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It took days of tedious interviews with self-important authorities before they were cleared to leave the country. Intervention by Sir Charles eventually resulted in permission to go. By then, Valentina was stable and could be moved. Selena chartered a jet to take them home.
Elizabeth was waiting for them when they came out of the secured area of the private terminal. Valentina was in a wheelchair, Selena pushing her.
"Welcome home," Elizabeth said. "How was the flight?"
"Long," Nick said.
"Valentina, how are you?"
"I am good, Director. Better, now we are back."
"Have you talked with Anna?" Selena asked. "How are the kids?"
"They're fine. I get the impression from Anna that they're anxious to see their mom. I've got a limo waiting."
"That's what I like to hear," Lamont said.
They got in the limousine. Soon they were away from the airport.
"What's the word on Alvarez?" Nick said.
"There is no word," Elizabeth said. "We think he was headed for a town across the border in Brazil, called Rio Branco. His plane crashed in the rain forest west of there. There hasn't been any sign of him since then. He's probably dead."
"Gee, that's too bad," Ronnie said. "What happened?"
"The plane got caught in a storm. Even so, they should've made it. We'll probably never know what happened to bring them down."
"You were tracking it," Nick said. "We should be able to find the crash site."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Elizabeth said. "Freddie was tracking the plane by satellite, but he lost it when the storm moved in. We can project the flight path and make a guess as to where it went down, but that's all it is, a guess. They could have been blown off course. We don't know how far they got before they crashed. That stretch of rain forest is unexplored, and it's covered by a thick canopy. There's no way to spot the wreckage from the air."
"The gold Alvarez looted from the pyramid was on that plane," Nick said.
"Won't do him any good now," Lamont said.
"Is anyone going to look for the wreckage?" Selena asked.
"Probably, but it's complicated. The gold comes from Peru but the plane crashed in Brazil. The Inca empire extended to Brazil as well as Peru. The two countries are already arguing about who actually owns the gold. Eventually, someone will go looking for it."
"As long as it isn't us," Nick said.
"I can guarantee that it won't be us," Selena said.
Later that evening, after the twins were asleep and Anna had retired to her private room, Nick and Selena were getting ready for bed. A Miles Davis track played softly in the background.
"It's good to be home," Selena said. "I don't think I've ever been as glad to get back."
"Me neither."
"You remember when I said I never wanted to do this again?"
"I remember."
"I meant it, Nick. That was the last time for me. I'm not going out in the field again. I'm staying home and raise our children. I don't mind working with Elizabeth and doing things here. But I'm not going on another one of these."
"This one was rough, I admit," Nick said.
"Rough? Are you kidding? Valentina almost died. All of us could have died. The only thing that saved us was that shaman, and you had to be dosed with a drug before he decided not to have us killed. For what? So that Brazil and Peru can argue about who owns the gold? Until a little while ago, it was nothing more than a myth."
"Seems like we've spent a lot of time chasing down myths that turn out to be real."
"Well, I'm done chasing them."
"You said that before."
"I did. That doesn't mean I don't mean it now."
"It always comes back to the same thing," Nick said. "If we're honest, we have to admit we're adrenaline junkies. If we don't do this, what do we do?"
"It's true what you say," Selena said, "but it's not worth it anymore. I want to see Jason and Katrina grow up. The fact that we're both still alive after all the things we've done is nothing short of a miracle. If you don't believe me, just take a look at the scars we both have."
"No question that we've been lucky. But we train, we prepare. I think we make our own luck. We know what we're doing."
"Luck always runs out. Just ask any compulsive gambler. Relying on luck is a bad life choice. I'm not doing it anymore. I'm not going to wait for my luck to run out, or yours. We have to stop doing this, Nick."
"Maybe you're right."
"You know I'm right."
"I'll think about it."
"Think hard. I don't want you to get killed. I don't want you to die in some shitty place where people hate us because of who we are."
"Selena..."
"Good night, Nick."
She turned away from him, onto her side.
Nick lay awake after Selena fell asleep, listening to her breathing, thinking about what she'd said. He knew she was right. Maybe it was time to hang it up.
After a long time, he fell asleep, hoping he wouldn't dream.