Brian Sadler Archaeological Mysteries BoxSet

by Bill Thompson

  “Please. Everything will work out. Jorge Arocha is my friend. I told him I’m good for everything. Once my luck turns around I’ll pay everything I owe. He knows I’ll pay. Plus I have another deal working that will make everyone rich.”

  “I’m sad to report that your friend Jorge has departed this earth. He had a misfortune in Guatemala earlier today. I uttered a single word, one command, Arthur, and Jorge Arocha got a bullet to the head.”

  Borland looked down at the floor, terrified. “I…uh…what do you want with me, sir?”

  “I know what you owe for drugs because Jorge told me. I know what you owe this casino because I own it. This place belongs to me, Arthur. You’re dealing with me. Your ‘other deal’ that’s working – I presume you are referring to the expedition on which Brian Sadler is looking for your father, but also for gold.

  “Speaking of family, I’m so sorry to hear your mother is dying. You are many thousands of miles from her bedside – this seems like a strange place to wait out her last days. Is she anxious to learn what happened to her husband, your father Jack Borland?”

  “Yes…yes, my wife is caring for Mother now. I just wanted to be closer to the search for Captain Jack.”

  “You wanted to be closer to the search for your father and so you came to a casino on an island? You just made a big mistake, my Lord. You’re an idiot. Don’t ever lie to me again. I have no time to suffer fools like you and I do not have time for lies. Your mother isn’t dying, Lord Borland. She’s over seventy years old and fit as a horse. She lives in a retirement center near Oxford. Half an hour ago she finished a good dinner and was preparing to play a game of bridge. She doesn’t know anything about Jack Borland because they were divorced thirty years ago. The staff at the center doesn’t recall her ever mentioning his name.”

  “All right,” Borland said quietly. “What do you want?”

  “I am in charge of your life from this moment forward. You will do anything I say, exactly when I want it done. Right now I want you to go to your room, pack your bags and come with me.”

  “And if I refuse?”

  John Spedino laughed heartily. “If you refuse? I just told you more about your mother than you knew yourself. I know all about your wife too. What’s precious to you, Lord Borland? Your family? Your good name and reputation? Your ability to gamble on other people’s money whenever you wish? Let’s just say this. In life I have learned that the best leverage is in knowing your opponent’s weaknesses. And you have so many – I just named a few of them. You won’t refuse. You have far too much to lose.”

  “What do I do about my place at the blackjack table? They’re expecting me back.”

  “Actually they’re not. They have already cashed in the tiny stash of chips you had left and applied it against your markers. No one will challenge your leaving and you don’t even have to check out. I’m taking care of you, Lord Borland. You’re mine in every sense of the word from now on.”

  “What’s in this for you?”

  Spedino laughed. “Now it wouldn’t be fair if I told you everything, would it?”

  They flew without incident to Guatemala City and went directly to the Rosales Hotel and Casino on the fashionable Avenida Reforma. John Spedino was shown to a two-bedroom suite. “This is your room,” he pointed to a door on one side of the expansive living room. “Here’s ten thousand dollars. Don’t spend it all, my addicted friend. I may not be so generous next time. You may snort your cocaine; you may gamble in the hotel. But you may not leave the premises for any reason. If you attempt to do so my people will detain you. For once in your miserable life, be smart about this. Do as I say.”

  “If I may ask, what are we doing here in Guatemala City?”

  “We’re waiting.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Lynne and Brian sat by the dying fire. The Belizean man on watch sat ten feet away from them, smoking.

  “What do you think you’re doing? Who the hell are you communicating with?” He whispered furious words.

  Lynne responded quietly. “Calm down. I have one motive, one goal. My goal is to make a name for myself. Lynne Parker is going down in history for finding a previously unknown Mayan city. I learned a long time ago that no one was going to do anything for me. I had to use every angle to further my own agenda. And I’m tired of being an associate professor with no tenure, no recognition, nothing except approving glances at my physique. How about my brain? How about what I can contribute to the knowledge of the Mayan civilization? So I communicate with Tomas. So what? He’s not even here – he can’t hurt us.”

  “Tomas? That’s who you’re texting? My God, Lynne. Are you nuts? Do you think he can’t hurt us? Is that what you really believe? Since he knows we’ve found the temple he now assumes there’s gold. What if we get finished and head down to find that Tomas has killed your friend Lucky at Jaguar’s Call? Then he kills all of us too, except you of course. To further your ‘own agenda’ you have to stay alive so you can lead him back up the mountain to the gold he intends to take for himself and his boss, whoever that is. And after we’re all dead I’m sure Tomas will send you off with a nice pat on the back and a wish for luck. Really, Lynne? Do you think Tomas will cut you in on anything? You won’t be alive long enough to take credit for finding the Ancient Library. He tied my girlfriend naked to a table and left her in the jungle. Do you think a man like that isn’t furthering his own agenda?”

  For nearly twenty minutes they talked. Brian told her how dangerous this whole situation was including his fear that once they came back down the mountain they might be captured by Tomas once again. “We have to all be on the same side, Lynne. If I can’t trust you I have to cut you loose regardless of how valuable your training is to this expedition.”

  She hung her head. “What you say makes sense. I was just trying to make sure I had every angle covered. If things went one way I had you. If they went the other I had him.”

  He was furious. “What the hell were you thinking? You don’t have me. And unless you’re totally nuts you have to know you don’t have him either. He isn’t afraid to kidnap people, to torture and lie to them. I can’t believe you of all people are working with Tomas, the man who not only kidnapped Nicole, but Sam, Alfredo and me too. For God’s sake, do we mean nothing to you?”

  Tears streamed down Lynne’s cheeks. “I understand. I was wrong – so wrong. Please believe me. What I did was stupid and selfish. I’ve worked so hard for so many years and gotten nowhere in academia. I just decided this was my last chance for fame. Fortune too, I guess. But fame for sure. I’m done with Tomas. I promise. Keep the phone with you from now on and Brian, I have a gun in my pack, a .38 pistol Lucky told me to bring along. I’m going to give it to you so you have it if anything happens.” She walked to her tent and returned quickly, handing him the revolver.

  Brian made a quick decision. “I’m taking a chance. I’m going to believe you but I swear we’re going to watch you like a hawk. If you betray me again you’ll be a prisoner yourself – my prisoner until we can get you back down the mountain. And if that happens you can kiss your career goodbye. Treachery and double-dealing aren’t how you get ahead in life. Keep this up and you’ll be banned from every academic job in America, if I have anything to say about it. End all this now and we’ll put it behind us.”

  “You can trust me, Brian, I swear it. From this moment forward I’m on your team. One hundred percent. Please forgive me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Lynne spent all of the next day photographing and cataloging the glyphs in her notebook. Brian and Sam held mirrors while Alfredo and the workers lounged around the camp. In the afternoon one of the men carved a long stick with a very sharp point and ventured into the forest. There was a commotion and a high-pitched shriek. “Estas bien, Fernando?” Alfredo called out. Are you OK?

  “Si.” The man came out dragging a twenty-pound animal three feet long behind him.

  “Que es un tapir!” he cried.

&nbs
p; “What is it?” Brian asked.

  “It’s a tapir. Its meat is prized and is incredibly delicious. You’ll think it’s pork. Are we having fresh meat for dinner tonight?” he called to Alfredo.

  “Yes we are. I’ll prepare it myself.”

  The prospect of eating something besides packaged meals meant everyone was starving by sunset. They lounged by the campfire as Alfredo cooked the meat on a spit. It smelled delicious.

  “I’ve finished the cataloging,” Lynne said. “Tomorrow we open the door.”

  At five Sam tried to call Odette but the call dropped. He tried a second time with no success. “Third time’s the charm,” he said. The call went through.

  Odette answered on the first ring. They talked briefly for five minutes then he disconnected. Walking over to Brian Sam said, “Nicole emailed Odette. Said to tell you she loves you very much and things are all fine in Dallas. Nicole also checked with Collette and everything is under control at the New York and London galleries. So just finish up here and have a good time. That was her message to you.”

  “Did you tell Odette what we’ve found?”

  “Yes. She was really excited. I have to tell you, I am too. I can hardly wait to see what’s behind that door. I’ve been in Belize for decades; I’ve found a few things on the ground when I was walking around like pottery and stuff, but I’ve never been a part of what could be something really big.”

  Sam continued. “I also told her to contact Collette so she can reach Lord Borland and tell him we’re at the site but have nothing to report yet.”

  “That was a good idea. He needs to know where we stand. I know he’s worried about his mother so maybe this news will cheer him up.”

  The roasted tapir dinner was wonderful. They all ate until they were stuffed. Alfredo cleaned up the area and put all the trash into a baggie in his backpack. Brian pulled out a cigar and offered one to Lynne and Sam. “I’ll give it a shot,” she said.

  Brian enjoyed the smoke and had to laugh as Lynne inhaled a big puff, resulting in an extended coughing spell.

  “I’d skip the inhaling part,” he suggested. “They’re plenty strong without it.”

  “Hell, I’ve never been very good at smoking. I tried cigarettes in college but that didn’t work either. I’ll just let this go out and you can smoke it later.”

  In the middle of the night Brian heard the cell phone ding. He reached in his pack and looked at the screen. “Have you found the gold?”

  Brian typed back, “Doesn’t look like the right place. More later.” Tomas would think the response was from Lynne and perhaps they could stave off his enthusiasm. Brian didn’t know that Tomas had been left in the jungle to die. Instead, John Spedino read his text. The Godfather might not use modern cell technology but he could adapt when it was required. This was one of those times.

  By daybreak everyone was up, each one anxious to get the day started. Lynne took a small chisel and a hammer from her pack. “It’s time to open the door. We can use the chisel if we need to but like you said, it looks like someone already opened the door before we got here.”

  “How do we open this massive door?” Sam asked. “It looks like a solid piece of rock and it must weigh a ton. Literally.”

  “The Maya knew the science of balance and counterweights,” Lynne replied. “I saw a door in a temple in the Yucatan that swung on crude hinges. The trick here is going to be finding what makes it swing open. There has to be a lock somewhere.”

  She instructed everyone to run his hands up and down the walls. “Stay away from the glyphs. I don’t want them damaged any more than we have to.”

  They felt every square inch of the wall that contained the doorway. They pushed and prodded but nothing happened. “Let’s take a break while I think about this.” She stood in front of the wall for ten minutes looking it over closely.

  “I want to try something,” Lynne said at last. “Look up there in the corner where the glyph with the curse is. That set of pictures says ‘Death to all who enter here.’ It’s the only thing on the entire wall that refers to entering.” Standing on tiptoe she ran her hand lightly across the glyphs themselves. In the seam between two of them was a round rock. She pressed on it and the door slowly began to move inwards.

  “Oh my God! Oh my God!” Lynne cried. She stepped back – when the door had opened a few inches the Belizean worker Juan rushed up and shouted, “Yo primero!” Me first!

  “No!” Alfredo yelled, trying to stop him as the small man slipped through into the darkness. Suddenly the door swung shut and they heard a bloodcurdling scream.

  “Open the door!” Brian shouted. “Hurry!”

  Lynne pressed again but the door wouldn’t move. “It may have to reset itself,” she yelled. “I’ll keep pressing but we have to be careful!”

  Sam and Alfredo ran outside and brought a large oblong rock into the room and laid it by the door. “We’ll prop it open with this,” Sam said. “Hurry!”

  Lynne’s fingers found the round rock again and she pressed hard. The door swung open and Sam moved the rock to wedge the door. There was a two foot opening and darkness beyond. When the door attempted to close again, it was stopped. The wedge held it open.

  “Don’t stick your head through the opening until we know what happened to Juan,” Sam warned. They grabbed flashlights and aimed them through the narrow aperture.

  There was room for only a couple of people at once so Brian stood back as Lynne and Sam took the first turn. “What do you see?” he asked.

  “Hard to tell in the darkness,” Lynne replied. “I see Juan for sure. Looks like a large stone fell on his back. He’s not moving. I…I think he’s dead, guys.”

  Lynne spoke more softly. “There’s another person in there too. I can’t see very well but it looks like Juan may have fallen on another body. The room’s pretty big and there’s an intact table in the middle. My eyes are getting adjusted now. I also think there may be…”

  “Codices,” Sam finished. “There’s at least one shelf with books or scrolls on it, far as I can tell. Guys, we have to get this door open wider so we can check on Juan.”

  They quickly crafted a plan. They found a longer rock that two men could still carry. They made ready as Lynne pressed the mechanism again. The door first attempted to swing shut but then it swung open further as Alfredo and Brian wedged in the second rock. They heard a loud thunk. The door started to shut again but the wedge held fast. The opening was now four feet wide and some light was shining into the room.

  Sam said, “Your turn to look, Brian.” Lynne continued to peer into the room as Brian moved over to the door. He turned his light upwards.

  “Look Lynne, there’s some kind of primitive mechanism affixed to the ceiling.”

  “Yep. It’s a trap. Looks like the little side slot on a pinball machine where the ball goes. There are a bunch of round stones. When the door opens a certain distance one of the balls drops. That was the noise we heard when we wedged the door wider. Another of the balls fell.”

  They shined the lights on the large rock balls. They were spherical and looked as though they weighed about fifty or sixty pounds each. “That must have killed him instantly,” Lynne murmured, looking at Juan’s body on the ground two feet away. She grieved inside for her fallen comrade.

  “Do we feel it’s safe to go inside?” Brian finally asked.

  “Just watch your step. There may be more traps. And one of us has to stay outside all the time. If the door happens to break the wedge and shut again we have to have someone to open it back up.”

  “I’ll stay for now,” Alfredo volunteered. “Go, Brian.” In Spanish he turned to the other guide. “You go in too, Fernando.” Recalling that Fernando’s brother had accompanied Captain Jack, they all feared what he would find.

  Brian stepped over the two wedged rocks and shone his light carefully on the floor, walls and ceiling. Carefully he put his full weight down on the stone floor. Nothing happened and he was now standing inside th
e room.

  Lynne followed him in. Fernando stood just behind him in the opening. The room they were in was about ten feet wide and twenty long. It had a large stone table in the middle. Lying on the floor just in front of them was Juan’s body, partially covering that of another person. The lower one must have been dead for some time, trapped inside the room with a booby-trapped door.

  From outside, Alfredo told them he and Fernando wanted to retrieve Juan’s body. Alfredo crept inside – they lifted Juan carefully off the other corpse and took him into the anteroom where they laid his body carefully on the floor.

  “Wonder how long this guy’s been there?” Brian asked. He leaned down and turned the body over. There was a patina that looked like soot or mold covering the face and hands but it was clear to see that the man was fair-skinned. Brian felt the man’s shirt pocket, reached in and pulled out a small notebook and a folded piece of paper.

  He opened the first page of the note pad, read it and said, “Well, we’ve solved the mystery of Jack Borland’s disappearance. And I’d bet money what this is.” He unfolded the paper and found the map Arthur Borland had described.

  “Hi, Captain Jack,” Brian said softly. “Looks like you died the way you lived, having an adventure. I bet you’d rather have had it this way than sitting in a rest home playing checkers from your rocking chair. And you found your ancient library. You did it. Arthur will be proud of you.”

  “So his body’s been here over a year,” Lynne said. “The way this room is sealed, there’s almost no humidity in here. Smell how stale the air is? I doubt you could live in here very long if the door shut and sealed itself. Speaking of that, if those are actually Mayan codices sitting on that shelf on the left they’ll turn to dust in a few hours just like the ones in the other rooms did. Air is the worst enemy for them. And they are codices, I’m sure. We need to make this fast, guys.”

  Lynne asked the guys outside to get some smaller rocks, maybe five pounds each. They passed them inside one by one and she told Brian to throw them on the floor, hitting various stones. “I watched enough Indiana Jones movies that I want to see if there’s a booby trap that activates when you step in the wrong place.”