Alex and Sam’s parting moment was interrupted as Ollie’s voice cut through the air behind them.
“What on earth…you traitor!” Alex yelled. She had nothing to lose now. If she were to die here today it might as well be after she told Ollie what a lowlife scumbag he was for deceiving them.
Ollie’s hunting rifle had been replaced by a machine gun that casually hung over his shoulder. Yeng-Pho’s audacious laughter was nauseating.
“Another surprise for you tonight Miss Hunt. My dear friend, Oliver is on my payroll, in charge of my infiltration team, in fact. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without his inside track,” he said proudly.
“No surprise there Yeng-Pho. I knew he was up to no good from the moment I lay eyes on him. You two suit each other. You’re despicable,” Alex spat at their feet to which Sam added,
“You were the last person on earth I thought capable of such loathsome acts, Ollie. How could you? You certainly pulled the Aussie wool over my eyes.”
Yeng-Pho laughed out loud again, clutching the Buddha amulet in his greedy paws. “And thanks to him you’re about to meet your maker Dr. Quinn.”
He turned to Ollie, “Finish them off, Oliver. There’s money to be made.”
Ollie swung his firearm from his shoulder and aimed it at Alex and Sam.
Alex didn’t have any fight left in her. This was it. Tears ran down her cheeks as she drew in a deep shuddering breath. Her chest felt heavy under the weight of betrayal and knowing it was the last time she’d ever hunt a treasure with Sam hurt like crazy. This is not how she wanted to die. Staring down the barrel of Ollie’s weapon, her body shook uncontrollably as Sam pulled her into his arms.
“You heard the man, Sheila. The night is full of surprises.” Ollie said as he turned his rifle away from Alex and Sam and aimed it at the Commissioner-General. “I think the time has finally come, Yeng-Pho. You’re under arrest.”
“FEDERAL POLICE! GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!”
Chaotic shouts by members of the armed forces ripped through the night air as they announced themselves. Sam pulled Alex to the ground and shielded her head. They watched the frenzy of red lasers and torchlights scatter everywhere as the police searched for more of Yeng-Pho’s men. Within seconds they had him in handcuffs and pinned to the ground. A helicopter roared loudly above their heads sending gusts of wind and dirt in their faces. With seasoned precision, Yeng-Pho was hoisted up into the helicopter and flown away.
“What the heck is going on here?” Sam shouted at Ollie who was talking on a sat phone.
“It’s all over, Mate. Operation Buddha was successful.”
Ollie extended his arm to help Sam and Alex up. “We could have never done this without you, Sheila. Thank you.”
“What are you talking about? Who are you and what’s all this ‘Operation Buddha’ business?” Alex shouted at Ollie.
“Calm down, Sheila. Mission accomplished. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Matt Taylor, Special Agent Matt Taylor from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, ASIO in short.”
“Matt? ’Special Agent’? What do you mean you’re a special agent?” A gobsmacked Alex tried to make sense of it all.
“Don’t look so surprised, Sheila. I’m not really the low-life you accused me of.” Matt joked. “I’m one of the good guys. Operation Buddha was an undercover sting operation to flush out the head of the snake, or the tail of the scorpion, in actual fact. We’ve been after the Scorpions for years, and I’ve been undercover for the last five trying to catch this bastard in the act.”
Sam scratched his head. “Ollie, Matt or whoever you are, I’m usually a clever bloke, but you’re going to need to start at the beginning. We have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“It’s Matt. Ollie is my cover name, and the two of you were instrumental in helping us. The Scorpions is an international underground syndicate who smuggles stolen artifacts and sells them on the black market for top dollar. FBI, MI5, and ASIO. the list goes on. We’ve all been tracking their corruption all over the world; always only catching the small guys, but we’ve never been able to find out who the mastermind behind the entire Scorpions syndicate was, until we followed Intel here to Cambodia. I went undercover to flush him out, and the golden urn was the perfect bait.”
Alex still couldn’t believe her ears. “So wait, where do Roshi and the monks fit in and how did you know about the amulet?”
“Ah Sheila I told you, the monks and I go way back. They were approached by ASIO to help me infiltrate and protect my cover. In return, I promised to find them the golden urn and return it to its rightful place. That’s when they told me about Buddha’s amulet. Quite a rare find, isn’t it?” Matt stopped and looked the pair up and down, “You both look like you could do with some food, and something tells me you’re not going to say no to my bear stew tonight, hey Sheila?”
The Royal Palace was as majestic as it sounded. Waiting in the large foyer, two security personnel flanked Alex and Sam as they patiently waited for the king and Prime Minister to arrive. When they finally got ushered to a formal sitting room, Sam looked at Alex and said,
“Out of all our expeditions together, this one took the cake. I can’t recall Professor Keating ever saying torture and flushing out international syndicates were part of the job description.”
Alex admired one of the paintings on the wall.
“You’re right. It’s not in the job description, but it seems the world isn’t quite what it used to be either. It certainly has been an adventure, hasn’t it?” She smiled and turned to face him. “ I’m just glad you’re okay. I don’t think I could have survived this without you.”
Moments later a small party of security personnel entered the room followed by His Royal Majesty of Cambodia, the Prime Minister and none other than Roshi and the Great Senior Patriarch.
The king spoke in a gentle, warm voice as he stood before Sam and Alex.
“What an incredible honor to meet you both, Miss Hunt and Dr. Quinn. The Cambodian government owes you a great amount of gratitude for finding the Golden Urn, not to mention our venerable Buddha’s amulet. To be honest, we all thought the amulet was a legend. But to find it here on Cambodian soil is the greatest gift, thank you.”
The king paused and somberly turned to Sam.
“Dr. Quinn, please accept our sincere apologies for the despicable manner in which you were treated here in our beautiful country. We are most happy you are still alive, and if there is ever anything we can do to compensate for the horrible experience you’ve had, please let me know.”
The Prime Minister went to stand next to him. “Miss Hunt, Dr. Quinn, we would very much like if you would both join us in the celebratory procession to the Temple. Would you care to accompany us, please?”
Alex looked across at the senior monk who smiled and nodded with approval. To be invited by the king and his royals to join them in such a big event was the most significant honor yet.
“But of course, your Highness. It would be our honor,” Alex swiftly accepted.
Outside the palace the street was crowded with thousands of Cambodians as they waited for the king to lead the parade to the mountain shrine. Several citizens cheered as the king placed the golden urn in the float, which resembled a giant golden swan built around a small car. Four Buddhist monks sat praying on each of the corners of the float as the procession moved through the streets on the twenty-four mile journey to the Oudong shrine. Small groups of Buddhist monks walked prayerfully alongside the raft while the children joyfully decorated the way with colorful garlands of fresh flowers.
Directly behind the float, Alex and Sam proudly followed in the king and his royal party’s vehicle.
“I guess this makes us famous,” Sam whispered jokingly next to Alex’s ear. “You need to work on your wave though.”
Alex elbowed him playfully and mimicked the Queen of England’s royal wave.
“Don’t get too used to this, Sam. Our next adventure might not be as glamorous.”
Thank you for reading THE GILDED TREASON. I hope you enjoyed the adventure with Alex and Sam!
Their story continues in book 3, THE ALPHA STRAIN as they embark on their most dangerous mission yet! Where will their next journey take them, and will Sam continue to succeed in protecting Alex?
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