Chapter Twenty #2
It might be the heat making his brain steamy, but she looked incredibly beautiful here in the midst of the Maya Underworld.
Stunning even with her auburn hair curling around her face, sticking to her skin.
Sweat rings, dirt smudges, and all. If her father wasn’t parked next to him, Quint might have come up with a romantic limerick to express his sudden flood of affection for her and how he forgave her for lying.
Okay, maybe a limerick would be too short, but it was too fucking hot for a long-winded sonnet.
Juan pulled out his handkerchief and dabbed his forehead. “Well, gatita? Do you hear anything?”
She sat back on her heels. “No.”
Juan tapped his cane on the floor between his feet. “You really think a whistling sound loud enough for Esteban to hear at the entrance would come from that wall?”
“Maybe. There might be a hole somewhere, and with the right air pressure shifts, it could be possible.”
Quint wasn’t buying her explanation. Not totally. He had a feeling she was up to something else, but what? Maybe checking for a temperature change on the blocks?
“Esteban probably imagined it.” Her dad tapped with the cane again. “You know how that boy’s imagination can take off like a runaway stagecoach given the right jump-scare.”
Angélica stood, brushed her hands off on her thighs, and then stole Juan’s cane. “That’s possible, but I want to give Esteban the benefit of the doubt.”
She tapped the floor in front of the wall with the cane.
Clack clack.
Then she moved a little farther along the wall and tapped on the stones underfoot again.
Clack clack.
“I’m not sure what you’re looking for now, child, but if it’s a hidden chamber underneath us, then you need to take a second look at that wall. There is no way something that heavy could be sitting on anything other than solid bedrock.”
“There’s no harm in checking, Dad.”
Quint stared at the ceiling directly over his head, his flashlight finding more webs of cracks. Oh, shit. His heart pounded in triple time. “Maybe we should head out. This place is a bust.”
“It’s not a bust,” Angélica said.
He shifted his beam to her. “Did you see any glyphs on the trek here?”
She blocked his light with her arm, continuing to tap along the floor. “No glyphs, but something tells me there is more to this place than meets the eye.”
Or had someone told her that? Like her mother? Had Angélica omitted telling him everything her mom had said by the fire the other night?
“Are you looking for an entrance similar to what Ruz found at the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque?” her father asked.
Quint turned to Juan. “Who’s Ruz?”
“He was an archaeologist in the 1950s working at Palenque.” Juan dabbed some more with his handkerchief.
“He and his workers are credited for figuring out that the circles drilled into the stone floor at the top of the temple were there to help lift the stone slab. When they raised the stone, they found a narrow stairway filled with tons of rubble. It took them years, but after they eventually cleared the passageway, they found an intact burial chamber containing Pakal, the great Maya king. Along with his remains were all sorts of jade accessories for the king to take into the afterlife, including an amazing jade mask that had been covering Pakal’s face. ”
“I remember seeing a picture of that mask in a book when I was researching to come down here the first time.”
“Not the first time,” Angélica corrected, still tapping.
She was right. Decades ago, back when he was in high school, he’d been down here working at a dig for another archaeologist, the father of his best friend.
That was when he’d first met Pedro. They’d formed a fast friendship that had been put on pause until Quint had shown up at Angélica’s dig site looking to solve an old mystery—although not anywhere near as ancient as what they were trying to figure out at this site.
“Right. Make that the first time I met you both. Did I mention before how much I was smitten from the start?”
Juan snorted. “I’m assuming you’re talking about how much you liked me.”
“Of course. You had me at ‘hello.’ I’m just using your daughter, sacrificing my virtue to her wicked ways in order to keep you by my side.”
He chuckled. “I knew it. It’s my animal magnetism. It’s how I won over Marianne. She was a spirited filly, but she couldn’t resist me when I cranked up the charm.”
Quint pulled his canteen from his pack. “Same goes for your daughter. From the get-go, she couldn’t keep her hands off me.”
Angélica groaned. “You two are incorrigible.”
Clack clack.
“You mean irresistible.” Quint unscrewed the cap.
“I mean warped. You’ve both been stuck in the heat and humidity too long, and there is no chance of straightening you out again.”
Clack clack.
Juan elbowed him. “Straight is boring, right, Junior Mint?”
Quint raised his canteen in a mock toast. “Here’s to being crooked as hell.”
He was in the midst of taking a drink when he heard the crunch of footfalls hurrying along the gritty stone floor, coming closer.
“Someone is coming,” Angélica said, pausing mid-tap.
“Someone or something?” Juan whispered.
Setting down his water, Quint stood as much as the ceiling allowed, standing between their visitor and Angélica. He shined his light into the darkness, his pulse pounding in his ears.
The footfalls grew louder, and then Daisy came into view, shielding her eyes. “It’s just me,” she said, slightly breathless. “Uh, Daisy.”
“What are you doing back here?” Juan sounded happily surprised. “You were supposed to wait out there with the others until we made sure it was safe.”
“KuTu told me to come check on you.”
“KuTu?” Angélica returned to tapping the cane on the floor. “He returned, huh?”
Clack clack.
“Yes. He said you three should not be in here. The time is not right.”
“What does that mean?” Quint looked at Angélica, but she just frowned, shaking her head at him.
Fine, he’d let it drop, but he was bookmarking that frowny look of hers and going to swing back later for further explanation when they were alone.
Meanwhile, he returned to his place against the wall and picked up his canteen again, taking several more swallows of warm water.
“I don’t know,” Daisy said, but something in her tone didn’t quite ring true.
“Neither did Bronko or Raul. But after KuTu said it, Esteban started breathing hard and feeling faint. Raul is trying to calm him down, but you guys need to come back.” Daisy stepped closer, tipping her head slightly to peer around Juan. “Looks like you guys hit a dead end.”
“Yes, unfortunately.” Juan leaned against the wall next to Quint once more. “Angélica seems to think the floor is hollow. She’s determined to find a hole leading to Xibalba.”
“There is still cinnabar paint smeared on that wall,” Daisy said, stepping around Quint and Juan.
Angélica nodded. “Did you see it on the way here, too?”
“Yes. It’s easy to see why this site might have been thought sacred.” She switched places with Angélica, placing her hands flat on the stone wall.
“Not you, too,” Juan said, frowning at her.
“Not me, too, what?” Daisy asked, putting her ear close to the stone in the wall.
“Gatita just did the same thing, listening for that whistling sound Esteban said he heard.”
“Oh, I’m not listening for whistles,” Daisy said. “That sound is coming from the hole where the bats come out.”
Angélica stopped tapping and turned her way. “It is?”
“What are you listening for, then?” Quint asked, capping his water.
“Scratching sounds.” She moved to another stone, pressing her ear against it. “KuTu told me that if we weren’t careful, we’d wake Camazotz too early, and the bat god would claw his way to the surface at the wrong time.”
“What’s that now?” Quint leaned forward. “When would be the right time?”
“How did you understand KuTu so well?” Angélica asked, a hint of suspicion in her tone. She reached slowly toward Daisy’s arm. “His English is pretty rough.”
Daisy turned suddenly, her forehead lined. She caught Angélica’s hand, using it to tug her closer. “He wasn’t speaking English,” she whispered, her gaze unblinking for a couple of beats. Then she stole the cane away and smiled with her usual sunshiny laughter. “Touché, Dr. García.”
Okay, Quint was certain of two things at the moment. One, he never wanted to come back inside this damned bat hotel. Two, that wasn’t Daisy standing next to the wall. Well, not Daisy on the inside, anyway. Someone else was handling the puppet strings.
“I didn’t realize you knew any Mayan,” Juan said, a slight frown on his face as he looked back and forth between his daughter and Daisy.
“Oh, I’m just full of surprises, Juan. And I’m happy to share more with you later.” She pointed the cane toward the exit. “But for now, we need to leave posthaste.”
Quint stood, hunching again. He was ready to follow any order that had to do with them returning to the land of circling vultures and butterflies.
“Why so commanding, Daisy?” Angélica asked, her gaze narrowed while her fingers brushed over the locket hanging around her neck. “That’s not your usual tack.”
“Because I have a gut feeling that KuTu was right about leaving while the going is good.” She turned Angélica around and used the cane to nudge her toward Juan and Quint. “And then there’s the problem with the whistling.”
Juan held out his hand toward Daisy. “What problem?”
“It’s getting louder.” She handed him the cane.
Quint couldn’t hear any whistling at all.
“Vámonos,” she said, shooing them ahead of her. “Or poor Esteban will keel over from worry, and we’ll have to do some sacrificial bloodletting to convince the gods we still need him alive.”