Deity (37 page)

How
much baggage Abe would continue to drag along with him, Peet wasn’t sure, but
he knew that wherever they were being led, he would need to be of some benefit
to stay alive.
But how?

Peet
sensed his time running out. To make matters worse, his anger toward Matt and
Abe was clouding his ability to think straight, to develop some sort of
survival strategy. Nothing had come to mind and now, as they marched up a
sloped ravine, he could see the end of their journey just ahead.

An
armed man awaited them beside a stone pillar. A lookout perhaps, keeping an eye
out for the Zapatistas, but no doubt a guard posted to keep anyone from
accessing the last clue.

Anyone but Abe.

Peet
and Father Ruiz were led to the pillar behind Chac. There, a stiff blow to the
back of the knees brought him to the ground. Chac was unexpectedly compliant,
dropping to his knees without so much as a suggestion and stealing a glance at
the ball sitting atop the pillar’s crown.

Abe
didn’t notice, or Chac’s observation just didn’t concern him. “Good work,
Rafi,” he blurted, rubbing his hands together like an eager child. His eyes
shifted to the pillar. “So where is it?”

The
guard tipped his head toward the narrow slit in a layer of ancient lava flow
just beyond the pillar. “It’s inside.”

Abe’s
smile widened as he turned for the cave opening. “Perfect.”

“There’s
another pillar,” Rafi warned, causing Abe an unwelcome hesitation. “It’s like a
puzzle.”

“So?”

“It
can’t be unlocked without the cross.”

Abe
reached inside his vest and retrieved the Talking Cross. His fingers curled
around the shaft, opened, then curled again like a batter re-gripping his
Louisville Slugger.

“Don’t
worry, Rafi. I can take care of this.”

Abe
started for the cave once more but after a couple steps he paused again and then
turned thoughtfully back to Chac. “But just in case there’s some Mayan code I
don’t know about, why
don’t we
bring Mr. Bacab with
us.”

“What
makes you think I’ll decode that pillar?” Chac sneered as two riflemen yanked
him back to his feet.

His
words effectively wiped the smile from Abe’s face. Abe drew his pistol, marched
back to Chac and pressed the muzzle squarely between his eyes. “You’ll come or
the local wildlife will scatter your bones from where you’re standing right
now.”

Chac
didn’t bat an eye. “Go ahead. Shoot me like you did Matt. It’d bring me great
pleasure knowing you’ll have nobody left to do your work for you.”

Abe
considered for a moment. Peet could hardly bear the tension as Abe decided
whether or not he was going to pull the trigger. For a brief moment he worried
Abe would switch tactics and turn the gun on him or Father Ruiz, coercing
Chac’s cooperation by threatening the life of another.

Luckily,
Abe didn’t choose the immediate option. Instead, he surprised them with an
entirely different card he’d been holding. “You may not value your life, Chac,”
he began, putting the pistol away, “but how do you feel about the life of a
young girl?”

Chac
returned with a sarcastic smile of his own. “Who did you kidnap this time?
Some poor farmer’s daughter?
Or is she just another hooker
you pulled off the street?”

Abe
stepped back, clearly amused. “I believe she’s somebody you know. A young lady
you took swimming on your last little caving adventure.”

Peet’s
heart skipped a beat.
Lori
? His mind
began to spin. Could it be true? Could Lori somehow be
alive
? How could Abe know about her unless she was alive? The very
idea sent every nerve within his body tingling.

“Lori’s
dead,” Chac said flatly.

“That’s
where you’re wrong,” Abe challenged. “She’s very much alive. But she won’t be
for very long if you refuse to cooperate.”

Chac
merely shrugged, his hands still tied behind his back. “Kill her,” he said in
an unaffected tone.

Peet
nearly choked. How could Chac suggest such a thing? He knew Lori. He had been
affected by the loss of her at the cenote, and yet, there he stood, just as
cold and calloused as the man threatening her life.

Abe
laughed, finally breaking the stare-down he’d been having with Chac. He turned
away to call two men over. Rafi and Sonjay immediately responded like a couple
of loyal dogs. Peet couldn’t hear what Abe was saying to them, but he could see
the incredulous smiles that spread across their faces - faces that brightened
as though they’d just been handed an unexpected promotion.

As the men obediently raced off into the cave,
Abe turned back to Chac with a pleased smile plastered across his own face.
Once again he toed the
line before his adversary, leaning ever closer into Chac’s face.

“Of
course the girl means nothing to you,” Abe said with a sneer. “After all, you
left her to die in that cenote yourself.”

Chac
was unmoved. He didn’t even flinch as flecks of Abe’s spittle landed on his
face. “Taking a girl’s life won’t get you any closer to your prize,” he said
coolly.

Abe
paused for a moment. In the tense silence that followed the two men simply
glared at each other as though daring the other to blink. Peet fidgeted
anxiously, wondering which man would finally give in. There had to be a
breaking point in one of them
somewhere,
and it made
him nervous wondering where that point would be. What would happen if one of
them did?

What
would happen if they didn’t?

It
was Abe who finally moved, but it wasn’t to step down from the confrontation. In
fact, he straightened his back in a move that appeared more like a regrouping
of wits before unleashing a second wave of attacks.

 
“I have no intentions of killing Lori,” he
said, withdrawing a large hunting knife from its sheath dangling from his belt.
He thumbed the blade. “I kind of enjoy her company.”

Then,
as if on cue, a pain-stricken scream suddenly broke the silence. It carried an
eerie echo that resonated from deep within the cave with a pitch that only a
woman could make. The sound made Peet’s hair stand on end. It made Abe’s eyes
dance with delight.

“However,”
he said, stroking his blade with great pleasure, “when my men are through I can
do things to her that will make your skin crawl.”

Another
tortured scream set Peet’s nerves on edge. It took all he had to restrain
himself but to his utter astonishment, Chac stood silent, completely unaffected
by the wails now spilling from the cave—one after another after another.

Abe
lingered, his eyes studying Chac’s face, looking for any sign of weakness. “You’re
a hard man, Chac,” he finally said. “But this is your last chance to stop this.
If I go in there, know that I’m not coming back out until it’s finished.” He
leaned into Chac tauntingly. “I can take hours.”

Peet,
like Abe, expected Chac to break. His every last nerve implored the Mayan to stop
this madness. Lori’s life depended on it.

But
Chac did something unthinkable. His back stiffened and his lips curled back
into a defiant sneer. He stared Abe square in the eye—a challenge, or a dare.

“You
don’t have hours,” he spat.

Abe
stepped back, either impressed or surprised by Chac’s coldness. He spun the
knife in the palm of his hand and with a parting smile, he said, “I never
thought you had it in you, Chac.” With that, he performed an about-face on his
heel and started for the cave.

“Just
remember when this innocent girl haunts your dreams at night,” he called over
his shoulder. “You could have saved her.”

Peet
couldn’t take it any longer. This wasn’t a game and it was obvious now that
Chac could not be trusted. The Mayan didn’t know Lori like he did. He hadn’t
spent the past decade nurturing the collegiate career of one of his brightest
students, preparing her for a promising future. He didn’t care about Lori the
way Peet did. Chac certainly didn’t ache for her the way he did.

As
Abe drew closer to the cave without any sign of slowing down, Peet sprang to
his feet. “Wait!” he called. “I’ll do it!”

Abe
spun around, surprised. He took a moment, his eyes sweeping to Chac, and then
lingering on Peet in disbelief. Slowly, Peet could see the realization seep
into his face. Then the smile, that dreadfully evil smile, made one last appearance
upon his lips.

“Now
here’s a man with some spine in his back,” Abe taunted. “It’s too bad he’ll be
no use to the cause.”

“I’m
an anthropologist,” Peet insisted, stumbling forward despite the rifles
suddenly swinging his way. Abe brushed his alerted men aside.

“I
helped decipher the pillar in Izapa,” Peet added. “I think I can help you with
this one.”

Chac
shot him a warning glance as Peet stepped by him, but it was too late. Another
cry from the cave steeled Peet’s resolve. He was committed to whatever horrors
waited in that cave. He had to decode the last pillar for Lori’s sake. He
wasn’t about to lose her again.

“Maybe
you’re right,” Abe said, snatching Peet by the arm and training the tip of his
knife against his throat. “I wouldn’t want to risk losing the power of God to
that Zapatista anyway.”

He
paused to bark at his men, ordering them to make sure Chac didn’t escape. Then,
finally, he snatched his radio and in an almost regrettable tone, he called
Sonjay and Rafi off of Lori. The cries from the cave reduced to a pitiful moan—

Then
silence.

The
tightness in Peet’s chest eased with relief, but Abe’s blade pressed more
threateningly against his throat. Abe leaned in close enough for his
whitewashed breath to linger within Peet’s nostrils.

“Remember
one thing,” he warned. “If you don’t crack this code, I will kill you and throw
Lori to the wolves.”

Part V

Baktun

“
The Christians will go to holy heaven, guarded
by their holy faith, and the Itzaes and the Balams will stop being lost...”

-Chilam Balam

Traps

Chac
cursed beneath his breath. The morning had started out on a sour note that had
progressively rotted as the day wore on. His attempts to stop Abdullah had
failed miserably. In fact, it was he who had been so easily taken out of the battle.
It was truly a dark day, but he knew there was still room to get worse.
Much worse.

And
it all began with the call from Sabino. There’d been a mistake, his friend
explained. They’d targeted the wrong plane. A wedding party, it seemed.

A wedding party?

Yes.
A man, a woman and a priest.
Abdullah was not on
board, but the three captives were no doubt associated with his group because
they escaped with the aid of a man wielding an FN Scar. That was Abdullah’s
weapon of choice, certainly, but the scenario didn’t fit his mode of
operations, even if the trio were his decoy as Sabino speculated. No, the
downed plane and its crew sounded more like The Ladybug.

That
would explain the strange readings from the tracking device Chac had inserted
into the sole of Peet’s boot before he departed from Chichen Itza. That was how he came to locate
Peet in the middle of the dense jungle just hours ago. It was his bad luck that
Abdullah and his men were right behind. Chac had hoped to get himself and
Sabino’s group into position before Abdullah arrived. Everything had been
planned out and ready for execution, except for one thing.

He
hadn’t accounted for Matt Webb’s efficiency.

Now
Chac sat a captive, silently cursing as he watched Abdullah escort Peet through
the mouth of the cave and disappear into the dark interior of the ancient lava
flow. He feared the professor’s impulse may be the end of him, but there was no
way to warn the man against it. As foolish as it was, Chac couldn’t blame him
for his reaction. Peet wasn’t a man wizened by years of trickery, espionage and
battle. His life had not been forged by a cunning and patient foe.

Dr.
Anthony Peet was a simple anthropologist and for that, Chac envied him.

Chac
longed for a life focused on the simple concerns of living. He also longed for
an unhindered study of his distant ancestors; to learn the forgotten secrets of
the Maya without the distraction of constantly protecting them. His desire to
learn had grown so strong over the years that he supposed it was solely to
blame for his lack of caution when Matt Webb came along.

Matt
had provided an opportunity to learn from a practicing expert. At least, that’s
what Chac wanted from the BYU professor and it was that expectation that had
clouded Chac’s judgement. He had no idea Matt was working for Abdullah, though
in hindsight he should have suspected it. But all of that was in the past. Chac
had learned a valuable lesson and in the present situation, it did him no good
to linger on actions that couldn’t be changed.