We last left Lilac wondering if her best friend in the world had betrayed her. Will she be able to uncover the truth, and save the endangered Goddess before it's too late?
"If what you say is true, we have some work to do. I'm still mad though, you should have come to me immediately! Where is the chopper?" Lilac asked.
Bruce groaned. "Lilac, please untie me! You will need my help."
"Not until I know you are telling me the truth! Now tell me where you landed! If Ken is out there, I'll come back and untie you. But I'm still mad at you!"
"This is dangerous, Lilac. I can't let you go there alone. He said if I'm not back by noon, he will kill both of us. He will be alert, expecting a double cross."
"He will never see me, and you know it. Are you going to give me a location, or do I need to go look for it myself?"
Reluctantly, Bruce told her. "It's in that little valley where we watched the mother Ocelot and her kittens. Please be careful!"
Lilac then loosened his legs enough for him to hop, and followed him to the tent. She then secured him tightly again, including a gag this time.
Lilac quickly put together a pack, grateful that she had brought an extra backpack. On her way out she reset the trap Bruce had sprung. She silently crept into the valley where the helicopter had been hidden, and sure enough Ken was sitting in it, door open, mosquito net draped over it. He was eating a sandwich.
"He always did hate the bugs..." Thought Lilac. She got close enough to listen, then settled in, perfectly camouflaged.
The radio crackled, and he put on the headset. "Yes boss, everything is right on schedule."
A pause.
"Understood. They are both dead if he doesn't come back by noon. We already have the flowers, the rest is just icing on the cake."
Lilac got back to the tent as fast as she could, and untied Bruce.
"You're not off the hook yet for not warning me, you could have explained in your note! But at least it seems like you are telling the truth now. We need to get out of here.
I could trap or if needed kill Ken. I was close enough earlier. But his boss is in close contact. Bruce, do you think you could imitate Ken's voice?"
"Maybe, but what if they have some sort of code? And like I said, corrupt cops are involved! Even if we make it to a city, we won't be able to go to anyone for help. The best solution is for me to go back to the chopper with the notes.
Ken told me that my cut would be three million bucks. I told him where he could put it. He said that it would be delivered regardless.
I could keep it, give it away, or flush it for all he cared. Said it will keep me quiet unless I want to spend the rest of a very short life in prison. These guys play for keeps."
"Let's get back to the chopper, and tie up Ken. Then we will figure out something..."
The two friends quickly made their way back to the little valley. Lilac crept into place, and readied her pistol.
Bruce then strolled out, waving the notepad in the air triumphantly. Ken had not been as alert as Bruce expected, quickly pocketing a cell phone. Since there was no service for hundreds of miles, Bruce suspected that Ken had been using it for entertainment.
"You were almost late! What kept you? Were you seen?"
"No, I wasn't seen, but she had the place boobytrapped! First I got caught in a pit, then she had it set for a ton of cans to land on me when I headed for the notes. Got the wind knocked out of me, but they didn't hit my head as intended."
"Did you get the map too?"
"Here." Bruce reached into his jacket with his right hand, then suddenly his left shot into Ken's jaw. Ken dropped like a ton of bricks, out cold. Lilac and Bruce quickly tied him up.
Bruce looks at Lilac, wondering how they were going to get out of this one. "What now?"
"We fly out of here, as far as we can. Land, refuel, and keep going. Try to get to Lima. I have a friend there who is high up in the political food chain."
As soon as Lilac finished, a man came out from the other side of the clearing. "Mike! How did you get here?" Asked Lilac as she levels her pistol at him.
"Sorry to startle you, I'm with INTERPOL. I was trying to get involved with your friend Ken long before we ever met. I'm working undercover to bust up a major drug ring."
Lilac put her pistol away after carefully looking at his badge.
"I want to draw out as many of the smugglers as possible. Bruce, you are lucky to have a friend like Lilac. She saved you from a lengthy prison sentence."
"Please believe me, I only went along with this because they threatened to kill her!"
Mike smiled sympathetically.
"I know. Now let's get this guy back to my helicopter, where we have handcuffs. My partner can watch him while we wait for his boss."
Lilac quickly set up more snares, while the guys hauled Ken out of the valley. By the time they got back, everything was ready for the boss.
Mike propped up his hat so it looked like someone was asleep or unconscious in his chopper. Then he smeared some dust on the windows to obscure the inside.
When a man arrived in a new, very expensive Blackhawk, he called out for Ken first,then Mike. Nobody answered.
Carefully crossing the clearing, 44 Magnum in hand, he walked by a large tree, using it for cover. Suddenly he found himself upside down, hanging by an ankle, cursing! His gun was on the ground, useless.
Mike laughed. "I must have been a sight!"
And so it went four more times, before the supply of criminals seemed to run out.
"Great work, Lilac and Bruce! If even one of these guys talk, we have a shot at ferreting out the leader, and the corrupt cops too! Who knows how deep this web of lies and deceit has gone."
