Page 17

Rafa had only ever known his father by two names: Dad and Jean-Luc Monfils.

Now, apparently he needed to add Pierre Vautour to the list.

Rafa’s mind spun. He couldn’t even hear the words Miri was saying as she shook his arm, trying to get him to snap out of it. To wake from the cloudy haze that had settled over him. Instead, he stared at his dad, trying to piece together his life.

All the trips. All the boards and committees. He wasn’t out there doing great things. He was using his clout as a reputable do-gooder as a cover-up while he was swindling and screwing people over on the side.

Oh fuck.

That meant his father was responsible for whatever it was that had happened to Drs. Mejía and Matthews in Mexico a year ago.

The realization returned him to his senses, and he could finally hear Miri’s voice.

“Are you okay?” she said.

“No,” he answered honestly.

“What the hell is this?” Miri snapped at Rafa’s dad. “Are you…are you…”

“Pierre Vautour? Yes, that’s how most people know me. But not all,” he said, casting Rafa a knowing glance. “Hello, Rafael.”

Rafa could only glare.

“You’re…you’re Rafa’s father?”

“Yes, I suppose I am that as well. But don’t worry—he didn’t know who I was. Right, son?”

“Don’t call me that,” Rafa spat out.

His dad tsked. “Rafael, don’t be like that. You wanted to talk, and we’ll get to that. There’s much for us to discuss. So much you don’t understand.”

Rafa wanted to laugh. So much he didn’t understand? Talk about an understatement.

Pierre Vautour was a stranger.

“What are you doing?” Rafa asked. “Care to explain to me how I didn’t know my father was a criminal?”

“Don’t believe everything you hear, Rafael.”

“So then it’s not true? You aren’t a thief?”

His dad let out an exaggerated sigh and rested against a nearby rock. “When you really think about it, we’re all thieves, aren’t we? Sir Arthur Evans? Howard Carter? Hiram Bingham? They didn’t have any stake in their claims other than that they staked their claim first.”

“What about Dr. Mejía?” Miri chimed in. “Unlike you and all those other archaeologists, she was searching for her ancestor’s remains, not simply looking for a payday.”

His dad ticked his head to the side, as if Miri’s comment annoyed him. “And if I remember correctly, her lineage ended up being a fairy tale her grandfather spun her anyway. You can’t trust anyone nowadays, can you?”

Rafa was going to be sick. His legs gave out and he fell to his knees. Miri kneeled beside him, making sure he was okay before turning back toward Vautour.

“What do you want with us?” she asked.

“I wanted you to leave.”

“Well, I’m not a quitter,” she growled at him.

“Dr. Mejía surely rubbed off on you. In more ways than one now that I think about it.”

Miri cocked her head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well,” Vautour stood and took off his leather gloves, strolling toward them. “You’re both fiery. And tenacious. And, if I remember correctly, she fell for Dr. Matthews even though he’d deceived her.”

Rafa’s eyes widened, and he looked at his father, silently begging him not to say anything more. But it was too late. Miri was already staring at him with a questioning look in her eyes.

“What’s that got to do with me?” she asked Vautour while looking at Rafa.

“Miriam, I can explain—” Rafa started, but his father cut him off.

“I asked him to sabotage your expedition.”

“It wasn’t quite like that,” Rafa said, reaching his hand over to Miri, but she swatted it away.

“This whole time? You’ve been working for him, too?” Her beautiful face twisted as she bit back her tears.

“No! I mean, I guess, but I didn’t know he was Pierre Vautour.”

“Oh, so you were just doing it of your own accord? Is that somehow supposed to make me feel better?”

“You don’t understand. He lied to me,” he pleaded.

“You mean like how you lied to me ? Like father, like son.”

“I’m nothing like my father.”

Vautour laughed, stealing Miri and Rafa’s attention from each other. “We’re more alike than you think, Rafael.”

“Shut up!” Rafa yelled at him.

“All right,” Miri said, standing and moving away from Rafa. “This pseudo family reunion is fun and all, but what now? What are you going to do with me?”

Rafa didn’t miss that she’d said me and not us.

“That depends,” Vautour said, taking another few steps toward Miri as Rafa watched from his knees below.

“Depends on what?”

“Depends on whether I think I can trust you to be a good girl who does what she’s told.”

“And what are you telling me to do?”

Vautour moved into her space so that his words couldn’t be missed. “Go home, Dr. Jacobs. Pack up your belongings and gather your team and go home, never breathing a word about this to anyone.”

“And if I don’t? What if I find the Moon City first?”

“You won’t. The lidar images I commissioned have been coming in quite handy. Much better than that piece of scrap metal around your neck,” he said, nodding his head in her direction.

“Okay, well, how do you know I won’t reveal your identity once I’m free?”

“Dr. Jacobs, Dr. Jacobs,” he said, clucking his tongue and folding his hands in front of him. “Do you think I don’t know how to keep people quiet? Everyone’s got a price.”

“Go ahead. You can’t buy me off. And I have nothing to hide. I’m clean as a whistle.”

Vautour snickered, then tossed a glance toward Rafa. “I see why you like her.” Rafa tried to stand, but Vautour’s men placed their hands on his shoulders, holding him down. Vautour then turned his attention back to Miri. “It doesn’t matter if you’re clean as a whistle. Rumor is that you’re about to find yourself out of a job.”

“So what? I can always get another one,” Miri said confidently.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I don’t know what my son told you about who I am, but I know people. People with influence.”

“Yeah, and as soon as they find out that you’re Pierre Vautour—”

“What makes you think they don’t already know?”

Miri threw her head back, Rafa’s dad’s words seeming to knock her off balance. It hadn’t occurred to Rafa that his dad’s identity may not have been as secret as he imagined.

“Everyone has a price,” his father continued. “All I need to do is call in a few favors, and then your doctorate will be worth more as a place mat than any sort of job credential. Might as well get a job working at a convenience store.”

“Well, good thing I am a convenience store snack connoisseur,” she said proudly.

“Does she ever stop?” his dad asked, glancing down at Rafa.

“No,” Rafa said, smiling as he admired her confidence and gumption. She truly was remarkable.

His dad took a deep breath.

“I told you, boss,” Hunter said, “she’s weird, right?”

Miri’s smile faded as her shoulders deflated. Fucking asshole.

“Shut the hell up,” Rafa spat at Hunter, wriggling to free himself, not that it was any use. He was firmly trapped by his father’s men. But he caught what seemed like a flicker of sympathy in Miri’s eyes as she watched him struggle in their grasp.

“What about him?” Miri asked, looking at Rafa. “What are you going to do with him?”

“Do you care?” his dad asked.

“No, not really.” Her words cut deep, more painful than the clenched hands digging into his shoulders. “Just curious whether you’re going to have him follow me out of the rainforest to make sure I leave, that’s all.”

“Seeing as he wasn’t the best with instruction, no, I don’t think I will. Why? Does this mean we have a deal?”

Miri looked at Rafa once more, but he couldn’t read the expression behind her eyes. With a single blink, she turned back to Vautour and said, “Sure.”

“Miri, don’t believe him. He’s a liar. You can’t trust him,” Rafa called out.

“You’re one to talk, Rafael,” his dad said. “You know your way back, don’t you?” he asked, pointing at Miri.

She nodded.

“Then go. Go and tell your team he abandoned you in the rainforest. But don’t you dare breathe another word of this to anyone.”

Miri glanced at Rafa once more as he struggled to break free from Vautour’s goons. Then turned and ran.

Leaving a hole in Rafa’s heart.

So many things swirled through his mind. He wasn’t sure what was worse: that his father was a criminal or the look Miri gave him before she left. The pain on her face. The pain in his heart.

A wave of nausea washed over him.

Everything he thought he knew about his life was a lie. Everything he thought of himself was a lie. Where was he supposed to go from here? Was there really anywhere to go?

For a fleeting moment with Miri, he’d thought he had his future figured out. She understood him. He understood her.

Guess he was wrong.

“Don’t look so sad, Rafael. It never would have worked,” Vautour said, waltzing over to Rafael like they were going to have a nice little heart-to-heart.

“Yeah, because you lied to me. You made me do this.”

“I didn’t lie so much as withhold some information, but when it comes to her, let’s be clear—I didn’t make you do anything. I warned you to stay away from her, but the fact of the matter is that you knowingly deceived her, and the whole time, you continued your pursuits.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Rafa protested.

“You don’t have to try to convince me. I understand you better than you think I do. I was this close over thirty years ago,” he said, kneeling to Rafa’s level, putting up his hand and holding his index finger and thumb an inch apart in front of Rafa’s face. “ This close to finding it. She would have told me. She would have told me where to find the Moon City had she not died. I could feel it. I could feel her breaking down, trusting me with the truth of who she really was. She loved me. She wanted me to know its location.”

Anger roiled through Rafa’s stomach, and he clenched his fists.

“You mean, you…you tricked my mother?”

Vautour frowned. “Out of all people, I don’t think you should judge me for fooling a woman to get what I wanted. We’re the same, Rafael,” he said, motioning his hand back and forth between the two of them.

No, they weren’t the same. Vautour was a monster. Rafa wanted to ask if he’d ever even loved his mother, but a part of him didn’t want to know the truth. Some things were better left unsaid. Though that didn’t stop Rafa from being ashamed to be related to him.

“Why am I even here?” Rafa asked.

“Before I parted ways with that all-too-susceptible Mr. Larity, he’d mentioned wanting to bring someone to document the expedition. So I dropped casual hints about your work at GloGeo and how you would be an asset on this journey. I needed someone on this expedition I could trust.”

“Trust?!” A single laugh burst from Rafa’s lips. Clearly, his dad didn’t know the definition of the word. “Was any of it the truth?”

“I said what I needed to so you’d get the job done. Though based on what’s transpired, it seems you weren’t trying very hard.”

“I did try. Warned her about how dangerous you were. But I can’t help it that I’ve been falling in l—”

Rafa stopped himself.

“Oh, Rafael, love?” his dad said, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Is that what you were going to say? That you’ve fallen in love with her?”

Rafa stayed silent. He didn’t want his father to know how he felt about Miri. Not after this.

Vautour sighed, almost like he was disappointed, and then stood up. “There’s no use in denying it. I could hear it in your voice. I knew you were falling for her.”

“I’ll do anything to make sure she’s safe.”

His father smacked his lips. “Why are you wasting your life on this nonsense? I’m offering you something here, Rafael. You can join me. Come with me to the Cidade da Lua,” he said excitedly.

“And why would I do that? After everything you’ve done?”

“Because you are my son. And I’m all that you have. Once you have what I have, you’ll see. This life? It’s fucking fabulous.”

“What happened to ‘do great things’?” Rafa asked.

Vautour leaned against a boulder and folded his arms in front of him. “What makes you think I’m not doing great things?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that you’re a crook?”

“Rafael, think of all the adventures we’ve had. The places we’ve been. Most people only dream of living this way. Pierre Vautour has allowed me to do those things—allowed us . He doesn’t negate the good things I’ve done. If you could only see what I’ve built. There’s still so much to show you.”

Rafa laughed. “You’re delusional. Raising money to save endangered baby seals doesn’t pardon you from extorting people on the side.”

“Who do you think runs this world? Money and secrets talk. There is a whole other world out there, Rafael, that you don’t even know about. People who’ll pay inordinate amounts of money just for a scrap of what we’ll find here.”

“And that’s what you’re doing? Selling off pieces of history like a roadside hawker?”

His dad lifted his chin. “I’m not some snake oil salesman. Collectors contract with me for these pieces. I keep whatever is left, sometimes even anonymously donating items to museums. You’d be surprised by the type of people who deal in these sorts of antiquities. These are good people. Respectable —”

“If it’s such an honest profession, then why are you hiding who you really are?”

“I’m not hiding,” his dad said, taken aback. “Pierre Vautour lives in plain sight. It’s just separate from my life in Montreal. Come with me,” he said, kneeling in front of him again, “and you’ll see. I want to share this with you. You and I, we can find the Moon City together. Share the riches of your ancestors—”

“Boss,” Hunter said, butting into the conversation, “you aren’t being serious, are you? He can’t come with us.”

“Says who?” Vautour said, shooting a glance up to Hunter.

“I told you what happened on the boat,” Hunter whined.

“You mean when we kicked your asses?” Rafa said, channeling Miri’s confidence.

“You didn’t kick anyone’s asses,” Hunter said, taking a few steps toward Rafa before Vautour stood and put up his hand to stop him.

“Enough!”

“Well, how are we going to split the loot with another person?” Hunter asked.

“That’s not of your concern,” Vautour said. “Your share will be whatever I say it is.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rafa said, “because I don’t want it.”

Vautour turned back to him. “You say that now, but once you see it—”

“I don’t want anything to do with you!”

Vautour’s gaze homed in on Rafa. “I don’t have time for this.” He then turned toward Hunter. “Take him back to camp. I’ll deal with him later.”

Hunter grumbled something under his breath before leaning down and yanking Rafa up by the arm. “Come on.”

He pushed him forward as Vautour and the rest of the crew stayed behind. They trekked through the forest in silence, Hunter shoving Rafa in the back every so often to get him to pick up his speed.

After walking for ten minutes or so, Hunter finally spoke. “Hope you don’t think I’m going to agree to any sort of split with you.”

“I couldn’t give less of a shit what you think, Hunter,” Rafa spoke over his shoulder as he continued walking. “I mean, where did he even find you? Lackeys ’R’ Us? You don’t honestly think that he’s not going to double-cross you the moment he gets a chance, do you?”

“Well, Pierre promised me—”

“Promised you?” Rafa burst out in laughter. “He doesn’t give a fuck about promises. God, are you really that dense?” Rafa asked.

“Shut up!”

Rafa shook his head, continuing to laugh to himself.

“He really does have a knack for sniffing out gullibility,” Rafa said.

“Speak for yourself!”

“Oh, I am. But if you don’t see your own gullibility, then you’re an even bigger jackass than I thought.”

“I said shut. Up!” Hunter shoved him, hard, causing Rafa to stagger forward.

“Oh, piss off,” Rafa said, spinning around to confront Hunter but, unfortunately, connecting with Hunter’s elbow in his gut instead. Rafa stumbled back, trying to regain his footing before landing on the ground and hitting his head against the dirt.

Rafa saw stars in his eyes as he slowly propped himself up, holding the back of his head. But Hunter didn’t stop there. Without waiting for Rafa to recover, he hopped on top of him, grabbed his shirt by the collar, and delivered a blow straight to Rafa’s face.

“Entitled…prick!” Hunter growled between punches.

Rafa struggled to fight back, arms flailing and legs kicking, but he couldn’t get in a decent shot amid Hunter’s unrelenting fists. Through his blurred vision, he spotted the knife tucked in Hunter’s waistband, but when he reached for it, Hunter snatched it from his hands then pointed it at Rafa’s throat.

Rafa threw up his hands in surrender. With the knife directed at Rafa, Hunter raked his fingers through his hair with his free hand, his chest heaving as he considered what to do next.

“Who got their ass kicked now?” Hunter said, smiling with his mouth wide open, panting for air.

“That’s only because you fight dirty.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Should I have let you have the first punch?” Hunter asked, feigning remorse before scowling again. “Fighting fair is for chumps.”

“Fine, you win. Now get the hell off me, will you?”

This conversation was getting old. But Hunter didn’t budge, even as Rafa tried to wriggle free underneath him. What the heck?

“I don’t think so. I’m not taking you back to camp so you can take what’s mine.”

Rafa rolled his eyes. “I already told you and my dad—I don’t want any part of whatever you’ve got going on here.”

“Sure you don’t. I take you to camp and you and your dad squeeze me out. I’m not stupid.”

I beg to differ.

“You know,” Hunter continued, digging the tip of the blade into Rafa’s neck, causing him to hiss, “I could just get rid of you right now.”

Fuck . Maybe he wasn’t so stupid. Rafa’s heart rate picked up and his eyes shifted back and forth, looking for something—anything—he could use to fend off Hunter. But unless the plants surrounding him were poisonous, Rafa was shit out of luck.

“How will you explain my absence at camp to my dad?” he asked, steadying his voice as best he could.

“I’ll say you ran away.”

“And if he sends someone to find me and they find a knife cut through my neck? How about then?”

Hunter sneered. Clearly he was getting tired of the conversation, too. “Then I’ll make it look natural.”

“Make what look—” Rafa started, but then Hunter lifted his arm—

And everything went black.