“Three what?” Claire asked.
Higuchi waved impatiently. “Later. First, a tour.”
“Wait.” She glared at Nopa. “Before we go any farther, I want to know if you sent me the eggs.”
Nopa’s face still glowed with joy, but he managed to focus enough to answer her. “My family has cared for this tomb for centuries because one of our ancestors—a skilled administrator named Nopaltzin—believed Chaco to be the most important man ever to be born. And because Nopaltzin was chosen by Chaco for the Great Miracle, the family began tending the tomb to honor Nopaltzin. When it was my grandfather’s turn, he took the eggs, but then he was killed before telling his eldest son—my father—of the location.”
“Your grandfather scratched a map to the tomb on the eggs,” Sochi said. “Too bad no one in your family was smart enough to figure that out.”
Nopa turned red, grabbed Sochi by the hair, and jammed the gun against her cheek. She shot him her most arctic glaze, the one that could subdue even Claire. “Shut the fuck up!” he yelled. “Where are my eggs, by the way?” He looked at Claire.
She shook her head, suddenly terrified because she actually didn’t know where they were. “I don’t have them.”
Sochi batted Nopa’s gun arm away and he let her go.
Claire felt sick. Julio the shaman said she needed to keep the copper egg with her. She surreptitiously moved her hand against her pocket. Nothing! The last time she’d seen the eggs, she and Sochi were studying them in order to read the map. Uneasiness crept through her limbs. She didn’t have the copper egg.
She whirled on Higuchi. “I don’t understand how you fit into this.”
“Nopa is my employee. One day I was about to kill him for his incompetence when he told me of the eggs and how he’d sent them to you. That’s when I saw how Chaco’s tomb could fit into my Plan of Retribution.”
“You’re both insane,” Claire said.
Nopa waved the gun at her. She should have been afraid, but she suspected he had other plans for her.
“I have the tomb now,” Nopa said, “so I guess I don’t need the eggs. This is the most important day of my life, and of this country’s existence. Generations of my family have kept the roof from collapsing, kept the torches working, cleaned and oiled the altar, all to honor both the great king and his administrator, Nopaltzin. I have many cousins, but it is my branch which was honored with this task.” He stroked one of the bamboo support poles. “My grandfather, Nopaltzin, let Chacochutl down.”
Claire realized that Nopa’s grandfather, Nopaltzin, could be Señora Facala’s NP.
“I am finally able to continue what centuries of my ancestors have done—honor Chacochutl. And I will do what no one has yet tried—bring Chacochutl back to life.”
Claire’s eyes met Sochi’s. What did they have to do with his plan?
“Plenty of time for that,” Higuchi snapped. “Let’s see the treasure.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Claire
When Higuchi nodded to Claire, she led them into the second chamber, where even Sochi gasped at the treasure. Nopa began chanting something in Quechua that she didn’t understand. The gold was even more impressive with all the torches lit.
Higuchi stood in the chamber with his hands on his hips. “And so my plan begins. Nopa, I will call your cousin.” He punched the screen a few times, then waited. “Yes, bring men and backpacks for transporting the stuff. Walk in, since the four-wheelers might draw too much attention at this time of night. You have several hours of work here. Photograph everything before you move it, then photograph each individual item. I want Peru to know exactly what it’s lost.” He ended the call.
“Why?” Sochi asked.
He nodded at Claire. “She understands. I am going to punish Peru for its treatment of Japanese-Peruvian citizens during World War II. The best way to do this is to steal its greatest treasure.” He opened his arms toward the pile. “Which I have now discovered.”
“I’m FTF,” Claire snapped.
“Ohh. So competitive. Is there more to the tomb?”
She led them around the corner to the altar room.
“Yes!” Nopa shouted. “It is here, just as my father said it would be.” After forcing Claire, Maria, and Sochi into the far corner, both Nopa and Higuchi ran their fingers over the carved warrior on the altar.
“Amazing,” Nopa breathed. “Thank you for cleaning this,” he said to her. “This entire tomb has gone untended for over forty years, thanks to my grandfather.” He happily traced part of the warrior’s reed skirt.
Nopa finally noticed the raised platform behind them. With a cry, he dashed toward it and dropped to his knees. The chamber was silent as he gazed reverentially at the wrapped skeleton. Claire hoped he wouldn’t unwrap the cloth—that would surely destroy it.
Finally, Nopa stood.
She cleared her throat. “Higuchi, I found the tomb for you. It’s time to let us go.”
Higuchi smiled one of those creepy, sweet smiles. He turned to Nopa. “I told you we’d find your family’s tomb. If you want to do that whole ‘Chaco back to life’ thing, now is the time.”
“What do you mean?” Claire asked.
Nopa cocked his head, as if listening to a secret voice. “I intend to bring King Chaco back from the dead to live again. He will honor me by inhabiting my body.”
“That’s bullshit,” Sochi snapped. “No one believes that crap.”
“Our family was the chosen one, thanks to the Great Miracle.” His expression didn’t change. “Our king had llamas and women to accompany him on his journey to the heavens. He will need the same on his return to Earth. It is time.”
He pushed them back to the first chamber. “First, I must sacrifice llamas to help carry Chaco’s food and belongings for the return journey. I realized it might be difficult to transport the llamas quickly when the time came, so we have sacrificed them already.” He hefted the bag over his shoulder. “I have the llama blood here.”
They watched while Nopa removed a plastic bag of blood and poured it over the llama skeletons. The harsh smell of iron and death filled the chamber. He folded the plastic and tucked it into his bag. Then he turned to Claire. “Now I need attendants for the king. The eggs gave me the idea. Gold, silver, and copper. I will offer three female sacrifices—gold, silver, and copper.”
Her stomach dropped. He couldn’t be serious. That explained why Maria was here. Three female sacrifices: Maria, Sochi, and Claire.
Sochi leapt for Nopa’s throat, but he deflected her hands and flung her against the gold-lined wall. The wall trembled but held. “No, you can’t do this,” Sochi growled.
Higuchi shook his head. “Nopa, tie them up.” Higuchi held the gun on them while Nopa fastened their hands behind their backs with plastic ties. When the hard tie cut deeply into Claire’s wrists, she hissed in pain, but forced her mind into problem-solving mode. What could she do? And how had she gone from being a nosy archaeologist, snooping around for a fabled tomb, to someone about to be sacrificed? She waited for it to seem funny, but nothing came.
“All three of you, sit down there in the corner.”
They dropped to their knees, then awkwardly lowered themselves, hard to do with your hands behind your back. Nopa and Higuchi were busy conferring.
“Sochi,” Claire whispered. They were sitting back to back, with Maria farther down the wall. Sochi shifted, obviously trying to relieve some of the pressure across her shoulders. “It would be stupid and unfair for us to die now.”
“I know,” she replied.
Their fingers managed to touch, and the reality of the situation came crashing down on Claire. No one else knew they were here. No one was going to rescue them. Her throat closed up so it took her a minute to get the words out. “I would have liked to get a dog.” Unfamiliar despair seeped into her soul as she realized how much of her life she’d wasted running from Sochi.
“I will get you a dog. We will name her Suyana.”
“Hop
e?”
Her fingers squeezed Claire’s. “We’re not dead yet, my love.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Sochi
Sochi refused to accept that this was it. After years of living a double life, and staying safe, was she going to have her throat slit open on an elaborate altar within shouting distance of Chan Chan? No. No. Her parents would soldier on, but Sochi’s death would kill Mima. Her eyes began to sting. And Claire’s death? Couldn’t happen. If Sochi could sacrifice her own life to save Claire’s, she would. She’d never felt so certain of anything.
Higuchi was done conferring with someone on the phone so they returned to the women’s corner. “Who goes first?” he asked Nopa.
Nopa was fumbling with a small bottle of capsules. San Pedro. He popped three into his mouth. He’d be higher than Machu Picchu within minutes. “I have given great thought to this. Do you know the name of a father and son who were both president of America?”
“Bush,” Higuchi said.
“Yes, but also Adams! I researched this. Claire Adams is descended from her country’s rulers, so she will be my gold sacrifice. She will be the first to die.”
Sochi felt as if she’d been kicked in the gut.
“And this Menendez bitch is my silver sacrifice because her family owns all the silver mines in the country that you don’t own.”
Maria began to struggle. She sat up and yelled. “I’m not part of this. Let me go! You can’t do this!” When she started to scream, Nopa hit her with the butt of his pistol and she collapsed. Then he slapped a length of duct tape across her mouth. He glared at Sochi and Claire. “One scream out of you and you get the tape as well.”
He prodded Sochi with his toe. “And this one comes from goat herders, and is as common as they come. She will be my copper sacrifice.”
His pupils had already begun to dilate.
“Higuchi,” Sochi said. “You don’t believe in this reincarnation crap. I can see it on your face. So why kill more people than you have to? Give Claire and Maria some San Pedro and let them go. They’ll be so high no one will believe them. You’ll have time to empty the tomb and be long gone before anyone comes looking for you.” She strained against her bindings, ignoring the pain.
“How self-sacrificing of you,” Higuchi said, “but no. Nopa has worked hard to make this happen, and I promised him this ceremony.”
Claire shifted against the wall. “You know perfectly well that killing us won’t harm either Peru or the U.S.”
“No, but it will rid me of La Bruja, and it will also be satisfying to see the three of you dead. As for harming Peru, my plan for retribution begins later this morning. Thank you again for finding the tomb.” His broad smile made Sochi shiver. “When the sun rises in a few hours, I will begin bringing Peru to its knees. As for the Americans, I will use Peru’s downfall to educate the world about the internment camps. Few people know that America did this. I have articles ready to send to the New York Times, NPR, the BBC, and other radio and TV stations all across the world. People will learn what was done to my people, to my grandfather.”
“Higuchi,” Claire said. “I agree that it was horrible. I’m ashamed of what the United States did. Not only did we lock up our own Japanese citizens, but we went trolling for more and bribed your government to turn over all its Japanese citizens. But be reasonable! Our deaths will mean nothing to the world.”
“Ah, but they will mean the world to Nopa.”
“Enough talk,” Nopa said. He was high now, but not in the way Sochi had expected. His gaze was clear, his voice hard. He was totally committed to killing them all. He pulled them to their feet. Maria whimpered but stood. Then, prodding their backs with his gun, he forced them back to the altar chamber. Smoke from the torches burned in Sochi’s throat and nostrils. Think, Sochi, think. She had to find a way to save Claire.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Claire
Higuchi had returned to the first chamber and was talking to his men. Clanking metal told Claire that they’d begun packing up the treasure. Normally, she would have been upset they were destroying valuable evidence about an ancient culture, but with herself and Sochi about to be sacrificed to King Chacochutl’s reincarnation, all Claire’s brain cells were busy. Sweat ran down her neck and back. Her knees burned and her arms had gone numb from shoulders to fingertips.
Nopa had begun to chant and gently sway. Sochi and Claire looked at each other with the same thought. He was distracted now, so perhaps they could somehow get the gun away from him. Maria’s eyes were glazed with terror; luckily, her mouth was taped, since Claire was frightened enough without Maria sharing her own fears.
Claire looked at Sochi, then back at Nopa’s gun, which he held loosely in one hand as he swayed. “I’m not ready to die,” she said to Sochi.
“Me neither.”
But before they could get any further in their plot, male voices from the other chambers rose in alarm, with cries of “Stop!”
Two men crowded through the entrance to the altar chamber. “Nopa! Stop this madness.”
Claire’s heart rose like a euphoric butterfly. Nancho! The man behind Nancho was the guy who’d been following her, the one she’d accosted in the alley.
“Rigo, thank the gods,” Sochi whispered.
The two men filled the doorway, and only now that they stood together could Claire see the resemblance between all three men—Nancho, Rigo, and Nopa.
“Nancho,” she said. “Nopa thinks he’s going to sacrifice us on this altar.”
“Mrs. Claire, I am so sorry about my evil cousin.”
Sochi actually laughed. “The three of you could be brothers.”
“I’m sorry, jefe,” Rigo said. “Nopa is my evil cousin as well.”
“Go away,” Nopa said to the men. “I do not want you here.”
Claire looked between Nancho and Rigo. “So you two are cousins then.” They nodded. “You were the man I saw at Mardonio’s wake.”
“Yes, that was me.”
She glared at Nancho. “You knew your cousin followed us every day.”
Nancho shrugged.
“Well, forget that for now. You’ve come just in time,” Claire said. “How did you know we were here?”
“Higuchi called our cousin Miguelito, so Miguelito called us to come help move the treasure. But when we heard about the treasure, we feared you were in danger.”
“You feared right,” Sochi said.
Nancho took a step toward Nopa. “You cannot do this. It is one thing for your branch of the family to tend to the tomb, even though most of us didn’t believe it existed. But now, for you to think you can bring Chaco back to life?” He took another step. “The whole family knew you were crazy, but we never realized you were actually insane.”
The first bullet hit Nancho so hard in the shoulder he spun around and collapsed face down in the dirt. The second bullet hit Rigo in the chest. He flew back against the wall, then slid down, legs bent beneath him, unconscious. Claire’s ears rang with the gunshots and everything sounded very far away. Blood had spattered against the dull gold walls, and began pooling in the dirt at their feet. Maria whimpered, and Sochi’s face was white as the moon. Claire’s eyes teared up, but her hands weren’t free to wipe them. Her vision blurred.
Nopa stood facing his fallen cousins. “You stupid idiots! You made me shoot you. This is all your fault. You know how important Chaco is to my family.”
Neither man moved. Claire stared hard, praying to see some sign of life in either man. Finally, Nancho’s foot moved slightly. Rigo’s chest rose and fell, but just barely. They were still alive, but they were no longer in any condition to help.
Sochi and Claire exchanged a quick glance. This was really going to happen now. The last two people who might have stopped Nopa were unconscious and possibly dying.
Higuchi appeared in the doorway. “Nopa, you seem to have shot your cousins.”
“They were going to stop me.”
“Their fault
then. The raiding of the tomb is underway, so I have time. How may I assist you?”
Nopa waved the gun at Claire. “We will do the gold sacrifice first.”
Sochi rose to her feet as she barked a harsh laugh. “You know nothing about this ritual, do you?”
He whirled on her, waving the gun in her face. “Shut up.”
“That’s backward,” she snapped. “You start with the humble and proceed to the great. Copper is humble, gold is great.”
“Sochi, no,” Claire cried. She was on her feet now as well.
Nopa cocked his head, his eyes blank as he considered her suggestion. “Yes, I see that you are correct.”
Claire threw herself at Sochi, whispering, “I don’t have the copper egg. You can’t do this without the egg.”
Sochi leaned in as the two men began pulling them apart. “I have it. How do I use it?”
Fear and frustration ripped through Claire as she pressed her cheek against Sochi’s for the last time. “I have no idea.”
Higuchi pushed Claire back against the wall hard enough that she tripped and fell. He tied her feet and stretched duct tape across her mouth so tightly her skin stung. Then he helped Nopa carry a writhing, cursing, kicking Sochi toward the altar.
Claire rolled on her side, terrified and powerless. One of the visions she’d seen through the copper egg had come to life: Ixchel had watched Cualli being dragged to her death, and now Claire was watching the same thing happen to Sochi.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Sochi
As she was dragged toward the altar, Sochi frantically scanned it for clues. What the hell was she supposed to do with the copper egg? She would not get a second chance. If she didn’t figure it out, all three of them were dead.
Nopa half-pulled, half-lifted Sochi up onto the altar. The stone was cool; the carved design of the warrior cut into her shoulder and thighs. Wrists still cuffed, she lay twisted on the slab.
“I am ready for the knife,” Nopa said.
Sochi swallowed. Gods, this wasn’t really the way she’d pictured going out, not that she’d spent much time thinking about her death. She sent a silent apology to Mima.
The Copper Egg Page 25
