“I'll do it myself,” said Jasper. He couldn't let her do it, or something in him might snap. That was why he took a
cold shower: so he could keep his fire in check. He didn’t want her stoking it again.
“No. I'll do it,” Willow protested. There was no way he could reach his back easily. Jasper couldn’t win, so he let
her do whatever she wanted. Willow skipped the Q-tip and poured the salve over her hand. She rubbed her
hands together to warm the salve up and massaged Jasper’s bruises.
The moment her hand touched his back, Jasper tensed up. All he could think of was her hand against his skin.
“Tellif it hurts. The captain said | have to do this for the salve to work. Hold it in, alright?” said Willow.
There was no need to hold in any pain. Willow's strength was too minor to cause any pain. It was then Willow
realized that Jasper had a big back, and his muscles were really taut. They were hard to the touch and a little
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Once she was done, Jasper had a film of sweat glistening on his forehead. Willow had just stoked his flof
desire, and it was burning hot. “Done? I'll get sfresh air.” Jasper stood up and left the room.
Willow put the salve away for the next day. The team leader summoned her for a meeting to sort out the leads
they found so they could locate the artifact’s location. She cto the conference room, and Winston asked her
to take the main spot, which she humbly gave back to him.
She sat beside him, and an excited Winston said, “Good news, Willow. We just went through the leads we found,
and there's a map in this box you collected. They indicate where the leads are scattered around in this zone.”
“Really? That's great news! So, can we find more clues now?” Willow said in delight. So that fall was a blessing in
disguise. “Yes. We can start our investigation, and through GPS, pinpoint the area where the ship sank.”
Willow was excited. She call the way with her team to find something, so there was no way she would want
to return empty-handed. She wanted to do something for her nation’s efforts to reclaim their artifacts.
“Tto begin our research.” Winston scanned the map and uploaded it into his computer, then he projected it
onto the screen for everyone to see. While everyone was staring at the map, the member at the end of the table
surreptitiously took a photo of it with their phone.
Jasper cin as well, and the member beside Willow gave up their seat for him. Willow turned around and
smiled at him, then she went back to Winston's explanation.
Jasper figured out the goal for this trip after he went through Willow's notes. He was every bit as knowledgeable
as everyone around the table now. Moreover, he was a smart man with a photographic memory.
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Once the meeting was over, everyone retired for the night. The member who took a photo of the map went back
to his room and took out his laptop. He then logged into a private account of swebsite and sent the photo of
the map to his correspondent.
‘Good. You will be paid handsomely for this, the correspondent texted. ‘I can work for you guys, but you must
givea million and a half once we find the artifact, texted the member. ‘Of course. One and a half million is
but pocket change for us. Keep us updated about all progress on your side so we can find the artifact faster.”
‘Understood.’ This spy was a man named Yosemite Xingras. Before he joined the expedition, an international
antiquity trafficker established contact with him.
and promised a payment of one and a half million if he would be their mole..
Willow was still going through the map even at night. A few tectonic shifts would have happened over a
thousand years, so the landmasses around this zone were probably different now.