‘Well, you made the right choice,’ Cobb said.
He went through Feng’s pockets and found a small electronic device. He dropped it on the floor, then stomped on it with his boot. As he ground the remnants into dust with his heel, they heard Garcia in their ears.
‘— repeat. Radio check. I have no audio. Jack? Sarah? Maggie?’
‘Hector, we’re here,’ Cobb replied. ‘Sarah and I are back on comms.’
‘Any sign of Maggie?’ Garcia asked.
‘She’s dead,’ Sarah explained. ‘So is Feng. They were working together. We don’t know when or how, but he turned her.’
‘Son of a bitch,’ Garcia replied incredulously. ‘That explains how they were able to tail us so relentlessly.’
‘Everyone else is dead, too,’ McNutt said as he entered the chamber. ‘The bad guys, I mean. And Rodrigo still has the satellite keeping an eye on things up top.’ McNutt looked down at Maggie’s corpse. ‘So Miss Maggie was a traitor, eh? And here I thought our luck was changing. I wonder if anything she said about Polo or his treasure was true.’
‘It was,’ Sarah assured him. She had caught a peek inside just before the confrontation with Feng. She walked over to the wooden door that was still ajar and pushed it open wide. ‘I think we found it.’
On the other side of the door was a massive chamber, bigger than any of the natural caverns they had seen so far. The room was filled with ornate wooden chests, all of them bigger than a military footlocker. Cobb guessed there were as many as a hundred chests filling the space. He swept his flashlight around the room slowly so Garcia could record it all.
‘You getting this, Hector?’ he asked.
‘That’s a lot of chests,’ Garcia replied.
Sarah moved to the nearest one. None of the chests were open, but their lids did not appear to be locked in any way. Instead of swinging upward on hinges, the tops had been seated straight down onto the crates, like the covers of cardboard file boxes. She set her flashlight on the ground and hefted a heavy wooden lid, using the light from the glow sticks to peek inside.
A moment later, she dropped the lid and grinned at the gold.
‘Well?’ Garcia asked.
Cobb could only smile as McNutt’s boisterous laugh echoed throughout the chamber.
Epilogue
Papineau had risen early to ensure his privacy. While the team continued to sleep — aided by more than a few celebratory libations from the previous evening — the Frenchman knew there was still work to be done. Finding Polo’s fortune was only the beginning of his mission.
Papineau still needed to locate the true prize of the treasure.
A single item that Maurice Copeland had requested.
The air was warm in the pre-dawn hour, with a steady breeze that made for a pleasant morning. In the coming months the region would be blanketed by the rainstorms of monsoon season, but for the moment the humidity was still tolerable. The beads of sweat rolling down Papineau’s brow were a result of his anxiety, not the weather.
As with everything his boss demanded, failure was not an option.
Approaching the base of the Lion Gate on foot, Papineau quickly noticed the squadron of patrolmen assigned to protect the mountain. He had half expected to see soldiers from the Sri Lankan Army, but he understood that it would take a day or two to mobilize the proper forces. In the meantime, the Ministry of Defence had used the local authorities to safeguard the rock against any and all visitors.
Officially, the historic site was closed because of a helicopter crash — the newspapers had even run notices describing possible damage to the site itself. Not even the men surrounding the structure knew the truth. Besides Papineau and his team, only a handful of select political officials were aware of the battle that had been fought there and the priceless discovery found within.
It would stay that way until they could devise a plan.
The last thing the country needed was a war with China.
In the meantime, Papineau flashed credentials identifying him as an engineer with UNESCO sent to inspect the damage and was immediately granted entry. As part of Copeland’s deal with the heads of state, he — and he alone — was given unfettered access to the site. The paperwork he carried even included the Sri Lankan government’s seal of approval.
The cover story was fake, but the president’s signature was real.
The cops never questioned Papineau’s arrival.
Nor did they help him climb down to the secret chambers.
Thankfully, the team’s rappelling gear had been left behind.
When he reached the newly discovered cavern of riches, Papineau paused, taking it all in. As he moved the beam of his flashlight throughout the space, sparkling gems and precious metals glinted back at him in the darkness. The team had rooted through the chests to determine the extent of their find, and the disturbance to the tightly packed vessels had left it impossible to close many of their lids. The effect was that they now appeared to be bursting at the seams.
It was truly a sight to behold.
Papineau breathed a sigh of relief — his first moment of contentment in weeks — and stepped forward to inventory the haul. As he did, he felt a draft in the room as something took position behind him. A moment later, he felt the cold steel of a pistol barrel pressed against the base of his neck.
‘That’s far enough.’
Papineau recognized the voice. ‘Jack? Is that you? How did—’
Cobb ground the barrel into Papineau’s flesh. ‘Shut your fucking mouth. I’m the one asking the questions here.’ Cobb pressed hard on Papineau’s shoulder. ‘On your knees.’
Papineau dropped to the ground immediately. Behind him, he heard the distinct snap of a glow stick, followed by the eerie glow of the chemical reaction. Suddenly the cavern was filled with amber light. Papineau blinked as Cobb stepped forward, the shadows on his face exaggerating the bloodthirsty glare in his eyes. Papineau desperately wanted to speak, but he could see that the man staring back at him was in no mood to be tested.
This wasn’t the leader of the hunters.
This was a killer, hell bent on punishment.
The previous evening Cobb had celebrated with his team, but he had never returned to his room. When the revelry was over he had made his way back to the Lion Gate and easily slipped past the preoccupied guards. He had found the cave in the darkness, and then he waited. The next person to enter would not leave until Cobb had answers … if Cobb let him leave at all.
‘What are you doing here?’ Cobb demanded.
Papineau tried to keep his cool. ‘There is one item of special importance. I came to retrieve it before we surrendered the rest to the local government.’
‘Which item is that?’
‘A cross,’ Papineau answered. ‘A ruby cross, trimmed in gold. A gift from Kublai Khan to the Pope himself. It’s known as the Blood Cross.’
‘Bullshit!’ Cobb growled. ‘We’re surrounded by gold and jewels. We didn’t go through hell for a goddamn cross. Don’t lie to me! Or I swear to God I’ll kill you in this fucking tomb!’
‘I swear, Jack! I’m telling you the truth! All I want is the cross!’
‘Bullshit!’ he yelled again. ‘You didn’t spend millions of dollars to get a single cross. Why are you here? What’s your end game?’
The question caught Papineau off-guard. To him, the most obvious scenario had been that his boss had grown tired of him and had sent Cobb to permanently terminate his employment.
Papineau now understood the error of this assumption.
Cobb didn’t know about Copeland.
Cobb was here for answers.