Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Because there’s nothing in this poem that tells me the treasure was buried.” He’d read the thing a thousand times now. “He talks about it being hidden.”
There was a knock on the door, and it opened. A man walked in, a stack of files in his hands. He walked up to Luis and handed them off.
“Hidden where? I would think the jungle would be the best place to hide it. He spent a lot of time out there. He called it meditative time,” Eddie replied. “Do you think he put it in one of the villages?”
Given some of the rumors he’d heard, David didn’t think so. “What do you know about the hidden passageways in this house?”
“I know that I’ve shown these fuckers all of them. It was the first thing they asked about. The butler knew where the passages are.” Eddie glanced back.
Did he? There was a line in the poem that made him think not.
A stream that flows for only one
My secret kept until you are clever enough to find it
He thought he was right about his first impression. The treasure was meant for Eddie and it was personal, and it was here in this house or on the grounds.
Luis had hopped off his seat and moved toward them, the files in his hands. “Here’s everything we could find about the house. Montez kept a copy of the blueprints in his office. These are the originals. They don’t include the third floor. Hope it helps because you’re running out of time.”
“I thought you were giving us through the weekend.” How hard was Luis going to push because David knew he needed to give Tessa as much time as he could. The last thing he wanted was to actually find this sucker because he was fairly certain a bullet to the back of the head would follow.
Luis frowned. “Someone rented a chopper to take them from the mainland to here. I don’t like it.”
“It’s probably another treasure hunter.” Eddie looked up at their captor. “You know this is the tactic they’ve started to take. We had one of those guys…what do you call it when they have their own channel on social media?”
“I think you’re thinking of vloggers.” He was right. There were several so-called historians who had their own web pages where they did videos specifically about their adventures trying to locate some of history’s mysteries. They usually stuck to the big ones. Atlantis. The Lost City of Z. But there were a few who specialized in recent history’s mysteries. It wouldn’t surprise him to see someone do a spot on the lost Montez treasure.
Eddie nodded. “Vloggers. We had one two months ago. When they couldn’t get permission to come in the proper way, they chartered a small plane and parachuted into the jungle. Naturally one of them broke an ankle, and we had to send a rescue party in. But it won’t stop others. Did you get a name?”
Luis shook his head. “A. Rose. That’s all we have. I don’t know if that stands for Andrew or Albert or what. Three white guys with backpacks. One of them has a limp, and they argued a lot.”
David didn’t know anyone with the last name of Rose, so Eddie was likely right. “They’re vloggers. They won’t stop here. They’ll go for the jungle where everyone thinks the hunt begins.”
“But you don’t, do you, Professor?” Luis pocketed the walkie, but the pistol was still in his hand.
“I’ve explained my thoughts on why I believe the treasure is closer than we think,” he murmured. He opened the folder. Despite the panic that was simmering in his gut, there was also a spark of excitement because he knew he was on the right path. He could figure this out.
He spread out the blueprints.
Luis’s radio crackled again, and he pulled it back out, walking to the other side of the room before responding.
“Maybe you should slow down,” Eddie whispered. “Surely someone will realize there’s a problem here at the estate. The maids will be back to work in a few days.”
David brought his gaze up to stare at Eddie. “I thought you wanted this over as quickly as possible.”
“I’m starting to think that’s a bad idea.” Eddie leaned in. “I’m sorry I got you into this. I didn’t think they would hurt anyone. I thought they wanted to keep everything as quiet as possible. They told me if you found the treasure they would let you go and then they would take what they wanted and I would get my son back. I just want him to be okay. I know this sounds stupid, and I wouldn’t have believed it could be true, but I saw that baby and I saw my father’s eyes staring back at me. Like I have a second chance.”