"Sam! SAM!" I shout her name as I push the door open. Fire is everywhere and I can't see for all the smoke. She doesn't answer and it looks like there's been a fight. There's no way the fire caused that much damage to the coffee table. Or to the door to the bedroom. I feel panic in my stomach. "Oh god…"

Coughing, I check everywhere I can for Sam. Thank god, she's not here. The fire is spreading fast. I rip the world map down from the wall and shove as much as I can from my desk into a shopping bag. There's a lot of notes missing, though and the safe is open in the bedroom and completely empty. Either we've been robbed or Sam emptied it. I don't see my father's journal anywhere either. Hoping it was Sam and not anyone else, I flee the flat and make my way down the stairs. I slide to the ground and look up at what's left of our home. I feel...incredibly vulnerable right now. It's a really crappy way to end an already emotional day and looking at the flame blackening the flat I almost feel like I'm staring at the ashes of our lives. Numbly, I call Sam again.

It still goes to voicemail and I have to resist the urge to throw it against the wall. Fuck. Just fucking great. I get up and pace, waiting for the firefighters to arrive, and the police. Things can be bought again and memories you always have in your heart. Even research can be done again and god knows I enjoy that enough. But if Sam is hurt…

If Sam is hurt there is going to be hell to pay for whoever did this. I don't care how or how long or what I have to do. I am going to find Sam and make it all up to her. When the police arrive, there are a million questions I have to answer, and the only thing I know is Sam went home, when I came home she was gone and there were signs of a struggle. And the fire, of course. I think I'm pretty good at convincing them our fight had nothing to do with this. It's not in Sam's nature to go around torching perfectly good flats over a disagreement. The police promise to file a report on her, and I'm left alone. I give them the address of the family manor and my phone number.

I have no leads and Sam still isn't picking up. Its nearly one in the morning by the time I step out of a taxi and walk up the long, lonely drive to my childhood home. It's an imposing structure, far larger than any one person could ever need. Or larger than any family should really need. I don't know if my resentment of the property stems from my issues with my parents, or from spending so many years living paycheck to paycheck like the vast majority of people do. Probably a little bit of both. I definitely don't regret that decision, even now. Whatever kind of person I'd have been otherwise, I like who I became. I like who I am. Even with the killer instincts.

My key still works even though I haven't been here in years. There are people who come around from time to time to upkeep the place so it's relatively clean and secure. Winston probably. I haven't spoken more than a few sentences to him since shortly after Yamatai.

I punch in the security code and go inside, locking the door and reactivating the alarm. There's no one here. I make a thorough sweep of the place while constantly calling Sam. I'm alone and Sam still isn't answering. I have all kinds of visions of her hurt and bleeding or worse. It isn't doing me any good to think about these things. There's no food and it's too late for take out so I trudge upstairs and find my own room. The master bedroom is mine now, but I eschew it for my old one.

It hasn't changed much. There's still the old globe and the brass sextant on the dresser, and the maps and paintings covering every inch of every wall.

I leave a message for the family lawyer, and then fall face first into bed. Green velveteen ears peek out from under the comforter and my fingers worry at the fabric as I pull the old rabbit out. I hug it to my chest and think of Sam. I can't do anything for her right now and it pisses me off.

My sleep is filled with nightmares of the worse sort. Horrible things happening to Sam or being back on Yamatai. Being back in the jungle with that stone man. There are some good things, too. Roth's arms strong and warm around me. My mother's face, tired but happy. Seeing my father again.

It's that dream that I wake up from, groggy and unable to remember what he'd been telling me. It's there, on the edge of my consciousness but I can't quite pin it down. Yesterday floods back to me and I race to pick up my phone. Only a call from the lawyer. Nothing from Sam. No new messages and my email keeps asking for my password. None of the usual ones are working. I request a reset, then I order delivery for breakfast. Sam would have been able to figure out my email. Sam...

The conversation with my lawyer is short and a little bittersweet on my part. I let him know what happened, and he pushes me to start the paperwork on the fortune and the titles and everything that comes with it. I think about Sam and her issues with her family. She lashes out for attention with her fortune, and I run from mine. I tell him I'll think about it. That's a win for him and he knows it. But I'm going to need some of it to deal with the losses and the damages, and I'm going to need some of it to find Sam. And to find out who trashed our flat before it went up in smoke. It is, I reason with myself, a good enough reason to go back on my word. I've proven I have the chops without it.

Still, it gives me an awful gnawing in my gut. I never wanted to have to rely on it. It feels like cheating, but for Sam, I'd cheat.

While waiting for my food to arrive, I take stock of the manor. There are too many rooms with too many things, but I know exactly where to focus my attention on. My father's study and the family vault are near the top of this list, but the library is a close third. It's closer to my bedroom so I start there. I take index of every book that might talk about the crystal skulls or links between them and the ancient cultures of Central and South America. Then I start looking for links to other parts of the world. I have the map I recovered, marked with each location that I've researched. I move to the study and hang it up there, then look through my father's things. I've only been in here twice since he disappeared.

I'm sitting in the chair, a bowl of thai food on the desk as I swivel to and fro, studying the room and trying to think like my father. He loved riddles and puns and plays on words. So if I were him, and I had notes on things that might put the fear of god in mortal men, where would I hide them?

These hidden histories mean the world to me, Lara..

My eyes fall onto an ornate globe. Why not? I walk over to it and inspect it. It's large and intricate but there's a seam around the equator, so I feel around until I find a spot that's a little bit looser, with a wider gap than elsewhere. The globe separates with some effort, and I'm rewarded with a tightly wrapped stack of handwritten notes.

"Ah hah!" I hold them aloft in more triumph than they could possibly warrant. But whatever happened last night has something to do with the artifacts, I'm sure of it. And maybe there's something in here that might help. It's better than doing nothing, so I start sorting through the notes. I glance at my phone. Still nothing from Sam, or the police and when I call I get the brush off.

The first thing I notice is a drawing that resembles the wall paintings on the shrines that the artifacts had been in. Sam had taken video of the ruby skull, and these drawings looked exactly like those swirls of red and white. Most of the notes are in riddles and code. It'll take me some time to decipher them, but right now, time is all I have. I bottle up the anxiety over Sam and put it to good use.

It's not just the skulls my father had been interested in. Like his journal, he'd written a lot about Atlantis and Egypt, Helike and Z. There are a dozen other lost cities and ruins that I've only ever read about in myth and legend. As I read through the notes, something clicks inside my head. His journal. These pieces of paper play directly into the notes on that journal! I need the journal, and these notes, and there's probably a third set of papers that'll complete everything and unlock the puzzle. That's what I would do, if it were me and more than once I've been told I'm my father's daughter. Whatever this puzzle is, I have half a suspicion that there's a dozen more puzzles, all here in my father's handwriting.

I need to set that aside, at least for now. Sam takes priority. Once I have Sam, we can… well once I'm willing to let her go five feet without latching on to her, anyway. Memorizing as much of the notes as I can, I carefully place them back into the globe. They've been safe in there most of my life, they can stay safe awhile longer. I pick up my phone again and try the reset password. There are nearly a hundred emails waiting so I start to set the device down when I catch Sam's handle. Oh thank god! I open the email, and I've never been happier to see digital text in my life! I feel light headed. Sam is okay. Sam is okay. I tap out a quick response.

I was so worried! I'm at the manor. I'm going to head back to the flat to see if I missed anything, can you meet me back here? I don't plan to be long. You already have a key. I found something!

I love you. I'm sorry. We'll talk soon.

Lara

There's one more thing I want before I return to the flat to dig through the rubble. I call it the family vault because it's behind a big heavy door in the study. I know the combination by heart. Inside are dozens of relics my father collected, as well as the family jewellry collection, and some paintings. Generally the sort of thing you'd find in the vault of a count that liked to explore the far corners of the earth.

I find what I'm looking for. It's surprisingly simple, but elegant. My mother's engagement ring. A gold ring with a simple diamond setting. Not gigantic, but very high quality. She'd left it behind, because it's always kind of smart to leave something like this in a safe place when you're digging around in ruins full of traps and magical dangers. I remember the wedding ring had actually been just a simple band, and know I'll go the same way. Why I'm thinking about it now of all times, I don't know. I shouldn't just because I want to prove to Sam I take her seriously, or as an apology. She's always laughed off the idea of marrying anyone, but that was before we were together. I remember our conversation in the forest.

Maybe that makes things different. Maybe not, but I pocket the ring as I leave the vault, and re-secure it. My parents might be gone, but Sam is right. I need to start healing. Not forgive. Never forgive, but heal.

I scarf down the rest of my food as I make my way to the garage. We have several cars, all of which are too pricey looking for my tastes. I settle on my father's land rover. I don't know if it's been driven at all since the last time Roth and I took it out, but the keys are where they're supposed to be. "Lets hope our caretaker thought to take care of the cars, too."

It starts with a rumble. The engine sounds smooth and there's a full tank of gas. I let out a sigh and lean back in the seat. I check the mirrors, then put the rover into gear. There's something taped to the stick shift. It's a piece of paper. I unfold it and read the note, a smile growing on my lips.

I thought that you'd choose this one. She's in good working order, and there's a gift pack in the back. If you ever need anything from me, you only have to ask.

-W

"Oh Winston, you've no idea how much this means to me right now." I tuck the note into the same case the ring is located, and then pull out of the garage.