“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. “Tell me if it hurts. The captain said I 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 bumpy.


    Once she was done, Jasper had a film of sweat glistening on his forehead. Willow had just stoked his


    me of desire, and it was burning hot. “Done? I’ll get some fresh 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 came to 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.”


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    Willow was excited. She came all 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 reim their


    artifacts.


    “Time to begin our research.” Winston scanned the map and uploaded it into hisputer, 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 came in 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 exnation.


    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.


    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 hisptop. He then logged into a private ount of some website


    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 give me a 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 thendmasses around this zone were probably different now.