“He stole those items!” yelled the man.
“He stole nothing,” said Sadie. “Why on earth would someone with stolen items from this country come back into the country with them in his bag? No one would do that. The man who stole those items is Davis Myer, and we are going to help bring him to justice.”
Ham looked over her head, seeing the rest of the team. He gave a smirk and nod as Patrick and Christopher shook their heads, smiling at him. May stepped forward, staring at the items on the table.
“My name is Dr. May Wong Bradshaw. I’m an archaeologist specializing in antiquities from Asia and Africa. These items were given to our team by Mr. Myer’s wife. She didn’t want them in her home. We brought them back to our offices and made a plan to return them.
“As you can see, there are two urns from Nan Madol, fully intact and undamaged. We’ve also returned the four idols and the stones taken from the lava pillars. Everything is whole, undamaged, and can be returned to your lands.”
“Not everything,” said Pikut. “We are grateful that you have returned these items, but there are two more precious, more prized items that must be returned, or we are doomed.”
“Doomed? I don’t understand,” said Ham.
“The items are believed to protect our islands and keep our people safe. One is quite large. It is an idol carved of the basaltic lava some three thousand years ago. He protects our coral reefs, and just in the time that it has been missing, our coral is dying.”
“Dying? How do you mean?” asked Patrick.
“I mean, it’s turning white and dying,” said Pikut. “Our Shaman has prayed over it, begged the gods to save it, but it continues to die.”
“Would you be willing to allow my brother and I to dive down and see if we can help?” asked Christopher. The man stared at them, then back at Sadie.
“We’re triplets,” she said, smiling at Pikut. “My brothers are United States Navy SEALs. They’re expert divers, and with the help of the team, they might find out what’s happening.”
“What’s happening is we need our items returned,” said the customs agent.
“We will return your items,” said Ham. “But we want to help if we can until we can find those items.”
Pikut stared at two men who were standing along the walls. They were with the customs team but didn’t appear to be wearing any weapons or identification. He nodded at them.
“Temuk and Altem will take you out in their fishing boat and show you the reefs. They can provide whatever you need to dive,” said Pikut.
“We appreciate it,” said Patrick. “If we can, let’s go now.” The two men nodded, waving the brothers toward the door.
“Patrick? Christopher?” called Sadie. “Please be careful.”
“See, she does love us,” smirked Patrick. The room chuckled, nodding their heads. As the two men disappeared, Pikut turned back to the others.
“You said there was a second item missing,” said May. “What is the item?”
“The best way to describe it is to call it the Stone of our People,” said Pikut. “It contains the history of our islands, our tribes, our wars. It has everything about who we are as a collective people of Micronesia.”
“Wait a minute,” said Sam. “Your entire history? It must be massive.”
“It is,” said Pikut. “Come with me, and I will show you what we know.”
As the group of people began to follow Pikut from the room, Sadie pulled back on Ham’s arm, wrapping him in an embrace.
“I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered.
“I wasn’t going anywhere, baby. I had all the faith in the world in your brothers to get help. I knew I was innocent, and even if that idiot agent didn’t want to admit it, he knew it as well. I was always going to come back to you.”
Sadie kissed him again, her tongue sliding between his lips, gripping his neck, and pressing her body against his. She pulled back, Ham’s face flushed. As she walked past him, she slapped his ass and grinned.
“Damn right you were coming back, or I was going to break your ass out of jail.” He let out a huge laugh, shaking his head.
“That’s my girl.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
