Golden Valley

"I have to admit, I would have never believed it, if I hadn't seen it for myself." Yoshima said stepping closer.

His cover was blown. He could see the small gun Yoshima was holding in his right hand. It was pointed directly at him. He said nothing.

"I suppose you thought you could just come back here, steal it and make off like a thief in the night, huh?"

Like a thief in the night. How many times had he heard that expression? He stayed quiet and watched the gun.

"What's the matter Johnathan? Are you afraid I'm going to kill you?" Dr. Yoshima said with a small grin. "Tell you what. You give me the medallion and I will let you go, okay? Besides whatever he's paying you isn't worth your life."

"What he's paying me is none of your business."

"I suppose it's not, but that object you're holding doesn't belong to you it belongs to me and you're stealing."

"This doesn't belong to anyone... yet. What were you doing in here? Oh, yes... let me think. I suppose you were trying to do the same thing I just did. I noticed the dig marks around the medallion when I first started to uncover it. You were trying to steal it for yourself."

"Yes... and fortunately for me, I now have an excuse to kill my only witness, now don't I? You were trying to steal the medallion. I heard noises from the cave and decided to investigate. I startled you and we had a fight, I had to shoot you in self-defense. Pretty convenient don't you think?"

"Yeah, convenient." He saw Yoshima switch the safety on the gun. There wasn't much time left, he had to act fast and get out. Johnathan looked over Yoshima?s left shoulder. Yoshima followed his gaze long enough for Johnathan to react. He jumped forward and grabbed the hand that held the gun. He tried to pull the gun away, but Yoshima's grip was too tight. They fell against the wall and he slammed Yoshima's hand several times on the cave wall until he heard the gun drop to the ground. He reached down and picked it up. Yoshima rose and tried to wrestle him to the ground. Yoshima was in good shape for someone his age and Johnathan was surprised at his strength. Johnathan struggled to keep his grip on the gun and it went off.

He backed away from Yoshima.

Yoshima stared in amazement as he clutched his stomach, then fell to the ground, dead.

He had to move fast. The shooting was an accident, but that would be impossible to explain to the guards outside. The gunshot had certainly been heard from outside the tunnels.

He ran through the chamber entrance and out into the darkness. As he was moving through the tunnel, he realized he dropped his flashlight during the fight. There was no time to go back and retrieve it, he had to continue and get out before anyone found him.

Just then, he heard voices and footsteps coming quickly in his direction. He could see the light from their flashlights as the beams danced wildly around the tunnel walls. They were running directly for him. He had to hide, but where? Feeling along the wall for some kind of opening his hands scraped along the walls, searching for an opening he could hide in. Just as the men came around the corner, he fell into a small hole in the side of the wall. He could see the men as they ran passed him. A moment late their voices disappeared around the corner and into the second chamber. It wouldn?t be long before they found Yoshima's body; he had to move fast. Rising to his feet he ran for the cave opening, soon he would be out. Johnathan believed in being prepared, and already had a car waiting to take him to the airport. It wouldn?t be long before one man's long search for a mysterious medallion would finally be over.

Johnathan ran outside into the darkness. He was quite familiar with the trail leading to the road above and he soon found himself there. The car was nowhere to be seen. He was breathing very hard now and his heart skipped a beat when he realized there was nobody waiting for him. Suddenly he saw car lights coming down the road. The car pulled along side of him and stopped. He didn?t recognize the figure in the driver's seat. He had a dark coat on and Johnathan couldn?t see his face too well, but he noticed a large scar across his chin.