Chapter 7
A Matter of Treasure and Family Honor

“How did they get here so fast?” Michelle Wilkinson Harper barked at a van full of young men about her age.  Each scrambled back to his workstation as if he’d been struck.  

“Jeez, Shelly, you don’t have to snap,” one of them replied.  He had tousled brown hair and glasses over green eyes.  She took a step forward and the other four men flinched.  Michelle went to the workstation of the man who had spoken and leaned close to his ear.

“I want to know how those losers caught up with us so fast, Rio.  I want to know now,” she said softly.  “No one is going to out-hunt me on this one.  Not when I’ve come this far.  Now get on that miserable excuse for a computer of yours and figure out what went wrong…NOW!” She shouted the last word, sending Rio rolling a good six inches on the wheels of his chair.  

“Gard!” Michelle growled.  

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied as though he was weary of these temper tantrums. Gard was sandy blonde and brown eyed, and a strong jaw line was all that kept his delicate features from being too feminine.  He was shorter than his cohorts, as a matter of fact, only two inches taller than Michelle, and it was a source of relentless harassment for much of his life.

“Cut the crap,” she demanded.  “Get me Bradford.  The Philippine authorities said a bunch of kids came through yesterday looking for Gates and his wife.  I want to know who they are and what their connection to Gates is.”

“Ever stop to think that it might be Gates’ kids?” another of the men chimed in. Michelle’s long straight brown hair swung like a curtain around her shoulders and her cold blue eyes narrowed.  

“Did I tell you that you could talk, Eric?” she hissed.  “When I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it.”

“I’m just saying we should consider it,” Eric said, leaning back against a bank of storage cabinets and folding his tanned arms over a broad chest.  His hair was auburn red and a tangle of curls that fell in his sharp green eyes.   A dusting of freckles was all that disturbed perfect skin and he was the tallest of the four men at six foot three.  

“Gates’ kids couldn’t find their asses with two hands and a map!” Michelle said.

“I’d watch how you underestimate these guys, Michelle,” said the last of Michelle’s entourage.  He was wiry of build and his brown hair was so dark it was nearly black to match his inky black eyes.  

“Oh, really?” Michelle said, turning her fury toward this last of the party.  He seemed to be the only one who could retaliate against Michelle without her threatening bodily harm.   

“In case your head’s been buried just a little too far in the sand lately, Gates and those kids you think are so stupid found the long lost treasure of Jean Lafitte a few years back, and not too long ago, his oldest led the expedition to find King Solomon’s mines—and found that too,” he said from a chair across from Rio’s.  Michelle appeared to be counting to ten, a luxury she hadn’t afforded Rio, Eric, or Gard.  

“Carson, this isn’t the time or place,” Michelle growled, pressing her hand against her head.  “Find them.  Find Bradford.  Find out what their next move is so that I can dispose of them myself.  Apparently if I want something accomplished, I have to do it myself!” she screeched the end of her statement, her eldritch tirade ending with the slamming of the short door on the side of the van as she exited, taking a few steps away from the vehicle.  There was a heavy silence in the van before Carson got out of his chair and made for the door.  

“Be careful, man,” Eric said, gesturing toward Carson with a nod of his head as he moved past him to take his place at his station.  

“You guys know that half the reason we’re out here is because of her old man’s death in Cibola.  She and her mom have blamed the Gates family for leaving him behind ever since,” Carson said.  

“She still doesn’t realize that Gates tried to save him, does she?” Rio said.  

“Gates *said* he tried to save him and his entire family backed him up.  Mitch did a lot of shitty things to Gates and his family to get to where he wanted to go.  They had no reason to save him.  I mean, if someone had abducted my mother to get me to go risk my life hunting down the city of gold…” Carson continued, pausing to shake his head.  “You just don’t mess with people’s parents, man.  It’s not right.”  

“I kinda can’t blame Gates for doing it if he *did* deliberately leave him.  I’d level cities to save my mother,” Rio said.  “You’re right.  He had no reason to keep Mitch alive.”

“Yeah he did,” said Gard said, speaking up for the first time since Michelle stormed out of the van.  “Honor.  Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, Gates held up his end of the bargain and he even gave Mitch credit for helping with the discovery.  I believe that Gates tried to save him.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Carson asked, one hand resting on the door handle.  

“Michelle’s my cousin, all right?  I love her.  I’ll help her find the treasure but I won’t help her devastate someone else’s family,” Gard argued.  He pointed at Carson and said, “Now get your ass out there and do the good husband thing and comfort her.”  

* * *

It was Emily Anne’s face that appeared at the screen when her mother answered the chirp that told whoever was in the room that the connection to their family in Asia was coming through.  

“Hi, baby!” Nadya said sweetly.  “How are things going?”

“It was a little rocky this morning.  Meri pulled a bone-head move and ticked off Charlie but I think they worked it out.  Uncle Ben and Aunt Abigail are up and around,” Emily Anne reported. She briefly looked around and then back at the screen.  “They’re not around at the moment…Uncle Ben said something about a shower.”  This stopped Emily Anne and she shook her head to dispel what she had just thought as her mother laughed.  She was cradling a bundle in a pink blanket and tiny little hands occasionally reached up to touch the sides of a bottle she was sucking on.  

“Is that my little girl you’re holding?” Emily Anne said with a sudden smile.  Nadya put the now empty bottle on the desk and shifted the baby so that her mother could see her round little face.  

“Can you say ‘good morning’ to mamma?” Nadya said to Danielle.  Nadya took Danielle’s little hand and made her wave at the screen.  Emily Anne turned and motioned for Will to join her.  

“Hey!” he said with a grin.  “There’s my baby girl.”

“Mamma and daddy love you, sweetie,” Emily Anne cooed.  Meri and Charlie came back into the room and noticed what was going on at the computer.  Minutes later, Nadya switched places with Jacqui, who had just finished burping Rachael.  Rachael Anne Bonner heard her parents’ voices and promptly started to cry, bringing tears to her mother’s eyes, but all the same, Jacqui allowed them enough time to see and talk to their baby girl before switching places with Jane.  When she sat down, Jacqui and Nadya left the room with the other two infants.  They knew that the cell phone reception had been sketchy at best, and that the best connection was the video one.  With this knowledge, they knew that Abe and Jane hadn’t spoken to or seen one another since the team left for Japan two days ago.  Charlie and Meri made way for Abe and the young Gates’ shared a pair of radiant smiles.  

“Hi, baby,” Abe said.  “How’re you doing over there?”

“I miss you,” Jane said, forcing herself to hold it together for the infant in her arms.  “I keep wishing I’d come with you like Emmie and Charlie did.”

“Aw, Janie, I miss you, too,” Abe said, biting his lip.  “Is that our munchkin you have there?”

“She misses you worse than I do, I think,” Jane teased.  “You’ve been rocking her before bed and now you’re not here.”

“Is she fighting you at bedtime?” Abe asked, suddenly a little guilty.  

“Yes.  I tried just putting her down and she screams until I pick her up.  I pick her up again and she cries and flings her little fists at me,” Jane said.  Abe shifted in his chair and got a little closer to the screen.  

“Can she hear me?  Is she awake?” Abe asked.  Jane nodded and scooted forward so that Mary was close enough to the screen for her daddy to see her clearly.  

“Mary Emily, this is daddy, honey,” Abe said gently.  Little Mary turned at the sound of her name and suddenly was very interested in the computer screen.  “Mary, I want you to stop giving your mamma so much trouble, okay?  Daddy will be home as soon as he can and we can rock again.”  Mary stretched a tiny right hand out to touch the screen and Abe swallowed hard.  

“I love you, Mary,” Abe said, his voice getting thicker with emotion.  Jane eased the baby back away from the screen and Jane added her own bit to the conversation.  

“Come home safe,” she said, a tear coursing slowly down her cheek.  “I love you, Abraham.”  Abe felt the gravity of her statement all the way to his toes.  She never used his whole name—never.  

“I love you, too.  I meant what I said—we’ll be home as soon as we can,” Abe said.  

“We know…please be careful,” Jane reminded him.  

“We will,” Abe said, saying ‘I love you’ one more time before vacating the seat and crossing the sitting room to flop down on the couch, his head in his hands.  Ben slowly sat down beside his young son and rested his hand on Abe’s shoulder.  

“How the hell did you and Grandpa do this?  How do you walk out that door and leave a wife and a baby at home alone?” Abe said from beneath his hands.  

“It’s never easy, son,” Ben said.  “I had Grandpa and Grandma to help us when you and Will and Charlie were little, and sometimes Great-Grandpa John helped out when I was little.  You always leave just a piece of you behind when you’re away from them.”  Abe nodded and sat up to dry his eyes.  

“I’ve got our transportation!” chimed Will, dropping onto the couch on the other side of his father.   A smile spread over Ben’s face—he knew that gleam in his oldest son’s eyes.  

“What do you have in mind?” Charlie asked.  

“According to the research we have from mom and dad, there is a man in Baguio that was once a member of the Japanese army and that he’s got a map that will lead us right to it,” Will said.  “Baguio is about 75 miles north of here.”

“That still doesn’t tell me how we’re getting there,” Emily Anne said.  

“What do you guys say to a little race?” Will said, showing his family the screen of another laptop.  He’d rented four motorcycles for them that each carried two passengers.  

“Will!  I hate motorcycles!” Emily Anne cried.  

“Come on, Emily Anne,” Charlie said with a grin.  “You’re just afraid that Meri and I are so going to beat you two there.”

“Says who?” Abe said.  “What says Jamie and I don’t come out ahead of everyone else?”

“All right, the sibling rivalry is getting a little deep in here,” Abigail said, glancing at each of her children.  

“Emily Anne, honey, this is the fastest way to get us there.  The faster we get there, the faster we find out about that map and…well…you get it.  The faster we get going, the faster we get home to our baby girl,” Will said.  Emily Anne knew she was defeated as she looked around the room.  

“Yes!  We’re going!” Jamie yelled triumphantly, jumping up and down.  “I know that look!  She knows she’s beat!”  Will moved to wrap his arms tenderly around Emily Anne, who hugged her own shoulders in fear and defeated pride.  

“I’m terrified of motorcycles, Will,” Emily Anne muttered.  “Why would you do that?”

“Like I said, it’s the fastest and easiest way to get there.  They’re easier to maintain, get better mileage, and traffic will be a breeze,” Will said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.  

“Promise me we’re going to be okay?” Emily Anne said, turning and staring up at him.  Will drowned in Emily Anne’s big blue eyes.  

“Yes, I do,” Will said confidently.  “I promise.  This is going to be fun, baby.  I swear.”  

* * *

“Everybody on the same frequency?” Ben’s voice crackled to life through the speakers mounted inside each of the helmets his family wore.  

“Check!” “Check!”

“Loud and Clear, dad!” “Ready!”

“Prepare to suck exhaust fumes!” “Baguio here we come!”

“Abraham Lincoln Gates!” Abigail’s voice called to her youngest child.  

“…sorry, mom,” Abe murmured as Jamie laughed.  

“Sorry, Aunt Abigail,” he added, still snorting in laughter.  The rest of the family was still chuckling when Will leaned a little and kick-started his bike, making his slightly-built wife to throw her arms around his waist in fright.  

“Nothing to it, honey,” Will said, “just lean when I lean and hang on, okay?”  Emily Anne said, “Okay,” and nodded as the other three bikes roared to life.  

“I think you kids are forgetting something,” Ben called to his children.  

“What’s that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did we really forget something?”   

Without answering with anything but a grin and a burst of laughter, Ben cranked the throttle, dropped the clutch and pealed out ahead of his children.  

“DAD!”

“Holy crap!”

“Quit whining and let’s catch him!”
* * *