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She turned and retrieved two dishes of huevos rancheros with chorizo and refried beans heavy on the salsa from the oven and placed them on the table "Tell me about it while we eat"

Between mouthfuls, as he ravenously attacked Loren's Mexican brunch, Pitt began with his arrival at the sacrificial well and told her what happened up to his discovery of the jade box and the quipu in the Ecuadorian rain forest He rounded out his narrative with the myths, the precious few facts, and finished with broad speculation

Loren listened without interrupting until Pitt finished, then said, "Northern Mexico, you think?"

"Only a guess until the quipu is deciphered"

"How is that possible if, as you say, the knowledge about the knots died with the last Inca?"

"I'er's computer to come up with the key"

"A wild shot in the dark at best," she said, sipping her chane

"Our only prospect, but a da roo off the end of a runway, then sat down again "Time is our real problem The thieves who stole the Golden Body Suit of Tiapollo before Custoents could seize it have a head start"

"Won't they be delayed too?" asked Loren

"Because they have to translate the ins and ideographic syes on the suit"

Loren ca into a race for the treasure"

Pitt slipped his ars see up that way"

"Just be careful," she said, running her hands under his robe "I have a feeling your competitors are not nice people"

Early the nexttraffic rush, Pitt dropped Loren off at her townhouse and drove to the NUMA headquarters building Not about to risk dae to the Allard by the crazy drivers of the nation's capital, he drove an aging but pristine 1984 Jeep Grand Wagoneer that he had ine taken fro race ht have stopped beside hiht would never suspect that Pitt could blow their doors off froear ratios and wind dynae

He slipped the Jeep into his parking space beneath the tall, green-glassed tower that housed NUMA's offices and took the elevator up to Yaeger's co the jade box gripped tightly in his right hand When he stepped into a private conference room he found Ad for him He set the case on the floor and shook hands