The Greatest Lost Treasure

Chapter 9

     Luke awoke abruptly as a firm hand covered his mouth. He bit the man's hand causing the man to curse in his native tongue. It was the men from earlier. How had they found him? Luke didn't ponder on that question long as he threw his first punch to the man he hadn't bit. He internally praised his grandmother for taking to him to all his Jujitsu, Karate, and Taekwondo lessons. Since he could memorize the moves, he mastered the classes with ease and today it was serving him well.
He dodged a large fist the narrowly missed coming into contact with his head. The man's fist was the size of a bowling ball and broke the side of the bedpost. Luke kicked the man's exposed stomach causing him to tumble backwards.
A strong hand grabbed his shoulder causing him to side step and turn. While Luke was fighting the bodyguard he previously bit, he didn't anticipate the second one to come at him from behind. Two arms grabbed him from behind in a bear hug manner and squeezed him so hard he couldn't breathe. He struggled to free himself as the other goon approached him with a white cloth in his hand and pressed it against his nose and mouth.
Luke fought against the Chloroform trying not to breathe which was not a problem at the moment, but in the end his eyes became heavy and spots appeared. The last thing he saw was a large black sack being thrown over his head, then total darkness.
The kidnapped teen squinted as his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit space. He tried to move his hands and legs until he realized he was tied to a wooden chair.

As the room became a little clearer, Luke noticed he was in some sort of warehouse with small windows at the top. Who knows how long he had been out and where he currently was. Was he even in American, he couldn't be sure.
"I hope you find my hospitality to your liking," a man spoke in a thick accent.
Luke jumped, up until this point he thought he was alone in the room. A familiar face stepped out of the shadows revealing himself as the rich Swiss man which Luke had already deduced was the one who had kidnapped him. The man was tall and lean with a dark blue pin striped button down shirt that accented his eyes. His young appearance, black pants, and perfectly polished shoes exemplified the type of man he was. He meant business.
Luke said nothing in response to the man's quip as he grabbed a chair, turned it around backwards before sitting down. The tied teen knew an intimidation tactic when he saw it. "You know I didn't believe it when Vadon Barone told me you were poking your nose around all the Columbus museums," he then stood up and walked over to a table and grabbed something. "Then I see this," the man holds the object up. It was his grandmother's journal! Luke fought against the ropes, that was his and his alone. How dare this man take something that meant more to him than anything else in the world.
"Do you know who this belonged to?" Seeing no response from Luke he picked up a large knife off the table. "Let's try this again," he said waving the knife in the captive's direction. "Who did this journal belong to?"
     Luke swallowed hard before replying with, "My grandmother's."
     "Yes and as you know your grandmother was a very influential woman who traveled the world in search of something very special," he paused for a moment. "King David's treasure."
     "Sir you must have the wrong person, I'm just a kid doing a school research project on Christopher Columbus. I'm not after any treasure," he lied. Maybe he could still get out of this alive if he played the dumb kid card.
     The Swiss man set his grandmother's journal back down on the table and stared at the boy with his blue grey eyes that seemed to reach into his soul. Out of nowhere the man threw a punch that jarred his whole body. Luke tasted blood.
     "You must think I'm an idiot," the man said as he wiped the blood of his light blue, fingerless leather gloves. "Do you not know who I am?"
     Not knowing if this was a rhetorical question or not, Luke shook his head.
     "I'm Leonardo Steiner."
Luke's eyes went wide, he knew who he was. Leonardo Steiner was one of the richest and ruthless men in all of Switzerland and most of the world. He was known for playing his cards right by buying out companies that were about to go bankrupt then making millions off of them, though he was typically the man responsible for making them go bankrupt in the first place.
This attractive, calm, cool, and collected individual had women who loved him and men who feared him. Leonardo, never Leo, had accomplished so much for just being in his mid twenties and was definitely not afraid to be ruthless and that was exactly what he was displaying right now.
"I see my reputation proceeds myself," a smile crept across his face as he reveled in the fear that was pouring out of the boy. "I'll tell you what, if you tell me what I need to know I'll take it easy on you and if not, well..." Leonardo trailed off as he picked up a large stainless steel knife that was twelve inches in length at least.
Luke swallowed hard. "What do you want to know?"
     "Why were you following me?" He asked in a calm voice. "And don't think I didn't notice you in Spain."
     "First off I wasn't following you," Luke answered. "I was in Spain looking for a clue or anything that would point me in the right direction. When I asked the woman working at the museum where else to look she suggested the American museum."
     Not sure if he was lying or telling the truth, Leonard continued on with the interrogation. "What do you know of Christopher Columbus's astrolabe?"
     "Nothing. I saw it was missing in its case and the clerk told me someone was interested in buying it so I snuck into the back to see it before it was sold."
     Luke didn't even have a moment to react as the man threw a punch at lightning speed that connected with his nose and caused his chair to partially break. Blood poured out like a faucet had been turned on.
     "Stop lying to me!" Leonardo yelled then held up his knife to Luke's throat.
"I am telling the truth," Luke pleaded as he dared not move.
Leonardo locked eyes with him and held his gaze trying to get Luke to break. An incoming phone call was his saving grace.
The angry Swiss man fixed the single strand of hair that fell out of place before stepping away from the captive. "Hello," he answered.
Luke listened intently to the phone call while also looking for a way to get out, this would most likely be his only chance.
"I'm taking care of a rather interesting individual."
Trying to break loose of the ropes that bound his wrists behind his back, Luke felt the end of a nail that must have popped out of place when his chair broke. Perfect, Luke thought as he got to work.
     Leonardo glanced in his direction causing Luke to freeze. "No, I'm trying to figure that out now," he said still occupied with his conversation.
     Luke got back to rubbing his ropes against the nail until he felt it snap. He looked over at his captor still deep into his conversation, he needed to wait for the opportune moment.
     "Yes, so far we've found..." Leonardo stopped. He did not want this kid to know anymore than he already did. He walked a little farther off to make sure he was out of earshot before explaining what he had found out about the astrolabe.
     Meanwhile, Luke took this distraction as the opportunity he was looking for. He cautiously walked away with Leonardo's back turned to him and grabbed his grandmother's notebook that was on the table and much to his delight, he had left the piece of the astrolabe next to it. He shoved both the objects into his pocket and made his way up a small scaffolding that was near a window. That was his escape. He just needed to make it out before-
     "He's escaping!" Leonardo called out behind him.
     Luke looked back just long enough to see four men rush through the double doors headed his way. "Seriously?" He muttered to himself as he began to climb faster.
He was on the second platform when the men began to climb the scaffolding after him. Two more to go! Luke internally screamed as his muscles began to ache as he pulled himself higher and higher trying to escape. As he climbed to the last platform, he felt his foot being yanked.
"Got 'em," said a gruff voice.
Reacting on instinct, Luke used his free foot and kicked the man square in the head. It felt like kicking a brick wall, but it did the trick causing the man to fall to the platform below.
"You had 'em," Luke yelled back mocking him in his terrible Scottish accent.
The young teen made it to the window and smashed it with a metal rod that was lying on the ground. He glanced below and saw there was no way to get down. I did not think this through.
Just then one of the Swedish henchmen made his way onto the platform. He was trapped. "You've got nowhere to run," the man stated.
     "That's what you think," Luke quipped before heading out the window and onto a very narrow ledge. It barely was wide enough for himself to inch his way toward the sloped roofline and he was pretty confident that the men would not follow, yet there one was trying to climb after him.
     Luke didn't even look in their direction as he scrambled onto the roof. When he heard a scrapping sound followed by a loud thud he cringed. What a way to go.
     Seeing there was a fire escape on the building to his right, Luke started sprinting before making a flying leap. He landed rather harshly, but picked himself up quickly as one of the Swedish men started appearing over the roof ledge.
     He took the metal stairs two at a time before reaching the bottom. Now what? He hadn't thought this far in advance. Looking around for a quick escape, he saw an old Chevy truck parked just across the way.
     Sprinting once again, Luke arrived at the vehicle. He busted the window, jumped in the driver's side, then pulled a wad full of wires from under the dash. Having watched a YouTube video on how to hot wire a car, Luke was grateful it was an older truck as newer ones did not have the capability to be hijacked.
     Hearing the engine hum to life, the Brit placed his hands on the wheel, but a large fist grabbed his throat and held him firmly in place. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think. All he knew was that he was going to pass out.
     As his vision darkened, Luke used his last bit of strength to throw the car in reverse and pressed the gas. The man lost his hold on the boy's neck and was thrown to the ground unexpectedly. Luke coughed and rubbed his neck as he flew down the road backwards. He eventually turned the vehicle around and made his way back to his hotel after ditching the truck in an alley.
     After throwing his stuff in a suitcase, grabbing his cat, and checking out, Luke made his way to a different hotel so that he wouldn't be found. He looked at the piece of the astrolabe as he sat down at the desk that was in his room. He wasn't sure what he was to make of this, but he knew it was important and he was going to figure it out.

Note: Sorry for missing last week's update, here's two this week that will hopefully make up for it.