Treasure of the Mayan King (2012) (12 page)

“Amazing!” Arturo responded, trying to absorb it all.

De Leon leaned forward and stared intensely at Arturo as he continued. “So, there are a lot of things we know, but we cannot afford to get overconfident, as there are many things we do not know. We know that four guards were bribed not to interfere with the rescue. We also know that Madrid had foreign help to make the operation successful. What we don’t know, however, is what country the helicopter came from. It could have been Colombia, as they are heavily involved in the drug trade, or Honduras, which would be more likely to have a modern helicopter. But it could just as easily been the USA or even someplace in Europe. We also don’t know where Madrid is now. But, my friend, I have a feeling that we will know soon.”

De Leon picked up his fork and started to eat.

Arturo smiled. “I admire your abilities, Captain. Have you ever thought about becoming a private detective?”

De Leon paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. A mischievous smile crossed his face, but he continued eating without further comment.

Chapter Four

“The Mayan Code?” Chauncy tried his best to feign ignorance. “What’re you talking about? Surely you must have the wrong man, Mr. Domingo. I’m a paleontologist; I study fossils and such.”

The smile left Santo Domingo”s face. He turned the wooden chair to face Chauncy and sat down. After a moment, he spoke, his voice deadly serious.

“Let’s not play games, Mr. Rollock. I do not have time to waste; in fact, time is of the essence. We are very much aware of who you are and what you know. So you can stop playing dumb, it doesn’t suit you. We were planning to entice you to come down here from the States but when we found out that you were coming for a vacation…well, you cannot imagine how pleased we were.

“We know that approximately five years ago you were down here in Yucatan, working with Doctor Sova in Palenque making plans to exhume a Mayan king. We also know that you two invented a personal code based on the Mayan hieroglyphs, which you refer to as the Mayan Code. So please, do not insult us by lying.”

Chauncy sat back against the wall very slowly. Suddenly it seemed the throbbing in his head was from his thoughts instead of the tranquilizer dart. They know. They know all about Dr. Sova and me.

Chauncy realized his face had given him away. There was no point in trying to bluff. “All right, who are you people? Why didn’t you just hire me to translate the Mayan Code, instead of abducting me? Better yet, why didn’t you just get Dr. Sova to translate it for you?”

Santo smiled; his logic was getting results. He crossed his arms and spoke. “Well, let’s start from the beginning, shall we? You would not have come voluntarily if you had known who we are, and you are not the type to take on a job when you don’t know full details of who you’re working for. So we had to use, shall we say, a little persuasion.”

“I’ve already surmised that you are criminals,” Chauncy said.

Santo’s smile widened, causing his eyes to become mere slits in his face, and then he went somber again. “Dr. Sova was a good friend of yours, so you probably know all about his gambling habit. Let me inform you of more recent events. After you left Mexico, he completely lost control. His debts mounted until he was desperate.

“He met some members of our organization who saw his value. He had a good head for finances despite his gambling problem. My employer offered him an opportunity to work off his debts. For quite a while things went well. But it was only a matter of time before his habit came back to haunt him. After he used up his own money, he began using my employer’s: first hundreds, then thousands.

“Of course we could never tolerate that. But somehow Dr. Sova found out about our plans to deal with him. He disappeared with one million.”

“A million!” Chauncy said, completely amazed. “Pesos or dollars?”

“Dollars, Mr. Rollock, one million American greenbacks! He took the money and hid it somewhere in the jungle. We caught up with him as he was trying to leave the country, apparently planning to return when he thought it was safe. Those who tortured him were unskilled. He died without revealing the location of the money and they threw him into a cenote with a boulder tied to his neck.”

Chauncy closed his eyes in grief. The Mayans had used those large, circular, limestone sinkholes called cenotes as a repository for human sacrifices. The mental visuals of seeing Dr. Sova unceremoniously tossed into a watery grave pained him. Doctor Sova wasn’t perfect, but he had been a friend and mentor to Chauncy. Perhaps he should have made a greater effort to talk to Dr. Sova about his habit, or tried harder to reach him during the five years since they had been together.

But now it was too late.

Santo continued. “What a symbolic way to die, at least if you are an archaeologist. Anyway, all we found was this.”

He pulled a scroll-like paper from his briefcase and unrolled it. On it were a series of Mayan glyphs.

“As you can see, the good doctor wrote in his Mayan Code. In better times, Dr. Sova had mentioned that only two people on earth knew how to decipher the code. The first, of course, was him, and the second was you. All we are asking is that you decipher it. Once we find the money he took from us, we let you go. It’s that simple.”

Anger washed over Chauncy. “You killed Doctor Sova? How dare you!”

Santo stood up and the two bodyguards stepped forward, muscles tensed for action.

“He got what he deserved,” Santo abruptly replied. “We want to know where the money is hidden! You will start on this project now. As you can see, we’ve done our best to accommodate you, and you have all the materials you will need. Food will be delivered twice a day, and we will be checking on your progress. I do hope the love you have for your family will motivate you to hurry.” He turned on his heel and his bodyguards followed him out.

The reference to his family cut like a knife. I hope to God that they never find out there is another person who knows the Mayan Code, he thought.

There was a loud knock on Anita’s hotel door. “Who is it?” she asked, her voice quailed.

“It’s us, Marlo and Gloria.”

She quickly opened the door. They could tell she had been crying and gave her a hug after she let them in.

“I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I have been so worried about poor Chauncy. I hope he’s okay,” she said in a shaky voice.

Marlo tried to sound calm. “Well, the note mentioned that as long as we do not contact the authorities, he’ll be fine. Kidnappings and abductions are becoming common down here. Let’s just sit tight and see what they want. Most likely a large sum of money will soon be requested of us.”

“If it’s money, they should have contacted us by now,” Gloria said.

Anita walked toward the window, wiping away a tear. “Well, Chauncy always taught me to remain calm during difficult situations, to try and think things out and not act out of sheer emotion. ‘Emotions and panic can kill you’ he always says. I won’t panic. I won’t let my nerves get the best of me.”

“Yeah,” Marlo agreed. “He taught me the same thing when we were down in Chile. I nearly learned it the hard way. Take a deep breath and try to relax.”

A knock at the door startled them. Marlo jumped up. Walking toward the door, fists clenched, he said, “Who is it?”

“Front desk sir, I have a message for the occupant of this room,” a woman’s voice answered.

Marlo glanced through the peephole at the uniformed clerk. Opening the door, he quickly took the envelope, thanked her brusquely and shut the door.

He handed the envelope to Anita, who sat down and nervously opened it.

“What does it say, Mom?” Troy asked.

She unfolded the letter inside and read it aloud:

“Mr. Rollock is in good health. When he is finished with his assignment, he will be released. If you want to see him alive again, do not contact the authorities.”

Anita stared vacantly as she thought out loud. “They don’t want any money? But then what could they want?”

Marlo scratched his head, his brow furrowed. “Well, there goes my abduction theory. Assignment? This is bizarre!”

Gloria sat down on the couch next to Anita. “I guess we’ll just have to sit tight until things work out.”

Troy sat down on the floor and crossed his arms. “I wish I could go rescue Dad.”

Chauncy stared blankly at the scroll lying on the desk in front of him. After five years his memory of the code was rusty. He knew the translated code could be would be gibberish to anyone but the author. Death threats didn’t make it easier.

So many things could go wrong. Suppose the translation was correct, but the money wasn’t where the scroll said it would be? What if the writing was misleading? Would his captors accuse him of lying or deliberately stalling? Would he then be tortured and murdered just like Dr. Sova? Would they then turn on his wife and child?

He propped his elbows on the desk and lowered his head onto his hands, rubbing his face and eyes as he tried to calm himself. Emotion and panic would kill him. He heaved a sigh and returned his attention to the scroll and what Dr. Sova had taught him about the Mayan language.

Ancient manuscripts such as the Popol Vuh, or Book of the Community, had barely survived. The Popol Vuh had been a collection of ancient myths written by a young Mayan noble named Quiche Maya, and it was instrumental in helping archaeologists on the path to learning the written Mayan language. The most famous, and most helpful, book had been the Madrid Codex. That codex had been rescued from oblivion in the 19th century in Spain, and had proven to be invaluable in deciphering the Mayan script.

Chauncy smiled, recalling the words of his mentor. “They don’t teach you these things in the universities or books, Chauncy! No, but you must always use your head, your brain, your thinking ability to its fullest potential if you want to become successful.”

Chauncy’s mind wandered back to the past when he met Dr. Sova. The initial testing, the slow work on the temple, the startling revelation at the hacienda in Merida, the long days and nights learning the Mayan language and practicing the Mayan Code with him, the many days of being the student of the greatest linguist in the world, the dangerous adventure with the rebels and their wannabe leader. Then there were the long months of learning before their paths had separated.

Chauncy snapped back to reality. They were separated permanently. Those “good old days” were gone, as was Dr. Sova himself. Despite the doctor’s own admonition to “always use your head,” he had succumbed to his own vices and been killed for it. If a man so intelligent could fail, Chauncy knew he had his work cut out for him if he wanted to avoid the same fate.

Taking a deep breath, he once more focused on the scroll in front of him.

Chapter Five

Chauncy awoke with a start. His neck hurt terribly. After a few disoriented moments, he realized he had fallen asleep with his head on the desk. Sitting up, he rubbed his neck, grimacing. He hadn’t fallen asleep at his work desk in ages.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up. He couldn’t remember how late he was up last night, scribbling away as he tried to translate the message, and trying to come up with a plan. He had an inkling of an idea. He knew from past experience that if he pushed the idea too hard he would lose it.

He opened his eyes and stared again at the scroll. Within the cryptic symbols was the location of one million dollars. The filthy scoundrels, he thought sullenly. That ill-gotten money probably cost a whole lot of innocent blood.

He heard the jingling of keys and turned toward the door as it swung open. Santo Domingo was accompanied by the same guards as yesterday. One carried steaming food on a plastic tray. After putting it on the table, he returned to Domingo’s side.

“Your breakfast is here,” Santo announced with a smile. “How is the project coming along?”

Chauncy stood up and made his way toward the table. “Well, keep in mind that this is only the second day that I have been here. If you don’t count the time I was unconscious, this will be the first full day. This isn’t going to be an easy project, Mr. Domingo, but I am positive that I will have the document translated for you in a week or so.”

Santo’s cheerfulness evaporated. “That is not acceptable!” His tone left no room for argument. “It is too much time, Mr. Rollock. We need to find the money soon. Speed up the translation!”

“I will try my best, Mr. Domingo. Keep in mind that we are dealing with cryptic language, and that I must decipher, translate, and then somehow understand the meaning behind the translation. It’s no easy task.”

The three men headed for the door. Santo stopped for a moment before leaving and turned to look at Chauncy. “Work faster, Mr. Rollock. And do not try to bluff me.”

The sound of the heavy metal door seemed to bounce around Chauncy’s mind along with the warning. These people are not going to play around. Quickly finishing the plate of papas con huevos, a potato and egg mixture, he got back to work.

Santo returned twice, the second time with a plate of tacos. Both visits were brief; apparently Santo was satisfied with watching Chauncy work instead of interrogating him.

There was no clock in the room, but Chauncy figured it was close to ten o’clock at night by the time he called it quits. He stumbled over to the bed, pulled the light-switch cord, and flopped down.

Despite the strain of the day’s work, his brain apparently wasn’t done. In his mind’s eye he saw the Mayan hieroglyphs over and over again. The cryptic message Dr. Sova had left wouldn’t leave his mind.

It wasn’t until the next morning that he realized what his brain had been trying to tell him.

He was already hard at work when Santo brought breakfast. This time, the other guard held a metal folding chair, and for a split second Chauncy feared that they had moved past threats and were going to beat him. But the guard simply set the chair a few feet away and Santo sat down.

“So,” he said, with a grim smile. “Let’s see your progress.”

Once Chauncy’s pulse returned to normal, he spoke, consulting his notes. “Well, I have managed to translate some of it. This is what I have so far: