Curse of the Druids Read Online Free PDF Page A

for me.” I gestured my surrender and closed my eyes again.
    “Not so fast, ‘sweetheart’,” said Marie, turning down the radio’s volume to where it was barely audible. “I want to talk about it now.”
    “What? Ishi’s point about volcanoes?”
    “No—I want to talk about a plan for when we come back tomorrow!” she said, testily. “You keep talking about obstacles as problems that seem unlikely to be solved. What gives with the attitude?
    Attitude? Last I checked, it wasn’t me about to blow a gasket….
    “Well, I’m not trying to be a Negative Nellie here, but you need to ask yourself what you’ll do if the park authorities find us rummaging in their dirt and threaten to have us arrested. Seems to me we better hope you’ve got your prize in hand, sweetheart, and that it will somehow beam us out of trouble.”
    Marie lowered her glasses to glare at me. I had a millisecond to fix this.
    “Babe, I’m just trying to keep things light.”
    “Being an asshole is keeping things light?!” she seethed. “Why can’t you have a little faith in me and quit acting like a prick every time you start to worry about what might happen, that likely won’t! I mean, seriously, Nick—every time— holy shit!...”
    She didn’t finish, the red-faced fury evaporating to a look of fright as she pointed behind us. I sat up and peered into the passenger side-view mirror. Although there wasn’t much traffic, whoever was driving the black Audi coupe had come up fast. Very fast.
    But it wasn’t what heightened my protective instincts.
    The car pulled up briefly beside us, and the passenger window rolled down. My heart raced, expecting the barrel from an automatic rifle to peer through, or perhaps a grenade launcher like we had seen in Greece.
    This time, however, it was just an empty hand positioned as if it held an imaginary pistol. A hand belonging to a man of Middle Eastern descent, and who looked an awful lot like one of the bastards who stalked us in France.
    The man laughed and the window closed. Then the driver slowed down… just enough to where the car could pull in behind us.
    “What in the hell am I supposed to do?!” Marie shrieked.
    “Stay calm, babe… just keep driving. We’re almost to Salisbury.” I gently touched her thigh.
    I considered reaching for her wrist instead, but worried she might flinch and throw us off the road. The speedometer hovered near ninety kilometers per hour, and in the passenger rear view mirror the front of the Audi hugged our rear bumper. Then it backed off just enough for us to see the front grill.
    They’re not planning to immediately kill us? Why?
    Well, for one thing, Yassir Ali would have a helluva time laying claim to any of the loot we took from under his nose if we weren’t alive to take him to it. But these assholes had tried to kill us before.
    “What now?!” demanded Marie, in response to my snicker.
    “I don’t think they’re planning to kill us today,” I said. “A day when traffic is sparse would seem optimum. And, yet no bullets…. There’s the exit to take us back to Cricket Field.”
    “Oh, God, what if they follow us there?”
    “We don’t have to take the exit. Stay on the highway and keep going,” I advised. “We haven’t seen these guys in awhile, so they may not know where we’re staying. Might not even realize we’ve rented rooms in Salisbury. You used a new alias to get us booked in Cricket Field… remember?”
    “Yes.” Terror still owned her voice.
    “Like I said, they might not know where we’re staying yet, darlin’. Hell, they might not know anything other than they just now stumbled on us while on the highway.”
    “Just stumbled on us? Are you frigging serious?! Don’t bullshit me, Nick!”
    “Okay… so maybe they had a good hunch where to find us,” I conceded. “But to assume they know everything we’re up to leaves us with just one option, and that’s to get the hell out of Dodge. Otherwise, if we stay cool,