by Jack L Knapp
He began digging after I’d removed the slab of rock. I got the four GPS readings and carefully recorded them. As a check, I worked backward, using the GPS to find the four points I’d recorded. I found myself standing bare inches from the footprints I’d left earlier while I was taking initial readings of the locations.
“Got it, T.”
“Make two copies of the numbers, Ray. I’ll keep one, you keep one, but don’t identify what the numbers mean on the paper. The main thing is to remember that rock you moved. We’ll cover the chest with dirt, and when we’re done with that, stack the rock over it. We can write down the next mile marker we see on the interstate too. We can see how much the odometer reading changes until we see the mile marker, then record that too. We’re going south, so we’ll know to the tenth of a mile how far north of that mile marker we were, and that will allow us to come back here and find the point where we left the highway. The hill is easy to remember, so we probably won’t really need the GPS recordings. They’re there for insurance. I don’t want this treasure to be one of the lost ones!”
“We don’t know that it’s much of a treasure, T.”
“You’re right, Ray. Take out two of the metal bars, one for you, one for me. If the authorities realize that we’ve found something, they’ll only learn about these two bars and there’ll be no way for them to know that we found more. We can look for someplace to have them assayed later.
“Meantime, we’ll divide up the rest. You can approach a coin dealer in El Paso or maybe even in Mexico to see how much he’ll pay for the Maximilianos. I’ll see what I can do to find a buyer for the gemstones.”
“Not all of them to the same guy, T. Preferably not even in the same town.”
“No problem, Ray. You should think about finding two different coin dealers too. Compare their prices to see what they’re offering for the coins. If there’s a difference, find out how many of the coins the dealer that offers more thinks he can market without depressing the collectors market. You’ll sense if he’s thinking of cheating you.
“I’ve been hiding and transferring hidden money around for a long time. I’ve also got a spare set of identity papers in a safe-deposit box in El Paso that I rented right after I came back from Afghanistan. I’ll take out the documents and put the gemstones in. The new identity has no connection to the safety deposit box, so even if somehow I get caught with one of the gems, there’s no direct trail back to the bank and the safety deposit box. I’ll probably need to rent a box from a different bank under the new name and store the documents I’m using now, the ones for the box with the jewels, in the new one. Complicated, but I think it’s necessary to be careful.
“I’ll take individual photos before I put the jewels into the deposit box and keep out one or two samples that I think might not be worth as much as the ruby.
“The photos will be the first things I show to a jeweler. If he seems interested, I’ll know. Then I’ll take in one of the stones and watch him examine it. That’s being paranoid, I know…but when a jeweler is given a gemstone to evaluate that might be worth hundreds of thousands, even millions, there’s no reason to tempt him more than necessary. In our case, paranoia is good. As to where those jewels might eventually end up, Ray, I wouldn’t be surprised if they went to a Japanese collector. Jewels and art, even things known stolen, are thought to be in private collections in Japan and a few other places now.
“Put the coins in plastic sleeves, Ray. A collector will wonder why these were never circulated. A plastic sleeve will make him less likely to ask questions we don’t want to answer.”
We finished burying the old box with the remaining metal blocks. T then carefully lifted and positioned the heavy slab of rock where it had been before I’d moved it. He checked the position, rotated the slab slightly, and we watched as it settled into place. The rock slab looked now as if it had never been moved.
We got back to the truck, put the saddlebag of gold coins behind the rear seat, then T put the buckskin bag of jewels under the driver’s seat. He lifted the plastic floor mat and dragged it back, lifting the rear of the mat so that it prevented the bag from accidentally slipping into view should we find ourselves stopped by the police for some reason.
We motored south, recording the location and miles elapsed from the odometer to the next mile marker. I made a copy of the numbers, and a second copy that went into T’s glove compartment. We crossed over the interstate at the next overpass and drove north.
We got back to the cabin late, having made necessary stops for fuel and food in Bernalillo.
I refused T’s offer to remain overnight. I had a lot to do when I got back to El Paso, and there was still the question of what Ana Maria would do after she’d spent some time with her family.
I took the bag of gold coins and put them in the Volvo. There’s a storage space in the rear, under a carpet, and that’s where the bag went. My camping gear went over the compartment and for additional security from prying eyes I pulled out the horizontal curtain that’s used to conceal cargo inside the car. I secured the curtain into the two recesses in the back and finally I was ready to leave.
The leather bag kept nagging at me; very few people use saddlebags now, and this one looked old.
After stopping in Socorro for fuel, I bought a box of trash bags and another of ziplocked resealable freezer bags. At the next roadside park, I stopped in the last parking spot so that no one was nearby who might see me working.
I took the saddlebag out of the compartment and began dividing up the gold coins, putting a few into each of the freezer bags, while also keeping an eye peeled for curious people. Each bag got zip-sealed and distributed among ten of the trash bags. I closed each trash bag with a knot, and the bags went into the recess the saddlebag had come from. The rest of the camping gear I replaced atop the compartment’s cover.
I made sure the leather bag was empty, then left it at the curb when I got back into the car. As a final step, I floated it along until it was near the entrance to the bathrooms. That’s where I left it; someone would find it, ‘accidentally’ left behind, and would take it with them when they left.
There was now no way to connect the coins in the rear compartment to Maximilian’s treasure or Doc Noss. I wouldn’t want the Border Patrol to search the car…they would assume this was drug money, and would certainly confiscate it if they found it…but there was no reason for them to look at my Volvo. Even so, I made sure to keep my speed under the limit and drove very carefully along the interstates to El Paso.
I got home late and took a few minutes to carry my camping gear and the ‘trash’ bags into the house. I made sure all the doors were and windows were locked before falling into bed, exhausted. I thought of setting up the coffeepot before I crashed, but decided I could do it tomorrow.
I really was tired!
Chapter Nineteen
Ray:
“They’re counterfeit. Maximilianos were widely counterfeited. Most of the ones I’ve seen are small, you can buy them on eBay for fifty or sixty dollars. And besides, look at the size of these things. They’re the size of US half dollars.”
So said the first coin dealer I spoke to. I began to have a sinking feeling.
“But who counterfeits using pure gold? These things are heavy, easily twice the weight of a half dollar. Are you saying they’re lead or something?”
“Well, let me take a closer look.”
The jeweler went back to the rear of his store and came back with various bits of equipment. He made a second trip and this time he had small glass bottles of reagent.
“Is this the only coin of this type that you have?”
I admitted I had access to a few others.
“My grandfather spent a lot of time in Mexico when he was a young man. We found this one and a few others that went to different relatives. If the price is right, they might be prepared to sell theirs too.”
The jeweler looked skeptical.
“The reason I asked, if I do the test for purity
it’s going to involve scratching the coin and testing the scratched metal that sticks to the stone I use. I’ll be treating the powder on the stone with different acids.
“The process won’t remove much gold, but the damage will show to a collector. This looks to be new, either uncirculated or barely-circulated. Gold begins to show wear as soon as people start handling it, and the greater the purity the more likely it is that there will be visible wear on the coin..
“But the fact that these coins were never in circulation and that there’s no real provenance…your grandfather might have gotten them anywhere, and they might even be stolen…makes me doubt their authenticity.
“Still, if you’re willing I’ll do the test. Like I said, it will reduce the value of this coin to a collector but it may establish that this coin is really unique. The other coins of this type…are they all the same date?”
“I think so. They all looked the same, so we didn’t examine them closely. I need the money now, or I’d never think of selling grandpa’s gift.”
Practice; lying was getting easier all the time! It wasn’t quite the lie I’d told Doctor Chew, but it was still pretty good!
“Go ahead. Do your test. Find out what you can get from a collector for one like this that’s undamaged. You can confirm that they’re the same thing by doing a specific gravity test, can’t you?”
“I can. Takes a little longer, and I might need to buy laboratory grade instruments for something this small, but I could do it. If you can bring me ten like this, my present instruments will do just fine. I’ll measure all of them as a batch, then divide the results. If I get the same value as I get from this coin, I think that should be enough.”
I indicated that I could get the ten coins within a few days.
“That kit you’re using; can anyone buy one of those?”
“Sure. Just be careful with the acids. Wear rubber gloves and goggles, and keep plenty of sodium bicarbonate around for safety. If you spill it on your skin, wash if possible and then use the sodium bicarb to neutralize everything that was touched by the acid.”
The coin tested out at something above 23 karat, or 23/24ths pure gold.
“It’s not counterfeit, whatever it is. Nobody needs to counterfeit when they’re using almost pure gold. Maybe the slight impurity is because of the date. Standards in 1865 weren’t the same as what we use now. Could this have come from a special minting, you think?”
“Sir, I have no idea. My grandfather might have known, but we can’t ask him now. I think we’ll just have to go with the coins as they are. Do you want to buy this one, or maybe try to sell it? If the price is high enough, paying a commission wouldn’t be a problem. But I did mention that I need the money, so…”
The jeweler bought the coin. I pocketed seven hundred and fifty dollars, and he promised that if the coin sold for much more than that, he’d pay me more. The fact that I’d told him I had access to more might have made him more honest! But I’d been sensing his emotions, and I didn’t get any intent from him that he was considering trying to cheat me.
I could tell he was amused, even through the tiny voice that whispered in my mind.
We dropped the connection after that. I had work to do.
I logged on to a site that sold a reagent kit and ordered one. The kit itself wasn’t expensive, but transportation costs were! I guess shippers don’t like to transport acids, even small amounts of them.
I separated one of the trash bags with the freezer-bags of coins and counted the coins in one of the bags. I had twenty-three gold coins, Maximilianos, all dated 1865, and the freezer bag was heavy enough to require careful handling.
I changed into my old BDU’s and boots. I would be going back into the mountains. I made sure there was no name tag or rank insignia left on the uniform, faded from many washings now, and kept more out of habit than need. I suspect most retirees keep their uniforms around for a few years. Who knows? You might find yourself recalled if a war should break out!
I needed a place to store the coins temporarily, and finally settled on the coffee canister. I poured the ground coffee into a bowl, put the bag of coins in, then poured coffee back in until the canister was almost full. I didn’t expect to be burglarized, but if it happened while I was out, I wanted to at least make the burglar search for something to steal!
There was a little coffee left over, so I set up the coffeepot for later. The canister went back into the cupboard and I took the rest of the trash bags with me as I left.
I had a notebook, pen, and my GPS unit in my pocket. A D-handled shovel went into the back of the car, concealed with the drawn curtain. There was a jacket and goggles in the Volvo already, and there were always two or three bottles of water if I needed them when I was away from the house. It’s a desert thing.
I drove into Tom Mays Park and left the Volvo. I decided I wouldn’t need the jacket or goggles today. I would stay low and slow and hope the camouflage would keep me out of view of anyone with a camera. I took the freezer-bags of coins and put them all into a single trash bag, then put that one into a second bag for additional strength. The coins made the bag quite heavy.
I paid the park’s entry fee and left the receipt from the envelope taped to the windshield before walking away.
As soon as I was out of sight, I drifted up the mountainside, trash bag in my left hand, shovel in my right,
GPS and notebook in my pocket. One good thing about the BDU’s, they’ve got lots of pockets.
Even if someone did see me, the BDU’s made me nearly unrecognizable. Just one more soldier from Fort Bliss, or one of the thousands of people who buy combat uniforms from a store that sells surplus gear; the uniforms are excellent for hunting or fishing as well as for soldiering, and today they’d serve to make me unremarkable.
The photo, the one that the newspaper had published, had been taken on the east side of the mountain range. I was on the west side now. That lent a bit of safety and my slow, weaving ascent did even more. I drifted around bushes and cacti during the steepest part of the ascent, then resumed walking for a time when I crossed a level part. I drifted across a shallow canyon, then followed the next canyon upslope toward North Franklin Peak.
I found a spot that was difficult for anyone to approach, steep, thickly grown with cactus, and not easy to get to unless you possessed Talent. I scraped out a cavity beneath a huge rock and buried the bag of gold coins in the hollow. I carefully recorded the GPS reading but didn’t use the GPS to mark the site. I read the numbers on the display, wrote them in the notebook, then drifted away. The GPS would only record that I’d come this way, and even that would vanish when I cleared the unit’s memory.
I briefly wondered what T had done with the jewels. Was his paranoia as strong as mine? I decided it probably didn’t matter; no one was going to take that bag of gems from T without a fight, and I couldn’t think of any entity that could overcome the astonishing strength and control that I’d seen T use. I was reasonably strong too, but T was in a different category entirely.
I commed Ana Maria after I reached the Volvo and arranged to meet her for lunch. Communicating over our telepathic link was not nearly as satisfying as actually seeing her in the flesh, and I wondered if she’d come to a decision regarding our relationship. I had another purpose, too; I needed her to translate something. I had investigated another idea I’d had, and now I was going to place an order with a manufacturer in Juarez. This man had made a number of hot-air balloons in the past, but I had something different in mind.