The Alex Hunt Series

by Urcelia Teixeira

  Yeng-Pho looked up at the sun. “It will be dark in a couple of hours. We’ll stay here.”

  Several hours later, when the moon finally sat high enough to shine through the tall trees, Sam woke Alex up who had fallen asleep against him.

  “It’s time, Alex. Look,” Sam whispered.

  Jumping to their feet, they all watched as the moonlight beamed down on the jeweled spear that sparkled like a million stars all around them. The brightest of sapphire blue light glowed from the tip of the spear and projected across the mud pool.

  “Come! Hurry!” Alex shouted as she led them around the pool to where the blue light radiated onto a group of trees. It was a spectacular festival of lights culminating into this one spot between the lush green leaves. And there, as if watching in slow motion, the vines made way for an ancient face carved from stone.

  Alex grabbed onto Sam’s arm in awe of what transpired in front of them.

  “I bet this is where it gets interesting,” Sam whispered to Alex.

  She squeezed Sam’s arm with excitement.

  When the face was fully visible, Yeng-Pho pushed Alex and Sam out of the way.

  “What’s the next clue?” he urged.

  “You might not want to get too close Yeng-Pho. It says to watch out for the evil eye that points to the sky,” Alex cautioned.

  They stood back to inspect the face.

  “Which is it though? One is looking at us, and the other seems to not exist. Or is it closed?” Sam asked perplexed.

  Alex pulled the now crumpled paper from her pocket and started pacing back and forth. Her eyes scanned over the clue.

  “And?” Yeng-Pho prompted for her to read it out loud.

  “ ’The goal is to bend low for the truth to bestow,’”

  Alex tugged at Sam’s arm as she bent low in front of the face. Expectantly they watched the face but nothing happened.

  “This better not be one of your tricks, Miss Hunt. Why are you stalling?” Yeng—Pho warned her by pushing his gun in her back.

  “I’m not! We just need to be patient,” Alex told him off. “Trust me. If the clue warns you against something, then you had better believe it. Ask your two dead puppets back at the dragon. They didn’t listen to me either.”

  Yeng-Pho cocked his pistol and stood back. “Well, I don’t trust you, but you’re both dead if you’re lying to me.”

  Sam nudged with his elbow and pointed his chin at the stone face between the vines. The blue light that shone from the spear had turned to a ruby red as the moonlight hit another gemstone in the javelin behind them. The beam reflected onto the pupil of the open eye.

  “Get Down!” Alex shouted while her and Sam both fell to the ground.

  A series of arrows shot in quick succession from the statue face’s mouth, narrowly missing Yeng-Pho. Behind him, his partner in crime wasn’t so lucky. A dozen arrows pierced his body as he fell dead to his knees.

  The trio lay face down on the jungle floor until the flying arrows subsided. When Alex finally looked up, her heart skipped several beats as she caught sight of the opening below the ancient face.

  “Do you see what I’m seeing?” an equally stunned Sam asked.

  “Get up!” Yeng-Pho kicked their legs. “Move!”

  With his gun pointed at Sam and Alex, he bullied them away from the opening. Satisfied they were a safe enough distance away from him, he bent down and pulled the Golden Urn from the small hidden cave between the vines. Staring down the barrel of Yeng-Pho’s gun, Sam and Alex watched his surprised face turn into a smug grin. Distracted by his self-absorbed ego and greed, Yeng-Pho set the Urn down on the ground.

  “Eleven years!” Yeng-Pho cried out excitedly. “Eleven years I’ve waited for this moment, and it’s finally all mine!”

  Drowned in pride and self-satisfaction, he lifted the lid off the golden urn and pulled out a gold amulet with a large ruby stone.

  Alex gasped as she laid eyes on the dangling stone. Stunned by the unexpected find, she watched as he wrapped it around his fingers and held it up to the light. The ruby sparkled; casting rays of dark red light across the jungle floor.

  “So that’s what you’ve been after all along,” Alex said jerking Yeng-Pho’s attention back to them.

  “This, my dear Miss Hunt, is worth a small fortune. It has been lost for more than 2000 years! But now I have it! I finally have it!”

  He steadied his gun on them. “Now, if the two of you don’t mind, I have some money to make. Money I’m not prepared to share with anyone.”

  Yeng-Pho waived his gun at them to get moving.

  Ushered by his gun’s barrel, Yeng-Pho forced Alex and Sam toward the quicksand.

  “What fools you two are. Did you honestly think I would share this moment with anyone? Buddha’s Amulet is one of the biggest ancient treasures known to mankind. My buyers will kill over this. Which brings me to the two of you. My identity has remained hidden for years and I’m certainly not intending getting exposed now. This has to look like an accident, so it seems the two of you are going to take a little swim and allow the entire world to think the famous Alex Hunt and Sam Quinn died in action on an archaeological expedition. It’s perfect! It couldn’t have worked out more in my favor.”

  Sam took Alex’s hand as they reached the edge of the quicksand and squeezed it tight. For the first time she didn’t cry. Though inside her chest her heart was being crushed, she felt immense pride to have come this far on their expedition.

  “This has been quite an adventure, Alex Hunt.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Alex and Sam’s parting moment was interrupted as Ollie’s voice cut through the air behind them.

  “What the hell, you traitor?” Alex yelled. She had nothing to lose now. If she were to die here today, it might as well be after she told Ollie what a lowlife scumbag he was for deceiving them.

  Ollie’s hunting rifle had been replaced by a machine gun that casually hung over his shoulder. Yeng-Pho’s audacious laughter was nauseating.

  “Another surprise for you tonight, Miss Hunt. My dear friend, Oliver is on my payroll; in charge of my infiltration team, in fact. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without his inside track,” he said proudly.

  “No surprise there, Yeng-Pho. I knew he was up to no good from the moment I lay eyes on him. You two suit each other. You’re despicable,” Alex spat at their feet to which Sam added,

  “You were the last person on earth I thought capable of such loathsome acts, Ollie. They could have killed us. You certainly pulled the Aussie wool over my eyes.”

  Yeng-Pho laughed out loud again, clutching the Buddha Amulet in his greedy paws. “‘Could have’? We are going to kill you, you idiot!”

  He turned to Ollie, “Finish them off, Oliver. There’s money to be made.”

  Ollie swung his firearm from his shoulder and aimed it at Alex and Sam.

  Alex didn’t have any fight left in her. This was it. Tears ran down her cheeks as she drew in a deep shuddering breath. Her chest felt heavy under the weight of betrayal and knowing it was the last time she’d ever hunt a treasure with Sam hurt like hell. This is not how she wanted to die. Staring down the barrel of Ollie’s weapon, her body shook uncontrollably as Sam pulled her into his arms.

  “You heard the man, Sheila. The night is full of surprises.” Ollie said as he turned his rifle away from Alex and Sam and aimed it at the Commissioner-General. “I think the time has finally come, Yeng-Pho. You’re under arrest.”

  “FEDERAL POLICE! GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!”

  Chaotic screams of armed forces ripped through the night air as they announced themselves. Sam pulled Alex to the ground and shielded her head. They watched the frenzy of red lasers and torchlights scatter everywhere as the police searched for more of Yeng-Pho’s men. Within seconds they had him in handcuffs and pinned to the ground. A helicopter roared loudly above their heads sending gusts of wind and dirt in their faces. With seasoned precision, Yeng-Pho was hoisted up into the helicopt
er and flown away.

  “What the hell?” Sam shouted at Ollie who was talking on a sat phone.

  “It’s all over, Mate. Operation Buddha was successful.”

  Ollie extended his arm to help Sam and Alex up. “We could have never done this without you, Sheila. Thank you.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? Who are you and what’s all this ‘Operation Buddha’ business?” Alex shouted at Ollie.

  “Calm down, Sheila. Mission accomplished. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Matt Taylor. Special Agent Matt Taylor from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization. ASIO in short.”

  “Matt? ’Special Agent’? What do you mean you’re a special agent?” A gob smacked Alex tried to make sense of it all.

  “Don’t look so surprised, Sheila. I’m not really the low-life you accused me of.” Matt joked. “I’m one of the good guys. Operation Buddha was an undercover sting operation to flush out the head of the snake; or the tail of the scorpion, in actual fact. We’ve been after the Scorpions for years, and I’ve been undercover for the last five trying to catch this bastard in the act.”

  Sam scratched his head. “Ollie, Matt or whoever you are, I’m usually a clever bloke, but you’re going to need to start at the beginning. We have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “It’s Matt. Ollie is my cover name, and the two of you were instrumental in helping us. The Scorpions are an international underground syndicate who smuggles stolen artifacts and sells them on the black market for top dollar. FBI, MI5, and ASIO — the list goes on. We’ve all been tracking their corruption all over the world; always only catching the small guys, but we’ve never been able to find out who the mastermind behind the entire Scorpions syndicate was; until we followed Intel here to Cambodia. I went undercover to flush him out, and the Golden Urn was the perfect bait.”

  Alex still couldn’t believe her ears. “So wait. Where do Roshi and the monks fit in and how did you know about the Amulet?”

  “Ah, Sheila. I told you. The monks and I go way back. They were approached by ASIO to help me infiltrate and protect my cover. In return, I promised to find them the Golden Urn and return it to its rightful place. That’s when they told me about Buddha’s Amulet. Quite a rare find, isn’t it?” Matt stopped and looked the pair up and down, “You both look like you could do with some food, and something tells me you’re not going to say no to my bear stew tonight, hey Sheila?”

  The Royal Palace was as majestic as it sounded. Waiting in the large foyer, two security personnel flanked Alex and Sam as they patiently waited for the king and Prime Minister to arrive. When they finally got ushered to a formal sitting room, Sam looked at Alex and said,

  “Out of all our expeditions together, this one took the cake. I can’t recall Professor Keating ever saying torture and flushing out International Syndicates were part of the job description.”

  Alex admired one of the paintings on the wall.

  “You’re right. It’s not in the job description, but it seems the world isn’t quite what it used to be. It certainly has been an adventure, hasn’t it?” She smiled and turned to face him. “ I’m just glad you’re ok. I don’t think I could have survived this without you.”

  Moments later a small party of security personnel entered the room followed by His Royal Majesty of Cambodia, the Prime Minister and none other than Roshi and the Great Senior Patriarch.

  The king spoke in a gentle, warm voice as he stood before Sam and Alex.

  “What an incredible honor to meet you both, Miss Hunt and Dr. Quinn. The Cambodian government owes you a great amount of gratitude for finding the Golden Urn, not to mention our venerable Buddha’s Amulet. To be honest, we all thought the Amulet was a legend. But to find it here on Cambodian soil is the greatest gift. Thank you.”

  The king paused and somberly turned to Sam.

  “Dr. Quinn, please accept our sincere apologies for the despicable manner in which you were treated here in our beautiful country. We are most happy you are still alive, and if there is ever anything we can do to compensate for the horrible experience you’ve had, please let me know.”

  The Prime Minister went to stand next to him. “Miss Hunt, Dr. Quinn, we would very much like if you would both join us in the celebratory procession to the Temple. Would you care to accompany us, please?”

  Alex looked across at the senior monk who smiled and nodded with approval. To be invited by the king and his Royals to join them in such a big event was the most significant honor yet.

  “But of course, your Highness. It would be our honor,” Alex swiftly accepted.

  Outside the palace, the street was crowded with thousands of Cambodians as they waited for the king to lead the parade to the mountain shrine. Several citizens cheered as the king placed the Golden Urn in the float, which resembled a giant golden swan, built around a small car. Four Buddhist monks sat praying on each of the corners of the float as the procession moved through the streets on the forty-kilometer journey to the Oudong shrine. Small groups of Buddhist monks walked prayerfully alongside the raft while the children joyfully decorated the way with colorful garlands of fresh flowers.

  Directly behind the float, Alex and Sam proudly followed in the king and his Royal party’s vehicle.

  “I guess this makes us famous,” Sam whispered jokingly next to Alex’s ear. “You need to work on your wave though.”

  Alex elbowed him playfully and mimicked the Queen of England’s royal wave.

  “Don’t get too used to this, Sam. Our next adventure might not be as glamorous.”

  Thank You

  A heartfelt thank you for taking the time to read my book. If you loved it and have a moment to spare, I would really appreciate a short review on the page where you bought the book. Your help in spreading the word is gratefully appreciated and reviews make a huge difference to helping new readers find the series.

  If you want, please pop round to my website, www.urcelia.com and send me an email with anything you might want to talk about. Don’t be shy! I love chatting to my readers.

  Enjoy the rest of your day and thank you again!

  Warm regards

  Urcelia

  Behind the book - Author notes

  Based on true events

  In December 2013, a guard outside a mountain shrine in Phnom Penh, Cambodia was woken by a barking dog and found the lock to the shrine’s door broken and their sacred golden urn, missing.

  They said that the urn contained the hair, teeth, and bones of Buddha’s body and had been respected by Buddhist followers for thousands of years.

  Relics such as this one, have enormous religious and cultural significance for Cambodians. The golden urn is believed to have been brought from Sri Lanka to Cambodia in the 1950’s to celebrate 2 500 years since Buddha’s birth. In 2002, Norodom Sihanouk who was the king at the time, moved the relic forty-five kilometers away, from the capital city Phnom Penh to Oudong. Tens of thousands of religious followers attended the ceremony in honor of their king and Buddha.

  But the unexpected theft of this sacred relic sparked a nationwide manhunt and prompted an outcry amongst Buddhists across Cambodia. There were those followers who doubted it was the original holy urn, to begin with, and insisted on proof of its authenticity.

  Police officials interrogated thirteen of the guards and subsequently detained six of them.

  A mere two months after its disappearance, authorities found the missing golden urn during a house raid in Oudong, about 130 kilometers from the shrine where it got stolen.

  However, to this day, none of the detainees delivered the mastermind or motives behind the theft of the golden urn.

  The urn’s authenticity is still in doubt and has never been proven.

  For more on the golden urn and its significance, please visit www.urcelia.com

  About the Author

  Urcelia Teixeira is a mystery and thriller author of clean, fast-paced archaeological action-adventure novels. Her Alex Hunt Advent
ure Thriller series has been described by readers as 'Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft.’

  She read her first book when she was four and wrote her first poem when she was seven. And though she lived precariously through books and her far too few travels, life happened. She married the man of her dreams and birthed three boys (and two dogs, a cat, three chickens, and some goldfish!). So, life became all about settling down and providing a means to an end. She climbed the corporate ladder, exercised her entrepreneurial flair and made her mark in real-estate.

  Traveling and exploring the world made space for child-friendly annual family holidays by the sea. The ones where she was forced to build a sand castle and barely got past the first five pages of a book. And on the odd chance she managed to read fast enough to page eight, she was confronted with a moral dilemma as the umpteenth F-word forced its way off just about every page!

  But in a strange twist of fate upon her return from yet another male-dominated camping trip, when fifty knocked hard and fast on her door, and she could no longer stomach the profanities in her reading material, she drew a line in the sand and bravely set off to create her own adventure!

  It was in the dark, quiet whispers of the night, well past midnight in the year 2017, that Alex Hunt was born.

  Her philosophy

  From her pen flows action-packed adventures for the armchair traveler who enjoys a thrilling escape. Devoid of the usual profanity and obscenities, she incorporates real-life historical relics and mysteries from exciting places all over the world. She aims to kidnap her reader from the mundane and plunge them into feel-good riddle-solving quests filled with danger, sabotage, and mystery!

  For more visit www.urcelia.com or email her on books@urcelia.com

  Acknowledgments