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Authors: Maureen A. Miller
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Kosovo? You show up on that tarmac, escort me into the back seat, and start dropping the litany of my career. The events of Kosovo won’t come up on a wiki search. How could you have obtained that knowledge in the back seat of a limousine?” Incensed now, Mitch shot out, “You preyed on my lack of clarity on that dock. Hell, I was still seeing three of everything. I was not lucid.”
“ You were lucid enough to get on the plane the next morning,” Nicholson countered in a deep voice. “Don’t be sanctimonious now. You are there because you want redemption. You want my power to reinstate you. So let’s just cut with all this bullshit, Mr. Hasslet and move on to the matter at hand.”
Mitch’s hand curled into a fist and he rested it atop the phone’s wall mount. “You didn’t answer one damn question. So let’s cut with all this bullshit, Mr. Nicholson. What is in that compound?”
“ You won’t believe this, but I don’t know. I suspect my artifacts are there−but why or how remains a mystery. I first learned about that complex when an archeologist in the area reported seeing it, and then he disappeared.”
“ So cryptic, Phillip.” Mitch chastised with barely contained ire. “You knew this and you let her group come down here.”
“ I can’t control Alex. I try—for her best interest, but that’s all I can do. She was forty miles away last I checked. She gave me her charts and I honestly thought she was branching away from that area, not towards it. I even tried to suggest a different location, fabricating some information to get her out of the area. I just found out today that she moved the camp.”
“ You fabricated information. Wow, it’s good to know I’m not the only one you manipulated.”
“ There is no time to haggle over details right now. It is what it is. And when you return and collect what will most likely be a substantial check from HAA, accompanied by a referral that will name any job you want, we can sit back in my office over a couple of glasses of whiskey and hash out all the details. Right now your best bet for answers and an expeditious resolve is to find the exact location of my shipment and get Alexandra safely out of there.”
“ Why not the authorities?” Mitch asked.
“ Authorities are the last people that can be trusted. The absolute last.”
The finality to that statement was the only bit of truth Mitch walked away with from the conversation. He honestly believed Nicholson’s lack of trust in the law−but after that he did not believe a damn word.
“ I didn’t know a discussion on photography could last so long.” Alex interrupted.
Mitch jerked around. Alex stood with several bags hanging from her fingertips.
“ Yeah, well when you’re getting your ass reamed for not having anything, the conversation gets defensive, right Phillip?”
“ Put her back on the phone,” Nicholson ordered in a hushed tone. “And don’t you say a word about this conversation. For as little as you trust me, Alex trusts no one. You’re on your own now. Use your own judgment. Get back to this phone as soon as you can and I’ll do everything possible to get you both out of that jungle.”
Mitch arched an eyebrow. “You do that. Here’s Alex.” He handed over the phone.
***
“ You didn’t sound very pleased from what I could tell.” Alex mentioned the moment they were outside and began the hike back to the Jeep.
“ I’m not. You think I was whining on the phone with Nicholson? No, I told him that I felt we were in danger here. But hey, what would my opinion count for? I’m just a guy with a camera.”
“ No need for the attitude, Mitch. I already agreed with you. When we get back to camp, we’re taking it down and moving on.”
They were out of sight from the town square, and the jeep was just a little way up the road. Alex was startled when Mitch grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt, facing him. He reached up with his other hand so that now he was
“ You were lucid enough to get on the plane the next morning,” Nicholson countered in a deep voice. “Don’t be sanctimonious now. You are there because you want redemption. You want my power to reinstate you. So let’s just cut with all this bullshit, Mr. Hasslet and move on to the matter at hand.”
Mitch’s hand curled into a fist and he rested it atop the phone’s wall mount. “You didn’t answer one damn question. So let’s cut with all this bullshit, Mr. Nicholson. What is in that compound?”
“ You won’t believe this, but I don’t know. I suspect my artifacts are there−but why or how remains a mystery. I first learned about that complex when an archeologist in the area reported seeing it, and then he disappeared.”
“ So cryptic, Phillip.” Mitch chastised with barely contained ire. “You knew this and you let her group come down here.”
“ I can’t control Alex. I try—for her best interest, but that’s all I can do. She was forty miles away last I checked. She gave me her charts and I honestly thought she was branching away from that area, not towards it. I even tried to suggest a different location, fabricating some information to get her out of the area. I just found out today that she moved the camp.”
“ You fabricated information. Wow, it’s good to know I’m not the only one you manipulated.”
“ There is no time to haggle over details right now. It is what it is. And when you return and collect what will most likely be a substantial check from HAA, accompanied by a referral that will name any job you want, we can sit back in my office over a couple of glasses of whiskey and hash out all the details. Right now your best bet for answers and an expeditious resolve is to find the exact location of my shipment and get Alexandra safely out of there.”
“ Why not the authorities?” Mitch asked.
“ Authorities are the last people that can be trusted. The absolute last.”
The finality to that statement was the only bit of truth Mitch walked away with from the conversation. He honestly believed Nicholson’s lack of trust in the law−but after that he did not believe a damn word.
“ I didn’t know a discussion on photography could last so long.” Alex interrupted.
Mitch jerked around. Alex stood with several bags hanging from her fingertips.
“ Yeah, well when you’re getting your ass reamed for not having anything, the conversation gets defensive, right Phillip?”
“ Put her back on the phone,” Nicholson ordered in a hushed tone. “And don’t you say a word about this conversation. For as little as you trust me, Alex trusts no one. You’re on your own now. Use your own judgment. Get back to this phone as soon as you can and I’ll do everything possible to get you both out of that jungle.”
Mitch arched an eyebrow. “You do that. Here’s Alex.” He handed over the phone.
***
“ You didn’t sound very pleased from what I could tell.” Alex mentioned the moment they were outside and began the hike back to the Jeep.
“ I’m not. You think I was whining on the phone with Nicholson? No, I told him that I felt we were in danger here. But hey, what would my opinion count for? I’m just a guy with a camera.”
“ No need for the attitude, Mitch. I already agreed with you. When we get back to camp, we’re taking it down and moving on.”
They were out of sight from the town square, and the jeep was just a little way up the road. Alex was startled when Mitch grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt, facing him. He reached up with his other hand so that now he was
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