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“What were you looking for?”
“Treasure. What else? When the Khmer empire imploded in the fifteenth century, a remarkable store of gold and jewels was spirited out of what’s now Cambodia and hidden in a cave somewhere in Laos. At least that’s what I gleaned from the accounts, and I was convinced I could find it. Turns out that was a little optimistic,” Lazlo said, his voice brittle. He seemed to collapse in on himself, empty. “So here you find me . . . for my sins . . .”
“Why here?” Sam asked.
“Why not? It’s as good a place as any to wrestle with your demons. Why not in the wilds of Laos? What better place?”
“And that’s it? You gave up? Or you discovered there was no treasure?”
“It wasn’t so much that I gave up as my nature caught up with me. I had everything under control, but as my funds ran ever lower and I was no closer to finding the Khmer treasure than I was at the outset, I returned to the embrace of my waiting mistress: the bottle. It wasn’t long before my passion for the treasure metamorphosed into smoking the local opium and chasing it down with a bottle of the natives’ rice whiskey—lao-lao, it’s called, and an absolute bargain at le
ss than a quid a bottle.” Lazlo gave Sam a hunted look. “Two quid a night for a guesthouse room, a handful of coppers for a night’s supply of dragon smoke . . . A man can get lost for a long time at such enticing rates.”
Sam hunched forward. “You’re better than that, Lazlo.”
Lazlo shook his head. “Not anymore, I’m afraid, not anymore. The old days are over. Can’t take back the ticking of the clock.”
Remi cleared her throat. “We have a proposition for you.”
Lazlo wheezed a lusty laugh. “I’m truly flattered. Or, at least, I think I am . . .”
Remi ignored the clumsy innuendo. “We have a project. Something we need your help with. But you need to be straight. You’ll be of no use like this.”
“A project?”
“An ancient Spanish manuscript,” Sam interjected. “We got it in Cuba. But it’s in code and we can’t crack it.”
“There are few codes that can’t be cracked.”
“This one doesn’t resemble anything we’ve seen.”
Lazlo blew a cloud of nicotine at the fan and closed his eyes. “I sincerely doubt I have it in me anymore, Sam.”
“Nonsense. Of course you do. You’re just throwing yourself a pity party,” he said. “Killing yourself—one of the brightest minds of its kind—because you drink too much and do stupid things.”
Lazlo opened his eyes and smiled again—a maudlin apparition. “Guilty, old friend. Guilty as charged. And better that you leave me to serve my sentence in this backwater of purgatory. I’m just not up to snuff.”
“Meaning you’re too far gone to be able to solve the riddle? Or you won’t because it will take you away from all this?”
“A little of both, I expect . . .”
“Lazlo, look at me. I said we have a proposition. Don’t you want to hear it?” Remi asked.
He stubbed out his cigarette and his eyes finally met Remi’s. “Fine, young lady, fine. What have you come to discuss, assuming it’s not my spectacular fall from academic grace?”
“Help us with the manuscript and we’ll assist you with your Khmer hunt. Help us find ours and we’ll help you find yours. Whatever it takes. Funding, personnel . . . We’ll even go into the jungle with you. It’s a no-lose proposition. Give us what we need and we’ll give you what you need. Look at me, Lazlo. Listen to what I’m saying. Do this and we’ll do what we have to in order to make your dream come alive.”
Lazlo sat back, his befuddled brain grappling with what she’d just said. “You’re . . . you’re serious, aren’t you?” he stammered.
“I’m dead serious,” Remi said. “This is your big chance. To turn it all around. To mount a proper expedition. To make a significant find. With money no object. A once-in-a-lifetime chance.”
Sam nodded assent. “Only a fool would turn this down. And you may be many things, but you’ve never been a fool.”
“There are some newspapermen who would argue against that most convincingly, I’m sure.”
Remi softened her tone. “That’s over and done. This is now. We need your help. Say yes and we’ll get you out of here, clean you up, and put you to work. Whatever needs to be done.”
Lazlo shook his head. “That might not be so easy. I’ve been doing this for some time.”