by Paul Knox
Only Tonaltzintli’s direct descendants would know how to find the entrance, receiving the same tattoo when they proved themselves worthy of the responsibility.
“Are you saying Mario really does know how to find the gold tablets?” Reece questioned.
“I think the knowledge has been lost to time. Perhaps if we examine the pendant and Mario’s tattoo in a new light, a location can be realized.”
Reece murmured, “I’ve seen his tattoo.” She pictured the strange image. Then a thought occurred to her.
50
ONCE THE ESCALADE had reversed out of sight from Reece and Xie, Aiguo wasted no time hopping out and jumping onto the hood. He yanked the sword out of Pengfei and removed it from the windshield.
Pengfei groaned in pain, mumbling, “I don’t know how long I can drive without help.”
Yunru quickly stepped out of the Escalade and opened the driver’s side door. “Unfortunately not much longer.” He dragged Pengfei out of the car and threw him onto the road.
“Sir?” Aiguo asked, motioning to the steering wheel.
“Yes,” Yunru said, irritated. “You drive.” Then he shot Pengfei in the head. “But first, get this over there.” He pointed at the rainforest.
After Aiguo dragged the body to the side of the road and stuffed it under the thick foliage, he positioned himself firmly in the driver’s seat, attempting to kick out the spiderwebbed windshield. But it was too cracked and fractured. His left boot broke through it, knocking out a small hole. For the sake of expediency, he just kicked at the hole until there was a large enough opening to see through.
“Do we go for the young Cannon woman again?” he asked.
“No,” Yunru answered. “Go to the village. Reece has no idea who is waiting for her, bloody and bruised. And I’m sure when she finds out, she’ll do what every hero does.”
“Surrender?” Aiguo suggested, putting the Escalade in gear and speeding off.
“Something much more efficient.” Yunru sat smug in his knowledge. “Sacrifice.”
51
ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS Reece did as she and Xie raced to the village was to phone Shanahan, hoping he could analyze Yunru’s phone. But she couldn’t get service in this part of the mountains.
“Pop out the SIM card, Reece.” Xie removed his phone from his pocket and handed it over. “And here.”
“What kind of phone is this?” she asked, looking Xie’s device over.
“My kind. I built it. You can put any type of SIM card in it, and the phone will automatically read it, allowing the user to access call history, texts, and even make calls using the associated number.”
Reece removed Yunru’s SIM and then slid it into one of the many different-sized slots underneath the battery of Xie’s. After about thirty seconds, Xie’s phone rebooted.
“What you’re seeing now,” Xie explained, “is a prompt for accessing SIMs and internal memory. Do you see the Superbad option?”
“Yes,” Reece answered. “Is that Yunru’s info?”
“No. That’s mine. His will be whatever else is listed. Probably a string of numbers and letters. See it?”
“Superbad,” Reece echoed, nonplussed. “Here it is. I see Yunru’s SIM. Opening now.”
Reece navigated to Yunru’s texts and tapped the recent messages.
The first text felt like a bomb went off in Reece’s mind. The next couple sent shock waves throughout her body. She sat dumbfounded, not moving for almost ten seconds. She couldn’t believe the name of the contact.
The most recent text read:
Reece just left for the village with Xie in a black Mustang GT.
The one before it, dated last night, read:
We’re parked one street north of Jaguar Morado. Send someone now.
And the one before that, from yesterday morning read:
We’re staying at a hotel in Juayúa. Vista Los Volcanes. I’m with Reece at the nearest Market. Everyone else is still at the hotel.
Yunru had responded to this text with:
Kai will be in the area soon. Stay put. He will meet you behind the market for details.
Reece had trouble catching her breath. She reached over and grabbed Xie’s shoulder, almost as though it might keep her from falling forward.
“Xie,” she whispered. “Xie… I had no idea… He’s been…”
“Reece, what did you find in there?”
“It’s Chang. Chang has been in contact with Yunru this entire time.”
52
SANDY struggled against the ropes that bound his hands and feet. He was propped up in a standing position, tied to a thick, knotty tree with Mario right beside him.
“I wonder how many people wish they could stare at their father-in-law tied up, about to disappear forever.” Chang cocked his head and scrunched his brow, as though he was actually contemplating that.
“I’m not your father-in-law,” Sandy intoned. “You’re still dead to me.”
Chang almost looked sad when he’d said that, glancing over at Kai who was rounding up the Pipils.
Sandy noticed one of the Pipil men being standoffish, trying to elicit the rebellion of his peers. Then a gunshot went off, echoing through the trees. Screams and frightened yelps followed.
Kai had shot the defiant man. The man was now on the ground, blood seeping through his fingers as they clutched at his chest.
Sandy looked away and stayed quiet. He didn’t need to yell or threaten. As soon as he was free, he’d make amends for these people. As soon as Reece arrived…
Chang turned back to Sandy, obviously shaken from the violence, but playing it off. “As you know, I’ve died before. And there was nothing. No white light. No tunnel. Nothing.”
Sandy peered at him. Chang’s eyes were the same as an infant who spilled his milk. That mix of tantrum and helplessness that only severe weakness produced.
Chang continued. “So you see, I can’t die again. I can’t. I just can’t.”
Sandy began to spin a story in his head. He knew dragons, he knew manipulation, he knew wiretaps and bullying and threats. And he had a good guess about what had brought Chang here.
“But Yunru knew you were still alive, didn’t he?” Sandy asked.
“You knew!?” Chang asked with haughty disdain.
“Ask yourself how surprised I was when you pulled a gun on Mario. Ask yourself if I’d let you do this, if I knew.”
“Well, he did. He blackmailed me. He said if I didn’t…” Chang looked away. “Do you know Yunru’s last name?”
“Enlighten me.”
“Wu. He’s family. My father’s cousin’s son.”
Sandy exhaled heavily. “For future reference, that’s a second cousin.”
“Make yourself useful, Chang,” Kai called loudly to him. “Do you still have that gun?—tie some of these animals to the trees. And shoot them if they resist.”
Chang tottered to the group of women huddled on the ground and yanked one up.
“Not the girls,” Kai said in disgust. “The men.”
Chang appeared unsure of himself for a moment. He took out the handgun Xie had given him and waved it around, before pointing it at one of the men. “Go…over there,” he commanded.
“That’s painful,” Sandy whispered.
Mario whispered back. “He’s a strong man, Señor Sandy. He will not even flinch.”
“Not him,” Sandy responded. “Chang. It’s painful watching a weak mind fall apart. Never be like that, kid. And never give up.”
“I’m still waiting for your signal, Señor Sandy.”
“Good. Be ready.”
From the other side of the small clearing, Sandy heard movement in the forest. It sounded like people walking, crunching on twigs and leaves.
Reece and Xie?
Konstantin appeared from behind the leaves, shoving forward another man with a bloody face who seemed barely able to remain standing. His knees buckled as he walked. Then he fell to the ground.
“Get
up.” Konstantin kicked him in the ribs. “I said get up!”
The man struggled to a dog position, trying to stand.
“Too slow.” Konstantin kicked him in the ribs again, and the man went down hard, spitting blood.
“Chang!” Konstantin yelled. “Get over here and help me drag him to the others.”
Sandy witnessed a cruel smile crawl over Chang’s lips as he walked toward them.
Sandy closed his eyes. This won’t be good for Reece, he thought.
A punch to Sandy’s gut brought his eyes open again.
“Look who we have here,” Konstantin taunted. Then he punched him a second and third time. Sandy gasped for breath.
“I’ll be back in a minute or two.” Konstantin delivered a one-two punch to Sandy’s face, bouncing his head hard against the tree trunk. “Go ahead and wait right here.” He chuckled.
Not long after, the Pipils were either tied up, huddled together in fear, or dead. And the sound of Konstantin, Kai, and Chang discussing their plan reached Sandy’s ears.
“Did you talk to Yunru?” Chang asked.
“He’ll be here soon,” Konstantin muttered.
“Very good,” Kai said. “After the green dragon gets rid of Reece Cannon…we will slay the green beast.” Then Kai tapped Chang on the chest with his gun. “Got it?”
Chang nodded nervously.
53
REECE padded through the forest with Xie following right behind. She watched and listened to the subtle nuances of the wild, ready for anything.
Ten minutes earlier they had passed the original spot where Reece planned on parking, and instead, drove half a mile farther in the hopes of avoiding more confrontations with Yunru until after the Pipils were free.
Of course, she wasn’t absolutely sure Yunru’s goal was the village. But she had a pretty solid hunch.
The duo ran not in a straight line, but took a curved approach toward the indigenous village. The path was slightly longer this way, but there were fewer chances of running into anybody.
Reece felt the gold around her neck and then glanced at the Guazapa landscape up ahead. She thought back to the geography and maps she had studied on the way to this country. She remembered the Atlan mythology, Mario’s ancestor Tonaltzintli, and the ancient queen’s grave. Piece by piece, this Salvadoran puzzle was coming together in her mind.
Reece and Xie made good time, only pausing when they finally arrived. Hidden behind some dense foliage, Reece squinted at the dead bodies on the ground. She counted three Pipil men piled on top of each other in the center of the village next to a communal fire pit. Each had been shot and were now on display as a warning to the rest of the people.
Xie must’ve noticed her staring because he whispered, “I see them too. And we’ll avenge their deaths. Look—” he motioned with his eyes— “Sandy and Mario are alive.”
Reece saw them, but her eyes were distracted by someone else. “Chang,” she whispered bitterly.
Chang stood guard next to Pipil men who were either tied to trees, or back-to-back wrist-to-wrist on the ground. Kai and Konstantin stood behind the group of women, quietly conversing with each other. Reece couldn’t snipe them without the risk of hitting innocent villagers.
“Human shields,” Reece muttered.
“You ready to get these cowards?” Xie asked, readying two pistols, one in each hand.
“Wait…” Reece noticed someone else on the ground, unmoving, slightly behind the tree Sandy and Mario were tied to. His body was mostly behind her line of sight, but she could make out the jeans, sneakers, and back of the man’s head. “That hair,” she whispered.
“You know him?” Xie asked.
Reece said one word: “Duke.”
And then she exploded from the cover of the forest with a roar, sprinting straight toward Kai and Konstantin. She had guns in each of her hands ready to shoot as soon as a clear shot presented itself.
Commotion ensued. The surprised women jumbled around at first, but then seemed to move like waves, parting ways and crouching down, giving Reece that shot she desperately wanted.
Reece surprised the red and white dragons, but they quickly raised their guns. Reece fired first, knocking a few rounds off. But erring on the innocent women’s safety, she had fired high.
The dragons darted for the cover of the forest. Reece slowed and switched gears, knowing they could start shooting at any moment.
“Get to the forest!” she yelled to the women, pointing in the opposite direction the dragons went.
Then she changed course and went to Duke, still lying on the ground. She fell to his side.
Meanwhile, Xie darted from tree to tree at the perimeter of the clearing, firing shots into the distance, trying to keep Kai and Konstantin back. “I’ll keep them at bay!” he yelled to Reece.
Duke lay on his side in a fetal position. Reece rocked him backwards into her lap. “Hey,” she whispered, stroking his hair. “We’ll get you out of this.”
Duke opened his right eye; the left was swollen shut and bruised. “Sorry,” he whispered back.
“Don’t say that, Duke. This is my fault.” Reece scrambled to get his wrist ties off.
“Sorry for running,” he mouthed. “Konstantin found me at the airport.”
“Reece, give me a hand,” came a determined voice from behind her.
Reece finished untying Duke and then spun around, beginning to work on Sandy’s ropes. As soon as he was free, she handed him a gun.
“I was starting to wonder what was taking so long, Reece Aislinge.”
“Sounds like I’m in trouble, calling me by my middle name and all.”
“Let’s just say, Cannons pride themselves on expediency. If this was thirty years ago, you’d be grounded.” Sandy winked at her, and then he untied Mario.
“This is it,” he said to the boy. “Time for you to help. You need to untie everybody and get them into the forest, away from this clearing.”
Mario’s nods were exaggerated. “Yes, yes, definitely!”
“Go!” Sandy exclaimed. Then he joined Xie on the perimeter while Mario got to work. The more men Mario freed, the more men helped to free others.
Reece surveyed the situation, scanning around. And there he was. The one who had brought her here, lied to get close, and then sold her out to die.
“Chang,” she hissed, marching straight at him. There was fear in his eyes as he stumbled backwards right into a lone tree.
He raised his gun and pointed it at Reece. “I thought we could be together again. I was going to tell you about Yunru, and we could’ve defeated him—together! I love you, Reece. I tried to help you see… Don’t make me shoot…”
Reece never stopped or slowed down. She kept her eagle eyes on his trigger finger, knowing she was ten times faster than he was. And she would fire if it came down to it. She was ready and willing to do it. But first, something deep in her pushed her forward like that, desiring to strike fear into his heart.
Suddenly a rain of bullets sailed past Reece from the two-mile path that led west, back to the main road. She dove to the ground and started firing back, but couldn’t see who she was firing at.
Xie also fired a couple shots westward while running to help Mario.
Many of the tribal men wanted to help fight, even insisting they would rather die than run. But Xie insisted they go into the forest and help protect the many women and children who made easy targets. In the end, the men did what Xie asked.
As the last indigenous tribesmen fled into the forest, Xie took cover behind a large boulder.
Another round of bullets pounded the clearing from the edge of the forest.
And then Reece watched in slow motion as blood spurted from Sandy’s leg, the crimson drops exploding out through his pants from his right thigh. His posture crumbled and a look of anguish twisted up his face, his eyes momentarily closing before blinking open with a grave look of concern. His right shoulder hit the dirt first and his head followed, bouncing off t
he gravel.
Reece dove toward him just as all the sinister figures emerged from the forest. Kai came from the east. Konstantin came from the north. Yunru and Aiguo came from the west.
Reece hit the ground shooting, but her gun soon click-clicked. Out of bullets. Yunru squinted and looked up at the sky, cackling.
Mario scrambled over to Sandy, unafraid of what was happening. He peered into Sandy’s face while Reece examined his leg. Sandy was losing blood fast. She stripped off the long sleeve cover she was wearing and tied it tightly around his leg as a tourniquet. Yunru and Aiguo approached.
“The blue dragon is getting old, perhaps?” Yunru said mockingly.
Reece glared at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she also watched Kai and Konstantin, hoping for some opportunity to reload and blast them all to hell.
Then Chang stepped out of the shadows, right behind Konstantin! Chang was much shorter and skinnier than the Russian, pointing the pistol upwards at the back of his head.
“They’re planning to turn on you, Yunru!” Chang yelled. His hands were shaking like his voice.
Konstantin stood still, seemingly unsure of his next move.
“So what will you do, cousin?” Yunru asked calmly.
“I’ll… I’ll, you know… I’ll do it!” Chang weakly called back.
Yunru lifted his hand, examined his fingernails and picked a piece of dirt from them. After a minute he looked up. “Well?”
Chang stared at the back of Konstantin’s head with both of his hands wrapped around the gun. His breathing was erratic. But thus far, he didn’t shoot.
“Yunru, comrade, let’s talk business here,” Konstantin called out. “There’s so much we can offer each other.”
Yunru frowned and glanced at Aiguo. And at that moment two things happened. Kai lunged for the cover of the forest. And Aiguo shot Konstantin right through the forehead, splattering blood and bits of gore all over Chang’s face.
