Curse of Atlantis (4 page)

Scanning the room
,
his eyes gleamed with excitement as he moved from Egyptian golden statues to ancient scrolls from Alexandra; from rare human fossils to early pottery from the Ming dynasty. In the center of the room, there were lighted tables and cabinets that housed rare jewels, ancient weaponry, as well as a rare Stradivarius violin. He walked the room quietly and stared at his treasures, his mind visualizing the kings and artisans; the musicians and warriors that were once a part of its history when new. Moving from piece to piece, the ugly world outside the room quickly vanished and in its place was peace and inspiration.

Nicolae moved around to the back of the room and stopped. In a far corner, a custom
-
built altar had recently been installed. Intricately chiseled from marble, it had a pedestal at its center that emitted a single beam of light. Specifically design
ed
for one purpose, it sat conspicuously empty and gnawed at Nicolae's patience.

Nicolae stared at the empty altar and his rage began to grow. He visualized the crystal globe sitting on the pedestal as the beam of light shined up through it. He visualized its magnificence and the ancients
that
once held it. He wiped his forehead with his s
leeve and felt his face reddening
in anger.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted
, now enraged.

Abruptly, he turned on his heels and left the room. Moving swiftly to his desk, he grabbed his phone and dialed.

"
Dimitri
...
my office,
NOW
!" Nicolae roared into the mouthpiece.

"Yes, B
oss,”
Dimitri
replied straight away.

Nicolae walked to his window and stared out over the city of
Moscow
. As he watched the bustling metropolis busy itself in its daily routine, he contemplated his next move. With fists clenched, he struggled to control his rage. Moments later, he heard a loud knock at his door.

“Enter,” Nicolae responded instantly.

Dimitri
quickly opened the door and entered the room. Sighting Nicolae by the window, he slowly positioned himself behind the couch, giving him an imagined barrier of safety between
him
and his boss.

“Yes, Boss?”
Dimitri
asked.

Nicolae turned and held his position by the window. He knew if he moved closer, he would be tempted to act.

“I’ve been patient. Where’s my treasure?” Nicolae asked coldly.

Nervously clearing his throat,
Dimitri
replied, “We’ve had complications. The Nizhny refinery has been giving us trouble again. I completed that business as you ordered.”

“Hmm, the
Maganov affair
. Most unfortunate,” Nicolae said, softening momentarily.

“He was a hard man to deal with… unbending, stupid,”
Dimitri
said, his tone turning contemptuous.

“So where’s my treasure?” Nicolae repeated, now moving closer.

“Igor and I have been managing the Transneft problem as well as the Sateco trucking deal. Before
that,
we purchased Danone,
MSC
,
and
Amur River
. And then we had the issue with…”

“ENOUGH!” Nicolae roared.

Staring back at
Dimitri
, he seethed with anger.

“
Dimitri
, you are my number one, but you’re testing my
patience
. What have you done about my treasure?” Nicolae demanded.

Dimitri
swallowed hard. He knew he needed to choose his next words carefully.

“Trubachev is handling this matter. I’ve been overseeing his progress. He tells me the archeologist refused his offer. He’s currently tracking down the American, but is having trouble,”
Dimitri
responded, trying to cover for his colleague.

“Tracking down the American? It doesn’t take two months to track a man. I can do that myself in a day… get him in here immediately,” Nicolae demanded.

“Yes
,
sir,”
Dimitri
replied simply.

He quickly left the office and returned moments later with Ivan Trubachev strutting confidently behind him. Tall, brawny
,
and arrogant, in his earlier years he preferred muscle over mentality when dealing with those that stood in his way. Now, in his early fifties, he’d grown lazy living off his reputation, and his work began to suffer.

“Ivan, where’s my crystal globe?” Nicolae demanded.

“I’m working on it,” Ivan responded matter-of-factly.

“Specifically, what have you done?” Nicolae asked, desperately trying to control his anger.

“I called this Dr. Arista in Caicos and offered him one hundred thousand American dollars for it, but he refused. I called back later and offered him one hundred and fifty thousand American dollars, warning him of the consequence of refusal, but he simply laughed at my offer,” Ivan said.

“Laughed? He laughed at you?” Nicolae asked, somewhat shocked by Ivan’s lack of concern.

“Yes boss, he laughed. I thought about taking him out, but he’s been in the news a lot lately and I didn’t want to create an international incident. So, I decided to offer the money to the American who found the crystal ball in the first place. He’s young and probably greedy, so I’m sure I’ll have better luck with him. I’ve got someone trying to locate him now and I’ll call him in a couple of days to check on his progress,” Ivan said.

“I see,” Nicolae said simply.

Nicolae turned and quietly walked to his desk. With his back to the two men, he opened a large humidor
.
He
pulled out a Beretta .22 caliber pistol and a plastic bag and quickly stuffed them in his pocket. Reaching in again, he pulled out a long Cuban cigar and turned around. Forcing a smile across his face, he made his way over to the two men.

“Ivan my friend, would you care for a cigar?” Nicolae asked, his tone softening a bit.

“Sure, why not
,”
Ivan
responded, feeling comfortable in his arrogance.

Nicolae clipped the end of the cigar and handed it to Ivan. Looking to
Dimitri
, he asked, “Could you light it for him? I seem to have misplaced my lighter.”

Dimitri
stared back at Nicolae with dread. He knew what was coming next. As he reached in for his lighter, Nicolae casually walked behind the two men. Quickly, quietly, he pulled out the bag and pistol from his pocket.

Instantly, Nicolae
lunged and
pulled the plastic bag over Ivan’s head and synched the drawstring around his neck. Before he could react, he placed the gun to the base of his skull and pulled the trigger. As the inside of the bag filled with blood, Ivan collapsed to the floor, guided by Nicolae as he fell.

“Quickly, grab me another plastic bag from my desk,” Nicolae ordered.

Dimitri
sprang to his desk, opened a drawer
,
and retrieved another bag. Nicolae grabbed the bag, slid it over Ivan’s
head,
and synched the drawstring tightly, completely sealing off any possibility of blood dripping on the floor.

“Did you hear what he said? ‘I’ll call him in a couple of days to check his progress.’” Nicolae spat out in disgust, mocking the now lifeless Ivan. “…Like he was on
holiday
.”

He stared at Ivan’s body and continued to mock him.

“Hello Mr. Trubachev. Would you like some tea while you’re on
holiday
? How about a nice relaxing message? I’m sure we could have that arranged for you.” He paused a moment, then added, “Oh, and by the way, don’t worry about your job interfering with your
holiday
… because you’ll be DEAD!”

Nicolae pulled his leg back and unleashed a savage kick to the groin of the lifeless
corpse
. Looking up at Dimitiri, his eyes appeared black and evil.
Dimitri
swallowed hard, but held his ground.

With a firm and controlled voice, Nicolae spoke:

“Get this pile of shit out of here… and find me that crystal.”

Dimitri
nodded grimly and quickly left the room.

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

Caicos
Island
: Home of Javier Arista

The drive from the airport was short and scenic. While Serena drove along the coastal road, Jack sat in the passenger seat and enjoyed the salty air that rushed in from the sea.

“You know, it’s really strange. Even though I spent a month drifting out there, hating the water every minute of the day, here I am, three months later, enjoying it like nothing ever happened. I must be mad,” Jack said as he pensively stared far out to sea.

“It’s just your natural defenses, burying the horrors you experienced out there. Probably the only way your mind could cope with such a tragedy without you turning into a basket case. Let’s face it, the memory of taking on a shark with only a knife could easily mess a person up for years,” Serena responded. “By the way, are you having any nightmares from that experience?”

“Nothing… not a one.”

“That’s amazing. If that happened to me, I’d be in therapy for years,” Serena commented.

“Eh… therapy’s way overrated. Nothing like a bottle of whiskey and a quality cigar to cure what ails you, I always say,” Jack joked.

“Yeah, that ou
gh
tta go over well with the clients… seeing me in a business suit with a stinky ole cigar clenched in my teeth, a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a
n ancient artifact in the other,
”
Serena said, sarcastically.

“With a pair of high heels strapped to those beautiful legs, I really don’t think anyone would care,” Jack replied, now flirting.

“You really think my legs are beautiful?” Serena asked, now flattered by Jack’s compliment.

Jack looked at Serena for a moment, the
n
responded with light teasing, “Why Miss Arista, I’m detecting a slight reddening in your face. Do you have extra blush on today?”

“It’s just the sun heating up my face,” Serena replied with a feeble attempt to cover her embarrassment.

“Right… must be the sun,” Jack responded, letting the topic die a happy death.

The two sat in silence for a moment as they passed along a deserted stretch of road. Jack continued to look out at the sea and every few seconds glance
d
at Serena’s beauty. Then, quite unexpectedly, Serena broke the silence.

“So you really think my legs are beautiful? Everyone says I look like my mom. You should see what she looks like. If I look half that good at her age, I’ll be happy,” Serena said, reigniting the topic once more.

“I’ll bet she’s hot,” Jack blurted out with characteristically tasteless humor.

“Eww Jack! That’s my mom you’re talking about,” Serena responded with feigned disgust.

“I can’t help it. I’m a hot-blooded American guy. Woman of Latin descent turn me on,” Jack shot back.

“She’s
Swedish
,” Serena said.

“Swedish
? Really? I never would have guessed that. You don’t have that rugged look the
Swedish
have,” Jack responded, not somewhat surprised.

“Jack, not all
Swedes
have that look about them. Many have very soft, very beautiful features,” she informed.

“Well, whatever they have, it’s working for you,” Jack said, now flirting again.

Serena smiled at the compliment, her face turning red once more. Avoiding her embarrassment, she quickly changed the subject.

“
By the way
, did my dad tell you about the Russian dude that wanted to buy the crystal globe?” Serena asked.

“No… no he didn’t,” Jack replied, now curious about the new topic. “Was there a price thrown out there at all?”

“Yeah, but it was laughable… the guy offered a hundred thousand dollars for it,” Serena replied, matter-of-factly.

“
ONE
HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS?!” Jack blurted out in surprise. “Holy Crap! That’s a butt load of coin.”

“Jack, that’s pocket change for a piece like the crystal globe. It’s a priceless work of art.”

“It’s not priceless ‘cuz
someone put up a big fat stack of cash for it… Damn, I could sure use that kind of money,” he responded.

“Jack, I’ve told you before, when this is all said and done, you won’t ever have to worry about money again,” Serena reassured.

“Good looks, smart and now loaded. I knew there was a reason you’re flirting with me.”