He leaned back and soaked it in. They’d been sitting by the fire for over an hour, and he was starting to feel fatigue settling in.
As he stared into space, he cocked his head to the side. Something caught his eye. He turned his head to the other side and peered upward.
“No,” he said out loud without even realizing it.
The other men heard him break the silence and looked over at him simultaneously.
“What?” Tommy spoke first. “What is it?”
Sean swallowed and shook his head quickly. He refocused his vision and stood up, still staring into the sky.
“It can’t be,” he muttered.
“What can’t be?” Jack pressed.
Sean licked his lips. His heartbeat quickened. He’d grabbed the phone and diary on his way out of the tent, not because he thought someone might try to steal it but because he preferred to be safe than sorry.
He took the phone out of his pocket and tapped the home button. A few seconds later, he’d accessed the camera again and held it up to the sky. He twisted the device around and looked at the sky, then the image, and back at the sky.
“You gonna let us in on what you’re doing, or you just want to keep us in the dark?” Tommy asked.
Sean turned to face his friend. “I think I got it.”
Chapter 32
Chiapas
Tommy and the others followed Sean back into the big tent where all the tech gear was kept.
Sean strode through the entrance with purpose in his step. He beelined it over to the computer and switched it back on while the others gathered around him.
“Soooo, you think you got what?” Jack asked.
“I’d kill for a satellite link right now.”
“Yeah…sorry about that.”
Sean’s fingers flew across the keyboard as he entered the information rapid-fire.
A few seconds went by before several results came up. He turned to the notes Tommy had left on the table and flipped the page over so it was upside down. Then he clicked on one of the results on the computer and pulled up the third image.
“See anything familiar?” Sean asked, leaning back in the chair.
“Whoa,” Tommy said. “I never even considered that before.”
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “So, the symbols you guys found in that waterfall were actually constellations?”
Sean nodded. “Yeah. I think so. See,” he pointed at the screen. “This is Cygnus, the swan constellation.”
His fingers tapped away on the keyboard again, and a new set of results popped up. He clicked the first image on the following page, and a new constellation appeared.
“Lyra?” Pablo asked.
“Yep. The harp. And you can see here that it matches almost perfectly.”
“And the last one?” Tommy asked.
“Aquila,” Sean said before he performed the search. It only took a minute for him to show the others the last constellation. “It’s a bird, sort of like Cygnus but shaped differently. Although if I had to guess I wouldn’t say the shapes have much to do with the riddle or what we’re looking for.”
“Why’s that?”
“Call it a hunch.”
Tommy stood up straight while still gazing at the computer screen. “The ancient Mayans used to build villages, cities, and places of worship based on the stars. They studied the heavens relentlessly. Some people say they placed their buildings as mirrored locations on the planet to please the gods. Others say they did it because of their belief in the sacred connection between earth and sky.”
“Whatever the reason they did it, one thing is clear: Ancient civilizations respected the stars. They knew there was some kind of connection between what’s in space and who we are. The Hopi traveled thousands of miles to build towns along celestial patterns. The Aztecs and Incas did their construction in a similar way.”
“So, you think this lost temple you guys are searching for might be related to these constellations?” Jack asked.
“Certainly seems that way based on the evidence. We just have to figure out which one of these stars represents the location of the temple.”
“Yes,” Pablo spoke up, “I imagine that will be easier said than done. There are so many stars, even in those three constellations. If one of those stars represents the temple location, how do we figure out which one?”
Sean frowned as he stared at the screen. He shifted his gaze to the paper and the matrix. Then he looked at the diary. There was something he’d not really paid attention to before, but now it seemed to stand out. It was a tiny mark in the bottom corner of the diary’s final page. He flipped through several of the other pages to make sure he hadn’t missed anything else. Seeing nothing of note, he returned to the last page.
“What are you doing?” Tommy asked.
Sean put his fingertip at the corner of the page where the miniature triangle was drawn. “See this before?”
Tommy leaned in. His eyelids nearly shut, leaving nothing but the narrowest of gaps as he focused on the tiny image. “No. I didn’t notice that before. It’s a triangle.”
“What does that mean?” Jack asked.
Sean took a deep breath and thought. His eyes darted back and forth between the constellations, the notepad, and the triangle on the page. Everything was connected, but how?
He moved the computer mouse around and clicked the search bar again. Then his fingers flew across the keyboard, pecking at them loudly as he entered the terms. After he hit the enter key, another slew of results popped up. He clicked on the first image, then the second, and so on.
“What are you doing?” Pablo asked.
Sean didn’t answer immediately. He was totally engrossed in the task at hand. “Trying to find a connection,” he said after a minute of intense study.
“Connection to what?”
Sean hit the back button on the computer and then entered another search. This time, his search term was triangle constellations.
The screen populated after a long moment. He clicked on another result and stared at the image on the screen.
“Of course,” he said after a second. “How did I not see that before?”
“See what before?” Jack asked.
“The Summer Triangle,” Sean said. “That must be what the triangle means at the bottom of the page.”
“For those of us who aren’t astronomy geeks,” Tommy said, “maybe you could fill us in on exactly what it is you’re getting at here?”
In his excitement, Sean fumbled for the words. “The…the Summer Triangle isn’t a constellation. It’s a pattern in the sky that links three primary stars.”
He opened one of the tabs on the screen he’d been looking at previously. His eyes flashed from the screen to the image on the phone and back again. He checked the picture of Aquila first, then Cygnus, then Lyra. “Oh. My. Goodness,” he said.
“Would you please stop doing that and just tell us what’s going on?” Tommy begged.
Sean nodded. “The Summer Triangle is composed of three primary stars: Altair in Aquila, Deneb in Cygnus, and Vega in Lyra. Alvarado found the first two sites, places that correspond with the stars, but he couldn’t get to the last one before he died.” Sean’s voice grew quieter to the point of an almost reverent tone. “He was so close.” Sean clicked the mouse and dragged it across the screen. Then he hit a few of the other buttons in tandem. The size of the image on the screen changed. He continued altering the dimensions until it was about the same size as the paper on the desk.
“Okay, I’m following you, but how do we know the location of the last star as it relates to a position here on Earth?”
“Simple. Well, sort of simple.” Sean took the map on the table and laid it out flat. He found Tulum and pressed his finger on it. A second later, he marked a dot where he’d been holding the place. Then he found the area where they’d discovered Devil’s Falls and made a mark with the pencil.
“These are the two we’ve seen so far. These places conta
ined the clues to the next. To complete the triangle, we have to find the third star.”
He returned his attention to the computer monitor and tilted his head to the side. Then he reached over and grabbed the notepad, ripped the next page down out of the binding, and placed it over the screen. He picked up the pencil and traced the lines of the triangle onto the paper, placing dots at every corner.
“That’s one way of figuring out the correct angles,” Tommy joked.
Sean smirked at his friend’s sense of humor. “I didn’t think our friend Jack would have a compass and protractor.”
“You’d have thought wrong,” Jack said. After a second, he started laughing when everyone looked at him to see if he was serious. “I’m kidding. Of course, we don’t have those things. I haven’t seen those since I was in sophomore geometry class.”
Sean shook his head, still grinning. With his rudimentary drawing complete, he took the paper and placed it over the map. Ever so gently, he poked the tip of the pencil through the paper and pressed it down on Tulum. Then he pushed the paper down flush onto the map. He lifted the map to see how it related according to the locations they’d visited and then twisted the paper around until he estimated the dot on the sheet was directly over the dot that represented Devil’s Falls. Again, he pressed the paper down flat against the map. This time, he took the pencil up from its place and gently drove it through the last dot on the surface. He wiggled it around to make a mark on the map and then pulled both pencil and paper away.
He stood up and looked at his handiwork with the others crowding around to get a good view.
“That’s where we’ll find it,” Sean said, pointing at the last dot on the map.
Jack frowned. “There isn’t much out there. Wild jungle, mostly. Although there are a few inhabitants.”
“Cartel?”
“And more. Lots of wildlife in that area. Not to mention the ghosts.”
The three guests turned their heads, puzzled.
“Ghosts?” Tommy asked.
“Well, they’re not literally ghosts. Not that I know of. I don’t believe in that mumbo jumbo. That’s just what some of the locals call them. I’ve only heard rumors, stories about painted men who protect the jungle in that region. If I had to guess, I’d say they’re some kind of tribal natives or something. Like I said, though, I’ve never come in contact with them. We don’t typically venture into that sector.”
“Lucky for us we don’t believe in ghosts either,” Sean said.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. Anyone who has wandered into that area has never come out.”
“Sounds like some kind of urban legend…well, maybe not urban. You know what I mean.”
Jack chuckled. “I get you. You just need to be careful if you’re planning on going into that part of the rain forest. That’s all I’m saying. Keep your head on a swivel.”
“We always do.”
Sean turned back to the map and eyed it carefully. He ran his finger along the side and then into the middle where the third dot was positioned.
“What are you doing now?” Pablo asked.
“Getting the exact coordinates,” Sean said. “It’s time we updated our friend on how things are progressing.”
“You’re going to tell her?” Tommy asked, sounding leery.
“She wanted an update when we had something significant to share.”
“Yeah, but—”
Sean frowned. “But what?”
“I don’t know.” Tommy rolled his shoulders. “I already told you all the reasons I don’t like taking on clients.”
“You want me to hold off?”
Tommy thought about it for several seconds before he shook his head. “No. Go ahead and call her. It might be good for someone back home to know where we are and where we’re going. You know, just in case.”
Jack and Pablo listened to the conversation. When the room fell silent, Jack took it to mean they were done.
“I’m sorry,” he said with a confused look on his face. “Who is this her you guys are talking about?”
Sean and Tommy exchanged a knowing glance.
“You’re not gonna like it,” Sean said.
Chapter 33
Chetumal, Mexico
Collin peered through his sunglasses at the people passing by. Hundreds of faces moved along the sidewalk on their way to work. Others—tourists—strolled by taking pictures or clutching their beach bags, eager to spend some time in the sand.
It had taken an intense couple of days of research and digging to try to locate anyone with any information on the whereabouts of Lilian Pike. Collin kept an extensive list of contacts around the world for missions just like this one. He’d built up a network in a short amount of time, a network it probably took other agents decades to compile.
He thanked his charisma, but really it was more about persistence.
Collin took a sip of coffee as he continued watching the masses parade by. Chetumal was a small coastal town of about a hundred and fifty thousand people. The pristine white beach ran along water that was bluer than Frank Sinatra’s eyes. Situated on the border with Belize, it was the perfect place for someone to sneak across the border, although Collin doubted how much actual sneaking would be involved. A high-level stateswoman would be able to navigate such issues by either using influence or money. In this case, Collin thought it would be the latter, that is, if she came through that area.
Director Starks usually used him for less field work and more intel-type stuff, but all of the other agents were already on other assignments and since Axis only kept eleven on the roster, that meant he was up.
Axis was a strange organization. At least Collin thought so. Small, operating out of the scope of most of the government. When he was first asked to join, he wondered if it was legitimate. The whole thing seemed sketchy—right up to the moment he met the president. Then his mind changed rapidly.
He cut a piece of empanada with a fork and shoved it in his mouth. The cafe where he’d chosen to meet his contact wasn’t much to look at: a plain white building with cracks running along the exterior walls and the word Corusco’s painted on the side above the entrance. If Collin had learned one thing during his travels, it was to never judge an eatery by its appearance. He was pretty sure that it was an unspoken requirement that some of the biggest food gems around the world had to look like their buildings could be condemned at any moment.
He washed down the bite with another sip of coffee. As he set the mug down, he noticed a familiar face coming his way.
The man looked nervous. That was almost never a good sign. His name was Raul, and every time Collin had met him in the past, the guy acted a little unsteady. It was a stark contrast to the rest of the people moving by along the street and sidewalks.
Raul stumbled as he reached the curb and managed to catch his balance before falling flat on his face at Collin’s feet. He was panting as he pulled up the other white metal chair at the table. After sitting, his eyes darted around the plaza, watching.
“What’s the matter with you?” Collin said as he raised the mug again. “Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Raul swallowed. “You didn’t tell me you were looking for a United States congressman.”
“Technically, she’s a woman, so I think it’s congresswoman. Although now that I say it out loud, that doesn’t sound right either. Let’s just call her a politician.”
“Shut up, you idiot,” Raul snarled.
“Diplomat then?” Collin sipped the coffee with a grin, clearly not worried.
“Do you have any idea the hornet’s nest you’ve kicked? The cartels will pay generously to anyone who can bring in an American politician. Do you have any idea how much that is worth?”
“So, we’re going with politician then?” Collin waited for the reaction, but all he got was a bewildered stare. He snapped his head back and forth to blow off the comment. “I guess we’re talking about value for ransom here? Is that
what you’re saying?”
“Ransom. Execution. Whatever. The cartel doesn’t like the American government interfering with their business. If they get ahold of someone they believe is part of that government, it will be bad.”
Collin’s head twitched to the side. His nose crinkled for a second, and he narrowed his eyes. “What does that have to do with me trying to find Pike?”
Raul gave another look over his shoulder.
“Relax,” Collin said. “I’m watching every direction.”
Raul wasn’t so confident. He remained tense, with thumbs twiddling one over the other. “What does it have to do with trying to find Pike? It has everything to do with it. When you start asking questions about an American government official in Mexico, word travels fast. You can’t expect to keep that sort of thing covered up for long. The cartels know she’s here, man. They’re going after this woman. They might already have her.”
“Okay, now you’re being paranoid.”
“No,” Raul said with an intense look in his eyes. “This is their chance to strike back at the American government. I overheard one of the men saying the cartel wants to make an example of this one.”
Up to that point, Collin had been able to dismiss most of what Raul was saying. The guy still had a little white powder in the underside of his nose from his morning key bump of cocaine, though Collin had chosen not to bring it up.
If what his Mexican counterpart was saying was true, however, that could mean trouble. Collin needed to get to Pike first. She had to be brought in alive. He leaned across the table, folding his hands on the surface.
“Where is she?” he asked.
Raul took another look over his shoulder. “I don’t know. Okay? I only know where she was going.”
“Just as good. Hit me with it.”
“She crossed the border yesterday. From the sound of it, she had a convoy of SUVs. My guy said they have eyes on her, that they’re tracking her movement.”
The Fourth Prophecy Page 24
