Ruins
$200,000,000
That's all that was written in the e-mail, and that's all that needed to be written. Anthony Hunter stared flabbergasted for a moment. A decimal point must've been moved somewhere. That was a lot of money. He closed his laptop and looked around nervously. It was already night so the dig site would be closed and the guards would be on duty. He checked his watch. Serendipity smiled upon him; the guards would be switching shifts in about 15 minutes.
He grabbed his side pack, emptied its contents onto his bed and slung it over his shoulder. He set an alarm on his watch for 15 minutes and headed straight towards the ancient ruins.
He approached the guards on duty and flashed his authorization badge.
"Mr. Hunter, the dig site is closed." The guard stood blocking the entrance to the ruins.
"Yes, I'm well aware of that," said Hunter adjusting his glasses, "I just forgot an important note book down on the bottom of the excavation."
"We can send someone to retrieve it for you sir." He turned to wave the other guard over but Hunter stopped him.
"That won't be necessary," he said holding up a hand, "I'll head down myself. I'll only be a minute."
"You are in charge." said the guard as he stepped aside.
"Thank you." Hunter said politely. He resisted the urge to run to the artifact he had hidden earlier.
As he entered the blackened ruins he reached into his pocket to retrieve his flashlight. He turned it on and headed straight to the bottom of the excavation. As he reached the final ladder down into the cavernous underbelly of the excavated ruins he stopped and head down an earlier explored tunnel.
As he walked down the small tunnel he stopped half way at a rather unremarkable looking wall. He had discovered earlier that day a missing tile. It must've been overlooked when they first came through because it wasn't mentioned in any of the excavation notes. Hunter felt along the wall until he found the small indent were the missing tile should sit. He pushed hard on the stone wall and it shifted out of place. The wall began to swing back only slightly. Hunter stopped to look around, make sure no one was watching him, and pushed further into the newly revealed passage.
His flashlight barely illuminated the area as he tip toed down the dusty and cobweb ridden passage towards a small sand stone chest. He heaved the lid off the pushed it to the side. It hit the floor with loud thud. He shone his light inside the chest anticipating his discovery that promised to make him a millionaire.
Nothing.
Panic overtook Hunter. Where did the artifact go? His private buyer was offering $200,000,000 for this incredibly rare find to end up in his secret collection and here it was missing.
Hunter scanned the ground to see if he could see any foot prints. Only his own leading to the chest were visible. Who could've taken his treasure? Who could've known of this secret passage? Hunter began to search frantically.
Hunter's watch started to go off. It had been 15 minutes already. The guard were changing out. If he didn't leave now they'd come searching for him, and quite possibly find his fortune in the process. He ran down the passage and out into the corridor. He shut the wall as best he could and bee lined for the exit.
He came out of the ruins breathing heavily. The guards turned to him.
"Mr. Hunter? Are you ok? You're out of breathe!" The guard who admitted him said. "We were about to head inside to find you. What happened?"
"Battery on my flashlight died." he lied, catching his breathe. "Afraid of the dark. Had to run back to the light." He pushed his way passed the confused looking guards and disappeared into his tent.
Two hundred miles away in a private jet sat George Thompson, one of the unpaid intern hired on to help with, responsible for finding the corridor with the hidden passage. He sat on his lap top as he typed away at an e-mail.
$500,000,000 was all that was written. It was all that needed to be written.
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