Search for Stolen Tolita Gold Statue

Maxine Hart is a writer of mystery novels. Her latest novel is about the Drug Trafficking market. The more research she does, the more she realizes the bulk of the drugs coming into the United States is coming from Mexico and Colombia. She had already started writing, but as she often did, she got stuck when it came to giving her story a real feeling within the story line, its people and their backgrounds. So, she convinced her publisher to let her travel to Cartagena, Colombia to get a better feel for what her characters were experiencing. Knowing Colombia is not at all a safe place to travel, her publisher insists on sending his CIA friend, Riley Perkins, to look after her.

In the meantime, two undercover detectives (Rick and Harry) are accidently dropped on her front steps – one of them wounded - as they try to escape the drug dealers who suspected them of being a leak to their cause after one of the Colombian Cartels is raided. The two detectives had a lead on the Cali Cartel in Colombia. When one of them is exposed as a snitch, their Police Captain takes them off the case, putting on two new detectives to take over the assignment.

Put on temporary leave, Rick and Harry go out to dinner to complain about their predicament and a perceived lack of backing from their Chief. They overhear a conversation about the search for a stolen Colombian artifact and the need to find help to search for it. Two drinks in and angry at being put on probation, they approach the men at the next table and volunteer themselves as out-of-work private detectives. For a handsome reward, they volunteer their services to go to Colombia and search for the missing artifact. Their search for the artifact overlaps with the Cartel research being done by Max and Riley. As a team, they accomplish both sets of goals.