hardly turn them over to examine the other side. Not that she had to. She knew these coins as clearly as she knew her own name.
They were identical to the one Daniel wore around his neck on a thin gold chain. The coin he’d always refused to talk about.
Sam pocketed two of them, offered the third to pay her fare. The driver took it, put it between his teeth to check the gold consistency and finally nodded. She took a seat in the half-full bus and closed her eyes, reliving the past few hours as the vehicle bounced and jounced over the rough road.
Ramon, the poor, dead padre, these coins—whatever she’d stumbled into was about more than a statue gone missing. This was something darker, something more complex. She needed help. But if she asked, Daniel might take that as an admittance that she couldn’t do her job.
They went through several small villages, dropping off or picking up passengers. At every stop Sam watched the driver speak to someone, show them the coin, jerk a thumb toward the bus. She knew he was talking about her but what could she do. She needed a ride.
The long, hot day stretched ahead. Sam laid her head back and shut her eyes as the bus bumped over potholes and stones. Sometime later she felt a hand on her arm and jerked awake. The burly driver told her she’d gone as far as the coin would take her, unless she had another. His suggestive look made her nervous. She shook her head. A moment later she was back on the road in a small peasant town and the bus was driving away.
Samantha started walking.
“It’s been several days, Daniel. No contact with anyone—there or here. What could she be doing?”
He’d asked himself the same question a thousand times over and found no answer. It was pointless trying to fool Shelby that everything was all right. He couldn’t even fool himself. “I don’t know.”
“There’s a lot of unrest in Lima at the moment. Do you think we should send someone, maybe Callie Merton? Just in case Sam needs help.”
“Callie’s off on sick leave. She won’t be back for several months.” Privately, Daniel wasn’t so sure Callie would ever be back. But that wasn’t the point. If anyone went, it would be Daniel. He’d been the one to order Sam there; he’d be the one to bring her back. Alive, his brain screamed.
If I reported in every half hour, would that prove I know what I’m doing, Daniel? Is that what you make the other agents do, or is it only me? Because you don’t trust me?
“If she’s onto something I don’t want to blow her cover too early.” Or let her think I don’t trust her. “Let’s just wait a bit longer.”
He stopped speaking when his secretary entered the office carrying a brown battered package addressed to him, marked personal and confidential. He raised one eyebrow, noted that security hadn’t opened the tiny box.
“It’s been scanned. Security says it’s okay.” Evelyn was good at reading his mind. “Can’t read the postmark, but the initials are clear.”
“From?” Shelby moved nearer.
“Samantha Henderson.”
Daniel ripped it open. Inside he found a wad of newspaper and a small bag of coffee beans. He poured them onto his desk and stared.
“What is that?” Shelby stepped forward. “Daniel? Don’t you have—”
“Yes.” He lifted up a small golden coin, turned on a light and began to examine it under a magnifying glass. Using his fingernail, he scraped away a layer of sedimentary remains covering the gold. Identical.
“Is there a note?” Shelby rifled through the box and paper but found nothing. “What does it mean?” she asked.
“It means that Sam’s on the trail of something.” Daniel rose, holding the coin between his fingertips. “I’m not doing anything until tomorrow. If I don’t hear from her at the appointed time, then we’ll act.”
Shelby left, grumbling about stubbornness. Daniel placed the coin under his microscope and studied it, compared it with the one he wore. He analyzed the two for a long time, barely noticed when his secretary left, when the whole floor went dark. Finally he leaned back, closed his eyes and whispered.
“Come on, Sam. Phone me!”
Daniel sat on, waited until security did their eleven-o’clock rounds, while the clock in the hall chimed midnight, still waited when the one-thirty red-eye to Seattle roared overhead.
He’d just closed his eyes to rest them when the phone rang.
He grabbed it, held it to his ear. “Sam?”
“Daniel?” The static covered most of her voice. “…coin. Something…wrong. No statue just…. Think—”
“Think what? Sam, are you in trouble?” A pause made the hairs on his arm rise. Why didn’t she answer? “Do you need help?”
Static. Then one word penetrated.
“Yes.”
“I sent her there, Shelby. I’ll be the one who goes to find her.”
“I thought you said Samantha was capable, that she knew her job.”
“She does. But anyone can run into trouble.” Daniel shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking, Shel.”
“Oh, what’s that?” She sat watching him toss things into his briefcase.
“That I feel guilty or something for denying her that promotion. But you’re wrong. This isn’t personal.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Okay.” He stopped fiddling and looked her straight in the eye. “We went out once. I thought it might go further but she didn’t want that. Fine. But that had nothing to do with my decision not to promote her. There wasn’t anything between us. Nothing serious.”
She had that knowing look on her face. Daniel ignored it.
“We argued right before she left.” It was more than an argument and he knew it. He bit his lip, admitted what Shelby already knew. “She’s the only person around here who can make me say things I shouldn’t. I let her go without straightening things out. I should have told her she merits promotion. It’s just that I felt she needed more experience. Now she needs help and—”
“Daniel?”
“Yes?” He glanced up.
“Go.”
“You really think—”
“You think—that’s what is important here. Go to Peru or wherever she is. Find her.” She rose, grinning. “You even have my blessing if that’s what you want. Now what are you waiting for?”
“Nothing.” He snapped the lid closed, swung the briefcase to his side and stepped around the desk. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Let me know if you need help and I’ll send someone down. I’d prefer Callie, but—” She shrugged. “I’ll find someone else if you need them.”
He leaned over, hugged her and brushed a kiss against her cheek.
“My dear Shelby, did I ever tell you that the thing I like most about you is that you don’t ask questions?”
She sniffed. “Not when I already know the answers. Be safe, Daniel.”
He nodded and left, almost racing to the elevator. At the last moment before the doors closed, his secretary shoved a paper at him. Boarding at two in the afternoon. It was going to be tight, but he would be on that plane.
And he was.
As he pulled out his laptop and began to study the files he’d downloaded, Daniel was grateful he had the extra room first class provided. He began with the Finders file on the statue. Inca period. Held by a