‘This traffic?’ their driver replied. ‘About twenty-five, thirty minutes.’
Nina shook her head. ‘What is it about Los Angeles?’ she asked Macy rhetorically. ‘No matter where you are, the place you want to go is always a thirty-minute drive away. And there’s nothing interesting in between.’ She flicked a dismissive glance at the low-rise sprawl of office blocks and mini malls outside.
‘Good job we’re in here, then,’ said Eddie. The limo was home to a well-stocked bar. ‘We don’t have to drive, so we might as well get bladdered. You want something?’
‘Ehh… why not?’ Nina had already had two glasses of wine over the long lunch with Grant and Marvin, and had briefly been considering one of the miniature bottles of Perrier in the glass-fronted fridge… but they were on vacation. ‘What have they got?’
‘Loads of spirits — tequila, brandy, vodka, rum…’
‘A bit much for the afternoon. Any wine?’
He took out a chilled bottle of champagne. ‘This do you?’
‘Perfect. Since Grant’s paying for it.’
Eddie unwrapped the foil, and a loud pop! echoed through the limo as he removed the cork. ‘Whoa, it’s got a bit overexcited!’ he said as froth gushed on to his hand. Nina hurriedly used a glass to catch it. ‘Thanks.’ He filled it for her. ‘Macy?’
‘You are old enough to drink legally, aren’t you?’ Nina asked teasingly as Macy brought up a glass.
‘Yeah!’ she huffed. ‘I’m twenty-one now. Finally!’
Eddie poured a glass for himself, then put the bottle into an ice bucket. ‘Something to celebrate, then. Cheers!’
‘Cheers!’ the two women echoed. They all clinked glasses and took sips, though Nina’s was by far the largest.
‘Ooh, and I’ve got something else to celebrate,’ said Macy, retrieving a larger designer tote bag from the back of the cabin. ‘My photo shoot!’ She took out a glossy men’s magazine. ‘Grant knows the editor; he set it up for me. Here, check this out.’
‘Oooo… kay,’ Nina said slowly as she took in the double-page picture. Macy, pouting seductively at the camera, was posing atop a rock before a vivid orange desert sunset. Her long dark hair had been tied back into a loose ponytail, and she had a gleaming pistol in each hand. The headline read: TRUE-LIFE TOMB RAIDER. ‘Is that… are you dressed as Lara Croft?’
‘Pretty good likeness,’ said Eddie with an approving nod. ‘You got the tight top and hot pants right, too.’
‘Thanks!’ Macy replied.
Nina had already moved on to the accompanying text, her attention caught by a familiar name. ‘Hey, this mentions me.’ She took the magazine from Macy.
‘Let’s see,’ said Eddie. ‘Where… oh, there. “As a student of famous archaeologist Nina Wilde, Macy discovered the long-lost Pyramid of Osiris deep in the Egyptian desert, and later uncovered the legendary El Dorado, City of Gold, hidden in the mountains of Peru. But as our sizzling shoot reveals, she’s every bit as sexy as she is smart.”’
‘You weren’t my student!’ Nina objected.
Macy gave an apologetic shrug. ‘Yeah, I told them that, but I guess they thought it sounded better.’
‘So what else did they get wrong?’ Nina quickly read on, turning the page to reveal a second spread of similarly provocative portraits. ‘“With a boyfriend like Hollywood star Grant Thorn and a screen career on the horizon, it would be easy for Macy to take the road to the high life. But the Miami native insists she’s keeping her archaeological options open. She’s no mere MAW, but a real-life Lara Croft whose future is as exciting as the treasures of the past she digs up…” What’s a MAW?’
‘Model, actress, whatever,’ said Eddie. ‘Chuck something out of the window around here and you’ll probably hit at least two of ’em.’
‘Bimbos, basically,’ Macy added.
Nina was not impressed. ‘So it’s kind of a demeaning term, then.’
‘Well, the article said I wasn’t one, so…’ She shrugged again. ‘Anyway, what do you think?’
‘Very nice,’ said Eddie with a grin. ‘I keep asking Nina to get an outfit like that, but she won’t have it.’
Nina sighed, then turned back to Macy. ‘Modelling’s not exactly my thing, but you obviously enjoyed it, so… good for you. And I’m glad that even with these other options opening up for you, you’re planning to stick with archaeology.’
‘I worked really hard to get my degree,’ said Macy. ‘I’m not going to let it go to waste.’
‘You could be a model, archaeologist, whatever,’ Eddie suggested, grinning.
‘Yeah! Actually, Nina, if there are any openings at the IHA, I hope you’ll look at my résumé!’
She laughed, but Nina didn’t respond in kind. ‘Macy, I…’ She gave Eddie a brief look before continuing. ‘I don’t work for the IHA any more.’
The young woman laughed again, but it quickly faded when she realised Nina was serious. ‘What? Since when?’
‘Since two months ago. I resigned. I asked them to keep it quiet because I didn’t want to deal with the publicity.’
‘Oh my God! Why? What happened?’
‘Something bad happened to me. I can’t tell you too much, because it’s classified’ — that was not strictly true; Nina had made the decision to keep much of what had transpired a secret even from the IHA itself — ‘but I was… poisoned.’
Macy stared at her in horror. ‘Poisoned? Did — did you see a doctor, get an antidote?’
‘There isn’t one. Not for this. How much Norse mythology did you study during your degree?’
‘The basics: Odin, Thor, those guys,’ said Macy, confused by the shift of topic.
‘Did you learn about eitr?’
‘Yeah, it’s some sort of primordial poison—’ She broke off as she made the connection. ‘You mean it’s real?’
‘Fucking right it is,’ Eddie rumbled.
‘Yes, it’s real,’ said Nina sadly. ‘We found it — well, we were trying to stop other people taking control of it. We did, but I got… contaminated. Infected. Macy, I’m… I’m dying.’
‘Holy Jesus,’ Macy whispered. ‘I’m so sorry. When — how long have you got?’
‘It could be years,’ Eddie insisted. ‘Enough time to find a cure.’
‘Or it could be weeks,’ his wife countered.
‘I’m not going to believe that until I absolutely don’t have any fucking choice.’
‘I can’t believe it either,’ said Macy. ‘There’s got to be something somebody can do.’
Nina shook her head. ‘The Russians were looking for a cure for fifty years, and they didn’t find one. I don’t think our chances are any better.’
‘So you’re just going to accept it? You’re going to give up? Is that why you quit the IHA?’
‘I’m not giving up,’ she said firmly. ‘The reason I quit was so I could do everything else that I wanted to in the time I’ve got left. You’ll probably think it’s weird to hear me say this, but there’s more to life than archaeology.’
‘I’ve been telling you that for years,’ said Eddie.
‘And just this once, you were actually right.’ The couple swapped faint smiles. ‘But that’s why we’ve been travelling — so I could see the whole world, not just what’s buried under it. And it’s also why I’m going to write the book. I want to tell people about everything I’ve discovered — and also that there were other people involved besides me. The IHA turned me into a kind of media-friendly figurehead, and unfortunately, at times I started to believe my own hype. So I want to set the record straight.’