Sam was sure they were not lost. But then again, maybe Herrison's memory wasn't very accurate either.
After a half a day of walking through desert that looked exactly the same, dunes and all, they'd finally reached their supposed destination. Only that it turned out to be more desert that looked exactly the same.
"Now what?" Tom asked.
Sam shielded his eyes from the sun and looked around, hoping to spot something distinctive in the ocean of dunes before them. Sweat trickled down his forehead and his t-shirt already stuck to his back. Herrison had mentioned that the temple was half-buried in sand. Maybe twenty-five years meant it was now completely covered.
Swallowing heavily and hoping he didn't actually have the location wrong, he turned to his twin. "Now we dig."
"Great, we get to experience the thrill of real archaeology," Tom said with his usual half-sarcasm.
But he dropped his rucksack and took out the tiny shovel they were all equipped with. The others treated the matter more seriously and took out their gear sans the witty comment.
"We should spread out as much as possible," Sam instructed taking another look around. "We know it's around here, but around here is..."
"Huge?" Kyle asked, already shoveling sand with impressive speed.
"Exactly." Sam grinned, the pride he felt making the job seem much easier. His team was as proficient as ever, even after a three year adventuring break.
He'd missed this. The historical mystery without shooting and stuff blowing up being involved. They'd had their fill of explosions, and if he'd read the note from Snitch Gravel right, for the first time since the entire jewel-hunting mess started, he wasn't racing them to their target.
Because this time, there was no jewel. At least according to both Herrison and Snitch Gravel.
But what both of them failed to realize was that maybe there were two others left in there that no one managed to find because they hadn't known what they were looking for.
With that thought in mind, Sam started walking around, digging his boots as deep as he could in the dunes, throwing sand in all directions. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, one that had to do with where he'd found the other jewels. Why were they there? What was the pattern? There had to be one, it couldn't be random. There was no such thing as random.
"What are you thinking?" Skye asked, joining him in digging through the sand with the tips of her boots.
A smile tugged at his lips since she already knew he was thinking. "Wondering why the jewels were scattered all over the world like that."
She hummed. "Yes, that is something baffling me as well. What about the temple?"
"I think it's around here, but completely buried."
"What if it's not?" she asked, even if she didn't look particularly worried.
Sam pondered on how to best explain that he never made a plan B in this type of situation unless plan A completely and utterly failed. He was saved the trouble once Skye suddenly stopped and winced.
"Never mind," she said, "I think I found it."
Sam rushed to her and knelt in the sand, his hands already pawing the rough particles out of the way. They went under his nails, in every crevice of his skin... everywhere. But he kept digging until something hard, like stone, scraped his skin. He timed his motions, going around the sharp edge, until a slab of limestone breathed through the desert.
YOU ARE READING
Lose Control (The Jewel Project #5)
Adventure"It's never going to end, is it? The rivalry, the hatred, the madness. Not even now. Not even after so many years." It has been three years since the last jewel was recovered, and the Agency seems to have put the project to rest. They have a new tar...
