Trouble and Treasure (#1, Trouble and Treasure Series) (14 page)

“
So where are you taking me?” I
asked.

“
Petrol,” he said.

I glanced over and noticed we were almost
at empty. Then I gave him the look he deserved. “You came with an
empty tank?”

He sneered at me. “Excuse me if I didn't
prepare to cart you around the country, looking for clues and
running from goons. Today,” he adjusted his collar, “Was meant to
be an ordinary day, not like last night.”

I pressed my lips together stiffly and
gave him a stern look. “How are we meant to get petrol? People are
going to see our car and they’ll call the police.”

Sebastian didn't answer, and neither did he
look pleased. It was clear he was having trouble with that idea
too.

I gave a deep sigh, wondering where I would
be this time tomorrow. Would I be in prison? Would I be with that
man Maratova? Or Romeo? Or would I be... dead? As that horrible
thought found its way into my mind, I drew my hands together and
began to rub them.

He glanced my way and leaned down to turn on
the heater, despite the fact two of the windows were smashed.

I didn't have time to think his gesture
was sweet, because it gave me an idea. I recognized the section of
road we were driving down, and realized it wasn’t too far from a
barely-used side road that connected onto the lane-way near my
great-uncle’s manor.

“
Your car, why don’t we take that?” I asked
excitedly.

Sebastian made a show of looking
conspiratorial, darting his eyes from side-to-side and leaning down
into his collar. “We are in my car,” he whispered.

I rolled my eyes. “Your other car, the one
that you said you'd parked in the lane-way last night, the one I
gave you the keys for this morning. If we could get to that, and if
that isn't riddled with bullet holes, then we can drive that
instead.”

While the beginnings of a sarcastic smile
spread his lips, it dwindled. Perhaps he thought it was a good
idea, because it was a good idea. We could hardly continue driving
around the countryside in a car that looked as if it had driven
through a war zone.

“
If you continue down this road, there's
this side road, it's not obvious, but I can point it out,” I kept
gesturing towards the road, “We should be able to take it, though
it is rough, and it might damage the suspension.”

“
Well, you know what? I already have to
book this car in for some bodywork anyway,” he said dryly. “But I
don't know if this is a good idea; if I know Maratova, he would
still have guys out looking for you near your house. He is the kind
of guy who does things thoroughly.”

I felt sick at that thought. Though I was
taking great pleasure in finding Sebastian irritating and arrogant,
I had to admit he sounded infinitely better than this Maratova
chap. That, I guess, meant I had to be thankful Sebastian had
technically saved me from the man. Technically, because I’d done
most of the saving when I’d managed to run through the woods in the
middle of the night with no shoes.

“
Honestly, this side road is hardly used;
only locals know about it,” I continued. “Plus, I mean, you got
away from them last night...” I trailed off, not sure what I wanted
to say.

Sebastian ticked his head to the side. “I
guess it wouldn't be too suspicious if I went and picked up my car,
but you sure as hell have to stay out of sight.” He turned to me
and locked me in a stern look. “I will try and park somewhere safe,
out of the way, you stay in this car, and I will go and get the
other one.”

I nodded. I found his tone irritating and
overbearing, but I couldn't find fault with his words.

He shook his head and gave a low whistle.
“I sure hope I don't have to run into Maratova again.”

I started to wonder what Sebastian's
relationship with this mysterious Maratova was. All I knew was that
Sebastian happened to be a lawyer who was somehow a treasure hunter
too. I could remember that he’d been there at the auction when I
had sold off the other globe. And, of course, he’d been at my house
last night when he had saved me from the mercenaries in my
drawing-room.

That didn’t mean that I knew what
relationship he had with the other players in this game. He was
clearly willing to do whatever it took – legal or illegal – to get
his hands on those other globes.

I began to play with my hands again,
wondering if I could honestly trust this guy.

“
Look, you'll be okay, I won't be that
long,” he said, for the first time his voice almost sounding
concerned.

Was he looking at my body language, noting
the fact that I had pulled away from him, that I was staring at the
window, playing nervously with my hands in my lap, and thinking it
meant I was scared? Well he was right but I wasn't particularly
scared of being left alone in the car. I was, however, scared that
if I trusted this man and he turned out to be bad, then it would
probably be the biggest mistake of my life. The amount of trouble I
was already in was huge; the amount of trouble I could add to that
if my only apparent champion was a crook, was something that sent
the coldest of chills through me.

As I gave a shiver from that horrible
thought, Sebastian seemed to misinterpret it again. He lent down,
twisted the knob on the heater to full, and gestured that I put my
hands in front of one of the vents. “There's not much I can do
about the windows, owing to the fact they have great sodding bullet
holes in them, but you can have my jacket if you like.” He twisted
his head and nodded at the back seat, where his jacket was folded
neatly.

I was a tiny bit flabbergasted at that.
Sebastian, in my mind, wasn’t a real gentleman. He was the guy who
liked to pretend he was a gentleman so he could gain the attention
and affection of ladies. I pictured Sebastian Shaw as an arrogant,
self-interested nong. Yet here he was, apparently genuinely
concerned that I found his shot-up car chilly.

That was enough to chase the doubt from my
mind for now. “I'll be fine.”

“
Suit yourself,” he shrugged.

I pointed out the hidden lane-way off to the
side of the road that would be a shortcut to the lane-way that was
near my great-uncle's manor.

It was a horrible road; there were potholes
the size of tires, and some of them connected up into great ruts
that ran across the entire road. Sebastian swore colorfully as he
unsuccessfully tried to avoid them all, car bouncing around as the
tires dug into the treacherous dips. Thankfully there wasn't too
much mud, as fun as it would be to be stuck in a bogged car, tires
churning up the mud as it spat through the holes in the windows and
covered both of us.

He parked under a tree, though technically
along this road everywhere was under a tree; the great big oaks,
birches, elms, and pines all pulled up right against the ditch,
forming a thick canopy above. It was no wonder that this road was
hardly ever used; this close to the forest it was always plagued by
fallen trees and branches, let alone the damage from encroaching
roots and run-off when it rained heavily.

“
Stay in the car and stay down,” Sebastian
said for what felt like the trillionth time.

I nodded, trying not to be truculent about
it; the advice wasn't there to irritate me, presumably it was there
to keep me out of the hands of international criminals and wayward
super soldiers.

Sebastian kept cracking the knuckles of his
left hand as he walked around the car, muttering to himself that
perhaps he should find a way to park it further off the road and
down an incline. I pointed out that as fun as it would be to drive
his luxury vehicle off the side of the road and into a tree, there
was no point; this road was hardly ever used. I faced little to no
chance of meeting anyone on it.

Sebastian didn't look too moved by my words,
if anything, he looked like he was about to get back in the car and
drive off again.

“
Maybe this isn't such a good idea,” he
said, voice extra gruff.

“
Look, it’s not as if we have a lot of
choice. There is going to be a limit on the amount of time we can
drive around in a car that looks as if it has been target practice
for an entire army.”

He didn't bother arguing at that, cracked
the knuckles on his right hand this time, shook his head, warned me
one more time to stay down and to stay quiet, and began walking
away from the car and towards the lane-way a good kilometer
away.

Watching him leave made all the feelings I'd
managed to keep control of since last night bubble back up to the
surface. Perhaps it was being alone, or perhaps it was the fact
that for the first time I was sitting still and not running from
anything or having to point out to Sebastian how idiotic and
arrogant he was. I honestly had time to think, and time to feel,
and what I was thinking and what I was feeling weren't
pleasant.

There’d been a surreal feeling to everything
last night, and with the excitement of finding the scales and
cracking my great-uncle's clue, it seemed this was adventurous. Now
reality was sinking in, and I realized I was sitting in a car that
had no windows because they had been shot out by men I didn’t know,
and who only knew me as a person to kidnap and torture. I was also
currently fleeing for my life with a man who I hardly knew, and who
I honestly didn’t believe capable of truly caring about my
situation; Sebastian was after the other globes, that much was
clear.

This wasn’t an adventure; this was a
nightmare.

I ran my lips through my teeth, closed my
eyes tightly as tears threatened to well within, and rested my head
back roughly against the head rest behind. I began banging my head
against it lightly several times, as several errant tears trickled
down from my eyes and spilled over my cheeks.

I couldn't see this ending well. Sebastian
was right, and this wasn’t a movie and nor was it a trashy airport
novel. In the real world when criminals were after you, that didn’t
give you license to walk right into the bad guy’s den and shoot
everything up, steal the treasure, and retire on a nice tropical
island. You had to go to the police, and if you didn't go to the
police, you’d pay for it with some prison time.

I shook my head several times, more tears
sliding down my cheeks, their coolness distinguishable from the
burning, puffy, unpleasant feeling of my skin as I twisted my face
with tension, trying so hard not to cry.

By this time next week I would either be
dead or locked up in a prison cell somewhere.

That burst the banks, and I let myself cry
jolly hard. I had a lot to cry about. This time last week I was
over the moon at having found treasure in my great-uncle's attic.
This time the week before last I was holding down a part-time job
in a cafe, wondering whether I should go back to uni and study
something worthwhile that would give me real job prospects.

Now look at me? Sobbing my heart out in a
shot-up car on a lonely country lane-way while I waited for a
lawyer who dabbled in treasure hunting to bring around a new
vehicle that wouldn't get us pulled over by the police.

I kicked my shoes off, bringing my legs up
onto the seat and hugging them tightly. It was about then that I
heard the noise of a car coming up the lane-way towards me.

Unless Sebastian was a world-class runner,
or had fashioned a helicopter out of some twigs and leaves, then it
sure as hell wasn't him; not enough time had passed to allow him to
get to the car and travel all the way back here. Plus, the car was
coming down the lane-way from behind.

Despite the hot tears streaking down my
face, my mouth went dry.

A horrible energy prickling over my back,
I let go of my knees and tried to catch sight of the vehicle
through the driver's side mirror. The only problem was we’d left
that behind in the village when it had been shot off by a man whose
neck reminded me of a tree stump.

So I did the only thing I could think of,
and opened the door carefully, dropping to my knees.

The car wasn't yet upon me, but I could hear
it churning up along the treacherous road.

Without hesitation I turned and ran, staying
low, away from the car, until I was well behind the old and large
trunk of an elm.

My breath was far too short, and far too
quick, and seemed to choke through my throat as if it no longer had
the room to make it all the way to my lungs. I swallowed wildly as
I waited to catch a glimpse of the vehicle coming my way.

Though a part of me tried to entertain the
prospect it could be Sebastian, I knew that was a faint and dim
hope. Sure enough, in a moment, I was proved right: a large, black,
four-wheel-drive hurtled down the road, drawing to a sudden stop as
it rounded the corner and presumably saw Sebastian's car.

Though four-wheel-drives, particularly large
and overly petrol-guzzling ones, were common in this part of the
country, tinted windows were not. The car that now parked right
next to Sebastian's had the darkest tinted windows I had ever seen.
I imagined that even if I walked right up to them, I wouldn't be
able to catch a glimpse of who was inside.

My hands drew away from the tree and they
shook as I let them drop by my side. Though it would have been
rational to stay and see who got out of the vehicle, I had far too
much fear kicking around in me to consider reason. Taking the most
enormous swallow I could, I turned carefully, ensuring that the
bulk of my body couldn’t be seen past the trunk. I dropped low and
tried to scamper as quickly as I could to the protection of an even
larger tree further back. The plan was to continue doing that,
ducking from tree to tree, until I was well and truly gone, no
matter how long or how far that would take me.