Return of the Inca?

Chapter 3

"Dad, Race!" Jonny shouted as he and Hadji approached the two men. "We think we just saw the guys who have been messing with the artifacts!"

"Where?!" Race responded quickly.

"About a 1/4 mile west of us." Hadji answered.

"Why were you over there?! That is a very dangerous part of the jungle!" Roberto, who was standing a few feet away, demanded.

Jonny and Hadji bore surprised expressions, as Jonny explained, "We were just scouting around for anything suspicious." He then asked, "What's your problem?"

Roberto then sort of shook it off and responded, "I am sorry I overreacted. I guess the tension of the situation is getting to me."

The man then excused himself to make a phone call and left the Quests to continue discussing what Jonny and Hadji had seen.

"Show us where you saw them," Race ordered, "We should probably take Jess and Estella along, too."

After the group was ready to leave, Jonny and Hadji lead them to the place where they saw the men.

"So they were around here?" Race asked the boys.

Hadji nodded as Dr. Quest noticed something on the ground.

"Estella. Come take a look at this."

Race's ex-wife walked over and knelt down beside him, looking intently at a small statuette.

"That's one of the artifacts that went missing last week!" she exclaimed.

"That would likely eliminate any villagers as suspects," Hadji observed, "They either supported the work or believed that outsiders should not be here."

"That's a good point, Hadji, but who could it be?"

"Turn around and you will find out." came a familiar voice.

As the team turned to face the direction the voice came from, with their hands raised in anticipation of being at gunpoint, they saw Roberto with the men Jonny and Hadji observed earlier.

"Roberto. I was wondering when you'd show up," Race commented.

"You knew I was, as you would say, the 'inside man?'" Roberto replied curiously.

"Not at first, but you tipped your hand when you would always disappear before strange events would occur and would try to get us to suspect the villagers."

Dr. Quest then added, "And then when you lost your temper at Johnny and Hadji, before leaving to make a phone call, we had our suspicions. We've notified the Brazilian government, who should have someone here momentarily."

"Good," the man who was obviously in charge answered in a sinister tone, "they will be just in time to dig your graves-"

As everyone was talking, Jonny, Jessie, and Hadji had inched closer to the men on the outside ends of the group and managed to blindside a couple of them. The distraction allowed Race to take down the leader, as Dr. Quest went after one of the other men.

After a few seconds of fighting, one of the remaining thieves fired several rounds in the air from his AK-47. Then, he shouted to the Quests, "Against the side of the mountain! We will end this NOW!"

Just then, about 7-8 jeeps filled with men in fatigues pulled up. The men, mostly armed with FAL's, took aim as the commanding officer ordered the artifact thieves to drop their weapons and surrender.

After the men complied and as they were being restrained, the commanding officer walked over to the Quests.

"I am Major Rodriguez, Brazilian Army. Is everyone all right?" he asked Dr. Quest.

"Yes. We're just thankful for your timely arrival."

The officer then continued, "Our government has been after this antiquities ring for months. We are in your debt."

"It was our pleasure, Major Rodriguez," Estella replied, "As an archaeologist, I can appreciate the opportunity to help stop them."

After everything settled down and the thieves had been taken away, everyone settled back in at the dig site.

"I'm glad that's over," Race sighed with some relief.

"Me, too," Estella added, "Now the dig can continue as scheduled."

Jessie nodded, furrowing her brow a little. "There's just one thing bothering me."

"What's that, Jessie?" Dr. Quest asked.

"There were a couple times in the past week when two mummies were missing, instead of one." she explained.

"Maybe one of the other guys dressed as a mummy, too," Jonny suggested, "Or maybe they stole it."

Estella shook her head. "There weren't any mummies missing for long. The one that was replaced by the man in costume was hidden in a room onsite so they could put it back in place quickly. It was the only one with any signs of tampering."

As they pondered this, a commotion started outside. Rushing out, the Quests and Estella saw the workers looking and pointing toward something in the distance. Standing on a hill near one of the tombs, illuminated by the moonlight, was the form of a man dressed in Incan clothing, raising a spear toward the sky as he looked down at the dig site before gradually fading away.

The end?