Artifacts
While Reggie Price had grown to an imposing six-four, two hundred-twenty pounds, I could see the twelve year-old in his eyes. His smile, even with two chipped teeth, was full of infectious charm. We'd been up about an hour when he jostled his wife, who had complained six times she was getting airsick. "This is it, sweetheart. Just like on the map," he said. "This is it. We're rich!"
Across the cockpit, Kate Holden and I shared a smirk. The newly-minted Mr. and Mrs. Price were already rich, but the rich can never be rich enough, thank goodness.
Price spotted the clearing. "There!" He squeezed my shoulder. "Can you land there?"
"I'll give it a shot." Didn't want to sound too confident. Like I was doing it three times a week. Like I could fly here from our office in fifteen minutes, without a map. I banked left and dove, sorry to hear Mrs. Price vomit. I touched down as softly as I could.
"Come on, sweetheart. Isn't this the adventure you wanted?"
"No."
I had the sense Mrs. Price wanted to say more but restrained herself.
"I guess you're right," Reggie said. "You don't look so good. Why don't you stay here with the pilot while Miss Holden and I go hunting?"
"How long will you be?" Mrs. Price asked.
Reggie looked to Kate, who made a show of thinking before she said, "If I'm reading the map right, we should start to see artifacts after a two-hour hike."
"Give us five hours, sweetheart. Try to get some sleep."
"I will," Mrs. Price said.
I helped Price on with his pack. He didn't want to bring much in case he hit the Mayan jackpot. I helped Kate for show, then got to work cleaning up after Mrs. Price.
"You and the little lady have fun," Kate whispered.
"Five hours sitting on my ass. Fun."
"Should've learned to be a guide, not a pilot."
"Yeah, right."
While Mrs. Price slept, I imagined taking off, leaving the Prices and their treasure hunt behind, flying where I wanted on my own time. If I made a habit of that, though, I wouldn't make enough to keep flying.
My mind always wandered while waiting. Waiting for work, waiting for passengers to return from their pleasure trips. I hated waiting most of all.
I heard Mrs. Price stir. Sitting across the aisle from her, I met her eyes.
"How tall are you?" she asked.
"Six-two," I said, giving myself three inches.
"Your life must be pretty exciting."
"What do you think of it so far?"
She laughed too hard at that. "Are you and Miss Holden...?"
"No, but you are."
She paled for a second with surprise, then waved me off with her ring hand.
"Oh, Reggie. You see the way he treats me."
"Yeah."
I had no rule against married women. In fact, an affair with a married woman helped me get Miss Liberty, a Grumman Goose I'd otherwise have no business owning.
"He loved chasing me," Mrs. Price said, "and I loved being chased, but now that he's got me, he's started to..."
"Ignore you?"
"Yes!"
Kate expected me to hit on Mrs. Price, tease more information out of her about Reggie's wealth. My heart wasn't in it, but Mrs. Price didn't care. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she moved to the seat right next to me.
"Feeling better?" I asked.
"Much."
Like her husband, Michelle Price was dressed in a hiking outfit, but I guessed this was the first time she'd gone anywhere without a chauffeur. Unless she considered me a chauffeur.
Why don't you stay here with the pilot?
The powdered, freckled skin of her arms was starting to sunburn. Her blonde curls were sprayed finishing school proper back at the office, but in this heat and humidity, stray strands dangled in her eyes.
In fact, Michelle Price looked as if she'd just finished school. She leaned in close.
"How did you and Reggie meet?" I asked.
She took a breath as if to tell me, then changed her mind. "Can I tell you a secret?" she whispered.
"Sure," I whispered back.
"We're not really married. Reggie hired me to play his wife."
"Why would he do that?"
"He's really got it in for your partner."
"My partner?"
"Kate, if that is her name. Reggie said she cheated his father out of his fortune."
Sounded like Kate. Except Kate told me she'd lived with Jaime Salinas since she was seventeen. I helped her get away from Salinas, and she'd been with me ever since. When did she have time to cheat some old guy out of his fortune?
And where was this fortune?
"I think Reggie means to kill her," the faux Mrs. Price said. "But what do you care? She's probably conning you, too."
"Right." Shit.
We kissed then. She was very eager. Maybe she had a thing for pilots. I reached around and carefully freed her hair from a barrette. Then I gave her a spank.
She pulled back a bit to say, "Ooh."
"There's a little more room aft."
"Lead the way."
I walked a step ahead of her. As we reached the space between the last row of seats and the bar, I said, "How about some air?"
"Sure."
I moved to open the hatch. "Stuck," I said. "Must be the humidity. Give me a hand?"
We pushed, she harder than I. The hatch opened easily. I nudged her out, closed and locked the hatch.
I ran forward and started the props. I was betting Reggie would keep up the tourist act for a while, turn the tables on Kate when she least expected it. If they were headed along the usual route, I could cut them off at the cave where we buried most of the artifacts.
Landing close to the cave would be tricky. I hadn't done it before, but was pretty sure I could.
What do you care?
Kate and I hadn't made a commitment. She decided to "hang around" with me since Jaime Salinas was dead. Sure, Salinas was a bully who had put the squeeze on an old friend, but I hadn't forgotten how casually Kate poisoned him to get out of marrying him.
We explored the ruins of Campeche for two weeks, then decided there was more profit in taking passengers to search for artifacts. Artifacts we planted.
She's probably conning you, too.
I'd known Kate two months and Reggie was the fourth killer she'd brought to my door. Yet here I was, putting myself on the line for her.
It's not all about the sex.
Yeah, right.
The way our artifact scam worked, Kate played art expert and guide. Some of the pieces were made by a forger friend of hers, featuring solid gold. Most of them were were worthless but looked nice. Typical marks couldn't tell the difference. We gladly paid those who could, not to expose us.
As close as I had to get, there was no way to muffle Miss Liberty's engine noise. Maybe hearing the plane would be enough to spook Reggie. Maybe he'd think Michelle and I got carried away and decided to leave him and Kate out here.
If I'd had time, I would have gone the whole way on foot. Even with their hour head start, I might beat Reggie and Kate to the cave, but I didn't know how long Reggie would put up with Kate's scenic route.
He didn't have a gun in his pack, but we had given him a knife to clear paths.
Landing was as tough as I expected. I was almost done hiding the plane in underbrush when I heard Reggie.
"Thank you again, Miss Holden. This is the most fun I've had in years."
"I'm sure," Kate said.
"To finally meet the woman who made my father leave my mother, then slowly swindled him out of everything. This is a pleasure I'm going to savor."
Scrambling down to the cave, I felt for the switch on my flashlight, but it wasn't there. It wasn't a flashlight; it was a crowbar. I had to hide in the first nook I found.
Probably just as well. If we got out of this, a flashlight wouldn't pry Miss Liberty from her spot.
I saw Kate first, walking gingerly. She wasn't hurt, but her hands were tied behind her, Reggie holding a knife at her wrists.
"I'll remind you," he said. "If your artifacts aren't here, I'll gut you like a fish."
The light of a lantern peered into the cave. Reggie sloughed off his pack, took out a shovel and handed it to Kate. "And now, if you wouldn't mind, Miss Holden, dig."
Kate led Reggie toward me. She couldn't know I was there. She was probably looking to use one of the corners, give herself a second to turn on him.
She spotted me with a mix of relief and frustration. I don't know if she saw the crowbar. She walked a little past me.
"Here," she said.
Reggie came up cautiously, but I still made solid contact, the flattened points of the crowbar jabbing his neck. Kate wheeled on the other side of his head with the shovel, then ran out of there with me two steps behind.
Catching up, I pulled Kate in the direction of Miss Liberty. She helped me clear away the cover, but not without complaining, "How the hell did you wedge it in here?"
We checked into a bed-and-breakfast in Cancun.
As we approached the bed, Kate turned and poked me in the chest. "What's the matter?" she asked.
"Just trying to sort things out. How you could be with Salinas all those years and find time to fleece Reggie's father. Things like that."
"You heard."
"From Reggie and Mrs. Price, who wasn't really Mrs. Price, by the way."
"You realize whatever I tell you now will probably be a lie."
"Sure."
"So why'd you come after me? Why not cut your losses and run off with that blonde?"
"I liked your story better than hers."
"You're such a dupe." She stepped closer.
"The perfect mark." I stepped closer.
She started the story of Reggie's father as we undressed each other. I marveled at how well Kate tanned for a redhead. She became too distracted to finish the story. We made love and drank and made love like a dream. And in the morning, she was gone.
-END-
