site of one of the most astounding finds in archaeology was amazing. The story of Troy was a story she loved and she had seen the movie with Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom which she had loved. As she was standing on the ground, looking around her, it almost felt as if she was back in the ancient times because she could imagine what Troy might have looked like if that really was where it had been. Dirk and Al were off with Ari who was showing them something and she had decided to have a look around on her own because that was who she was. She was often found sitting in a corner with a good book in her hands or writing something in her notebook which was something she carried with her. It wasn't that she didn't like spending time with her friends and meeting new people, because she did, but she also liked her privacy and that was something not a lot of people understood. The interest in history and archaeology was something that was in the family genes, Dirk had the job he had, her mom had been an archaeologist and her brother was studying archaeology at the moment and would soon get his PhD. Jasmine had considered studying it as well but wasn't completely sure yet because there were a lot of other options and she wanted to keep an open mind.

"How are you finding it?" Ari asked as he walked up to her

"It's incredible. Schliemann really did a job here. I'm surprised there aren't many tourists here though." Jasmine replied

"I'm afraid most people do not find archaeology that interesting anymore. They don't like to live in the past."

"I think you need to understand the past to be able to move into the future."

"Wise words from someone so young."

"Yeah well, that's Jasmine for you." Dirk stated when he and Al joined them again

"Did you find anything interesting?" Jasmine asked

"A lot of scorpions but nothing that says that this was Troy. If the plane that crashed in the jungle really was filled with Troy's treasure, it's gonna be like finding a needle in a haystack." Al replied

"What's the clue?" Dirk asked

"Let's stop by a restaurant in town and I'll tell you there." Ari told them

/LINE/

Kathleen was making her way through Cos to the restaurant where she was meeting Jim. They hadn't seen each other in such a long time and despite the circumstances, there was a lot to catch up on. Kay had known the admiral since before she and her husband had adopted Jasmine and they were good friends. She saw him sitting by a table in the middle of the restaurant and smiled when she walked up to him. The two of them ordered drinks and while they waited for their food to come, they talked.

"I can't believe it's been such a long time since we spoke." Kathleen stated

"We've both been busy. But I agree, it has been too long. How's Graham?" Jim said

"He's just fine, I spoke to him on the phone earlier and he says 'hi'."

"Did you tell him the whereabouts of Jasmine?"

"No, I figured it would be better to leave that out of the picture. He tends to get overprotective of her."

"He's her father; he has the right to be protective."

"I suppose that's true. Have you heard from them?"

"No, but if something was wrong they would call. Dirk and Al two of my best boys, they always know exactly what they're doing and they'll take care of her. You have nothing to worry about."

/LINE/

"Here's the plan, Ari says the treasure was taken from the plane, most probably by the natives, so what we need to do is to get to the plane and then to the village." Dirk said

"And then what? As them nicely 'can you please give us the treasure, we need it badly'?" Al asked

It was much later that night, Al and Dirk in the living room of Ari's house, looking at a map so they knew which direction they were going to take as not to get lost. So far it seemed as if Morgan wasn't playing them but in the duos experience, they knew you could never be too careful. If you were rich, you were powerful; if you were powerful you had a lot of connections to a lot of resources they didn't stand a chance of getting near so they had to plan every move carefully. Also Dirk didn't want Jasmine's life to be put at risk at all because if something happened to her, he would never be able to forgive himself and neither would Kathleen.

"The easiest way into the jungle is by foot, not to mention we'll cause less suspicion that way." Dirk explained

"How's little Missy-asleep-upstairs gonna like that?" Al asked

"She's tougher than she looks, she'll handle it. I'm gonna call it a night, we have to get up early tomorrow."

The two friends walked upstairs to their separate rooms and hoped that they would go through with everything without anything bad happening. Sure Dirk liked adventures but sometimes, you had to take it easy as well. He lay down on the bed and it did not take long before he fell asleep.

/LINE/

While Dirk and Al were both of to the land of dreams, Jasmine was awake. For some reason she couldn't get herself to fall asleep, no matter how much she tried. She decided that it was useless lying there doing nothing so she quietly opened door and walked downstairs to get something to drink. As she poured some milk into a glass, she heard footsteps coming closer and she heard two people speaking. One of them was Ari and the other one was a little unclear but she could tell it wasn't Dirk or Al.

"You can tell Mr. Morgan that everything is going according to plan. They're taking the flight to New Delhi tomorrow morning and hopefully it'll all work out." Ari said

"Are they at all suspicious?" The stranger asked

"It's hard to tell, but I do not think they have a clue of what's going on. If they did, they wouldn't have accepted Morgan's offer in the first place."

Jasmine listened to what they were saying and realized that this whole mission wasn't what it seemed to be like after all and that she needed to tell Dirk and Al about it as fast as possible so they could get out of it. As the two men walked out of the house, she carefully crept out of her hiding place and just as she was about to hurry upstairs someone grabbed her from behind, covered her mouth and pulled her away before the two men walked inside. The person removed his grip from her and she turned away to see Al standing there.

"Don't ever do that again." Jasmine whispered

"Ssh, they'll find out we're here." Al told her

Ari and the stranger were standing in the living room, without being able to see the duo hiding close by. The stranger handed Ari something that wasn't visible, but Jasmine hoped they would find out soon what it was. I have a bad feeling about this, she thought as she observed the scene.

"So it's settled then? The treasure will go straight to the boss?" The stranger asked

"Definitely. Tell Morgan it's a pleasure doing business with him." Ari replied

"I will. If anything comes up, give me a call."

The stranger left the house and Ari stood still for a few moments before walking upstairs to his room. When the duo were sure he was out of sight, the two of them came out from their hiding place, hurried upstairs into Dirk room, where the adventurer was fast asleep. Jasmine sat down on the bed and shook Dirk until he opened his eyes and was slightly surprised to see her and Al there.

"We've got a big problem." Jasmine told him

"I believe you do my dear."

The trio turned around and saw Ari standing in the doorway with a gun aimed at them. Before Jasmine could react, Ari dragged her to him and aimed the gun to her throat and she immediately felt herself panicking. Ari wasn't going to let them get away because that meant he would be in serious trouble and he couldn't afford that. This job would get him a lot of money and money was something he needed. The newly awake Dirk didn't have to guess twice about what was going on and knew they had to do something about the situation fast.

"Move an inch and I will shoot her." Ari threatened, ready to pull the trigger

"Easy there Doctor, you don't wanna do anything you'll regret." Dirk told him

"Believe me Mr. Pitt; I have very few regrets in my life. This will certainly not be one of them."

"Put the gun down."

"I'm afraid I cannot. So Miss Stevens, do you have any last words?"

"Yeah. Drop dead."

Jasmine stepped on Ari's foot and hit him in the stomach with her elbow. It made him loose balance and drop the gun which she kicked over to Al who picked it up and aimed at Ari in case he would do anything stupid. The archaeologist was about to get back up on his feet and when he did Dirk punched him the face.

"Al, get Jasmine out of here." Dirk ordered

"What about you?" Al asked

"Just go, I'll catch up with you."

"You heard the man. Let's go."

The two of them hurried downstairs and ran as fast as they could out of the house and after a few moments Dirk joined them. Ari wasn't dead but he wouldn't wake up for a long time and when he did, they would be far away from there. They stopped running when they were a bit away from the house, and they all realized they were in a lot of trouble because it was only a matter of time before Morgan found out what had happened.

"What do we do now?" Jasmine asked

"The only thing we can do." Dirk replied

"What's that?" Al asked

"Catch the next flight to New Delhi. Morgan wants the treasure for himself and we can't let that happen so we have to get there before him."

"The map's back at the house."

"We'll get a new one. Taxi!"

The car stopped in front of them and the trio got inside, with no idea of what fate had in store for them. But one thing was for sure: it was going to be an adventure that they would never forget.

TBC…

There you have it and I hope you liked it. Next one will be full of more action and it will be up a lot sooner than this one, I promise you that. Please press that tiny little button in the left hand corner of the screen before you close this page and I'll be very grateful.