The Death Relic

28

Because of their training, Payne and Jones understood the importance of advance planning, especially on foreign terrain. While most tourists focused on the basics, such as hotel reservations and plane tickets, Payne and Jones always planned for the worst. They didn’t care about fun-filled excursions for the entire family; they worried about the procurement of weapons and the feasibility of secondary transportation. Some viewed it as overkill, but their precautionary measures had saved their lives on many occasions, so they weren’t about to change their ways.

Not even on a trip to Cancún.

Before their jet had reached Mexican airspace, they had an exit plan in place. It included the establishment of multiple rendezvous points across the Yucatán Peninsula, just in case they were separated in the field and couldn’t risk mobile communication. In addition, they chose two meeting spots across the nearest borders — one in Guatemala and one in Belize. Thankfully, their current predicament didn’t warrant a trek across the jungle to a neighbouring country. They simply needed to meet somewhere secluded, away from security cameras and prying eyes, where they could discuss the best way to handle the latest development.

Less than 10 miles from the Fiesta Americana, Jones parked the H2 near Punta Nizuc, a rocky shoal that jutted into the Caribbean Sea on the southern end of Boulevard Kukulcan. The surrounding water offered some of the best snorkelling in the world, where stingrays and schools of brightly coloured fish fed on the coral reefs, but a strong undertow and jagged rocks kept swimmers away from the point, which was one of the reasons Jones had selected it.

He knew they would be alone out there.

Having spent a lot of time at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Jones was used to the cawing of the seagulls that flocked to the Gulf Coast of Florida. But for some reason, they were nowhere to be seen or heard in Cancún. Instead, the air was filled with frigatebirds, massive creatures with black iridescent feathers and wingspans of nearly 10 feet. With the largest wing-to-bodyweight ratio of any bird, they are essentially aerial, able to stay aloft for more than a week at a time. They can’t swim or walk very well, nor take off from flat surfaces, so the only time they land is to roost or breed on trees or cliffs. They even feed in the air, swooping down across the water to scoop up fish or rob other seabirds of their catch, which is known as kleptoparasitic feeding. Strangely, they even chase smaller birds that have recently fed, using their speed and endurance to outrun and harass their victims until they regurgitate their meals. At which point the frigatebirds enjoy some in-flight dining.

While watching this odd behaviour from afar, Jones’s mind drifted back to the previous night and realized very little had changed, despite the radical shift in scenery. Less than twenty-four hours earlier, he’d been trudging through the sewers of Ambridge, PA, while testing out the LED Incapacitator, which resulted in a bunch of college boys throwing up on his boots. Now he was standing on one of the most scenic spots on earth, surrounded by the opulent waters of the Caribbean, while watching birds puke in the sky.

Jones shook his head in frustration.

Although he appreciated the symmetry, he had been hoping for something slightly more romantic than puking birds when he had left for Mexico. Maybe not a full reconciliation with Maria — he knew that would take a lot longer than a weekend to navigate — but he had wanted to test the waters for the future and find out whether it was a casual relationship or something more serious. Now that conversation would have to wait until they dealt with Hamilton’s discovery and all the problems that were sure to follow.

Jones turned from the sea when he heard the sound of tyres on gravel behind him. As expected, it was Payne and Maria. The silver SUV crawled down the unpaved road, easily navigating the sand and stone that led to the point. Payne eyed the terrain as he approached the H2. Although the location was secluded, it was less than ideal in many ways. Excluding the water, the only way off the rocky shoal was down the path he was currently on. With that in mind, he made a narrow three-point turn and backed the SUV into position. Now, if they needed to make a quick getaway, at least they were facing in the right direction.

Payne glanced at Maria. ‘Stay in here. I want to make sure everything’s OK.’

Maria was about to object when she remembered her promise to Jones. No backtalk or bullshit of any kind. ‘OK. I’ll stay in the car.’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll leave the AC on. Feel free to change the radio station if you want.’

She glared at him. ‘I wish you two would stop telling me not to worry. The more you do, the more I worry.’

Payne smiled as he opened the door. ‘Don’t worry. We’ll stop doing that soon.’

Before she could respond, Payne closed the door in her face and shifted his focus to Jones. He was leaning against the side of the Hummer, his arms crossed in front of him and his face angled towards the sky. He had a distant look in his eyes, as if he was trying to grasp what they had stumbled into and didn’t quite know how they were going to get out of it.

It was a look that Payne had seen hundreds of times.

A look that meant Jones was thinking.

Not wanting to disturb him, Payne walked down the path and sidled up to the Hummer. The wind was blowing in from the sea and the sun was shining brightly. All in all, it wasn’t a bad place to be in the middle of February.

‘So,’ he eventually said, ‘I got your text.’

‘I see that,’ Jones replied.

‘Is everything all right?’

He shrugged. ‘I checked the Hummer for tracking devices and disabled the GPS before I arrived. As long as you weren’t followed, we should be clear.’

‘Nope, we weren’t followed. I made sure of that.’

‘In that case, we should be fine.’

‘Good. Then I’m going to close my eyes and work on my tan.’

‘That’s what I’ve been doing.’

Payne looked at him. ‘I can tell. You’re much darker than I am.’

Jones smiled. ‘That’s what I was going for.’

‘Well, mission accomplished.’

‘Jon?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Please shut up now.’

After that, Payne waited patiently, not wanting to push the conversation until Jones was ready to talk. Everybody had his own way of processing information, and this was Jones’s method of working through complex problems. When it came to missions, he was a brilliant strategist. He had received the highest score in the history of the Air Force Academy’s MSAE (Military Strategy Acumen Examination) and had organized hundreds of operations with the MANIACs. He had a knack for seeing things several steps ahead, like a chess master. And sometimes high-level thinking took a little extra time.

A few minutes passed before Jones spoke again. When he finally did, there was a confidence in his voice that had been missing earlier. Plus, his sense of humour had returned.

Jones cleared his throat and pointed towards the sky. ‘Did you see the pterodactyls? They’re particularly lovely this time of year.’

Payne nodded. ‘One just swooped down and snatched a baby off the beach. I was going to save it, but I didn’t want to disturb you.’

‘Thanks, Jon. I appreciate it.’

‘So,’ he said as he pointed towards the back of the Hummer, ‘are you ready to show me what you found? Maria said something about a bomb.’

‘Did she really?’

Payne shrugged. ‘I think she did, but I wasn’t really listening. I was too preoccupied with evasive driving techniques and the threat of aerial pursuit.’

‘You say that like it’s a bad thing.’

‘Actually, you’re right. It was kind of fun.’

‘Glad to hear it.’

Payne looked at him and waited for an explanation. ‘So?’

Jones stared back. ‘What?’

‘Don’t play dumb with me! I was in the middle of a productive meeting with Deputy Dawg when I got your text. I think something bad happened to Hamilton, and I was this close to figuring it out. I hope to hell you can shed some light on it.’

‘I think I can.’

‘Well?’

‘Give me a hand with the trunk, and I’ll show you.’

A spare tyre was mounted on the tailgate of the H2. It swung left to right and had to be pushed out of the way before the back window could be lifted open. Payne handled both while Jones removed the last few bungee cords from the rear of the tarp. He would have done it earlier, but he didn’t want to subject his cargo to the elements until it was completely necessary.

Jones spoke as he worked. ‘This is one of those good news/bad news situations. Don’t be blinded by the good until I tell you about the bad.’

‘How bad?’

‘Pretty bad.’

‘OK, I’ll keep that in mind.’

Staring out of the rear of the SUV, Maria saw them removing the final cord from the tarp and decided to take a closer look. After all, this was supposed to be her job, not theirs. She quietly opened her door and slipped out of the vehicle without making a sound. She crept across the rocky shoal until she was close enough to gaze into the back of the H2. When she did, her eyes widened in surprise and a single phrase slipped from her mouth.

Two foreign words that summed up Payne’s feelings as well.

‘Santa Maria!’