Free Temple of the Jaguar by J.R. Rain, Aiden James Page B

impossible to maintain a quick pace, the collapse from far below suddenly expanded to include the tunnel I desperately sought to escape. I heard the explosion first, and knew that whatever volatile forces had created the initial collapse were now spreading rapidly toward the cave system’s perimeter.
    “ Hurry, Nick!” Marie shouted back to me.
    I looked up toward the place where she and Ishi waited, just outside the tunnel’s entrance, as stinging sweat poured into my eyes. The stars and the light from a late night moon illuminated the sky behind them.
    “ I’m try-trying,” I gasped, and then decided to save my breath, and instead concentrate on reaching the exit.
    I almost made it to where they waited before the final collapse hit, as the ancient volcano sought to reclaim much of the lava cone it had first created many eons ago. As it was, I at least had the good sense to thrust Ishi’s bag of goodies out through the tunnel’s mouth before the floor below me finally gave way.
    “ Oh, shit!”
    “ Nick, hang on!”
    As the floor disappeared into a soup of earth and molten rock several hundred feet below me, I grabbed onto the root of a large tree growing just outside the tunnel. I didn’t know if I could hang on long enough or if the root would hold without breaking off. Much too quickly, my tired hands started to slide down.
    If it had been just one of my companions fighting to save me, I doubt I’d be telling this story now. But the combination of Ishi and Marie’s desperate pulls on my arms and shirt proved enough to lift me out of the hole.
    The fresh air alone was enough to revive my senses, although it was laced with the same rotten sulfuric stench we had dealt with for the past couple of hours. When I was able to stand again, the view before me seemed even more surreal than what we’d already experienced. Below us sat the expanding maw of a churning lake of fire that was already several acres wide. It seemed to be receding back into the earth. I watched as rocks, trees and other debris were quickly absorbed. A spectacular and deadly sight, it stirred something inside me. Especially when I looked over at the two beautiful faces that regarded me with soiled but serene expressions.
    Gratitude. I felt grateful for life, true friendship, and the possibility of love. I was truly thankful to still be alive.
     
     
     
    Chapter Seventeen
     
     
    “ How much can you give me for the both of them?”
    Juan Esteban eyed me curiously as I asked the question. Rather than answer right away, he held the intricately carved gold earrings up to his jeweler’s glass once more.
    “ Do you want the money today?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ And, will you take a check?”
    “ No, hombre ,” I said, chuckling. “Just like always, it’s cash-ola only. Preferably in American dollars.”
    “ You sound like a man who is desperate to leave Honduras...no?”
    Now Juan chuckled.
    “ I might be back in a few months,” I said. “And, if and when I do, you’ll be the first artifacts dealer I visit.”
    “ Careful, Nick...you make me feel not so clean when you describe me like that.” He chuckled again, turning in his chair as he reached for a bigger magnifier to work with. “I’ll give you twenty thousand dollars today...in your American cash. That’s a fair price.”
    “ Really?” I snickered, and I could tell as he looked up sharply from his viewer that he expected another Nick-barb was on its way. “Nah, I’m not here to give you hell, man. You’ve done well by me over the years. But the least you could do is offer me half of the eighty Gs street value these items have.”
    “ I did offer you half...it’s twenty thousand a piece,” he said, smiling I’m sure in response to the subtle look of surprise written upon my face. “You’re about to walk out of here with forty Gs, my friend. Forty Gs is enough to get lost for six months.”
    “ Or longer, if one knows how to spend it right...and where to spend