Treasure of the Mayan King (2012) (17 page)

“I hope so, hadn’t a reason to use them, ya know. Not too many tourists come asking for helicopter rides that have working guns on ‘em.’ Charlie said, grinning from ear to ear. ‘Mighty proud of this one.’

Marlo, noticing the change in Kelly’s expression, walked over to the veteran and put a hand on his shoulder. “You okay?” he asked quietly.

He could feel Kelly shaking. “It’s rough…there’s too many memories you know? This chopper is an exact model of the one I flew in ‘Nam…and here we are…in the jungle.’

Marlo squeezed Kelly’s shoulder, but there was nothing to say.

Anita turned to Charlie. “My husband has a radio transmitter on him. Can you set us up with a locator?”

Charlie scratched his head as he surveyed the junkyard. “Yeah, yeah, the newer planes have them. I think one of those Cessnas has one.”

“How soon can you have it working?”

“Coupla hours.”

“Good.” Anita looked at her watch. “Call us when you are done.”

It was painfully early in the morning when Chauncy heard the rattling of keys in the door. Santo and his bodyguard stepped into the room to find Chauncy already dressed in khaki shorts, a short sleeve shirt, and hiking boots - one of which now hid the transmitter.

“Well, I see that you are ready to leave,” Santo remarked.

“Any time we leave will never be too soon.”

Santo ordered the guard to handcuff and blindfold Chauncy. Leg irons were placed around his ankles once again. In a repeat of yesterday’s activities, minus the oppressive heat, they loaded Chauncy into a vehicle. For about an hour he rode in darkness. When the blindfold was removed, he realized it didn’t really matter. He couldn’t see anything but the dirt road illuminated by the headlights. It was the same black Humvee and the same seating arrangement.

Madrid”s expression seemed cheerful, but his voice was nervous. ‘I won’t be happy until we leave Mexico,’ he stated. ‘But first we have to take care of some important business.’

They traveled for a while longer down the bumpy dirt road. Madrid turned to talk to Chauncy again. “We are close to the pyramids of Chichen Itza. We should be there in ten minutes.”

Soon their headlights shone on an old building, an aircraft hangar. They all got out of the vehicle and entered the hangar through a small side door. One of the guards walked over to some equipment in the corner. The building lit up as a generator came to life, but there wasn’t much to illuminate. The large sliding doors that permitted planes to enter or depart were locked shut.

Madrid looked at his watch and spoke to Santo. “Five more minutes!”

They tied Chauncy to a beam at the rear of the hangar with a rope, his hands lifted above his head. He heard the distant thumping of an approaching helicopter and began to worry. Who was coming? Why had they not let him go free? Why were they letting him see all of this?

The sound of the helicopter was deafening as it landed in front of the building. He could see the glow of the lights from the aircraft through the fiberglass panels in the doors. Madrid and Santo stood next to Chauncy as the guards left to greet the mysterious visitor.

Santo opened up a folding table and put it next to Chauncy. Chauncy heard voices outside. As two guards entered, a third man followed with a large suitcase in his hand.

In the dim lights Chauncy couldn’t see the man’s face. As he got closer he looked up and Chauncy could clearly see his face. He was dumbfounded for a moment, because he knew he had seen the face somewhere but couldn’t place it.

His memory clicked: the CNN interview that Chauncy saw in the hotel. “What are you doing here?” Chauncy asked.

Chapter Ten

George Hawkins smiled. “I’m honored that you would recognize a humble American Embassy representative.” He walked closer. “Come now, you shouldn’t be so surprised. I love the good life, just like anyone else.” He opened a large suitcase and set it on the table as he addressed the other men. “Fill ‘er up, all one million dollars of it, my friends.’

Three men with automatic weapons walked through the small hangar door. Chauncy knew that Hawkins was well aware the power of greed and he wasn’t going to give Madrid a chance to try anything.

Chauncy was suddenly overwhelmed, he felt like an animal waiting for the slaughter. “You lied to me,” he glared at Madrid. “You wouldn’t be letting me see all this if you planned to release me.”

Madrid kept his eyes on the money as Santo counted it and placed it in Hawkins’ suitcase. “As the pirates of old used to say, ‘Dead men tell no tales,’ Mr. Rollock. It’s business, not love.” He laughed and looked around to see if anyone had heard him. “Isn’t that original?”

Chauncy shifted his glare to Hawkins. “And you, betraying your country. These drug dealers are going to walk out of here to continue their drug-dealing.”

“Lecture somewhere else, Mr. Rollock. And shut up while we’re counting.”

As the final stack of dollar bills went into the suitcase, Hawkins closed and locked the bulging piece of luggage. “Good, good! You have all done a wonderful job, including you, Mr. Rollock. Thank you for your assistance in locating the money. Tell me something, Mr. Rollock, do you recall how the Mayans sacrificed their victims to their gods, here in Chichen Itza?”

Chauncy made a face. “So you’re going to dump me into a cenote like Dr. Sova?”

“You’ll be in good company,” he answered with a sneer. “The doctor is waiting for you.”

One of Hawkins’ men shouted from the hangar door. “Senor Hawkins, a helicopter is approaching!”

There was silence as everybody listened. Barely audible but growing louder was the sound of a helicopter.

Hawkins whirled to face Madrid. “What is this?” he demanded. “I swear to God I’ll shoot you down right now if - ”

“I don’t know what this is about!” Madrid yelled as he ordered his guards to go outside.

As Madrid and his guards ran, so did Hawkins. He struggled to keep up carrying the heavy suitcase.

With everybody’s attention elsewhere, Chauncy struggled to escape. He tugged as hard as he could, but all he did was lift himself off the ground, his arms straining from the exertion.

Santo spotted him and swung viciously. As he raised his hand to strike again the sound of the helicopter rotors was joined by the noise of gunfire. Glass shattered everywhere in the hangar. Men shouted as the gunfire continued unabated.

Realizing that he had forgotten his briefcase during the melee, Madrid quickly turned and ran back into the hangar. He tried his best to ignore Santo and Chauncy as he approached them to pick up his belongings.

“He’s trying to escape!” Santo complained to Madrid.

“Finish him off!” Madrid hissed. “We have bigger problems to deal with.”

Seated in the helicopter, De Leon noticed stacked fuel barrels on the side of the hangar. He instinctively squeezed the trigger in his control stick and a barrage of bullets hit the target. The fuel barrels exploded in a rolling fireball. Chauncy was flung bodily on top of Madrid and Santo.

Then there was only blackness.

Captain Gustavo De Leon and his soldiers leapt from the helicopter. Arturo and two soldiers ran to the other helicopter where a certain familiar American Embassy representative was attempting to escape. Suddenly, Hawkins was face-to-face with three gun barrels pointing at his head.

“Good morning, Mr. Hawkins.” De Leon boomed. “Have you been sightseeing in our beautiful country?”

“Ah, Captain De Leon, these men were attempting to kidnap me!” Hawkins said.

Arturo pulled Hawkins’ suitcase off the helicopter and unceremoniously opened it for all to see the cash.

“Really?” De Leon said, a humorless smile on his face. “Since when do the abductors pay a ransom to the abducted?”

Hawkins kept his head high. “There’s one million dollars in that suitcase. Half of it is yours if you just walk away. If you turn it over to your superiors, you won’t see a penny of it.”

The Captain slowly shook his head. “You’re pathetic. That’s why you were trying so hard to get me out of the way. You knew I couldn’t be bribed, and yet here you still try. I’ll be paid in full knowing you’re rotting in a Mexican prison for the rest of your life.”

The sounds and smells of the fire slowly brought Chauncy to consciousness. Coughing and sputtering, he shook his head and looked around. Debris was scattered everywhere; some of it on top of him. He realized with a start that he was lying on top of someone’s legs. Moving a bit of the debris he recognized Santo, who was lying very still. Was he dead? Well, good riddance.

Madrid lay motionless on his back nearby. Had the blast killed them both but left Chauncy alive? If he could just shuffle over to Madrid he could find the keys and get himself out of these infernal leg chains. Instead he found himself looking down the barrel of Madrid”s pistol.

“Don’t shoot! You don’t know this, but I am responsible for this rescue!”

Madrid looked shocked. “What? You, you did this?”

“Yes, I communicated with my wife.”

Madrid was dumbfounded. “How did you do that?”

“Do you remember the video you took of me? I simply wrote a message in the Mayan code.”

Madrid shook his head in disgust. He muttered obscenities as he raised his gun to kill Chauncy.

“Wait! I can get us out of here, I swear.”

As they handcuffed Hawkins, De Leon”s attention suddenly shifted to people in the burning hangar. He motioned to one of his men. ‘We need to find a way to get in there!’

One of the soldiers protested. “But captain…the building is burning!”

“Find a way!” De Leon barked.

“And you expect me to trust you?” Madrid yelled. “Explain why I should not shoot you right here and now?”

“I specifically instructed her to notify De Leon that you were here in Yucatan. That is most likely him out there right now. If you stay he will arrest you. If you unlock the chains from my legs and untie the ropes from my hands I’ll take you with me.”

“And exactly who is going to rescue us?”

“I also instructed my wife to get another person to rescue me. I have a friend who flies helicopters. Hurry! Make your choice!”

Seeing no other viable option at hand, Madrid took the keys from his pocket and unlocked Chauncy’s legs and proceeded to untie his hands.

As flaming debris fell around them they scrambled through the door and into the Humvee. Madrid handed Chauncy the keys and in seconds they were tearing down the dirt path. With headlights off, the early morning light was just enough to show Chauncy the road. Slamming through ruts and potholes Chauncy could feel bruises and scrapes and trickles of blood all over his body.

“Where to?” Madrid growled over the roar of the engine.

Chauncy glanced at the GPS unit built into the dashboard. “If we are to be rescued it is going to be on high ground. We should go towards the pyramids of Chichen Itza!”

Madrid frantically typed the information into the GPS system.

“Captain! Madrid is gone!” Arturo yelled.

“Call for backup, Arturo, and stay with Hawkins until it arrives,” De Leon pointed to three of his soldiers. “You three, come with me!”

He ran to his helicopter as the rotors started moving. De Leon noticed a blip on his screen indicating that there was a transmitter on board the Humvee from Chauncy.

Charlie’s helicopter sputtered but didn’t start. Kelly turned to look at Charlie, who shrugged. Shrugging also, Kelly tried again. This time the engine caught and the rotors started spinning.

“Aaaalllright!” Kelly yelled over the loud engine noise.

“Gonna hafta fly low to avoid radar, Kelly,” Charlie reminded him.

Kelly shot a look behind him at his comrade. “I fly, you gun, right?”

After another thumbs-up from his new co-pilot, Marlo, they lifted off. Anita, seated near the winch, watched the tracking monitor for Chauncy’s signal.

Skimming the treetops, they crossed the border into Mexico.

De Leon sat uncomfortably, despite his ultramodern helicopter. They had lost track of Chauncy’s transmitter, so De Leon had spent the last few minutes fiddling with the equipment.

The blip came on the screen again. “There he is!” De Leon shouted as he pointed to the device. “East!”

As they turned toward the pyramids of Chichen Itza, a small plume of dust the Hummer was making in its trail was visible.

De Leon pointed. “And there they are!”

Kelly looked down at the jungle and shuddered. He could hear the screams, “Come back, come back.”

He shook his head trying to dislodge the phantoms of the past.

He felt Marlo’s comforting hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, buddy, relax, relax.”

He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, forcing back the voices, the memories. He smiled weakly at his co-pilot. “Yeah.”

Anita had her eyes glued to the screen. “I see something! It’s definitely a blip, but it keeps disappearing! It’s Chauncy, but he needs to get to higher ground, but where can he go? This area of Yucatan is all flat topography.”

“He’s catching up with us!” Madrid exclaimed as he spied De Leon”s helicopter. With grim determination, he put his pistol down and reached into the rear of the Humvee. A moment later he retrieved a green metal box and pulled out a shoulder rocket launcher.

Chauncy glanced in the rear view mirror and saw De Leon”s helicopter swoop down like an eagle after its prey. Two Mini-Guns from the sides of his helicopter opened fire in perfect unison, spitting a barrage of bullets. The slugs slammed into the dirt, kicking up a considerable amount of dust.

A nearly deafening roar caught Chauncy off guard as Madrid fired a rocket from the sunroof of the vehicle. The aircraft veered off course and barely avoided the deadly missile.

De Leon looked at his gunner. “Can you stop them without killing the passengers in the vehicle?”

“The target’s path is erratic, sir. I can’t guarantee it!”

Mentally, De Leon flipped a coin. He turned to his gunner. “Do your best.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Slamming into the dirt just in front of the Humvee, the rocket sent the vehicle flying in a cloud of dirt. It seemed to hang in the air before crunching to the ground on its side, coming to a stop completely upside down.