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“It won’t start!” he called to Ali.
“I know, not mine either! They must have had the keys on them!”
The helicopter was closer now, and Santiago could see that, rather than the sleek black military-looking ones they had witnessed the day before, this was older-looking and painted in a happy shade of green. As it drew closer, he also noted that it was much smaller than the others—small enough to land in the clearing by the riverbank.
“Should we run?” he asked Ali, who joined him at the ATV. She held his hand.
“It’s too late now,” she said, and she was right. The helicopter was already touching down, flattening the grass beneath its bulk. Leaves and dust kicked up, swirling around in every direction. They were too close to the side of the mountain; there wasn’t enough forest to get lost in. And by now, Torres’s men would have spotted them. It wouldn’t take long to find them.
“What will they do?” Santiago asked.
“They may kill us,” she admitted. “But if they can’t find Torres, more likely they’ll take us back to Lima to interrogate.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” he replied.
“It gives us a chance to escape, at least,” she said.
“Or be tortured,” Santiago added.
Ali didn’t reply to that.
“At least we stopped the curse.” Santiago sighed.
He had gotten used to the idea that they had made it out unscathed, but if he was still going to die, at least he’d made sure that no one else would.
He may not have gotten to catalog and preserve the contents of Atahualpa’s tomb for scholars, but he hadn’t let it be melted down and sold, either. And he had saved Ali.
That gave him an idea…
“Pretend you’ve captured me?” Santi suggested. Ali nodded, instantly understanding his plan.
Her catlike eyes glinted, probably at the prospect of a little mischief, and she squeezed his hand.
“Santiago?” a voice called out, almost inaudible. The whirring of the blades slowed but didn’t stop completely. Santiago frowned.
“Santiago!” he heard again, and out of the helicopter jumped a tall, muscular older man.
“José?” Santiago gasped as the man ran toward them, yelling something in Spanish that Santiago didn’t quite catch.
“Santiago, Ali!” he called out. “I’m so happy you’re alive!”
“The feeling is mutual, Professor!” Santi grinned. He hadn’t realized how worried he’d still been.
When José reached them, he enveloped Santiago in an enormous hug. Santiago stood motionless with shock and relief. Then the professor moved to kiss Ali on the cheek, crying out over her bloodstained shirt before she assured him that she was fine.
“How are you here?” Santiago demanded, stunned.
“The lovely Alliyma, of course.”
Santiago turned to stare at her. She shrugged.
“When?”
“After the boat crashed. I tried using the satellite phone one more time. I wasn’t sure it worked. I’m glad it did.” She smiled at him and then at José. “It’s good to see you.”
Santiago grinned. “That’s an understatement.”
“But how did you find us?” Ali asked. “I had no idea where we were, and I don’t think I did a good job explaining.”
