AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He whips a large switchblade out of his pocket and flips it open. Then he makes a slashing motion. "Understand now? I'm going to slice a hole or two in their raft. No getting away then, aye?"
"Guess not. Does this plan have anything to do with whatever you did to our raft?"
"Not directly. I installed a security system to prevent anyone from stealing it."
Whenever Errol gets cagey, I get suspicious. "What exactly did you do?"
He jams his hands in his pants pockets and screws up his mouth. "Probably best if you don't know."
"Uh-uh. We're partners, in every way. That means you need to share your whole plan with me."
He pats my arm. "Trust me, lass. You're better off staying in the dark, for now. Plausible deniability."
"You said you'd tell me your plan."
"For dealing with Frisk and his men, aye. But my raft security measures are best left unexplained, for the time being."
Though we'd moved far enough away from the cavern entrance that I see no way Frisk or his goons could hear us talking, I still feel a little weird about discussing our plans here. Where else could we go? I don't want to get too far away either, not when we've left Munro alone with those men.
Errol grasps my arm and guides me behind a boulder that stands slightly taller than the Scotsman in front of me. He keeps his voice hushed. "I rang a mate of mine, Alex Thorne. He has, ah, unique skills. I needed his advice on how to handle our current situation."
"Is he a cop?"
"No."
"A spy?"
Errol shakes his head.
"What, then?" I ask. "Just spit it out."
"Alex used to be a con artist. A grifter, if you prefer that term. He only did that when he was a laddie, and his parents forced him into it. Now, he uses those skills to help his friends and family."
"Uh-huh. A noble con man." I'm feeling rather confused, but I get that we don't have time for the unabridged version of his friend's life story. "How does that help us?"
"Alex gave me pointers on how to convince people to believe what they're told instead of what they see and experience."
"Sounds tricky. But I'm still confused."
"We need to contact the authorities to report the discovery of the Grand Canyon treasure. But we can't risk getting tied up in legal rubbish since we don't have a permit to be in the canyon, much less one for conducting field work."
"Right. I know that." But I still don't get what he's trying to tell me.
"We need to make it seem like we stumbled onto the cavern by accident. And we wandered inside to see what was in there, strictly out of curiosity."
"I'm with you so far. But how does this involve Frisk and his men?"
Errol stares at me intently for a moment. Then he takes hold of my upper arms and bends his knees to level our gazes. "Did you mean it when you said you don't care who gets credit for discovering the Grand Canyon treasure?"
"Yes, of course I did. I only care that my dad is vindicated, and that I can bring him proof of the find. That's why I'm taking pictures, and we're laser-mapping the whole thing."
"All right." He straightens. "Because we're going to let those tossers take credit for it."
"Huh?" I gape at him, and I think a mosquito just flew into my mouth. I accidentally swallowed it. "Errol, you'll need to explain that to me. I don't get it. Letting those bastards take the glory? No, we can't do that."
"Not the glory." He gives me a smug smile. "They'll take the fall."
"For what?"
