Deadly Treasure Hunt

By Donald R Richter

This is a book that starts in the back room of a Vegas casino; a few guys were bored so they wanted to bet on a game. This book goes through a few contestants, the game is not really fixed but the clues are placed in interesting places. I took a bunch of dirty jokes, and woven them into the story. I had to bring a young boy into it for the little Johnny jokes, a blonde for the blonde jokes, a priest, I add and subtract contestants, to bring in different jokes so some get hurt and can’t play, like getting mauled by a tiger, breaking legs, things like that, but keep main players, some jokes can get pretty blue, and some are downright nasty, that is why this is a ADULT book. The rules of the game are simple, you need five people to get a clue, and the clues lead to monuments for a payout. It takes five keys to be turned at once, the teams can’t work together, and gamblers cannot contact the teams in any way or forfeit their million dollar buy in. That is it, so cheating is allowed. The contest takes place within 200 miles of a small town of Wausau, it goes into the upper Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota, and it takes you on a journey, checking out some weird and beautiful places.

Enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781796089363

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 by Donald R. Richter.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 01/07/2021

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Setting Up the Game

Chapter 2 Start of the Game

Chapter 3 First Clue

Chapter 4 Team Three Has the Lead

Chapter 5 To Dillinger’s

Chapter 6 To the Meteor

Chapter 7 The Mall of America

Chapter 8 The Conservatory

Chapter 9 Pine Mountain

Chapter 10 To the Iron Mine

Chapter 11 To Piers Gorge

Chapter 12 Cornish Pump and Glider

Chapter 13 Fire Museum

Chapter 14 Cave Point

Chapter 15 Lambeau Field

Chapter 16 EAA

Chapter 17 History at the Castle

Chapter 18 Wizard Quest

Chapter 19 Circus World

Chapter 20 The Safe house

Chapter 21 Cruise

Chapter 22 St. Josaphat

Chapter 23 The Gold Pyramid

Chapter 24 To the Old Playboy Mansion

Chapter 25 The House on the Rock

Chapter 26 Cave of the Mounds

Chapter 27 To FAST Mold Graveyard

Chapter 28 World’s Largest Six-Pack

Chapter 29 The Motherhouse

Chapter 30 To the Niagara Cave

Chapter 31 The SPAM Museum

Chapter 32 Jolly Green Giant

Chapter 33 Old Man of The Dalles

Chapter 34 To the State Capitol

CHAPTER ONE

Setting Up the Game

One day, in a backroom of a Vegas casino, a group of older gentlemen were placing bets on what color the weatherman was going to be wearing. One guy said, We need something a little more exciting. An older man named Frank said, How about a good old-fashioned treasure hunt? Bear with me now, we could make it in a two-hundred-mile radius. We could hide clues, bet on teams, whoever gets to the end first wins. A younger man named Lance asked, No rules and we all get to set the clues. Another asked, Do we get to pick the teams? A woman named Nancy asked, What is the winning prize? Frank, the old guy, said, Winner takes all; we will need a prize for the players in the game. Lance said, A chance of a million dollars to the winning team if they come in first on all ten clues. Nancy said, So each clue is ten grand for first place, second place twenty-five hundred, and third a thousand. The old man Frank said, Ten thousand for a clue to the clue. The younger guy Lance said, That’s a good idea. That way they won’t get stuck.

Nancy asked, What are the rules going to be? And I think the game will pay out a million in prize money, split between the teams. Frank said, They can’t work together. All the clues have to be within the two-hundred-mile radius, they can’t be buried. And they must sign a waiver that we are not responsible for anything. A man stood up with his drink and said, We are going to need a few people in on this, real-time cameras, trackers. Now they’re going to be teams, you said four teams of four.

Lance asked, Where is this going to take place? Frank said, We throw a dart at the USA. Ten-thousand-dollar bet on where it lands. Lance said, I’m in. Who wants to help me set this up? Frank stood, and so did Nancy. One of the men walked up and asked, When are you planning to start this treasure hunt? Lance said, The first of next month. That gives us almost a month. Three men walked over and asked, How much to get in? The old man Frank said, Million. We are going to need a minimum of five investors. Nancy said, We have five right here. What is the maximum? One man said, I can probably bring in three or four more. Another man said, Give me more details. I will take it to the club next week. Maybe I can get a few onboard. Nancy said, You do know the more money the more cheating there will be, so we have to hold this close to our chest.

Lance went and made arrangements with Frank and Nancy to have a meeting and plan out the game. They met in two days. Frank said, I have found some keyed markers. It takes five keys to open. The keys are located so one person cannot reach two key holes. The first ones who get to the marker and turn all keys at the same time, the top door will open. That would be first place of ten thousand. The second team to reach it gets twenty-five hundred. It needs five keys but we are only going with four players. Nancy asked, Can it be reprogrammed for four keys? Frank smiled and said, Who cares four or five? They just split it up one more time. Lance said, I have found four lime-green vans. We can put trackers in them. Nancy said, If we are adding a player, we are going to have to cut the teams down to three. Then we just have to make up some clues to somewhere we don’t know. The old guy said, I have some of the investors. We call them in tonight, we throw the dart, and see where this will be held.

That night twenty-five people showed up for the dart throwing. They each paid ten thousand dollars to get a map. They marked their map and handed it in. A showgirl came out. They spun her around twenty-five times, once for every person there, and she threw the dart, hitting the large map of the US. One guy jumped out of his seat and yelled, Wisconsin! I picked Chicago, am I the closest? A man in a tux shuffled through the papers and said, Yes, you are. The next closest is Nebraska. You have just made $210,000, forty goes to the house. Frank said, There are a few rules. There are three teams of five. No contacting your team. If you do, you will forfeit your million dollars. The teams cannot work together. The clues must be left the way they were. The clues cannot be buried. There are ten markers. The clues are in machines shaped like question marks. And the payout is in markers that look like the Lincoln Memorial. They take five keys that need to be turned at the same time. The one to get to the last one is the winner. Now we know the game has to be played within two hundred miles of a town called Wausau, Wisconsin.

One guy said, Can we help you pick the points of interest and then you can make up the clues? Frank smiled and said, Okay. In three weeks we pick teams. I will put out a help wanted, must have driver’s license and medical insurance. One of the guys laughed. That’s a must. Remember that game to cross Yellowstone Park? They had to collect flags. Three died and thirteen were injured. A skinny guy said, That was one of the greatest games. We did live-action streaming. A man said, That reminds me, no bringing in wild animals. The skinny guy said, You heard the rules. We’re not going to change them.

Another man stood and asked, Do we get to know who is betting on what team? The old man said, Not at the start. After that, who cares. Nancy smiled and said, Everything will be in place. We meet back here in three weeks. We will get you their résumés and you can bet for what team you want. Frank stood and raised his martini and said, There are three of us that will pick the teams, then you can put your money on the team you think will win. Lance stood and said, I have talked to some neutral employees. Seven of them will pick the location for the clues and machines to be hid. There are three of us, so that will give us ten people to pull this together. I gave them two days to research, so start thinking where in that two hundred miles you want to hide one. Nancy said, We have to figure out where we want the locations of each clue and each marker to be. This is going to have to be top secret. I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of money riding on this. Twenty-five people showed up just for a dart toss. In three weeks there might be a hundred. At a million apiece, that’s a large prize.

In two days they had a seven-hour meeting and knew where the markers were going to be. They contracted out getting all the markers placed. That was a job in itself. They met in three days for another long meeting, getting all the clues to where the markers were. There were around fifty clues to the ten markers, which made it interesting. There were ten people with all their views on what clue and where to put them.

They interviewed the applicants over the computer, took their résumés and their medical cards. They met at the casino in the backroom to divide them into teams. The old man Frank, he took all the jocks. The woman, Nancy, took the geeks. The younger man, Lance, took the last group. The regular guys, they were put into the last group. Nancy asked, Would you like to take a side bet? Ten grand, my team kicks your jocks’ ass. Frank held out his hand and said to a man in a tux, You hold the cash. They both wrote ten-thousand-dollar checks out for cash. Lance handed in a check also and said, I think my team will win. I think they will work harder. The old man laughed. They are uneducated, a bunch of unskilled workers. The woman asked, Who do you think will be the first to find a clue? Frank held up his hand and said, Be patient. We will bet on this when the time comes. Lance smiled and said, We have two days. Tomorrow we rehearse the presentation. It has to be a good sell. I have hired a professional speaker. They worked late into the night to get the presentation to where they wanted it. Then they rehearsed it the next day. The speaker walked through it and rewrote a few parts of it so it flowed.

The big day was there to launch the game. They had an open bar and the wait staff from the hotel was there. Lance and Frank were in tuxedos, Nancy was in a sparkly floor-length gown, their speaker was in a white tux. He started out with the rules of the game, approximately how long it was going to take, what the buy-in was, and 10 percent of the winnings was going to run the game and 10 percent to the house.

The overhead came on and a picture of a very fit man came on. The speaker said, Team number one. Jack here is a thirty-two-year-old man. He has an MBA. He played corner back in college. He swims, skis, and runs. The next one here is Robert. He is thirty-five and he has run in two triathlons, sixteen marathons. The third in this team is Joseph, thirty-two, and he was a hockey player in college. He has hiked across the Grand Canyon, climbed Mount Olympus. The fourth is a twenty-eight-year-old girl, Cherry. She was in soccer and was nominated for the Soccer Hall of Fame. She does weight training, rock climbing. Last is a gal, Dawn. She is thirty-four. She is a weight lifter. She has gone to nationals, shot put and discus.

Most of the people were taking notes as the guy spoke.

The presenter said, "Okay. Team Two is quite different. The first one is a guy, Richard. He is twenty-eight. He has a master’s in engineering. He is one of the leading chess players in the country. The next is Scott. He graduated head of his class in middle, high school, and in college. He is a math wizard. He is big into coding. The third is Jeremy. He is twenty-two. He has three masters’ in technology, and has worked with NASA for the last three years. Now we have two women. The first is Gloria. She is thirty years old. She has a doctorate in computer science. She has an MDA in history and interned in the Smithsonian. The last one on this team is Sara. She is a thirty-six-year-old college grad with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. She won the nationals High Q contest.

Now last but not least, we have team number three. This is Mark. He is a thirty-seven-year-old forklift driver. He likes to fish and hunt. Next is Sam. He is forty-four years old. He is a factory rat. No, that’s what it says. He has worked for the same company for thirteen years now. They just gave him the axe. The company now buys everything from China. Here is Charlie. He is a fifty-two-year-old physical ed teacher. He taught for twenty-four years. The next is a girl named Jane. She is thirty-eight, a waitress, and she says she needs a change. The last but not least is Sue. She is thirty-one. She has a degree in business and she worked in car sales. Those are the teams. They may change as the game plays out. They must keep at least five to open the marker.

Lance stepped up and asked, Did everyone get their packet? He held up a handful of papers and walked around handing them out.

The speaker told them, Now the house will hold your bet. There are side bets going: how long it will last, who will get the first marker, the first injury, the first to drop out, really the first death, there are a lot of side bets going on.

Frank stood and raised an arm and said, We set out a hundred chairs. Whoever isn’t going to get in on this, would you please leave so the investors can sit?

Six people got up and left. There were at least thirty people standing.

Lance stepped over to Nancy and said one word, Whoa. She smiled and nodded.

Frank walked over to the two and said, Okay, you two, you had better pull this off. Lance smiled and said, Tomorrow at eleven we talk about our pay. I am not going to run this for free you know. Nancy said, I am getting a quarter of a million. Lance said, Well, let’s enjoy the night and we will see what the odds are after the betting is over. Frank asked, Are you really going to bet on Team Three? They sound like a bunch of losers. Lance said, The middle class, they are the workers that keep this country running. They are the back bone of our society, working two and three jobs to make ends meet. Nancy smiled and said, I bet one of them is going to be the first to die. Lance said, Why do you people think there is going to be a death? Frank said, During games there always is. Nancy said, With this much on the line we have to hire more people to watch the teams. Frank said, I had the cameras set up, and they are streaming. I think I will add more. This is a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. And let me tell you, there are some crazy places these markers are set up. Nancy said, You’re not kidding. Now Lance is going to get the teams together and start the game on Monday morning. Lance said, We are staying at the Holiday Inn. I like the Holiday chain. We will stream the start. All the vans have cameras and GPS. Everything is to be handled right here. This computer has the encryption. It should be unbreakable. Nancy said, Oh, they will try. These games can get nasty.

CHAPTER TWO

Start of the Game

Lance left early on Wednesday morning. He had a two-hour layover in Chicago. It turned into a seven-hour trip. He got to the hotel and went to the front desk and said, Hello, I booked a room for a meeting. I have it for the weekend. It should be under the hunt. The girl behind the desk said, Oh yes, you have the smaller of the two event rooms. Would you like it catered? Lance said, And I need my room key, Lance Link. She asked, May I see your card? Lance said, Bill the meeting room to me also and start a tab. She handed him his key. He was already shooting off e-mails to everyone to meet downstairs, and he asked, What is the name of the room? She said, It is the small room. It is called the Bluegill. He typed in the Bluegill and shot off the e-mail, then another, and the last one. He said as he followed the gal, Three teams, three texts. If it is possible, can we keep these teams apart? She smiled and said, It’s not that big of a hotel. And here we are. If you need anything, just ring the front desk and I will see what I can do. Lance said provocatively, Well, maybe later, and he raised his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes and headed back to the front.

The teams started to come down. Lance started to move tables around. Each team had their own table and were as far apart as he could get them. Lance took three sheets of paper from his briefcase and folded them in half and took a marker and numbered them, and set them on the tables. As the people walked in, he asked their names and told them which table, Team One, Two, or Three. The tables started to fill. They could see who was in their team. Lance said, We are waiting for one more … and here she is. Sue, I would take it. You’re on Team Three. Now the first thing you do is to think up a name for your team. He walked over and dropped a notebook on each team’s desk. You should take notes. Team Two had notebooks and their phones. Team One was videoing the meeting and putting notes on their phones.

Lance said. Okay, you people signed up for a treasure hunt. Rule one, there are three teams. You do not work with the other teams. This would be bad. You have to sign the waiver. If you lose a player, you will have to find another. There are five keys to be turned at the same time on the markers. This is your payday. First ones to the marker it is ten grand. Second place is twenty-five hundred, third is a grand. The clues and markers are to be left the way you found them. And if you get stuck and need a clue, it’s ten grand. I have your vehicles out in the parking lot, the three lime-green vans. This is what you are to drive. They have cameras and GPS. This is just for the game. And we will have cameras at the clues and markers. This is not a TV show, this is gambling on who will win. I have money on one of the teams. I can’t say which team, but there is no quitting. Got it? The investors cannot contact you under any circumstance. You all have my number. I am running the game. I only want to hear from you if you need a clue.

Cherry asked, Where is this going to take place? Lance said, I am getting to that. This game shouldn’t take longer than three weeks max. It starts here, and you have a two-hundred-mile radius. I know Lake Michigan is off to the side and it goes into the upper peninsula of Michigan—I didn’t even know that existed—and it goes into Minnesota. The clues can’t be buried. I am not saying they can’t be underground or underwater, just not buried. He then said, Sign the waivers. I will collect them. Oh yes, ten grand for supplies. Get your shit together. The game starts Monday morning at ten. We will meet down here tomorrow at ten. I am going to need one team at a time.

Lance took his suitcase and briefcase up to his room unpacked, did a quick shower, and went downstairs to the bar. He had a snack and a beer. Sam of Team Three came down and chatted. A man with a monkey came in. The monkey was wearing a diaper. It went from table to table looking at people, then it climbed up on the pool table, started to play with the balls, and swallowed the cue ball. The bartender yelled, What the hell! He threw the guy and the monkey out. Lance chuckled and said to Sam, That’s something you don’t see every day. Well, it’s been a long day. See you tomorrow.

The morning came. Lance went down to breakfast and wouldn’t talk about the game at all. Before you knew it, ten o’clock came and he started his interviews. He called in the first team. It was all streamed live to Vegas. He asked, What are you calling your team? Jack said, We are Odin, the most powerful and wisest. Lance asked, The captain of your team is … ? Robert stood and said, I have been chosen to lead. Lance then asked, Do you have a plan? Cherry said, We don’t have the first clue. Once we get that we can start the game. Joe said, We are going to start the day with a daily two-mile run that will clear everyone’s head. Lance asked, Did you run this morning? Dawn said, Yes, we did. It wasn’t a race. You learn a lot about a person when you run with them. Lance asked, Have you bought supplies? And what have you bought? Joe said, We bought some climbing gear, hiking boots, gloves, some diving equipment, maps, lights, and we still have five grand left. Lance asked, Is your team ready to play? We meet down here tomorrow at ten. Robert stood and said, We are ready to play, and we will do everything in our power to win. Lance said to the camera, Okay, this was Team One, called Odin.

He ushered them out and Team Two in. Lance said to the camera, This is Team Two. What are you calling the team? Gloria stood and said, We are the Intelligentsia, a group of intellectuals. Lance said, Okay then, we will call you Intel for short. So who is your captain? Scott stood and said, I am the captain and Richard is the driver. Gloria is the stenographer, Jeremy is the supply clerk, and Sara is our strategist. Lance asked, Do you have a plan? Scott stood and said, Yes, we have a very good plan. I cannot tell you the plan, but we do have one in place. Lance asked, Have you bought supplies? Richard said, Well, we really don’t know what we are going to need, so we will pick it up when we need it. Lance asked, Are you ready to start the game? We meet down here at ten. Scott said, My team is ready. All we need is the first clue. Lance turned and said to the camera, This was Team Two. They call themselves the Intelligentsia—did I pronounce that right? I call them the Intels.

He brought in the next group. He looked at the camera and said, This is Team Three. And what do you call yourselves? Jane stood and asked, It is either Fifth Dimension or the Pentagon. What do you think? Lance said, Who cares? Just pick one. Charlie said, Fifth Dimension just rolls off your tongue, but the Pentagon represents five sides. Lance asked, Who is your captain? Sam stood and said, I guess I am. Lance asked, Well, captain, what is your team’s name? Sam turned and looked at the table and shrugged his shoulders and said quietly, The pentagon. The table nodded. Sam turned and said louder, We call ourselves the Pentagon … That just doesn’t sound right. How about Team Three? Jane said, The Third Team. Sam said, That’s it, we are the Third Team. Lance asked, Do you have a plan? Sam said, Yes, we do. We are going to outwork everyone and we will be the first to the markers. Lance said, Have you bought your supplies? Charlie stood and said, It will be here tomorrow. You have to love next-day delivery. Lance asked, Are you ready for the game? We meet tomorrow down here at ten. Mark said, We are as ready as we could be. Lance said to the camera, This is the Third Team. Okay, place your bets.

The three teams went out and did their thing. Team One went hiking, played a round of disk golf. Team Two went and checked out the museums, worked on their computers. Team Three went through their supplies as they came in, went out and checked on the van. That night Lance went back down to the hotel bar. He ordered some pub food. The waitress recommended the brandy old-fashioned. To his surprise it was good, crushed fruit on the bottom and brandy, a couple of drops of bitters, and a few ounces of 7 Up. He sat and worked on his computer. The guy with the monkey came back in the bar; he took the cue ball out of his pocket, set it on the bar, and apologized for the monkey. The monkey climbed off his shoulder and sat on the bar. This time he wasn’t wearing a diaper. The man set some peanuts on the bar. The monkey picked one up and shoved it up his ass then ate it. The bartender said, That’s just gross. The owner of the monkey said, Ever since he swallowed that cue ball he checks everything he eats if it will fit coming out. Lance burst out laughing. He said, That is the funniest thing I have ever heard.

He finished his snack and drink and went back up to his room. Then he walked to the cinema and took in a movie. It was a nice night for a walk. He stepped into a bar. There was Team One getting their drink on. He went to the bar and got a brandy old-fashioned and walked over to the table. He asked, Odin, are you guys ready? I have a million dollars riding on this game. Robert said, A million, whoa! That’s one hell of a bet. Who did you bet on? Lance smiled and said, Can’t tell you about that, but it is a million to get in and there are over a hundred bets. So you had better be watching your ass. Jack said, You’re talking sabotage. You think someone will try to take out a team? Lance said, It has happened in the past, at least that is what I hear. This is my first game. Joe asked, So you are betting on the game and you are running it? Lance said, Yes, I am getting paid a quarter of a million, so I only have $750,000 invested in it. Once it starts I am going back to Vegas to work it from that end. There are three of us running the show.

Robert excused himself to go to the bathroom. He walked in, started to take a piss at the urinal, then a short little guy came in. His head was just above Robert’s belt. He pulled out this huge cock and started to take a piss. Robert looked down and said, With a dick that big, you must be a leprechaun. The little man looked up, slapped his dick alongside the urinal, and said, Yes, I am. And if you would like a cock this size, I could grant your wish. Robert look down and said, Hell yes. The little guy said, Step into a stall with me and I will take you up the ass. Tomorrow morning you will have a dick bigger than this one. Robert said, Ah, sure, let’s do it. They went into a stall. The little guy climbed up on the toilet and had Robert turn around and face the door. The little guy pounded him hard. Robert had to put his hands on the door so his head didn’t get pounded into it. When they were done, Robert said, I can’t believe it. Tomorrow I am going to have a huge cock. The little guy said as he walked away, I can’t believe you think I am a leprechaun. Robert’s face went white. He knew he had just been had. He washed up and went out to the table and made a mistake. He told the table the story. Dawn asked, So he was a short little guy with a cock this big? She held her hands a foot apart. Robert said, At least that big. He said he was a leprechaun.

Dawn chuckled and walked away. Cherry set down her beer, looked him right in the eye, and asked him, Now what you are saying is you thought you could get a great big dick if you let this guy fuck you in the ass? Robert blushed and said, Okay, if you put it that way it does sound silly. Jack chuckled then asked, Do you really believe in leprechauns? Robert said, No … yes … well, for a minute. This guy had a huge dick. I thought … well, okay, I was wrong. Cherry asked, Are you gay? Robert said, No, this was the first time, and my ass is killing me. Joe asked, Did he wrap that rascal? How about lube? Robert said, He spit on it. My goodness, it hurts. Lance held up his hand and said, Tequila, six shots. Twenty minutes later Dawn showed up with a sly smile on her face. She leaned in close to Cherry and whispered, His cock wasn’t that big, eight inches. It just looked bigger on a small guy, it hung to his knees.

Now Team Two, Intel, met in Scott and Jeremy’s room. They had a computer running, pages printed of the city maps and charts, history of the city. They each had a Power Point Presentation. Scott had snacks and wine, Gloria took notes. Richard said, We got the keys to the van. We can load it in the morning. There is no GPS but we can run off our phones. Jeremy asked, When do we get our first clue? Scott said, We are to be down at the meeting room at ten, so I figure that will be the start of it. A big thing to do around here is skiing, Rib Mountain. There is a very nice theater. They grow a lot of ginseng around here. We just need a clue to start. Gloria asked, What about the history? Do you think the clues will work off the history of the towns? Scott said, This was a lumber town, started back in the mid-1800s. Now they have 124 restaurants and ninety taverns, but we don’t know if all the clues will be in the city. Richard said, The rules are pretty vague. Gloria asked, How much did we spend on supplies? Do we have enough to buy a clue? Scott said, We are going to buy supplies as we need them. How can you tell what we will need?

In the morning, Team Odin got up early and went for a run. When they met before going down to the meeting, Robert said, I could have sworn I saw that leprechaun in the hall this morning. Cherry looked at Dawn. She shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Cherry just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

All three teams met in the meeting room. Lance asked, Are you ready? They all agreed they were ready to play. Lance walked around and handed an envelope to each team and said, You all get the same clues and you can look at the camera. Now open your clue.

They opened the envelope to fine one word: Michelangelo. They all pulled out their smart phones. Lance said, Get out of here. Go to your rooms or something. You can’t be here.

CHAPTER THREE

First Clue

Team Two headed out to the van. Every one of them had their cell phones on. Scott said, As team captain, there will be no talking until we get into the van. One of the Third Team was following us in the hall.

Sam turned and walked back and caught up to the team. He said, They seen me. Let’s go up to our room and figure this out.

They went to their room and Sam turned on his laptop. Everyone else brainstormed what Michelangelo had to do with Wausau. Charlie said, "Okay, what do we know about Michelangelo? He painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He was a great painter. He also was a great sculptor. He did the David, that huge marble statue. I saw that in Vegas. I think it was in Caesars. Sam said, Intel is on the move, let’s go. Sue asked, How do you know that? Mark smiled and said, We put a LoJack tracker on the vans. Surprising, it was a little over fifty bucks, and it took Charlie about five minutes to wire up. Sam said, Let’s move. Jane asked, Are we checking out? It got really quiet for a minute, then Mark said, Five minutes. Meet in the hall, get packing."

In less than five minutes everyone was out in the hall and heading for the elevator. Mark asked, Sam is team captain, who is our driver? Sam said, We will take turns and see who the best driver is. They got to the van. Mark took the wheel and said, I have tens of thousands of hours behind the wheel. Sue laughed and said, That was driving a forklift in a building. Mark said like a pirate, Arrr, captain, do we have a heading? Sam said, That we do, ye matey. Head south on 51. Now, we don’t want to catch them. This tracking them has to be kept a secret. Sue said, This is cheating. We are going to get caught. Charlie said, You heard the rules, putting a tracker on their van was not one of them. Jane asked, How many clues before the payout? Charlie said, Now that would have been a good question to ask when Lance was here.

Sue said, I think I know where they are going. There is a place called Sculpture Park, it’s just off the highway. Sam said, Team Intel has parked. What is this park? Sue said, It looks like just a park with sculptures. It has walking trails, but the park is only twenty acres. Jane said, This is great. We studied about Wausau and now we are in Stevens Point. Mark asked, How do we know this is the place? Charlie said, It does make sense, Michelangelo made great sculptures. Jane said, Well, let’s hope so. We won’t be first but we won’t be last. Sam said, Twenty-five hundred a piece is a lot better than a thousand. And maybe those jocks won’t figure it out and this will knock them out on the first clue. Sue said, Or they are going to the right clue and are going to be the first. Sam said, I trust the eggheads. They pulled into the parking lot and parked right next to the other van. Mark said, We aren’t too far behind, so we should be able to catch up to them. Sam said, Well, we know it’s not right here or they would be back to the van. Mark said, Okay, let’s just go and find out what is going on. We can still be the first to find it.

Jane said, Let’s not lollygag. This could be ten grand. She got out and everyone followed her. Mark stepped over to a map. This park has the Brickyard trail running through it, it’s 1.2 miles long. Sam said, Let’s just walk through the park. Keep an eye out for the question mark.

They strolled through the park and found the Intel team looking up at a small question mark on top of a flagpole. Sam said loudly, Well, you found it. How are you going to get to it? Scott, the captain of Team Intelligentsia, said, Ah, Team Three. What a nice name, may I add. We are working on it.

Jane asked, Only one key is needed to get the clue, right? Charlie said, I think so. It takes all five to open a marker. Jane said to Sue, Here, hold my stuff. I can climb it. Sue said, No, you can’t. It has to be thirty feet in the air. Jane took off her shoes and socks. To everyone’s surprise, her pants too. She said to Sam, Give me a boost. Sam picked her up from the back and lifted her over the first four feet to where the pole was. Jane wrapped her legs around the pole and quickly went up the pole, all the way to the top. Sam said, Be careful. Mark said, This is crazy. She should have a safety harness on or something.

Jane wrapped her arm tightly around the ball on top of the flagpole and stretched out, getting the key into the question mark. A slip of paper came out right above the key. She took the key out and hung it around her neck, then took the piece of paper and stuffed it in her bra. Sue yelled, Great job. Be careful coming down.

Jane took her time coming down. She would hold tight with her arms, drop her legs a couple of inches, then do it over again. When she got close to the bottom, Sam put his hand on her butt and lifted her off the pole. He gave her a big hug and said, That was great. She started to dig out the paper from her bra. Mark said, Let’s read that inside the van. Sue handed her, her pants and said, That was great. Jane asked, Didn’t you do that when you were kids? Sue said, Oh hell no. I am glad you did. Jane gave her a hug and a kiss on the lips. Sue’s face blushed bright red. Everything went quiet, the birds even stopped chipping for a minute.

Sara from the other team came up and asked, Can we get you to go up and get our clue? Sam said, There are not too many rules to this game, but that is one of them. We can’t work with the other teams.

They got back to the van. Jane leaned over to Sue and whispered, Sorry about the kiss. Sue smiled and whispered back, That’s okay. I am not … you know … that way. She lightly kissed her on the cheek. Charlie said, Hey, you two. We have work to do. So what did the clue say? Sam said, Jane, I can’t thank you enough. That was great. Mark said, Well, the Intel team has seen it done, but I don’t think any of those guys are going to climb that thing. Jane said, Those jocks will be up and down that pole in a minute. Sue said, You’re right, one of them is a rock climber. Jane cleared her throat and read the clue, Dinosaurs, that is it. That is all it says. Mark asked, In Wisconsin, is there La Brea Tar Pits or something like that here? Sam said, Point is a big college town, maybe they are starting a Jurassic Park. Charlie said excitedly, Got it! God, I love Google. Jurustic Park. It’s like forty miles away west on Highway 10, north of a town named Marshfield. Mark said, Captain, we have a heading. Buckle up, we are on a mission.

Sam said, I don’t think team Intel will be far behind. That was pretty easy. Charlie said, We are just lucky to have Jane here. Who else knows how to climb a flagpole? Sam said, Point well taken. That might slow them down a few hours. Sue said, They were talking drones, but how would you turn the key? Jane said, I have seen people actually run up a pole. Mark said, So have I, a clown. He pretty much ran up one and did a swan dive off the top and tightened his legs to stop a few feet from the ground. Sam asked, What is this Jurustic Park? Charlie said, This old guy, he welded a bunch of stuff together and made dragons and stuff. It should be neat.

They pulled into a small parking lot. At the entrance to the park you could see two huge steel dragons. Jane asked, I wonder where this question mark will be. Sam said with a chuckle, It will probably be welded inside one of the dragons. Sue said, Let’s just go in and ask. They went inside the park and walked around, looking everywhere. Mark said, Look for something new, like it was just welded. Sue said, I am going into the hobbit house, maybe I can find someone in there to ask. She went inside. It was their workshop and studio. There in the corner was a question mark. She walked over and put her key in and a slip of paper came out. A voice from an older lady said, So that is what that is. Sue turned to see the lady standing there watching her. She said, It is a clue for a treasure hunt. You have so many beautiful things here. The lady said, Thank you. I am Eve. So what is the prize for the treasure hunt? Sue said, Just money. By the way, I see everything here is for sale. Can I buy the question mark? The lady smiled and said, Now that wouldn’t be fair, would it? That is the only thing that is not for sale.

Sue came out of the house and skipped down the trail to find her team. Mark was crawling under a huge turtle. Sue said, A Polish rock. Jane looked at her and asked, What? Sue walked up and said, That is the clue, a Polish rock. Sam asked, Where did you find it? Sue said, It was in the corner of their studio. Come, I will show you. Sam said, No, that is fine. I believe you. Mark said, No, please show us. I would like to put my key in and see if we get another clue. Jane said, I don’t think that is the way it works. Sue took Jane by the hand and said, It is this way. Jane looked down at her hand and pulled her into a hug, and said quietly in her ear, They think we are a thing. That lightens things up a bit. That Charlie would like to get me in the sack. Sue kissed her on the lips. This time, she added some tongue. Sam said, Get a room. We don’t have all day. Sue started back to the hobbit house and said, It’s not far from the van.

They all went in and Sue introduced them to Eve. She showed them the question mark standing in the corner and said, It’s not for sale. Sam said, That’s against the rules. We must leave the markers and the question marks the same way we found them. Mark put his key in the question mark and nothing happened. He said, It was worth a try. Sue looked at the old woman and asked, Does Polish rock mean anything to you?

She said, I am sorry but that doesn’t ring a bell. Sam said, Let’s get a hotel room and work on it from there. Jane said, I think we should find a restaurant, sit down for a meal, and figure out our next move. The next clue could be a hundred miles from here. We are in the lead. Sam said, You are right, and it sounds like a simple clue. Sue said, There are Polish rock bands here. Are you sure it didn’t say polish rock? Jane said, Nope, it said Polish rock with a capital P. That makes it the country Poland. They went to a bar and grill to think about it and get a bite to eat.

Team Two brought in a high lift. They had the operator of the lift go up and get the clue. When the lift was leaving, Team One came in. Robert asked, What should we do? Should we chase after the lift? Joe said, This is a piece of cake. I will run up there and be down in five minutes. He pulled out his key and hung it around his neck. He climbed up to where the flagpole started and wrapped his hands around it and walked right up the pole; he got the clue and slid all the way down. He got a round of applause when he got down. He said, Now that is the way you clean a flagpole. Jack asked, So what is the clue? Joe pulled the paper out of his pocket and said, Dinosaur. They all pulled out their phones and searched the internet for it.

Meanwhile, Team Three was sitting in a bar eating burgers. Sam said, Since I am the captain, the girls will work on the rock, the guys will work on the Polish. Let’s sit at separate tables. After they were done eating, the two girls came over and made a presentation. Sue said, "Red granite is the state rock. And if you Google granite Wausau, you come up with Granite Peak Ski. It’s a state park, and if you think of it, Polish names end with -ski. Mark raised his glass and said, Good work. And do you know why Polacks end their names with –ski? It’s because they can’t spell toboggan. Jane rolled her eyes and asked, What did you guys come up with? Sam smiled and said, We like what you came up with. Let’s check out the ski hill. Is that the one you can see from the city? Sue said, Yes, it is. It has seventy-four runs, a vertical drop of seven hundred feet. Charlie said this could be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Mark said, I suppose the chairlifts are not working. How the hell are we going to get up there? Jane said, If you look at it with Google Earth, there is a big parking lot on the top. The clue could be anywhere. Mark said, The park is fifteen hundred acres; there is an observation tower on the top, that would be a good place to start. Sam said, We still have sunlight, let’s go.

They got into the van. Charlie said, Intel is on the move. They have figured out the Jurustic Park clue. Jane said, If we get this clue, we will be ahead of them by a day. Mark said from the driver’s seat, It didn’t take them that long to figure out the clue, like the first clue to sculpture park if we didn’t have Ms. Jane here to climb up that flagpole. Jane said, I still can’t believe you put a tracker on their cars. Charlie said, I can’t believe LoJack is that cheap. If I knew about that I would have put it on the wife’s car, could have caught her cheating on me a year earlier, the bitch. Sam asked, How long ago was that? Charlie said, Three years. Mark asked, So have you forgiven her? Charlie growled one word, Never. Jane said, Okay then, how far? Mark said, We get off the highway, a couple of miles, then up to the top.

Sue said, We have to stop and get a state park sticker. Sam asked, How much is that? Sue said, Well that depends. Do you want a daily or a yearly? It is eight dollars a day or twenty-eight for the year. Sam said, Let’s get the year. I have a feeling we will be in a few state parks. Mark pulled up to the window at the entrance to the park. He said, We need a yearly sticker. Jane said loudly,