"Friends?" Tommy asked. He still couldn't believe she was standing there in front of them.
Adriana flashed a sly grin and nodded. "Yes." She waved a hand at the forest and suddenly dozens of dark faces marked with white paint appeared. Some of the men held didgeridoos. Others carried boomerangs. "I knew I would need help since I was outnumbered and still not fully recovered. So I found some people I knew wouldn't be happy about bad guys like them desecrating a sacred place. They were more than willing to oblige. Their only stipulation was that they wouldn't harm anyone personally."
The realization hit Reece. "So they were the ones playing the didgeridoos."
"So much for your spirits," Tommy said.
"They offered to help," Adriana continued. "The instruments were their idea."
One of the Aborigine men stepped forward, separating himself from the others. He wore blue jeans and a gray T-shirt. His black hair hung down just below his ears. One white line streaked from his forehead down his nose. His cheeks were covered in dots and white lines.
He stopped six feet away from the group and paused. "Me and the others would like to thank you for your help in putting a stop to whatever these blokes had planned," he said in a sharp Aussie accent.
"You're welcome," Sean said. "They were going to try to use that golden boomerang to force the sale of tribal lands."
The tribesman looked puzzled. "Land? Is that what this was about? There's plenty of land all over the continent."
"Not with oil in it, there's not. Seems that their boss," Sean gave a nod at Jack, "found a good bit of oil in some Aborigine land in South Australia. He figured if he had the sacred boomerang, the owners would be more apt to listen to a proposal."
The tribesman listened and then pursed his lips together. "Well then, it's a good thing you all came along."
Tommy was about to burst from all the questions in his mind. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but what are you going to do with the boomerang?"
"Why? You one of them treasure hunters?" the tribesman asked.
"No," Tommy shook his head vehemently. "I run an archaeological agency. Studying ancient cultures is one of my passions."
"Isn't the study of ancient cultures anthropology?"
Sean and Reece both snorted a laugh.
Tommy blushed. "Well… yes, but we do a bit of both."
"I'm just funnin' with ya, mate. To answer your question, we're going to put the boomerang back where it belongs — where the creator put it in the first place. It must stay there until he returns. If you'd like to have a look at it before we return it, be our guest."
Tommy's eyes lit up. "Oh thank you. Thank you so much. I'll just take a few… oh right. No pictures."
The tribesman's eyes gleamed with mischief. "That's right, mate. No pictures."
Chapter 37
"You sure you don't want to stick around a bit longer?" Reece asked as he took a big sip of the golden beer.
He and the other three sat around a patio table overlooking Downtown Adelaide. They'd just finished a big meal at one of the nicer places in town. That didn't stop Reece from having a few rounds.
"We have to get going," Tommy said. "They're clearing out the rubble from our building this week. I'll be meeting with the architects next week to start looking through designs for the new facility."
"What about you two?" Reece said to Sean and Adriana. "Also heading back to the States?"
"Yeah," Sean said with a nod. "Need to get back and recuperate. Plus I want to spend some time alone with her." He squeezed Adriana's hand and offered her a loving smile. He'd almost lost her twice now. Letting go was something he'd put off as long as possible.
Tommy pointed at Reece's glass. "I thought you guys drank Foster's down here."
Reece was in mid-sip and nearly did a spit take. He leaned forward and set the glass down on the table. "Foster's? Are you serious?"
Tommy looked around the table for some help, but he wasn't getting any from his friends. "Is it not what you guys drink?"
"Foster's, Tom, is only brewed to export. No one drinks that stuff around here. I think I've seen one, maybe two pubs my whole life that sell it in Australia."
"Okay, sorry I asked." He put up his hands to surrender.
"Foster's," Reece muttered as he raised the glass to his lips again.
Sean changed the subject. "So what's in store for you, Reece? You gonna pick up a gig with one of the other adventure tour companies or keep doing your own thing?"
Reece set the glass back down once more and swallowed the beer. He smacked his lips and sighed with satisfaction. "Funny you should ask. I took a look at my bank account this morning and there was a ton more money than was there yesterday. I called the bank to ask them what happened. All they would tell me is that a large deposit was made yesterday evening. I thought it was a mistake, but a note on the deposit slip said, 'Thank you, Reece.' I couldn't make out who it was from."
Sean flashed Tommy a questioning glance.
"Wasn't me," Tommy said.
"Then who?" Sean asked.
"I guess we may never know," Reece said. "All I know is, I'm back in business. Going to have to stay here in town while my house is being repaired. Shouldn't take too long."
"And how is Annie?" Tommy asked. "Recovering?"
Reece nodded. "Yeah, she seems to be doing fine. The police went into Holmes's place and found her in one of his many rooms. She said the men didn't do anything to her, and that they gave her food and water during her captivity."
"That's a relief."
"Yeah, no kidding. Though I doubt she'll be doing any snooping around the museum anytime soon."
"No sign of Holmes, though?" Sean asked. He already knew the answer.
The moment they got back to civilization from Yengo Mountain, Reece started making phone calls to his connections in Sydney. With Jack dead, Holmes would feel the house of cards collapsing around him. At the first sign of trouble he'd vanish, probably leaving the country under a fake name. He could go anywhere, be anyone. Men with the kinds of resources Holmes had didn't have a difficult time disappearing.
"Sadly, no," Reece said. "Into thin air with that one. They'll keep looking. He'll turn up eventually."
Sean picked up his glass of water and raised it over the center of the table. "To Reece for all your help. May your new adventures be successful."
The others raised their glasses and clinked them together.
"Thanks, mate," Reece said. "And to this adventure finally being over."
Sean took a sip of water and set it on the table surface. He didn't say anything, but a single thought kept running through his mind.
It's not over yet.
Chapter 38
Bernard Holmes walked into his building bathed in Hong Kong's flashing electric glow. He looked down both ends of the sidewalk — just as he'd done the last few weeks — to make sure nothing out of the ordinary was going on.
The Australian authorities had frozen most of his assets. It was a predictable move on their part. Luckily, he'd taken precautions before things started going south. While the government seized over a billion dollars in property and money, he'd managed to squirrel away just over $300 million — more than enough to buy him a new life. With that kind of money, he'd have a jump start on getting things going again.
His first order of business was to take out the Americans who'd wrecked his plans. Once he got settled into his new place, he'd find a crew of assassins to eliminate Sean Wyatt and the others.
The Hong Kong streets were flooded with people rushing around to get dinner or heading to their favorite hangouts at the end of the week. Holmes had picked up a quick meal from a place that did carryout. He paid cash, as he'd done with everything for the last two weeks. Tracking paper money was nearly impossible if done correctly.