ENCOUNTER by Hep Aldridge (bill gates books recommendations .txt) 📕

I was, cooling my heels in a courtroom while my two legal eagles did their thing, and quite well, I might add. My mind was on my desire to be back in Ecuador when my phone vibrated, and I saw the call was from Gus. I nodded to Lawrence, who nodded back and quietly made my way out of the courtroom to the hallway.

“Hey, Gus,” I said, “What’s up? No trouble, I hope.”

“No, no problems, but there has been a development I think you need to know about. Have you got your sat phone with you?”

“Yeah, I do,” I replied.

“Good, give me a call on it; we need to talk.”

With that, the line went dead. Now, that got my attention as I headed outside to make the call. Our sat phones were equipped with the latest in encryption technology, so if Gus wanted to talk to me on it, that meant something was afoot, and he didn’t want any snoopers. I found a bench outside with no one around, took a seat, and hit speed dial. After a few seconds, I heard the connection complete and then Gus’s voice.

“So, what’s going on?” I asked.

“Looks like we have finally made our way into the captain’s cabin.”

“And…?” I said.

“Remember when Doc was telling us about the 1715 fleet transporting the dowry for the king’s bride-to-be? It was reported to be so large that multiple ships had to carry it.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, we found two chests in the debris in the cabin, and I think they are part of it. We are bringing them aboard the Falcon now.”

“So, they were intact… did you open them?”

“Yes, they were mostly intact, and yes, we opened one. How do you think I knew to give you a call? You need to get out here as soon as you can.”

“Roger that, I’ll contact you when I’m on the water. See you in a couple of hours,” and terminated the call.

Chapter Four

A week later…

The drone of the jet engine helped drown out the cacophony of the past few months. It was good to be heading back down to Ecuador. The layers of craziness that we had been wrapped up in were finally starting to peel away. The discovery and recovery of the galleon treasure and its ensuing legal entanglements were mind-boggling. However, I did feel that we had left things somewhat under control. Our legal team was working full-speed, keeping the wolves at bay, at least for the time being. Nils, Tony, and Gus and his crew were making steady progress on our recovery efforts, and the discovery of part of the queen’s dowry added another dimension to our find, but we kept that find to ourselves. More legal wrangling with the state and international entities ensued. But I needed to put that behind me for now. The search for the library demanded my full attention.

I leaned back, took a sip of my scotch, and contemplated our next move once we arrived in Cuenca. We had followed our usual routine, notifying Sean of our arrival and the need to have the “Beast” ready, as well as securing our block of rooms at the Hotel Condor. I had also called Uncle Harold and Reggie, letting them know we were on our way down. Luckily, they reported there were no problems. All quiet on the “Southern Front” as it were. Very good news. I finished my drink and checked out the team. Joe and Dimitri were engaged in quiet conversation, and it looked like O’Reilly was sleeping as Doc was intently reviewing some documents. Good, I thought and relaxed a little more; maybe I could catch some Z’s before we landed. I was awakened by the captain’s voice saying we would be landing in 20 minutes. The flight attendant had collected my empty glass and was making final rounds as I roused myself from my slumber, feeling rather refreshed.

Our trips through customs and to the hotel were uneventful. As we entered the lobby, we were greeted by a smiling front desk clerk and Dominic, the hotel owner, who came out from behind the desk and greeted us like old friends with hugs, handshakes, and a huge smile.

“Dr. Burnett, it is so good to see you again and a real pleasure to have a person of your esteemed reputation staying with us.”

Uh-oh, I thought, they’ve heard about the galleon treasure. Sure enough, I was right as he went on.

“It is our honor to have you and your team of treasure hunters staying here once again.”

“Thanks, Dom,” I said, “good to be back.”

Dom, as we had started calling him some time ago, was always cordial and attentive, but this time, he was downright effusive. He motioned to the bellman on duty and told him to take our bags to our rooms as we signed in.

“If there is anything you need, anything at all, do not hesitate to contact me,” he said as he handed us our keys and moved back behind the desk. We all thanked him as we headed to the elevator. Thirty minutes later, Dimitri and I grabbed a cab and headed to Sean’s to pick up the Beast. As we turned the corner onto Sean’s street, the first thing we noticed was how much cleaner everything looked. Not that it was a real mess before, but things were just cleaner. Some of the buildings that had been closed had fresh paint and new signs hanging out front.

This was an old industrial area with closed businesses up and down the street. As we approached Sean’s, I saw signs for a new leather shop, a Panama hat factory, and a furniture/woodworking store. There was even a sign for an electrical repair center next to Sean’s—and Sean’s, Wow. A fresh coat of paint on the entire building, new garage doors and windows, and a sign painted on the building saying, “Sean’s Automotive Training Center.” As we pulled up out front, Dimitri said, “Place doesn’t look the same; in fact, it