Moscow, Russia

Nate took the next available flight from Budapest to Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport and took a taxi to downtown Moscow where he sat in a small cafe near the Bolshoi Theatre. From his seat near the window he watched the snow lightly dust the neoclassical theatre with its sharp geometric design and iconic columns out front, with the four horses galloping across the pediment. A cup of hot tea sat steaming in front of him, his mind wandered. He only had a couple of hours until his next flight and felt a bit nervous. He checked his watch for what felt like the hundredth time, she was late.

If she was coming at all.

He doubted whether she would, she was mad on the phone, but he had the ace up his sleeve so to speak and it was the first step to making amends and getting out from under the threat of prison, or worse.

"You have some nerve, Drake" Mia said breaking him out of his reverie. She stood hovering over him, arms crossed over her white puffer jacket and staring daggers at him. "Give me the letter and let me get the hell out of here."

"Mia," Nate said, standing. "Please, sit down."

"No. The letter and I am leaving."

"Just hear me out" he said and something in his voice must have convinced her. She sighed and took a seat, "You have five minutes and not a second more."

"Fine." He opened his backpack and handed Mia the letter from King George to Captain Cook. It was in a plastic sleeve and inside a waterproof pouch and in the same condition then when they had found it.

Well, mostly.

Mia took it and put it in a plastic hard case that she pulled from her bag. "This is the only reason I even came here, Nate. What you pulled...everyone is pissed."

"Look, I know. This is who I am, this is my life. I am a treasure hunter and you can't expect us to ignore it any more than you can expect to dangle a steak in front of a lion and expect it not to take a bite.

"Once we realised the possibility of discovering the long-lost Crown Jewels of England, we had to take a chance. Since the Museum was not going to let us see it, we had to do what we do best and take it."

Mia looked at him, anger etched all over her face, "So you feel no guilt for what you did?"

He shrugged, "If not for us, you would never have found it. We had every right to look at the letter as you did."

"You're unbelievable" she scoffed and began to get up.

"Wait" Nate said, putting a handout to stop her. He took a breath, if the letter was his ace up his sleeve than what he was about to say was his joker. "If not for us then-," he paused, "-you would never have found out the letter is not only real, but it has put us on the trail of the Crown Jewels."

Mia turned and looked at him, intrigued written all over her face and Nate knew he had her. "What do you mean you're on the trail, who has them? And for that matter, where is your partner? I expected him to be sitting in the back surveilling the door."

Nate grimaced, "Well, that's ah, that's a long story."

She sat down, "I got time."

"I don't. Not really."

"Why?"

"I have a flight to catch. I just wanted to give you the letter and apologise."

Mia's mouth went tight, "Nate, you can't just tell me that you're on the trail of the Crown Jewels and then say you have to go and not expect me to punch you in the mouth."

Nate smiled, "Fair enough," he said. He considered his next words, "Spence changed his mind, didn't he? Told you it was a fake?"

Mia nodded, "He said based on what he saw it definitely was a fake. He couldn't explain why the letter appeared in King Kamehameha's chamber and that he would have to investigate it more thoroughly back in England when time permitted. We all thought it was suspicious he changed his mind so suddenly, but we had no reason not to believe him." She paused, "How did you know?"

"The letter isn't fake. It's real."

Mia's eyes went wide, "How do you know?" she repeated, then, "Have you found them? Can you verify everything?"

A waitress brought a second pot of tea and a cup. Nate poured out a cup for her and topped his up in his attempt to placate her, "Whoa whoa, slow down. No, I haven't found them, and I can verify part of it, but not everything so far."

"Why not?" she asked, suspicion creeping back into her eyes.

He pointed to the front page of a newspaper; the headline was in Cyrillic, but the accompanying aerial picture of a destroyed Matthias Church said all it needed to. "The clues led us there, to an underground church of St Peter the Hermit which also happened to be a cult of religious thieves."

Mia frowned, "What?"

"Let me start from the beginning" Nate said.

"That would be nice."

He took a sip of tea, "After we took-"

"-Stole-

"-the letter, we read it and were sceptical of it, just as Spence was, but Sully insisted we check it out. So, we flew into Holland and visited Berne Abbey where Roger of Wendover spent his remaining days.

"Fortunately, the monks keep meticulous records and always have. We were able to find proof that he conspired with King John to steal the Jewels and planned to retire to somewhere nice and warm to live out his days, however he died, and Wendover remained at the Abbey."

"Where is Sully?" Mia interrupted.

Nate considered, "Gone."

"Gone?"

"Yes, I'll get to it in a moment."

Mia leaned forward in her chair, hands around the warm cup, waiting.

"So, Roger spent over a decade at the Abbey, living with the monks while still in possession of the Jewels-"

"How do you know?" she interrupted again.

"What?"

"How do you know all of this?"

"Oh, right. We found Wendovers writings."

"Really?"

Nate shrugged, "Like I said, the monks there kept meticulous records."

"Do you have them?"

Nate winced, "Sorta..."

Mia furrowed her brow, but Nate interjected before she could say anything, "I'll get to it."

"You better" she sniffed.

Nate sighed, "Wendover was convinced the Jewels were stolen by a Polish Brother named Dominik Martinus who visited St Peter and Paul Church in Poland. So naturally we visited the church and scoured the grounds but came up with nothing, until I discovered how to unlock the door with the key we found-."

"Key? What key?"

"We found a key in Wendovers things. Didn't I mention that?"

Mia sighed, "Nate, you tell this like a kid who is making up a story when he got caught doing something he shouldn't have."

He grimaced, "A lot has happened, alright. It wasn't just a stroll around the Netherlands and Poland following great big signs saying, 'The Crown Jewels were here'. I'll try to do better though."

"Thank you."

"The key we found, it was both a puzzle and a hint. Initially we didn't know what it was, it didn't look like a regular key but eventually I managed to work out the puzzle which provided the hint to what it unlocked."

"Do you have the key?"

Nate shook his head, "Sorta."

She sighed, "I still might punch you, you know."

"I wouldn't blame you. Anyway," he continued, "we unlocked the door and it led down into a sort of bunker the Knights Templar were using against the Mongol invasion."

"You're kidding?"

Nate shook his head, "Not at all. There were Mongol weapons and bodies down there that hadn't been seen in 500 years, not until Cook found his way in there."

"Wait a minute, Cook also made it that far?"

"Yep."

"Do you know if he found the Jewels?"

"No idea."

"Do you know how far he got?"

"Not yet" he replied.

"Then how do you know?"

"We found a letter from Cooks second-in-command, Charles Clerke. He wrote that something had happened to Cook. He was pushing them far too hard; his men were dying but he didn't care, he wanted to carry on, he was obsessed. Clerke abandoned the quest and returned to both the Church of St Peter and Paul and Berne Abbey, he left the letter in the bunker and the key in Wendover's things at Berne Abbey where they found it."

"Let me guess, you don't have the letter and you'll get why in a minute?"

Nate grinned, "You're catching on."

"Then what did it say?"

"Essentially he felt something possessed Cook and he would stop at nothing to achieve his goal and that Clerke was in two minds on whether the Jewels should be found. He urged anyone reading not to go looking for them and he wouldn't provide any information on where they went after Poland, but he did leave clues."

"Such as?"

"Before I get to that, we discovered that Martinus betrayed the church and Templars to the Mongols. In exchange for safe passage out of there, he gave them the backdoor entrance into the bunker where they slaughtered everyone."

"My god" she breathed. "How could he do such a thing? He was a man of God."

Nate nodded, "Well he got his in the end. Clerke's letter gave us a clue that they went to the Red Hedgehog House in Budapest.

"Sully and I broke in-"

"-of course you did-."

"and found a tunnel leading to the underground church of St Paul the Hermit which, as I said, was no more than a hideout for religious thieves who stole in the name of their patron saint."

He pulled out the solidus and the silver coin he found and handed it to her, "I found these, so I guess it gives some evidence that they were thieves."

Mia examined them, "This is a solidus! It must be worth a fortune." She turned to the other one, "I've never seen this before."

"Neither have I," Nate said. "I don't even know what century it's from."

She handed the coins back and waited for Nate to continue.

"Martinus was a member of St Paul the Hermit thieves guild, basically a bunch of people who stole in the name of their Saint who went without-"

"That's ironic" Mia interrupted.

"It's definitely not lost on me. But he stole the Jewels for his order. He escaped Poland and went to their hideout in Budapest, but the Mongols followed him and they raided the place in 1241, taking the Jewels and walling him up and leaving him to die of starvation in the dark."

"Good lord."

Nate nodded, "That is basically where we got to and that the next place they went is Sarai Batu which is where my next flight is."

"So how did Matthias Church collapse and where is Sully?"

Nate considered his response, "Have you heard of a man named Miraç Khanoğlu?"

Mia shook her head.

"He's the head of a Turkish PMC and a psychopath to boot." Nate had spent the free time he had at the airport and the coffee shop researching all he could on the man, which was very little. He was a relative unknown. "He wants the Crown Jewels and has an army at his disposal. He had Sully and me followed, we noticed someone following us in Poland, thought it might have been related to what happened in Hawaii-"

Mia gave him a dark look.

"-but then they showed up in the bunker, tried to kill me."

"My God, Nate."

"They were paid of Polish police too." He took a sip of his tea, the hints of honey and sugar having a calming effect as he continued, "Then in the church of Saint Peter the Hermit, Khanoğlu showed up, again tried to kill us. Sully and I got separated, I ended up in Matthias Church where they blew the bell tower off and then chased me through the streets of Budapest shooting at me in a Humvee until we both ended up in the Danube."

Mia looked aghast, "I heard on the news there was a shootout and some car chases but...wow."

"Sully was in the hotel room when I got back," Nate continued, "we got into an argument and he left."

"What was the argument about?" Mia asked.

Nate shrugged, "I wanted to give up the search, he...uh...he had other ideas."

"Is that how you got that nice bruise on your cheek?"

"Yeah" he said with a grimace.

"How did this Miraç Khanoğlu even know you were searching for the Crown Jewels?" she asked.

"Spence."

"He told him?"

Nate nodded, "Yep. He was there in St Peter's church. I overheard him talking to Khanoğlu in Hawaii, didn't give it much thought other than he sounded shit scared of the guy but Khanoğlu has been funding his digs."

"Jesus..."

He nodded again taking another sip of tea.

"You need to go to the police about this. Or Interpol or something."

"And tell them what? The fantastic conspiracy of the stolen Crown Jewels and the madman who wants them? I can't prove Khanoğlu was even in Hungary, let alone prove he paid of Polish police or brought his own men, a military vehicle and a couple of RPGs into Hungary. From what I could tell he is the kind of person who covers his bases.

"I did some research on Khanoğlu, he's a bad man. He was a four-star General in the Turkish military, allegedly involved in some shady, black-ops crap. Moved into private military and, again allegedly, involved in coups in Africa, assassinations of political figures at the behest of the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation – their version of the CIA - and God knows what else."

"What's his interest in the Crown Jewels then?"

"I have no idea. Something about them just makes people become obsessive and compulsive. Sully, for all his flaws, isn't the type to just run in headfirst in the hunt for treasure, hell that's usually my job, but this, he's been acting weird ever since we talked about the possibility of searching for them. He became short-tempered, started calling it 'his' treasure and, of course-" he pointed to his cheek, "-this."

Mia said nothing so he continued, "Then there is the letter from Charles Clerke saying Cook was similar, not caring about the crew, pushing them to their limits while he carried on like it was a walk in the park. Roger of Wendover's letters became incoherent ramblings when he couldn't escape from the Abbey to chase down Martinus, who sold out the Templars and fellow clergy to escape the Mongols.

"There's something about the Jewels that makes people snap, become reckless, desperate. Hell, even Khanoğlu, despite how secretive he is, revealed himself to us and as careful he might be, took a risk trying to blow up half of Budapest."

He finished and they sat in silence for a minute before she asked, "So if they had a hold over Cook and Roger of Wendover and have a hold on Sully and Khanoğlu, why are you any different?"

Confusion crossed his face and he asked, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, why aren't you obsessively chasing the Crown Jewels or tearing your face off because you don't have them?"

Nate considered but before he could say anything she added, "Don't think I haven't noticed your Jimmy Legs by the way. You've been shaking your leg so much I'm surprised there aren't any cracks in the floor."

"I'm not antsy for the Crown Jewels!" he scoffed. "I just want to get Sully and knock some sense into him."

Though as he said it, he had to put a hand on his leg to force it to stop shaking. While he didn't feel a stronger desire to find the Crown Jewels as he did to any other treasure they had hunted in the past, he did notice he was always in a hurry. He assumed it was because he wanted to escape the authorities or Khanoğlu's men but maybe not. Maybe she was right.

She eyed him while she took a sip of her own tea, "Are you sure about that?"

"Look, I don't know why it doesn't affect me like it does Sully and the others," he said, louder than he intended. "Maybe I just have strong moral fibre-"

Mia scoffed.

"-but all I know is I need to get to Sarai Batu and get Sully before Khanoğlu does."

She eyed him, as if trying to determine something before she finally said, "Alright."

"Alright?" Nate was confused, "Alright what?"

"I'll go with you."

His eyes widened in surprise, "That would be a no."

"Why did you ask me here? You could have mailed me the letters."

Nate took a sip of tea before answering, "I needed to tell you face-to-face. If I told you this over the phone or in a letter, would you have believed me? Hell, I can't even believe it."

Mia considered and then said, "Fair point. But I'm still coming."

"Not a chance."

"Why not?"

"Because it's dangerous."

"I'm well aware of that."

"And I'm already going to have Sully's death on my conscience, I don't need yours as well."

"That's precisely why I should come, to keep you in check. Besides, the museum will want to see this through, get all the evidence back. No matter the cost."

"Even if it's your life?"

"Yep."

"Boy, Bishop Museum are serious."

Mia smiled, "That they are. Shall we?"

He sighed, "There's no discouraging you is there?"

She shook her head, "Not a chance."

He thought about it, the idea of going into Sarai Batu alone, potentially against Khanoğlu and his army, wasn't appealing so that was one positive but if she got killed, he would regret it for the rest of his life. However the deciding point was simple, Mia didn't seem to have any care for the Crown Jewels, she hasn't given it any thought since the letter was said to be a fake by Kelvin Spence and, like it or not, Nate wasn't acting 100% himself either. She might be able to keep him grounded long enough to find Sully and get as far away from the Crown Jewels as possible.

"Alright" he said. "You can tag along. But you do what I say and follow my lead, deal?"

"Deal" she said and held out her hand.

Nate shook it, wondering if he had just condemned another life in the search for these damned Jewels.