The Death Relic

14

Payne had nothing to hide. He truly didn’t know why Maria was calling. The last he’d heard, she had earned her doctorate in archaeology and was living in Italy. Or somewhere near there. He honestly didn’t know because he wasn’t that close to her. Other than a work-related adventure a few years back, the only connection they shared was his pissed-off best friend, who had dated her briefly before things fizzled out. To this day, Payne still didn’t know what had happened between the two of them, because Jones refused to talk about it, but the glare on his friend’s face proved he wasn’t over it. Or her.

With that in mind, Payne decided to tread cautiously.

He answered the phone in front of Jones. ‘Hello.’

‘Jon, is that you?’

‘Yes. Who’s this?’

‘It’s Maria Pelati. Do you remember me?’

‘Of course I remember you.’ He pointed towards the exit and urged Jones to follow. ‘Hang on just a minute. It’s really loud in here. Let me walk outside so I can hear you better.’

‘Please hurry. I think I’m in trouble.’

Noticing the tension in her voice, Payne pushed his way through the crowd while Jones hustled to keep up. ‘Almost there. Give me two more seconds …’

Payne opened the door and stepped into the bitter cold. His clothes and hair were quickly coated in snow. Except for two smokers huddled near the doorway for warmth, the sidewalk was completely deserted. On a night like this, even hookers stayed inside. Searching for privacy, Payne glanced in both directions and spotted an empty bus shelter about twenty feet to his left. Although it wasn’t heated, it was better than nothing. Not only would it protect him from the gusting wind, it would save his lungs from the second-hand smoke.

Payne ignored the elements and headed that way.

Jones, who was slowed by the crowd and the bouncer, emerged a moment later without his coat or gloves. This time, he didn’t shiver or complain about the weather. His emotions were keeping him warm. A little too warm.

‘Where in the hell are you going?’ he shouted.

‘In here,’ Payne replied as he ducked into the shelter. Made of tempered safety glass, the walls were covered with ads for local businesses. A wooden bench was bolted to the ground. A fluorescent light glowed overhead.

‘Jon, are you there?’ she asked.

‘I’m here,’ he assured her as Jones joined him inside the shelter. ‘If it’s OK with you, I’m going to put you on speakerphone, so DJ can listen in.’

She took a deep breath. ‘David’s there?’

‘Yes. Is that a problem?’

She paused. ‘Maybe.’

‘Great,’ Payne said, completely ignoring her response. He didn’t care how many problems it caused Maria. There was no way he was going to keep this conversation from Jones. Not with the anger in his best friend’s eyes. Instead of condensation, Payne half expected to see flames coming out of Jones’s nostrils. He was that pissed.

Payne turned on his speakerphone. ‘You’re on with both of us.’

She remained silent for the next few seconds, unsure of what to say.

The moment lingered a little too long for Jones.

‘Are you there?’ Jones blurted.

‘Yes,’ she said meekly. ‘I’m here.’

As soon as he heard her voice, the edge in his softened. He could tell something was wrong. ‘Are you all right?’

‘I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.’

His anger quickly turned to concern. ‘Where are you? At home?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m at a hotel.’

‘Where’s the hotel?’

‘Cancún.’

‘Cancún? What are you doing in Mexico?’

‘I came here for a job, but …’

‘But what?’

She swallowed hard. ‘Something happened.’

Jones glanced at Payne, looking for an explanation, hoping he could fill in the details that were currently missing. But Payne was lost for words. He was just as confused as Jones, maybe more so, since he had no idea why she would call him in the middle of the night. Then again, neither did Jones, which was why his temper had flared when he saw her name on Payne’s caller ID. For a few terrible minutes, he had assumed his best friend had betrayed him.

Jones quickly regained his composure. ‘First things first, are you hurt?’

‘No.’

‘Are you safe?’

‘Maybe.’

‘That’s not good enough,’ Jones snapped.

Payne put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and squeezed, urging him to calm down. Anxiety would only heighten the situation. ‘What do you mean by maybe?’

She tried to explain. ‘I’m locked in my bedroom inside my suite, but I don’t know how safe it is. I think they grabbed him downstairs.’

‘Grabbed who?’ Payne asked.

‘My boss. His name is Terrence Hamilton.’

Without delay, Jones punched the name into his smart phone and pulled up as much information as he could from the Internet. Within seconds, he knew Hamilton was an American anthropologist from a prestigious university, and that he specialized in the Maya.

Payne continued the questioning. ‘Do you know who grabbed him?’

‘I don’t know. I didn’t see. But he left the restaurant and didn’t come back. He said he would be gone for five minutes — he had to get something from his car — but he never returned. I waited there for an hour. I even ordered a second drink, but he never came back.’

‘Did you look for his car?’

She nodded. ‘It’s still outside my hotel.’

‘What hotel?’

‘The Fiesta Americana.’

Payne whistled. ‘Nice place.’

As a connoisseur of fine hotels, he was familiar with its extravagance. Although he had never stayed there, he knew it was the type of resort that had security guards and hundreds of cameras. That meant that if Hamilton had been snatched from the property grounds, the odds were pretty good that someone knew something. With the right amount of persuasion, Payne was confident they could get to the bottom of things in less than an hour. Maybe two if they needed a translator who wouldn’t faint at the sight of blood. Sometimes they were tough to find.

‘Maria,’ Jones said as he re-entered the conversation, ‘we can worry about your boss later. For now, I need to make sure you’re not in danger. Are you safe in your room?’

‘I don’t know,’ she admitted.

‘Why don’t you know?’

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. ‘When I came back here, things had been moved around, like someone was looking for something.’

‘Could it have been a maid?’ Jones asked.

‘No!’ she snapped. ‘It wasn’t a maid! My room was tossed. My clothes are everywhere. And my passport is missing. Someone took it from my nightstand.’

‘Your passport was stolen?’

‘As far as I can tell — unless it’s buried under this mess.’

Payne tried to reassure her. ‘Don’t worry about your passport. It happens all the time. We’ll contact your embassy and get you a new one. No problem at all.’

Maria shook her head. ‘I’m not worried about my passport, I’m worried about Hamilton. I think someone grabbed him when he went to his car.’

‘But you didn’t see it?’

‘No, I didn’t see it.’

‘Then why would someone grab him? Is he rich? Does he have enemies? What can you tell us about him?’

‘Not much,’ she admitted. ‘He called out of the blue and hired me for a job that he refused to discuss on the phone — instead he hinted at a major discovery. We were in the middle of discussing the specifics when he disappeared.’

‘Hold up!’ Payne demanded. ‘You met the guy today?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you sure he didn’t ditch you?’

‘Believe me, that’s the first thing I thought when he didn’t come back to the restaurant. But the more I thought about it, the less sense it made. He was in the middle of telling me about my role in things when he went to his car to get some documents. But his car is still here and he left his briefcase at the table. If he was ditching me, surely he would have taken both.’

Payne agreed. ‘You’re probably right.’

‘Couple that with my room being tossed and …’

‘You’re right. It seems suspicious.’

Jones interrupted them. ‘Speaking of your room, if someone searched it, there’s always the chance they might come back. Did you barricade your door?’

She nodded. ‘With everything I could find.’

‘Good.’

‘Same with the glass door to my terrace. I rolled up newspapers and wedged them in the track so the door can’t slide open.’

‘That’s smart. How high is your room?’

‘Top floor.’

‘Good. That’ll be tough to access from outside.’

She took a deep breath. ‘What else can I do?’

Jones shrugged. ‘Not much, unless you want to call the police. But I’ll be honest, the police in Mexico are pretty damn corrupt. I know that from personal experience.’

‘No,’ she admitted, ‘I prefer this. I feel safer already.’

Jones appreciated the sentiment but felt helpless being so far away. ‘You know, it’s funny that you called when you did.’

‘Really? Why’s that?’

Jones snatched the phone from Payne, then turned off the speakerphone so he could talk to her in private. ‘Because Jon and I were looking for somewhere to go this weekend. Somewhere warmer than Pittsburgh.’

She smiled. ‘I forgot how much you hate the cold.’

‘I really do.’

‘Not to rub it in, but the weather is gorgeous here. I was going to try out my new bikini this weekend.’

‘Me, too.’

She laughed. ‘I’m serious. This was supposed to be a working vacation. Now I’m stuck in my room, worried for my safety. I feel like such an idiot.’

‘Listen,’ Jones said in a soothing voice, ‘I know you aren’t the type of woman who needs to be rescued. Trust me, I know that better than anyone. But it sounds like your boss might be in serious trouble, the kind I can handle. If you like, I’d be more than happy—’

Payne cleared his throat loudly.

Jones smiled and corrected himself. ‘I mean, we would be more than happy to come to Cancún to look into things for you. That is, if you’re interested.’

She nodded. ‘Yes, I’m interested.’

He grinned. ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’