Unexplored (Treasure Hunter Security Book 3) (7 page)

Drew’s notes had mentioned that archeologists had found tombs and burials in parts of the site, filled with funerary bundles, ceramics, and the knotted strings known as quipus—used for recording information. And there was also an impressive drainage system.

“Split up and take a look around,” Declan said.

Sydney nodded, and with Logan by her side, they headed in the opposite direction to Declan and the others. Ahead, she saw that one of the round buildings had been restored. The houses were circular stone walls topped by a cone-shaped thatch roof. She tried to picture all the buildings looking like this one. She imagined it would have looked reminiscent of a medieval village.

“My brother must have loved seeing this.” Sydney carefully stepped over some tumbled rocks. “All this history that so few people see. When you think of Peru, you think of Machu Picchu and the Inca. The Warriors of the Clouds are forgotten.”

Logan grunted, which she took for agreement.

They walked farther along the crumbling stone walls. There were a few people dotted here and there. Sydney checked out everyone’s faces, hoping to see the familiar blue eyes and smile of her brother.

But she didn’t spot him. She reached a point at the outer defensive wall and stared down across the valley and to the mountains beyond. The view of the cloud forests, stretching out before her, took her breath away.

“Okay?”

She nodded at Logan. “I’m wondering what Drew stumbled onto that is so important that Silk Road would come after him.” All she saw here were stone ruins. Amazing and of huge historical value, but nothing that she could think that Silk Road would want.

“Something valuable,” Logan said.

She spun. “I’ve run my own searches. There is no mythical lost treasure of the Cloud Warriors. No stories of vast fortunes. No legends of cities of gold like in other parts of the continent. They didn’t even make or use metal. Right here, at this very site, they’ve only found stone, ceramics, and fabric.”

Logan stared at her. “And yet you said the Inca feared them. That they had the power to fight back against the greatest empire in the area.”

Logan was right. The Cloud Warriors had something of value. And whatever it was had put Drew in danger.

Down in the ruins, she saw some local kids playing and laughing. They were dark-haired, and wearing brightly colored sweaters. As Sydney watched, she saw one girl staring in their direction. A second later, nimble as a gazelle, she ran toward them, leaping over the ruined stones.

As the girl reached them, she shot them a shy smile. Sydney blinked. The girl was maybe ten or eleven, and she had fair hair and freckles scattered across her nose.

Sydney went still. This girl was a descendent of the Chachapoyas.

“Señorita Granger?”

Sydney’s back went stiff. “Yes.
Si
.”

“
Para ti
.” The girl pulled out a folded envelope and held it out. “He said you would be beautiful, tall, and have hair like mine,” the girl said in Spanish.

As soon as Sydney took the envelope, the girl turned and went back to her friends. Sydney turned the envelope over. It was battered and covered in a smear of dirt.

“Sydney?”

She looked at Logan and held up the envelope. She tore it open, hope filling her. It was filled with papers.

She pulled the first one out and recognized the untidy handwriting. She shot Logan a blinding smile. “It’s from Drew.”

***

Logan sipped his beer. He sat beside Sydney and the team, huddled around a table in a restaurant in Chachapoyas. Dec had picked a table right at the back where they could keep an eye on anyone entering the restaurant.

So far, there had been no sign that Silk Road had followed them into the Andes.

But the back of Logan’s neck was itching. They hadn’t seen the last of the bastards.

Sydney’s head was bent over the papers she had spread out on the table. He figured from the pinched look on her face, she wasn’t finding what she wanted.

She sat back in her chair with a huff. “There’s no message here.” She shook her head, little tendrils of blonde hair curling around her face. “These are just articles on the Cloud Warriors that Drew must have printed out. He’s made a few notations, but nothing that looks like a message.”

“Tell us about the articles,” Logan said.

Morgan rattled the ice in her glass. “Talking it out might help.”

Sydney nodded and tapped one of the pages. “This article is about two silver cups dating from the Chachapoya era, and found at a Chachapoya site not far from here.” She turned the page so they could all see the image. Two simple silver tumblers were engraved with images of people, and a geometric pattern.

Logan frowned. “I thought you said they had no metal.”

“That’s what the current belief is. Drew’s made a special note of this discovery.”

“Maybe they traded for these, or something,” Hale suggested.

“The design is characteristic of the Cloud Warriors.”

Dec set his beer bottle down on the wooden table. “So, let’s recap. We have a mysterious, powerful people, who held out against the Inca, and who had no metal, while their neighbors were drowning in gold. And now these two cups have been found.”

Logan lowered his beer and studied his friend. “You think they had metal.”

Dec nodded. “Yeah. I think they did.”

Sydney’s eyes widened. “They were battling the Inca, but they knew the Inca had greater numbers. They must have known they were fighting a losing battle.”

Morgan leaned forward. “And then the Spanish arrived, hungry for gold and treasure…”

“The Warriors of the Clouds hid their treasure,” Logan stated.

“Oh, my God.” Sydney gripped the edge of the table. “Drew put it together. And I bet he knows where this treasure is.”

“And Silk Road wants it,” Logan finished.

“What’s the other article about?” Hale asked, from the other side of the table.

Sydney lifted the page. “It talks about the Cloud Warriors’ unique burial practices. They created anthropomorphous sarcophagi out of clay for their dead. They were shaped like human bodies, with exaggerated jaws, painted white and decorated with other colors. The mummies were left inside and the most famous of these types of burials were lined up along a cliff face, facing out across the valley.” She tapped her nail against a picture.

Logan studied it. The statue-like sarcophagi reminded him of small versions of the Moai statues of Easter Island.

“But another fascinating burial area of theirs was discovered south of here,” Sydney continued. “Several mausoleums were found at a remote lake, high up on the cliffs. It’s called Laguna de los Condores.”

“Lake of the Condors,” Logan said.

“It’s also known as Laguna de las Momias.”

Hale took a sip of his drink. “I don’t speak Spanish, but even I can work that one out.”

“There were about two hundred mummies entombed there. The six mausoleums, called chullpas, were built into caves on the cliff face above the lake. Unfortunately, looters attacked the site after its discovery, looking for treasure, and a lot of mummies were damaged.”

“They find any treasure?” Logan asked.

She shook her head. “Archeologists removed the remaining undamaged mummies and artifacts. They’re all located in a museum in the closest town. It appears the Cloud Warriors had advanced mummification techniques to preserve their dead from the humidity of the forest. And Drew’s also noted that it appears mummification wasn’t just reserved for the rich. Chachapoyans of all status were mummified.”

Logan took another sip of beer. “You think this lake is where your brother headed next?”

Sydney frowned. “I’m not sure. Like I said, he didn’t leave me a message. But it’s all I’ve got.”

Dec pulled his tablet out and set it on the table. He tapped the screen and a second later Darcy’s face popped up, her headset settled over her dark hair.

Hale leaned into Declan’s shoulder to look at Darcy. “Don’t you have a life?”

Darcy pulled a face. “My life is keeping you guys out of trouble. What’s happening?”

“Darcy, looks like we need to get to a place called Laguna de los Condores,” Dec told her.

Darcy’s brow creased and Logan heard her tapping on a keyboard. Then she groaned. “Well, you didn’t pick the easiest location to get to.”

“I know you like a challenge,” Dec said dryly.

“It’s just under a two-hour drive to the village of Leymebamba.”

“Doesn’t sound too bad,” Logan said.

Darcy made a scoffing sound. “From there, it’s a nine-to-ten-hour trek into the cloud forests. It looks like it’s best to travel by horse.”

Logan groaned. “I hate horses.”

“You’ll need decent gear for the trek,” Darcy added. “And it looks like there is a local guide who takes the occasional tourist group up there. Let me get in touch with him.” Darcy looked up. “And after this lake? Do you know where you’ll head next?”

“No idea, Darce,” Dec answered. “On this job, we’re playing it by ear. It’s likely we’ll have to spend at least a few days in the forest.”

Darcy nodded. “Leave it with me. I’ll organize gear for you to pick up there in Chachapoyas and then organize the guide and horses in Leymebamba. Give me at least an hour.”

Logan shook his head. Only Darcy would only need an hour to find all the equipment they would need for a remote trek into the Andean cloud forests. But he knew she’d get it done. He’d seen her perform miracles.

“You’re the best,” Dec said.

Darcy winked. “Remember that when I ask you for a pay raise.”

An hour and twenty minutes later, Logan was driving out of Chachapoyas, tailing Dec’s SUV. Sydney sat quietly beside him, comfortable with the silence. He liked that she didn’t feel the need to talk to fill the quiet. He hooked up his phone to the car and soon had some heavy rock pumping out of the speakers.

The road south wasn’t particularly wide, but at least it wasn’t dirt. If they met an oncoming bus or truck, it might be a tight squeeze. Looking ahead at the mountainous terrain, he figured there might be some scary drops off the side of the road in places.

“Your taste in music sucks,” Sydney said.

He smiled. “Sorry, left my Mozart at home.”

He saw her lips quirk. Then he noticed her hands were clenched in her lap. She was nervous about something.

He realized they hadn’t had a moment alone since that wild kiss back at the hotel in Chachapoyas.

“Should we talk about the kiss?” she asked quietly.

Logan flexed his hands on the wheel. “I’m not much of a talker.”

She looked at him with mock surprise. “No.”

Smart ass.
“Where have your polite society manners gone?”

Her face shut down. “I’m not some cold society snob, Logan.” She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead out the windshield.

“I know,” he said after a moment.

She turned to look at him.

“I worked it out sometime between discovering you’re an ex-CIA officer, and seeing how much you care for your brother.”

She swallowed. “I’ve lived my entire life with people only looking at the surface and making assumptions. Most people only see what they want to see.”

And Logan had been guilty of that, too, when he’d first met her.

Because he wanted to, he reached out and touched her knee. “You’re smart, Sydney. You have guts. And I’ve felt the heat you keep hidden.” Hell, just the small taste he’d had of her was driving him crazy.

She stared at his hand resting on her knee. “You seem to ignite something in me, Logan.” Her gaze met his. “Because I’ve never felt anything this hot before.”

His fingers tightened on her knee. He didn’t know what to say, but he knew what he wanted to do. But he figured pulling the car over, tearing her clothes off, and putting his hands and mouth all over her wasn’t really an option at the moment.

“If we weren’t in this car, on a mission to find your brother—” He let his words, and the promise in them, hang there.

She released a long breath. Then he noticed she was frowning, and looking out the window into her side mirror. Beneath his hand, her muscles tensed.

“Logan…there’s a van speeding up behind us. It’s coming in fast!”

Chapter Six

Sydney heard Logan’s rough curse, his big hands clenching on the steering wheel. She watched as the white van got closer and closer. Maybe it was just some idiot driving too quickly on this narrow road?

They were slowly climbing up a hill. She glanced out at the steep drop next to them.

“Maybe they’ll go past?” she said.

A second later, gunfire sprayed the back of their SUV. The back window shattered.

Sydney screamed.

“Down!” Logan roared and pushed her head down to her knees.

Sydney kept her cheek pressed to her legs and tried to calm her racing heart. She couldn’t see what Logan was doing, but she felt the car wrench to the side. Then he accelerated and her seatbelt cut into her shoulder.

She lifted her head. There was more gunfire and more shattering glass.

“I said, stay down!”

She looked at him. “Give me a gun. I’ll return fire.”

“Stay. Down.”

Annoyed, she reached over and delved into the waistband of his cargo pants. She felt the brush of warm skin and she heard him utter a curse. When her hand closed around the butt of his handgun, she pulled it out.

Sitting up, she turned inside her belt, aimed between the seats, and fired. The gun kicked back hard against her. She caught a brief glimpse of faces covered in black masks before the van behind them started to swerve.

She cursed. “You had to have a damn Desert Eagle.” The gun was huge, and the recoil was a bitch.

She adjusted for the gun’s kick and fired again. She was a bit rusty. She hadn’t been to the range in a while.

Suddenly, the van’s engine roared, and it shot forward, ramming into the back of their SUV. Sydney was jerked forward against her belt. She looked up and saw Declan’s vehicle was executing a tight turn to head back in their direction.

“Hold on.” Logan jerked on the handbrake, and suddenly the car was turning in a skid. Sydney’s heart turned to a rock in her chest. The tires screeched, and she was excruciatingly aware that the road was narrow and the drop-off down the side of it was steep.