Page 139

Sam and Lazlo finally managed to break away from the reporters. All the major news bureaus from Australia, Europe, Asia, and the United States were represented, as well as many smaller ones, bringing the total close to ninety. The reporters watched from beyond a hastily erected barricade as Chief Fleming’s main force of forty policemen began loading the treasure into trucks for the trip to the central bank’s main vault.
Sam and Lazlo stood to the side as the trucks pulled away over the rugged path leading to the main roadway. A cloudburst drizzled warm rain on them as the last vehicle disappeared around the bend, and Sam glanced at Lazlo with a tired smile.
“Looks as though Remi and I are finished here,” Sam said quietly. “We can finally head home.”
“I wish I could say the same, but there are too many inscriptions that need translation. I’ll be here for bloody years.”
Leonid burst from behind the waterfall, his face as white as a meadow after a snowfall. “Hurry! Come quick!” he gasped.
“Remi!” Sam cried. “Is Remi all right?”
Leonid nodded. “Yes, yes. She’s fine. But we found something. We need floodlights and a generator—she’s still in the cave, so there’s no time to lose.” The Russian didn’t wait for a response and instead spun and raced back to the waterfall and ducked behind the endless stream of water.
Sam and Lazlo exchanged a puzzled look and then Sam moved to where the equipment was piled. “You heard the man. Grab some lights.”
“What in blazes has gotten into his head?” Lazlo griped.
“We’ll know soon enough,” Sam said. “But Remi’s still in there and Leonid’s acting like it’s an emergency. We’d better go find out what the fuss is about.”
Sam and Lazlo rushed to join Leonid in the cavern, each carrying two Cascadia high-intensity discharge floodlights. Rob and Greg followed them through the waterfall with a portable generator. Once in the cave, they put all their might into forcing the rock door open another two feet so they could get the equipment into the passageway.
“Where’s Remi?” Sam demanded.
Leonid scowled, perplexed. “I asked her to remain here until I returned. She must have gone on alone to investigate the mysterious light.”
Sam fixed Leonid with murderous eyes. “Mysterious light? You never said anything about a light.”
“At the far reaches of the tunnel, a glint shows itself every few minutes. I thought it was nothing . . .”
Sam turned to where Rob and Greg stood by the stone door. “We’re going to see where this leads. Remi’s somewhere in there and we’re going to find her.”
Sam led the way, beams from the hand lights swinging in arcs and probing through the blackness as they carried the equipment farther into the cave system.
Sam stopped after fifty paces and shouted Remi’s name. His voice rebounded off the rock walls and returned as an echo. Hearing no response, he continued another fifty paces and repeated his cry, again with no answer. His flashlight was dimming but he pushed on, not wanting to wait for the others to catch up, his fear that something had gone horribly wrong for Remi growing with every step. After the sixth shout, Sam’s voice cracked and he felt the beginning pangs of hoarseness. He cleared his throat and was about to call out again when he heard Remi’s voice, faint, from deep in the earth.
“Sam? . . . Sam!”
“Remi!” Sam cried, abandoning caution as he began running through the gloom, his light now so faint that he could barely make out the tunnel’s floor.
“Sam!” Remi’s voice grew louder as he neared, but he still couldn’t see her even though she now sounded as though he were practically on top of her. The empty tunnel stretched endlessly before him.
“I can’t see your flashlight,” he exclaimed in frustration.
“The batteries gave out,” she said. “Shine yours on yourself.”
Sam aimed the meager beam at his face and, before he knew it, Remi had her arms around his neck in a tight grip.
“About time you showed up,” she said after a long kiss.
“Why didn’t you wait at the entrance?” he asked. “Where Leonid left you?”
“I knew you’d be along eventually, so I went exploring.”
Sam suppressed a grin and gave her a tight hug. “Please refrain from doing that ever again.”
Leonid approached them and cleared his throat, the others behind him with the equipment. “I’m glad to see you’re in one piece. Did you find anything interesting?” he asked.
Remi nodded. “Fifty feet beyond us, the tunnel becomes man-made, with a smooth bore and an arched ceiling. It seems to glow.” She paused and looked at Sam. “That was all I could make out before my batteries died.”