The Uncharted Tales

Chapter 12

**TRIGGER WARNING: Explicit mentions of suicide**

Part 1: From Small Beginnings

Victor Sullivan

"You're sure about this guy?" Sam asked, arcing an eyebrow.

Sully barely spared him a glance. "I've worked with him before over the last couple years. You don't have to worry."

Sam was clearly unconvinced, but thus far none of them had failed in pulling their weight in their previous jobs. Sure, they scrapped contracts when things didn't line up in their favor, but there was no reason to think there would be unforeseen risks. Except this time Sully couldn't shake his doubts. Something felt... hinky.

After Nate tracked down their next item of interest, Sully put together a small team that could get them the information they needed to get in and out of the warehouses without raising any suspicion. Sam, in the meantime, used the gathered intel to plan their escape route. For whatever reason, neither of them had ever really come to terms with how their planning process played out.

"Okay, but what if he doesn't pull through?" Sam challenged.

"Then we cut our losses and get the hell out of here," Sully replied rather impatiently. Sam was never particularly inclined to question him on jobs like this, especially when he was involved with the process from the beginning, but, yet again, neither of them had been able to agree on just about anything since taking up the contract. Sully was quickly losing his patience with Sam's constant badgering.

Sam looked over at him from the passenger seat. "Real vote of confidence, Victor."

"You know what, Sam-"

A knock on the driver's window interrupted Sully's rant. Nate was peering in at them, a grin plastered all over his face. At least someone was enjoying himself. Sully and Sam climbed out.

"We're good to go," Nate told them. "There's only a few guards on watch and we can get by just about everything they have for security measures no problem."

Sully patted him on the shoulder. "Good goin', kid. We need to get moving before the shift change. You boys remember which section you're after?"

"Yea," Nate said. "If we don't find it, we meet at the south end."

"Impressive," Sam drawled. "He thinks."

"Hey-"

"Shut it," Sully snapped at them. "Focus on the job, alright?" He sent them a hard look and eventually they gave him nods. "Good. You boys ready?"

They didn't linger for much longer. All three of them headed their separate ways for their assigned sections.

Nate was confident the artifact they were after was being stored at this exact storage facility in Liberia, Costa Rica, but he wasn't ever able to pinpoint which exact building to search through. Sully carefully scoured the various cases and storage containers, and while he did come across promising treasures, he realized that he was out of luck. All he could hope for was that one of the brothers were successful in their search. He moved between buildings strategically to avoid the security guards. Nate was right – there weren't many of them, but he would rather not alert anyone, regardless.

He found Nate at the meeting spot, and he gave a little shrug as Sully approached him. "I thought it was here."

"Sam's still looking," Sully assured him, "so there's still a chance."

Just then, the facility alarms began blaring in the same moment Sam came skidding around the corner, the very item of their interest clasped tightly under his arm. "Go!"