Masked

VIII.

People, this is your lucky week - I decided to update a second time. And look - another tatooed Lara Croft because she be lookin' like a snacc with those.

--

Jonah watched Lara while she was carefully taking the contents out of the box. She inspected the folder, especially the first sheet of paper.

"Jonah! Those are Maya hieroglyphs! ... Of course father would use them to encrypt his research." Lara couldn't help but smile, while her bulky friend was still a bit on the dumbfounded side.

"I can see that but –" The archaeologist interrupted him again.

"This is it! This simply must be it!"

Swiftly, she got through the folder, scanning the information her father wrote down, until she came to the very last page.

"Current researchers had found out that the key lies on Cozumel. We sent teams to investigate the situation, but we haven't found anything valuable yet. Dr. Dominguez... Hold on, I know that text. And that handwriting." Lara hesitated before it dawned on her. Jonah seemed to get it, too.

"That is precisely the same message Isa found in her father's database!", Lara exclaimed.

"But if that's true, then... Wait, didn't she tell us that her father was working on that project with Dominguez and a friend of her father? ... Maybe that friend is possibly –"

Lara's palm collided with her forehead after she skimmed over the files a second time.

"Why didn't I think of this sooner? That's exactly the same information on the goddesses like we saw at the house of the Bennets! The father of Isa, as well as my dad worked together with Dominguez to find the lost artefacts, more even, they were friends!"

Lara had to take a deep breath before she could continue. What she just found out caught her a bit off-guard.

"I have to go tell her!" The brunette was just about to storm outside, but Jonah caught her wrist.

"Hold on Lara! Don't you think we should look over the rest that is in the box?"

"Shit, you're right! I'm sorry. This all is just... unbelievable. – And now I suddenly understand why Isa's father might've wanted me out of all people find the relicts."

While she was talking, the brunette emptied the box of its remaining content, being the several ripped up bits of papers, and also a note she didn't notice before. Carefully, Lara unfolded it. She inhaled sharply.

"It's a message. Of my father."

--

Meanwhile, I was busy with trying to remember the name of the strange man I encountered a few weeks ago on the social gathering.

"Lores? No. L... Lovez? Not that one either... L- Lo... Lopez! God dammit! Took me long enough to figure out."

I quickly typed in the name into the search field, hoping, that father didn't delete all of his data yet. My mood sank, when I saw that there were multiple results with the name Lopez.

"Guess it's a very common name amongst the Spanish folk", I muttered to myself while I went over the results.

"What was his full name again? Oh come on brain, why can you function on any other day, but when it's important, you black out?"

I groaned, grimly trying to concentrate. But my brain stayed silent.

"Well, then I guess I'll just have to go with whichever name seems the most familiar...", I told myself and began reading.