by Aiden James
“Can you hear me, Nick?” Marie whispered.
“”Yes,” I said, alarmed that my throat felt like it had been rubbed raw with sandpaper. “W-what happened?”
“Shhh,” she said gently. “They haven’t left yet.”
“W-who?”
“Yassir Ali’s men,” said Ishi.
My vision cleared enough for me to see things more lucidly, which immediately heightened my alarm. Ishi and Marie were crouched on an embankment just below the road, with me lying between them, and precariously perched above a drop-off into thick darkness a few feet away. Tree tops rustled in the wind nearby, and the shadowed girth of the branches told me the trees were likely twenty to thirty meters in height, meaning the ground below was just as deep.
Excited shouts from across the way, beyond my line of sight, were accompanied by multiple door slams and muffled voices. Two automobile engines started up, and tire squeals threw gravel and other debris our way. Once the engines faded in the distance, sporadic passes from other vehicles were the only sounds aside from the crackling blaze…. Until a few motorists stopped, surely attracted by the roadside inferno.
“They shot the car—that’s what exploded!” Marie informed me excitedly. “Are you all right, Nick? We can’t stay here!”
“I think he has a concussion,” said Ishi. “How will we move him any further?”
“We have no choice but to move him,” she replied, sternly. “Help me carry him out of here.”
“Why?” He sounded alarmed.
“Shit, stay down!” she hissed, motioning for him to remain crouched. In the light I detected bruises and cuts around her chin, “Stop and think about it, Ishi… those men think we’re dead, or otherwise they would’ve remained here until they found us and finished us off. If we get involved with anyone else in this spot, Yassir Ali will soon learn that we survived. We might end up getting innocent people killed, since you damned well know these assassins will surely go to any lengths to make sure we’re dead!”
She had a point… but when I tried to join in, all that came out of my mouth was a groan. They both looked at me… relieved and worried.
“Nick… can you crawl over to the large tree ahead of us?” Marie pointed to what looked like an enormous pine looming next to a guardrail, a few hundred feet away.
“I think so,” I told her. “I might need to see a doctor this time.”
“We’ll need to make sure we’re safe first—they might come back,” she advised, her tone compassionate. “If you can give us enough time to get away from here in one piece, we will find the nearest hospital.”
“I think they believe we’re dead,” said Ishi. “You were right the first time, Marie…. They won’t come back. We should find a hospital now.”
“Not yet. I believe we should get far enough from here to where no one can immediately connect us to what just happened. Then we can get Nick to a doctor,” she said, turning her attention to me. “Here, baby… Do you think you can make it to the tree? From there, we can work our way further down the road. Once we’re at least half a mile away, it should be safe enough to flag someone down.”
She seemed confident this plan on the fly would work, as if hers and Ishi’s disheveled appearance wouldn’t raise a few suspicions. Not to mention my present condition.
I could tell I had received a concussion from the wreck, although milder than what I’ve endured before. I ended up completely healing in just a few days during those earlier times… maybe it would be the same once again. Maybe we could skip the doctor after all.
The three of us made it to the thick pine, nestled next to a slight bend in the highway. Whether we were seen or not was an unknown we would have to live with. It wasn’t likely, but neither was our enemies finding us on the road to Loch Ness.
Searing pain assaulted my head as I used the tree’s sizable base to stand up. My throbbing shoulder soon joined the party when Marie grabbed hold of it to help keep me from falling over when I started to lose my balance. Fighting back nausea while a fresh frigid gust embraced my face, I turned to look at our rental’s flames climbing toward the night sky. Two men and a woman stood near the fire, and one of the men held a cell phone pressed to an ear.
“Oww!” I murmured, when Marie inadvertently pushed against my injured shoulder to guide me out of the trio’s line of sight. Another motorist pulled over to investigate the scene.
“Sorry!” she said, cringing.
“It’s okay,” I told her, wincing slightly. The wound stung, but since I could move the joint without resistance, I assumed it was a deep bruise with nothing broken. “Let’s get moving.”
Marie led the way into the darkness, sticking to the course of the roadway and keeping out of sight from oncoming headlights. I followed next, with Ishi pulling up the rear and watching me closely. My vision continued to improve, and the throbbing inside my head steadily faded to a dull ache. We walked in the shadows for nearly a mile, until the orange glow from the burning wreckage was no longer visible. Thankfully, I still had my coat, as did Ishi and Marie. I noticed that Ishi carried my backpack along with his, and Marie had her purse and camera strapped around her neck. Unfortunately, all of the supplies and expensive make-up she purchased that morning had fed the inferno we continued to distance ourselves from.
“I think we’ve walked far enough away to where we can safely take a moment to decide what to do,” said Marie. “What do you boys think?”
“I’ve still got my laptop and modem,” offered Ishi. “I can try to reserve a hotel in Loch Lomond… or maybe we should try to find a local hospital there for Nick first. Too bad we can’t call the police and get those guys arrested.”
I couldn’t agree more… until I thought about our pursuers’ formidable tentacles to find us. I regretted not keeping at least one of the weapons we confiscated back in Edinburgh. Perplexed and a little distressed about how easily our adversaries found us this time, I doubted our enemies simply got lucky and stumbled on our whereabouts. I intended to mentally retrace our steps since yesterday to look for clues to tell us how they knew we were in the Loch Ness area.
“I think we should try to backtrack to reach our hotel in Glasgow,” said Marie, causing both Ishi and me to whip our heads in her direction.
“Why? That would be incredibly foolish.” My head suddenly pounded harder again. “We’ve got to assume that something we’ve done in either Edinburgh or Glasgow has tipped them off to us…. Maybe even in London.”
“Or it could be that we somehow crossed their path accidentally, Nick,” she said, coolly. “We can check the hotel from a safe distance, and if it looks safe enough then return there for the night.”
Sirens approached from behind us; surely a fire truck and paramedic were on the way to the scene.
“Well, here’s my take on that, sweetheart. You hear the sirens? The authorities will be all over the burning car in a moment, and it will just be a matter of time before they recover the VIN,” I told her. “From there—”
“I know, I know… they’ll track down the VIN to the car rental agency,” she acknowledged, her tone disappointed.
“And since we used your card at the hotel, too…. Let’s just say we shouldn’t be visiting the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow anytime soon,” I added.
“But the charges for the car and the room will go to my account,” she lamented.
“Dispute them,” I said, half-jokingly. “Tell them how Egyptian assassins, intent on ending your life, destroyed the car and made it impossible to return to the hotel…. Or, you can chalk it up to the cost of doing business as a ‘looter millionairess’ and simply move on.”
I hoped she’d see my point. Despite how dire things had turned out for us, she still had her gorgeous looks intact and was very much alive. Considering the alternative that almost happened, it was already a good night.
“I found a room at the Lodge on Loch Lomond,” said Ishi, looking up from his laptop. A deep bruise on his right cheek matched another on h
is forehead—both glowing angrily from the screen’s glow. “It’s a suite, and won’t be much more expensive than the rooms we had in Glasgow. In fact… yep, it will save us twenty pounds over the other costs.”
“Although, we will still be paying for the other room,” said Marie, grimacing playfully. She shivered when a strong gust of frigid air swept across the highway, and paused to zip up her coat. “But at this point, I don’t care… I just want to get us to someplace warm, and where I can nurse my man back to full health tonight.”
She shot me a seductive look, which made me completely forget our earlier bickering.
“I could use a temple rub, and maybe a full body rub down—”
“Okay, I’ve heard enough!” Ishi interrupted, shaking his head disgustedly. “The online option on their website allowed me to book the suite without a credit card. So, we can decide how to take care of the room once we get there… right, Boss?”
“Not bad, little buddy,” I told him. “You’re getting better and better at this…. When you make it home to Honduras next week, your momma might not know you, since you’ve changed quite a bit since Ms. Da Vinci entered our lives.”
True. Ishi had gone from a novice to nearly an expert in navigating the Web in just a few months.
“Well, shall we go ahead and see if we can flag someone down to give us a lift to the nearest town with another car rental agency?” asked Marie, perhaps not catching my amused look in response to how many rental cars had been destroyed while in our possession since we hit Europe in June… at least half a dozen, by my count… maybe more. “What?”
“It’s nothing,” I assured her. “Nothing worth worrying about.”
We ended up walking almost another mile, as the steady stream of traffic had dwindled to just a few per minute—and none of these cars stopped for us. Not until we almost reached a gas station.
A middle-aged couple pulled over and asked if we needed a lift. Ironically, we had just decided to forget about hitching a ride since we were almost at the station. But it turned out fortuitous, since this couple were friendly and didn’t seem to sense anything odd about us. Better yet, they were on their way home to a bustling town located at the southern edge of Loch Lomond, called Balloch. I began to feel better about our prospects for the night—much better. Maybe our luck would change for the better….
If only it was true.
Chapter Five
Alva and Ranald Rhea—the kindly middle-aged couple that picked us up by the side of the road were wonderfully agreeable. So much so they offered to drop us off at the Lodge on Loch Lomond, with one condition: that we join them for dinner at a small pub located on the outskirts of Balloch.
A jovial time at the Tullie Inn, it meant checking into the Lodge later than I would’ve liked, but at least my concussion symptoms had quieted down to where I could wait until morning before visiting a hospital or clinic—and only if necessary. It also meant we were at the pub long enough to see a television news report about a burning car found along the highway near Loch Ness.
“Terrible thing it is,” offered Ranald. His warm brown eyes grew dim, as if he were sending a silent prayer on behalf of the occupants in the burning vehicle. Marie, Ishi, and I shamelessly played along with it, pretending we had somehow missed witnessing the mishap and had wondered about the sirens’ portent in the distance behind us.
“Aye, it is sad, indeed,” added Alva.
She studied our faces, as if she just had noticed the assorted bruises and cuts we all carried. I prepared for things to get awkward; or worse, she would either have her husband renege on the offer to drive us to the lodge or would contact the local authorities herself and have them hold us on suspicion in regard to what happened earlier that evening.
But nothing came of her suspicions. After another round of local ale, Alva shrugged and smiled sheepishly at the three of us; as if she were ashamed of any less than noble view she entertained. In the meantime, Marie worked her charms as well as I had ever seen before, and Ishi had the good sense to say little, and stick to the whispered script from Marie in the back seat of the Rhea’s Mercedes that he was a college student on leave to do Peace Corps work, and she and I were out looking for a glimpse of Nessie, and would now turn our attentions to whatever lurked in the depths of Loch Lomond.
“You could be sorely disappointed, Nick,” said Ranald. “There hasn’t been anything sighted here since a crocodile was spotted in the shallow waters a few years ago… and that one is likely a stretch of the truth unless planted there by an ornery lad with African connections. Nothing else noteworthy has been reported in many decades.”
“Well, then I guess we will have to settle for exploring the other sights you’ve mentioned,” said Marie. “The surrounding hills could keep us busy for days, since it’s all so beautiful.”
Great response, and one that was close to the truth and served to help bring the evening to a close.
“I really like the people here,” said Marie, once we stepped into our latest rented suite. This time we used my alias information, and prayed we weren’t visited by assassin bullets in the middle of the night. “We should come back here for a longer stay, after we get everything settled and are no longer targets for Yassir Ali.”
Fat chance of that happening, but I smiled agreeably… wondering if we could get away with anything ‘naughty’, since Ishi had his own bedroom in the suite. He was already getting acquainted with his room.
“Not tonight,” she said, obviously reading the look on my face. She pressed a forefinger to my lips when I started to protest. “After a stressful day, we both need our rest, Nick. You’ll thank me tomorrow…. Since you refused to go to a hospital tonight for your head and shoulder, you’ll need to not overexert yourself. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else since I’m very worried about you.”
“Well, don’t be, babe—I’m fine,” I sought to reassure her. “Trust me when I say I’ve gone through a helluva lot worse.”
But my words were to no avail.
Fortunately for her, I did need the sleep. And after getting dry heaves during the middle of the night, I had to admit that the urge to vomit would’ve been most unfortunate if it had happened during Marie’s and my lovemaking.
As it turned out, all three of us overslept, and didn’t wake up until almost ten o’clock. I know… surprising after nearly getting killed the night before. I guess the exhaustion overrode my cautious side, as well as for Marie and Ishi.
Fortunately, I booked the room for three nights—just in case we needed the extra time to either explore the area, or if we found the right spot, to secure the site. Even better, though, was the fact I felt almost one hundred percent better than the night before. Only a light headache and barely audible ring in my right ear told of the damage delivered to my head the night before. So, for the time being, a visit to a doctor could wait or not happen at all.
Of course, we were starting over in many ways. After a late brunch and taking the time necessary to reserve a new set of wheels to drive, as well as repurchase the supplies we needed, it was damned near three o’clock in the afternoon before we began our exploration.
“Let’s keep going,” said Marie, after we had traveled up the eastern shoreline and found comparable coordinates to what she silently calculated in a hillside near Rowardennan. For a brief moment, we were ready to celebrate… but the amulet remained dormant. “We can come back to this spot if we don’t find anything else that fits better.”
“That sounds like an impossibility, if the coordinates you are protecting deal with specific longitude and latitude numbers,” I said, reluctant to move on without a better reason than a stubborn relic not responding.
“The coordinates are based on a system that predates the use of longitude and latitude,” she advised, grinning smugly. My insistence on being painstakingly careful today, as compared to yesterday, was wearing on her… but we could ill-afford to backtrack needlessly. “If you quit being a pain in
the ass, I just might let you in on how the coordinates’ calculation works.”
“Cruel coercion for cooperation?”
“Yep. But I said might, as in ‘we’ll see’.”
“Then you leave me no choice but to be a stickler about not moving on until we’ve explored deep enough to determine if a location is a match, or not.”
“It’s not the right place, Nick—just trust me, damn it!”
Since it was quite possible the coordinates and the amulet’s expected behavior came from the same source, I decided to ignore my gut and follow Marie’s lead. Ishi seemed indifferent either way, which told me the frightful events of the past few days had seriously discounted his value of the prize we sought.
“For your information, I’m looking for specific symbols, Nick, and it is supposed to be natural and integral to the site where the treasure is hidden,” she said. “Look for elongated stones along the hillside. Some should be standing and others fallen… and they are supposed to be related to what we saw at Bluehenge.”
“Really?” I was surprised. She had failed to mention this latest tidbit before.
“Yes, really,” she said. “If you or Ishi see anything that remotely reminds you of the blue stones we saw there, or even the much more renowned stones from Stonehenge, point them out and we’ll stop to investigate the area.”
It seemed easy enough, and so we moved on, following the course of Loch Lomond—a sight far more breathtakingly beautiful in person than what we had seen in brochures and on the Internet. In my jaded opinion—for whatever it’s worth—I felt this loch was more alluring than Loch Ness. Maybe it’s because Loch Lomond isn’t as overtly touristy, due to the inescapable presence of ‘Nessie” at Loch Ness. That was Ishi’s initial summation of the differences between the two popular destinations. However, for me, I believe it is the presence of the islands in Loch Lomond…. It gave it an almost ‘other world’ feel, despite the frigid temperature that Wednesday afternoon, which brought spitting sleet for the duration of our exploration.