Agent with a History (17 page)

Giving Flint a piece of my mind was going to
have to wait for a moment. I glanced up briefly, and something
shiny caught my eye in the hollow of the dune below us. I looked
closer and saw the sleek outline of a small back helicopter. I
glanced quickly up to Flint’s sweaty face only to see him giving me
a sageful look.

“You could have told me that you had a
chopper stashed!”

“And you could have had a little more faith
in me! I’ll tell you when it’s time to panic.”

I glanced back. The dust trails were much
closer now. Flint took my hand and together we started down, half
slipping and sliding.

“I was going to tell you, but it was just too
much fun seeing you all mad.”

“I have a bit of a temper.” I admitted.

“You don’t say your highness.”

“Don’t call me your highness! I’m not a
Queen!”

“Oh yes you are!” He responded firmly, in a
tone that didn’t brook a negative reply. “You’re my Queen!”

The possessive quality of his words made my
heart skip a beat. We had reached the sand floor of the basin among
the dunes and now we ran across it to the chopper. He helped me in
and then he got in. He started flipping toggle switches and other
buttons and I began to relax. He started the chopper up. Well, that
is, he tried to start it up. It almost fired, but then it started
coughing and died. He tried again and just got more coughing from
the motor.

I studied his face that was suddenly tight
with concentration, as he tried to figure out the problem with the
chopper, “Should I start panicking now?” I asked softly into the
head set.

It didn’t seem like he had heard me. I heard
him say, “Sand! Sand must have gotten into the intake. Wait here,
I’ll be right back.”

He pulled his headset off and got out of the
cockpit and then disappeared from view. My gaze fell to his pack
and the camera that I knew it held. I had to destroy those
pictures! It was my duty, but why then did I hesitate?

I knew why, but it didn’t matter, protecting
the treasure was more important. Wasn’t it? I slipped his pack open
and quickly found the camera. I had been going to destroy the whole
camera, but instead I just slipped the memory card out. I put the
camera back the way I had found it and closed the pack back up.

I held the memory card for a moment, and
before I could think better of what I was doing I snapped it in
half. Opening my door slightly I tossed the pieces outside into the
sand.

Several minutes later Flint was back. He
tried to start the chopper up again and this time it fired to
life.

“Yes!” he exclaimed with a triumphant grin
looking over at me.

Wanly, I smiled back at him and managed to
give him a thumbs up before I turned to gaze out my side window. He
was so going to kill me when he found out!

Several hours passed, during which Flint
tried to converse with me on multiple occasions, but the
conversations all fell through. I could hardly bring myself to look
at him, let alone talk with him, as if nothing was wrong. My
conscious fairly ate me up inside.

All along, during the length of our
relationship, Flint had been nothing but honest towards me about
his intentions in regards to the treasure, as well as me, and yet I
had doubted him. Somehow expecting him to betray me in some way,
but he hadn’t and I instead had betrayed him. I felt awful!

Was the treasure really worth enough to risk
losing something of real value? The answer I kept getting was
surprisingly, no! I had to make this right!

“Are you okay?” He asked, concern evident in
his tone.

In a rush of words I burst out, “I did it! I
betrayed you! I’m sorry!”

Darn it all, I was crying again and viciously
I wiped at the stupid tears. He turned my head with his right hand
and then bringing my hand up to his lips he kissed it.

Still holding my hand he asked, “So what form
has this wicked betrayal taken?” He asked softly.

“I stole the memory card out of your camera
and destroyed it!” I said turning back to the window, feeling
completely shamed by my actions.

“I see. Well, all in all, I’d say we’re about
even then.”

My head whipped back around. “What?”

“Well, I did, after all, destroy a caravan
stop belonging to you. I’ll call us square if you’ll agree to an
equal trade off, one caravan stop equals one memory card.”

I couldn’t believe his reaction. “You’re not
mad at me?” I asked incredulously.

He kissed the knuckles of my hand again
before releasing it. “No, but I’m glad you told me what you did.
Now I do have to say that if you try to steal this memory card,” he
removed a memory card from his front shirt pocket and held it up
with a grin, “I’ll have to bend you over my knee and spank
you.”

As it dawned on me that I hadn’t destroyed
the memory card with the pictures on it something else also
occurred to me. I was relieved. Why? If I was relieved that Flint
still had the ability to find the treasure, then it must mean that
I wanted him to find it, but why?

The answer seemed simple enough. I wanted him
to destroy it so we could be together. The truth was startling, but
none the less true. I still couldn’t believe it that he wasn’t more
affected by my betrayal of him than he appeared to be.

“You’re really not angry with me?” I asked as
I met his gaze.

“You’re sorry aren’t you?”

I nodded yes and he shrugged as if to say,
“Well there you go.”

“Would you really spank me?”I asked
curiously.

He gave me an eyebrow raise that said he most
certainly would. My eyes drifted to his hand and my face flushed at
the idea of it. Spanking, however unpleasant, wasn’t really the
answer to a serious breach of trust in a relationship.

I knew Flint enough to know that he would
never hurt me. His threat was more of an erotic tease to be carried
out in the bedroom than anything disciplinary.

The question remained what would he do if I
really messed up again?

“Would you do anything else besides spanking
me if I tried to steal that card again?”

He burst out laughing, “What’s this? You got
off the hook easy enough with your first crime that you’re back and
willing to tempt the punishment of another offense?”

“I, no…”

I’d botched the question and was starting to
turn away in embarrassment, when his fingers caught my chin and
stopped me. His gaze was direct and kind, “I think what you were
trying to ask was, ‘If you mess up again, how long will I stay with
you before calling it quits?’ That sound about right?”

I nodded.

“I’ve made mistakes and so have you and we’re
both likely to do so in the future. Not that either of us wants to,
but our basic human nature is bound to raise its ugly head at some
point. The mistake that I never want to make would be to ever turn
my back on the special thing that you and I have going and to that
end I’m willing to put up with a lot! How about you?”

I nodded and he settled back into his
seat.

“I love you!” I said passionately.

He smiled and combed some hair back away from
my eyes, “I love you too, Lisa.”

That night I lay staring up at the starry
heavens with the warm sand against my back trying to make sense of
everything. Time to time I could hear Flint’s frustrated muttering
to himself. Solving the riddle of the treasure from the mural
pictures wouldn’t be easy for him. In fact, it could be impossible.
I had seen only a vague reference to it, something that could
easily be overlooked.

It was decision time. What did I want most?
Continued obedience to a past history of tradition that while rich
in meaning and symbolism, was also empty of what I craved most.

Or did I let myself be free to find the love
I’d always dreamed of and now had and craved to experience more of.
It was sort of an easy answer, how be it a bittersweet one. I got
up off the sand hugging myself with my arms, as the evening air was
chilly in the desert. For being nighttime, it was surprisingly
light outside.

The moon was just over half full and the
stars were so bright, as they had no competing city lights to dim
their brightness in the night sky. Flint was easy to pick out,
where he lay sitting up against a sand bank.

The glow of the tablet in his hands lit up
his frustrated features. He glanced up surprised, as I neared
him.

“I thought you’d turned in for the night.” He
said, and I shook my head.

I knelt down on the sand in front of him and
turning I pushed myself backward between Flint’s knees, until I sat
between his legs and rested back against his chest.

His voice near my ear sounded husky as he
said, “Help yourself to my body heat why don’t you.”

I planned on it. He was so warm. He had the
tablet in one hand that rested on a knee and I slipped it out of
his grasp and he let me have it, in a further sign of his undaunted
trust in me.

His voice had a hint of humor to it as he
said into my ear, “You know that’s a punishable offense stealing my
pictures?”

“Then punish me.” I rejoined.

His breathing stopped and I patted myself on
the back for successfully rattling his cage. The muscled physique
he possessed tightened all around me, but I stayed where I was,
idly flipping through the pictures of the murals on his tablet with
my finger. After a while his breathing returned to normal and I
heard him sigh.

What he didn’t know was that I was almost as
impatient as he was to deepen our relationship to that of lovers,
but now, as tempting as it was, wasn’t the right time. I wanted to
be more than just this man’s lover, and the realization of that
goal was worth waiting for.

His voice interrupted my passioned thoughts,
“I’ve stared at these bloody pictures for hours and I don’t see
anything. I don’t know what you were so nervous about. I have half
a mind to smash this thing against a rock, and throw the pieces
into space!”

I smiled, “Maybe you’re just not looking in
the right places.” I said softly.

I found the picture I was looking for and
pointed, “What does this remind you of?”

I felt him peer over my shoulder, “An oasis,
except for…” his voice trailed off as he studied the picture
intensely.

“There are no palm trees.” I finished for
him.

I started to talk further but he reached for
the tablet and turned it off, which surprised me. His voice against
my ear spoke, “Lisa, when I was expressing my frustration, I wasn’t
asking you for help in finding the treasure.”

“I know you weren’t.”

“Then why are you helping me? You swore that
you wouldn’t.”

“I know what I said, but I’ve changed my
mind.”

There was silence for a few minutes and then
he asked, “What made you change it?”

“I’ve decided that a future spent in your
arms is more of what I want for my life, than to be a queen
caretaker over a fortune that I really wish didn’t exist
anyway.”

His arms closed around me and my eyes drifted
shut relishing the warmth and security he offered me. One warm hand
drifted up the front of my throat and pushed my chin back and to
the side for his kiss.

Drawing back for a second he said, “I’m glad
that’s how you feel about it. Do you mind if I kiss you like this
all night?”

“Please do.” I whispered back.

The chopper ride was rather companionable
over the next several days. Just when we were getting low in fuel,
Flint would land somewhere in the middle of nowhere it seemed, to
get fuel.

I was eager for all this to just be done
with, and I was growing more optimistic about the chances of that
the closer we got. I directed Flint where to go and when we set
down he gave me a strange look, “What?”

“Where the heck are we? This isn’t near any
reputable Kush building sites.”

“That makes it the best place to hide
something, don’t you think?” I said with a mysterious smile.

There was nothing overly remarkable about our
landing spot other than that there was no sign of any habitation
near it. Flint shut off the chopper and we got out.

I pointed to the east, “The pools lie two
miles that way. I thought it was best to keep some distance from
the entrance so as to avoid announcing our presence there. I’m
confident that none of the interested parties know of the entrance
yet, other than my father, but it would be best to be
cautious.”

Flint nodded, as he slung his pack over his
left shoulder and then the strap of an assault rifle over the
other. In his left hand he carried a black briefcase, which I
assumed was some sort of explosive.

“Will that be enough, do you think?”I asked,
eyeing the small case doubtfully.

He chuckled, “Yea, I think it will do the
job. I hope so anyway. You never can tell with Soviet era parts.
The Russians were known to cut some corners in their day.”

My face turned white and I stammered slightly
as I asked, “What kind of bomb is it?”

He shook his head no, “Its best that you
don’t know. Trust me. It isn’t exactly street legal, if you know
what I mean.”

I turned away and started walking through the
bush habitat. I reached up and wiped my forehead that was suddenly
damp with sweat. Just who was I getting involved with?

Flint caught up with me, a look of concern
written across his features, “I know honey! I have a lot of
explaining to do and I promise that I will, when I get the
chance!”

I glanced at him, “You promise?”

He nodded his head vigorously.

“That thing isn’t nuclear is it? Because I
don’t want any of my people hurt or sickened by it!”

“No, no! It’s not nuclear, but it’ll make a
heck of a bang. It’s the kind of bomb that only a developed nation
would be able to produce.”