“I thought we already established that? I’m a professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, and I also work for the Octavian Global group, a network of wealthy and powerful people devoted to protecting cultural heritage by ensuring irreplaceable artifacts find their way to museums rather than private collections, and preventing the wrong people from getting their hands on them.”
“Jesus.” William’s hand went to his mouth. “Which wrong men?”
“Careless and entitled rich people who don’t know how to care for newly found historical objects and would lock them up in their private homes and not let the rest of the world study and enjoy them,” he said with exasperation.
This favor sounded too risky of a venture, even for twenty thousand dollars. I wasn’t an adventurer or a risk-taker. Look at what had happened to me when I’d taken a calculated gamble with my career.
“That’s very noble of you,” I said, rising from the couch, “but I’m not going. I don’t want to play sidekick to Indiana Jones.”
“Oh, honey.” William turned to me and grinned. “You won’t be a sidekick. You’ll be the leading lady.”
“Still don’t care.” I walked toward our bedroom. “Tonight, I’ll figure out how to take this thing off, and tomorrow morning, you’ll have your bracelet.”
“Give us a minute,” William said to Andrew in his most placating voice, the one he used with fractious clients. He followed me into my room and closed the door.
“Why are you being so stubborn? The man offered you a lot of money for a little trouble. And an adventure.” He pressed his hands together in a prayer, his face showing too much stupid glee for my liking.
I removed my gold hoop earrings and dropped them into a jewelry travel case on the side table. Then I yanked off my hair tie, letting my hair fall down my back. I ran my fingers over my skull, slightly digging my nails into the skin and chasing away some of my tension.
“How do we know he really has the money? What if he’s a criminal who kidnaps us and holds us for ransom?” I gave William ayou-didn’t-think-about-that-did-you?stare.
“Who would pay our ransom?” He burst into laughter as if I had told the funniest joke. “A father we haven’t seen since god knows when? Or our mother, who calls only when she needs money?”
William was right. We had no other siblings, and we’d been so busy running like squirrels looking for a nut—aka making a living—we’d neglected to make any close friends. We’d only had each other since we were kids.
“He doesn’t know we’re our entire family.” I point at the closed door. “Weareat a fancy resort, after all.”
William pulled his iPhone out of his pocket. “I already looked him up on the university website.” His fingers tapped on the screen with the speed of light. “He’s telling the truth.” He turned the phone for me to see.
The screen had a headshot of Dr. Andrew Oliver Jones dressed in a suit and sporting the smirk I’d now become familiar with. Underneath his name and title were his areas of expertise in Classical Archaeology & Ancient History, Museum Studies, Material Culture, and Cultural Heritage. Had he crammed every possible title into his degree out of boredom?
“Doesn’t mean he’s not a creep.” I rested on my side of the bed, leaning my back against the headboard, and stretched my legs. I was tired of dealing with men and their business propositions.
“Jeff was a creep, and you wanted to work with him.”
I tensed at the memory of Jeff’s hand on my thigh the day we’d celebrated closing on the historical building I’d bought. With his fingers digging into my leg, he suggested we move our party to his hotel room. Battery acid ate through my stomach when I removed his hand and, in a confident tone, explained we were only business partners, and that was all we’d ever be. I thought he’d taken it well, and we’d finished our dinner, talking only about our store. A week later, my sweet dream come true had turned into a total nightmare when he terminated our contract, leaving me in monstrous debt.
“He was…” I tilted my head up and looked at the ceiling, searching for the right word. I sighed. “He was a successful businessman and a tad creepy, but I can fend for myself.”
I wasn’t sure how to win this argument with my older brother. He knew I needed that money.Iknew I needed that money. But a sudden change in any plan was never a good sign. Even those carefully outlined over the course of many years could fail. I needed to email my real estate agent and tell her to relist the building. The thought of officially giving up on my dream stung but it was the best way out of my predicament.
“I don’t want to go.” I twisted the bracelet as if it was a fidget toy, its stones faintly pressing under my fingers. “Colombia is nothing but a jungle.”
“You’re in the middle of a jungle right now.” William gestured at the window with a view of the lush green vegetation.
“What about vaccinations?” The excuse sounded weak even to me, and I knew my protests were running out of steam.
“I’m sure what we got to come here covers the whole of South America. Adriana, please,” William said. “It’s only for two days. Let’s go on an adventure. You know how much I love pirate treasures.”
He moved closer to me and took my hand in his. “Please think about it. Thehotprofessor in the next room offered you a stupid amount of money simply to accompany him on some college project. We’ll go together. You won’t be alone. Just think of what you can do with that cash.” He smiled sheepishly. “You can take your time to find a decent job… or better yet, you’ll have money to make payments on the store for several months while looking for a new investor. You’ve talked about this shop for the past four years. Think of all the companies you contacted and already had agreements with. Those women count on your support.”
William could persuade a stranger to do whatever he wanted. I had no chance.
What he wanted most right now was to go on atreasurehunt, and what I wanted most was to own a shop and bar where people could find the best olive oils and vinegar, wines, take pairing classes, and hang out with their friends after work. Somehow, those two goals were aligning today.
Andrew’s offer circled in my mind. The money could only cover four months of loan payments, but it was four months I didn’t have before.
“I don’t know. It’s not enough, but it buys me some time.” I smiled at William. “I could talk to the Small Business Administration again and see if they can help me.”
