The man pulled the gun from its holster and carefully handed it over. Ben took it and jammed it into his belt.
“This way.” He waved the guy on and together they headed back to the ruins — he had a hundred questions and hoped he could get someone to ask them.
The guy shuffled, walked into vines, and kept his arms out in front of himself as though he was blind. Ben knew he was a lot more professional than he was letting on, and his patience finally ran out. He grabbed the big guy by the shoulder and started to push him through the foliage towards the red glow of the temple doors.
At the entrance, he shoved him inside, keeping the gun pointed at the ground but ready, and also his free hand up to ward off a potential backhanded blow if need be. But what met his eyes made his heart sink.
“At last. Good evening, or is it good morning, Mr. Cartwright?”
Ben lunged forward at the guy he had just led in and grabbed him by the shoulder to then pull him back as a shield.
The stranger who had addressed him was portly, mid-50s, and looked supremely confident. With him were two other big men, grizzled, hard-edged, and now standing over his team. All their weapons had been collected and piled to one side of the temple.
“Who the fuck are you assholes?” Ben growled.
“Language, please. After all, there are ladies present.” The man honestly looked dismayed. “My name is Barlow, Edward Barlow. With you is my friend, Mr. Janus Bellakov, who was asked to escort you back here — which he has done.”
Steve launched himself at one of the men, who faster than anyone anticipated, whipped out an arm holding the gun and cracked the young man across the jaw. Steve went down, holding a split lip.
Barlow’s man then stood over him, gun pointed at his head. He trailed the gun over the other’s heads, daring another attack.
Nino cringed, holding his hands up higher. “I just guide.”
“That’s enough now, Mr. Koenig,” Barlow said, and his man begrudgingly stepped back.
“You sons of bitches.” Ben pulled Bellakov backwards and grabbed his collar, jamming the muzzle of the gun up under his ribs. “Your friend, huh? Why don’t you let all of my friends go and then we can talk.”
“We’re talking now.” Barlow continued to smile. “And if you want to shoot him, then go ahead. But then we’ll need to shoot one of your people, or maybe two.”
Barlow spoke without turning. “Mr. Koenig, choose one of the women.”
The big guy to Barlow’s left pointed a gun at Emma’s head. She screwed her eyes shut, but there remained a defiant set to her jaw.
Shit, Ben thought. He knew that he was quick enough, and certainly a good enough shot, to whip the gun around and take out Barlow or Koenig. But that left two others who may start shooting, and with so many civilians, the odds of someone getting killed were off the scale.
“What do you want?” Ben glared at Barlow.
“To talk. That’s all.” He held up a hand flat. “I promise.”
“I’m betting I’ve met a few of your boys before, at the hotel in Windlesham Manor. That your idea of talking?” Ben’s jaws clenched.
“Stupid, I know.” Barlow sighed. “But if I said to you I wanted to see what you had, or even tag along, your answer might not have been what I wanted. I was wrong to attempt to steal your notebook, and I apologize, profusely.”
“Who was it?” Ben growled.
Barlow grinned. “Why, your friend right there of course.” He winked at Bellakov.
“Good.” Ben jerked Bellakov back to club him over the head with the butt of the gun. The big man went down. “That’s for the kick in the guts, you sonofabitch.” He lowered his gun, but continued to hold it loosely at his side. “Lower your guns and we’ll talk then.”
Barlow turned left and right, nodding. His men lowered their guns and stood at ease. At his feet, Bellakov groaned and then got to his feet. He came up with the blazing, blood in his eye look of someone who wanted to charge in. Ben lowered his head, looking at the man from under his brows.
“Anytime, big fella.”
“Enough.” Barlow’s voice was sharp in the enclosed space, and Bellakov begrudgingly backed away, still rubbing the back of his neck.
Barlow smiled. “I knew you’d find it, this place. That’s why we tagged along.”
Emma came and stood beside Ben. “You were in front of us.”
“Only for a while,” Barlow said. “Then we looped around and waited for you. We already knew you were on your way, and we had come to the end of your map and had no idea which way to go from there. And then the GPS, compass, and comms all went to hell, and with only a few thousand square miles of uncharted Amazon jungle to bumble around in, I mean, what could possibly have gone wrong?” He chortled for a moment or two before pulling a handkerchief and wiping his brow and then lips.
“No, so much better to follow the guy with the notebook.” He glowered at Bellakov. “That we failed to retrieve in England.”
“Thanks, but we don’t need any more people on our expedition.” Steve got to his feet and went to pick up his gun, but one of Barlow’s men pointed the gun again.
Ben returned the favor, and Barlow raised his hand. “Not just yet, young man.” He said, smiling benignly at Steve. “Soon, perhaps.” He turned to Emma. “You can’t overpower us, or hide from us, and you’re way too nice to do anything violent or… final.” He lifted one eyebrow. “Really, what choice do you have? We’ll simply follow you. Best if we join forces, I’d say. After all, I don’t think it’s going to be a picnic up top, do you?
“So…” Barlow found a suitable piece of tumbled stone. “Everyone, please sit down.” He lowered himself to the stone and then placed two meaty forearms on his thighs and took a few moments to look at each of them.
“Friends, from when I was a child, I’d heard rumors that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fantastical Lost World adventure was based on fact. Then in school, I read about them finding more and more of these tepuis structures, some absolutely enormous, and being so high that they really did support some life forms on top of them — whole colonies of creatures that remained in perfect isolation and indifference to the life on the ground for many, many millions of years.”
He sighed. “But these things, these isolated remnants, were only insects, ground shrews, and a few nematodes. But it made me think that if there was a large enough land mass, then it goes to reason that the creatures could, must, also be exponentially larger.” He raised his chin. “And then with some good financial fortune, my search was able to begin.”
“How did you find us?” Dan asked.
“Daniel Murakami, Dan, really, you ask that? A specialist in information technology and communications, asking how we could find someone or anything these days? I simply set the trap, and you sprung it yourself when you began your search for the notebook. I already had a plan in place, I just needed something to focus it on… and you delivered.”
Dan groaned, already suspecting that he had sent up the flare that Barlow had spotted.
“What do you want from this… from us?” Jenny asked.
“Nothing more than to know, to see, to experience what may be up there. The secret will remain with us, but I do reserve the right to come back here with small parties for further… study.”
“Hunting parties more like,” Jenny said, bristling.
“Study, hunting…” Barlow shrugged and smirked.