Fool's Gold
Page 25
The next morning Mike was allowed to leave the hospital and came back to the flat a chastened man.
‘Oh God, what am I going to tell Edward? He’ll never believe the truth. It’s too far-fetched. I need him on my side if I ever want to have funding for another project. If only I had some sort of evidence.’
‘I think I can help you with that,’ said Sam, ‘if you keep me in mind as a possible employee.’
‘Don’t fuck with me, Sam. I’m a broken man.’
‘What makes you think that I’m messing you about? Shut your eyes and open your hand.’
Mike stretched out his hand. Sam made him wait for a few seconds and then dropped the brooch into his palm. Mike gasped in amazement as he opened his eyes.
‘What the fuck? It’s the serpent cipher, right? Where did you get it?’
‘I don’t know. It was in my rucksack. Maybe Don Moises put it there?’
‘It’s from the treasure? I can’t believe it. This will be worth everything to Edward.’
‘You want to keep it, then?’
‘Is that a real question? What do you want for it?’
‘Well, if you’re going home, I was wondering if I could stay on in the flat until the lease runs out?’
‘Sure. I suppose you need some money, too?’
‘I was getting to that. Some extra money would be nice. By the way, my bank has not received any money from you yet.’
Mike’s face was a picture.
‘Jesus, I totally forgot. I’ll ring them now. You have learned something since you came to work for me, Sam,’ he said. ‘You drive a hard bargain.’
‘I learned from the best,’ she said.
***
Hernan Sanchez raised a glass to the man sitting across the table from him. El Duro acknowledged the gesture with a smile.
‘That’s settled then. All’s well that ends well. I’ll look forward to working with you, Señor Sanchez.’
‘Likewise. Segundo will act as a go-between. You can trust him with your life.’
‘Wilson tried to buy him, you know.’
‘Not a chance there, I’m afraid. Segundo is fanatically loyal. What did you do with Mr. Ortega anyway?’
‘I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss that, but you’ll be glad to know that he squealed like a pig and will be of no further trouble to anyone.’
‘Has he been eliminated?’
‘Not exactly. He was tortured to within an inch of his life, but I didn’t want to kill him. I don’t like women and I don’t have any children. In some strange way, Wilson is like a naughty surrogate son to me. He has been locked into a room in my mansion until I make a decision about his future.’
Hernan Sanchez decided that he had heard enough. The messy details of a man’s torture, however much he may have deserved it, were of no consequence to him. Besides, justice had been done and the debt of honour repaid. He changed the subject to football. Sierramar was near the top of their group in the World Cup football qualifiers, and this was a fitting subject for red-blooded patriots like El Duro and Sanchez.
‘What about that new football player? The one who is in the national squad? What’s his name? Stalin? What do you think of him, then?’
***
Sam looked out at the view over Calderon. She was in pensive mood. What had she gained from her adventure? The treasure would never be taken from its caretakers. Alfredo had convinced her that it was where it belonged. And she was one of the few people who had seen it. The sight of the treasure would always stay with her and give her joy. She had no idea what she would do next, but she could wait. Perhaps she would stay in Sierramar a bit longer and do some real geology. The country was full of mineral deposits especially gold ones. As Mike didn’t want to continue, there were plenty of other companies sniffing around for exploration opportunities, and a cheap English-speaking geologist who could also communicate in reasonable Spanish might be what they were looking for.
She had also learned to appreciate another culture and what it takes to work in one. Survival in the jungle certainly. She understood a lot more about her ability to cope with adversity and to rise above it with the help of others. Gloria had opened her eyes to the courage that can be contained behind a façade of organised chaos. Sam still hid behind the wall around her heart but Alfredo and Gloria were proof that love conquers all. And then there was Simon. Not an easy subject. Not one she wanted to dwell on yet. The intercom buzzed loudly in the half-empty flat. She went to pick it up.
‘Hey gringa, just because Mike has gone home doesn’t mean you have to be a hermit. Vamos.’
‘Where are we going?’
‘Who cares?’
<<<<>>>>
Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won’t you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favourite retailer?
Thank you
PJ Skinner
Other Books in the Series
Hitler’s Finger
The second book in the Sam Harris Series sees the return of our heroine Sam Harris to Sierramar to help her friend Gloria track down her boyfriend, the historian, Alfredo Vargas.
Against her better judgement, Sam Harris has let her wayward boyfriend Simon back into her life. At first, she enjoys having a 'plus-one' but she soon starts to have doubts. When she receives a phone call in the middle of the night, she has the perfect excuse to have a break and consider her options. Gloria's boyfriend, the historian Alfredo Vargas has gone missing in Sierramar with New York Journalist Saul Rosen. They have followed the clues to a hideaway in the mountains that may contain wanted Nazi war criminals. Sam and Gloria join forces to discover where they went and set out to track them down. They are soon caught up in a dangerous situation when Alfredo's friend Ramon is murdered and a mysterious stranger is following their every move. Even the government seems to be involved. Sam tells Simon that she may be pregnant causing unforeseen repercussions. Will they find Alfredo before he disappears for good?
The background to the book is the presence of Nazi war criminals in South America which was often ignored by locals who had fascist sympathies during World War II. Themes such as tacit acceptance of fascism, and local collaboration with fugitives from justice are examined and developed in the context of Sam's constant ability to find herself in the middle of an adventure or mystery. Sam's home life provides a contrast to her adventures and feeds her need to escape. Her continuing attachment to an unsuitable boyfriend is about to be tested to the limit
You can buy this book at your favourite retailer. Please go to the PJSKINNER website for links.
Coming Soon
The Star of Simbako - Book 3 - Summer 2018
The third book in the Sam Harris Series sees Sam Harris on her first contract to West Africa to Simbako, a land of tribal kingdoms and voodoo.
After discovering that her boyfriend Simon has finally gone too far, intrepid geologist Sam Harris takes a job in Simbako looking for diamonds in the Paramount Chiefdom of Fona. Torn between her attraction to Ned, and her distraction by Fergus, Sam makes a friend in Adanna, daughter of the Paramount Chief and meets her match in the formidable Fatimata and her grumpy parrot. A lost diamond, missing husbands, an unclean heiress and a chief who is too British for his chiefdom, Sam has to deal with all of this while suffering an attack of cerebral malaria and nursing a heart lurching between break and burst.
This book is based on visits made to the Paramount Chiefdoms of West Africa. Despite being nominally Christian communities, Voodoo practices are still part of daily life out there. This often leads to conflicts of interest. Combine this with the horrific ritual of FGM and it makes for a potent cocktail of conflicting loyalties. Sam is pulled into this life by her friend, Adanna, and soon finds herself involved in goings on that she doesn’t understand.
You can pre-order this book at your favourite retailer. Please go to the PJSKINNER website for links.
Connect with the Author
If you would like updates on the lates
t in the Sam Harris Series or to contact the author with your questions please click on the following links: www.pjskinner.com
About the Author
The author has spent 30 years working as an exploration geologist managing remote sites and doing due diligence of projects in more than thirty countries. During this time, she has been collecting tall tales and real-life experiences which inspired her to write the Sam Harris Series chronicling the adventures of a female geologist as a pioneer in a hitherto exclusively male world. PJ has worked in various countries in South America and Africa in remote, strange and often dangerous places and loved every minute of it despite encountering her fair share of misogyny and other perils. She is now writing these fact-based adventure books from the relative safety of London but still travels all over the world collecting data for her writing.
The Sam Harris Series will appeal to lovers of romance and adventure and has a unique viewpoint provided by Sam, a female interloper in a very male world, as she struggles with alien cultures and failed relationships. Book two in the series, Hitler’s Finger, was published in March 2018 and book three, The Star of Simbako, is due in July 2018.
The author is also working on two other new books, one of which, Rebel Green, is based on her childhood in Ireland.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV