Hollow Bones

by CJ Lyons

  The chisel clattered to the floor as she collapsed into his arms, unable to speak as fear and adrenaline choked any words she had. He held her tight. The woman’s voice sounded very far away, saying, “We don’t have time. Let’s go.”

  Maria allowed Kevin to escort her from the room. She looked up and met the gaze of the woman imprisoned opposite. They’d started singing again, that strange crooning song that was both comforting and disturbing. “What about them?”

  “We’ll send help later,” the woman with the red hair said, marching ahead and gesturing for them to hurry. They reached the metal door and she looked through it, then held it open as they passed out into the stairwell.

  “Michael,” Maria whispered to Kevin. She didn’t know who this strange woman was, didn’t trust her. But she trusted Kevin. “We need to find him.”

  They stumbled down the stairs, Maria feeling better once they exited into sunlight. Here, behind the hospital building, was a clearing bounded by the jungle and the mountain. Almost there, almost free. Kevin held her hand in his and had a knife in the other. He kept pivoting his gaze to make sure there was no enemy nearby, but he always came back to look at her, making sure she was okay.

  “I think they took him to the house,” he said. “I didn’t see him in there.” He jerked a chin to indicate the hospital behind them.

  “C’mon,” the woman urged. “I’ll cover you while you cross the field.”

  Maria stopped. “No. I’m not going anywhere without Michael.”

  The woman frowned, stared at Maria for a long moment. “There’s no time. Carrera won’t hurt him.”

  “Dr. Carrera is insane,” Maria argued. Was that really her talking? She sounded so calm. So confident. “We need to save Michael.”

  “She’s right,” Kevin said. “I can’t predict what Carrera will do. He’s totally irrational.”

  The woman sighed. “Okay. There’s a break in the wall, there.” She pointed to the far end of the field. “Beyond it is a trail leading past the waterfall. Wait for me there. I’ll try to find Michael.”

  Maria was both disappointed and glad that the woman had taken charge and didn’t expect her and Kevin to brave the man with the scar and the doctor’s other guards at the house. “That trail leads to the temple. We could hide there.”

  The woman shook her head. “No. The temple isn’t safe. Wait for me at the waterfall.”

  Kevin squeezed Maria’s hand and they began running into the field. They hadn’t gone more than a few steps when a gunshot cracked through the air. A clod of dirt leapt into the air a few yards in front of them.

  A man shouted, “Stop right there!”

  Maria whirled. Two men were at the corner of the hospital, both aiming machine guns at Kevin. They hadn’t seen the redheaded woman who was crouched against the back wall of the hospital, taking aim at them, ready to shoot as soon as they stepped forward.

  “Stop!” she shouted to the woman. “Don’t shoot! That’s my father.”

  She dropped Kevin’s hand and raced through the field, leaping into the arms of her father. He’d come to save her. She’d prayed for this moment, and her prayers had been answered.

  Everything was going to be just fine now. Now that her father was here.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  It was all Jake could do to restrain his laughter. Here he was, alone, taking on a squad of well-armed, well-trained special forces, needing to find their explosives—somewhere in a freaking Mayan temple—disarm them, and save Itzel’s people … and God sent him a civilian with a bum ticker to protect?

  Seriously, there was something drastically wrong with the universe if that’s how it worked.

  “Tell me everything,” he whispered to the kid.

  “I’m Michael. They locked me up—my father and Helda—and, well, they didn’t expect me to, I broke the window and climbed out and I ran here as fast as I could but being stuck in bed for so long, I guess I’m kinda out of shape—”

  Jake shook his head. “No, tell me the important shit. Who are you running from, how are they armed, and why did you come here?”

  The kid, Michael, nodded. Then he began again. “My father. He’s, I don’t know, he’s sick, gone mad. Deranged. He kidnapped a surgeon to give me a heart transplant and he was going to take the heart from, from Maria—”

  The kid sputtered into silence as if he was just now realizing the truth behind his words. His gaze bounced around, landing on Jake, ricocheting to the jungle, to the sky, back to Jake. Disoriented. Jake knew just how he felt, but there was no time for coddling or any of the crisis-counseling shit the psych guys talked about. Time was running out and he needed intel, fast.

  “Got it. Crazy doctor running amok in a crazy bin. Does he have weapons? Is he coming after you?”

  “No. I don’t think they know I’m gone. But yes, his men have guns. Like yours.” He nodded to the AK-47 Jake carried. “I came here because other men showed up, more men with guns, and they blocked the road, so I thought if I made it to the temple and climbed to the top, I could maybe get a signal out?” He pulled a cell phone from his pocket.

  “Good thinking, kid,” Jake said. Figured a word of encouragement couldn’t hurt—the kid looked scared enough, he might be ready to piss his pants. Definitely way out of his league. “Only problem is Hector’s men—the same ones who stormed the clinic compound—are also at the temple planting explosives to blow it up.”

  Michael’s eyes somehow went even wider—so wide, the whites showed all around. “But we need to help Maria. And Dr. Cho.”

  “Hector is Maria’s father. He won’t hurt her.” At least Jake hoped not. Hector hadn’t exactly cared too much about blowing up a cavern with two federal agents and dozens of civilians trapped inside. But it did say something that he went after his daughter instead of taking care of the temple first. Of course, that could just be good tactics—as soon as the temple blew, Carrera would know Hector was on the warpath.

  Whatever. Jake still had a mission. And time was running out. “How many men did you see?”

  Michael thought for a moment. “Two SUVs, maybe five, six men? I’m not sure.”

  “Two?” Damn, that meant Hector had gotten reinforcements, if he had more men and vehicles. Jake guessed Romero probably had something to do with that. The friendly neighborhood CIA officer would have figured out that backing Hector was his best bet to clean up the mess here—past and present—with the least amount of public attention. Or scrutiny. “Wait here, I’ve got a job to do.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Hector’s men are planting explosives inside the temple. I need to find them and disarm them.” Jake turned to leave, but Michael stopped him.

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “What about your heart?” Jake gestured to the bag.

  “No problem as long as we’re not running a marathon.” Michael stood tall, arms flexed like he was ready to take on the world. Jake had to admire the kid’s bravado. “I know my way around the inside of that temple. If you want to find those bombs, I’m your best bet.”

  “You know anything about defusing bombs?” Jake asked, halfway hoping the answer was yes. He himself knew nothing more than the few classes he’d had at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center at Glencoe when he’d joined Criminal Investigations. And those were almost a decade ago. Not like IRS agents got a lot of time to practice their bomb-disarming skills.

  “No,” Michael said. He appeared calmer. And very serious about going with Jake.

  Jake looked up at the peak above them that was the top of the temple. No way the kid could make it out of the blast zone in time if the place blew. Might as well let him be of some use.

  “Stay on my back, be quiet, and do exactly what I say.” He handed Michael the solar-powered lantern Caitlyn had given him before she left. “Don’t turn it on until I tell you it’s safe.” They started down the trail. “Know how to handle a gun?”

  “No, sir.”

  Ja
ke considered it. He didn’t like to have anyone at his back with a weapon if he didn’t trust them to know what they were doing. But an extra man carrying a weapon could make all the difference if they were spotted. He pulled out the revolver he’d picked up back at the church and handed it to Michael. “There’s no safety, just point and pull the trigger, hard.”

  Michael hefted the gun, raised it to aim. Jake laid a hand on his arm, pushing it back down. “Don’t point it at me and don’t shoot until I tell you to, got it?”

  Michael nodded and they headed down the path to the temple. Another troop of the damn screaming monkeys flew past overhead. Jake rolled his eyes at the howling primates. He knew exactly how they felt.

  *

  Hector and his men corralled Caitlyn and Cho into the courtyard and made them kneel, hands behind their heads. Across the courtyard, Maria spoke earnestly with her father, gesturing to Cho and then the house, obviously filling him in on what had happened. Caitlyn decided the best thing, especially as she was unarmed and Hector had already tried to kill her once today, was to wait and let events play out.

  While they waited, Romero brought a middle-aged woman in a nurse’s uniform from the house; she was struggling and cursing in German. “Found her in the study,” Romero told Hector as he showed Hector a lightweight laptop. “She was using this to track something—think it could lead to Carrera?”

  “Where is he?” Hector thundered at the woman. The nurse held her ground, looked him square in the eye, then spit at him.

  One of his men hit her with his rifle butt and she fell to the ground. Cho ran to her, ignoring the weapons trained on him. But she was already sitting up by the time he reached her.

  “He’s gone to save his son. And you can’t stop him.” She looked around at all of them, glaring. “None of you can stop him.” Then she focused on Maria. “You, you are nothing compared to the man Michael could have been. Silly girl.”

  Maria blanched. Not because of the woman’s words. Because she’d gotten a look at the computer Romero held. She took it from the CIA agent. “Kevin, does the LVAD have a tracking device?”

  “What’s an LVAD?” Caitlyn asked Cho.

  “Left ventricular assist device. Artificial heart, if you will. I implanted one into Carrera’s son, Michael, last month.”

  Michael, that was Maria’s twin. Caitlyn wondered if the girl knew.

  “Is there anything on there that can track Carrera?” Hector demanded.

  Cho got to his feet to take a look. Hector gestured to his men to stand down. “It’s got a RFID device to keep track of battery charge, outflow, and the like from a remote computer. I guess you could use it to also monitor location.”

  Maria pointed to the screen. “This isn’t tracking Dr. Carrera. It’s tracking Michael. He’s on his way to the temple.”

  “Michael ran away,” the nurse said. “All because of you and the ideas you put into his head.”

  “He must have gone for help,” Maria said.

  “If so, he doesn’t have much time.” Cho nodded to the laptop. “The LVAD only has an hour of battery life left. At most.”

  Maria’s eyes grew wide, but Hector actually smiled at the doctor’s grim prognosis. “Come, Maria.”

  His men yanked Cho away and forced him to his knees again.

  “The only place I’m going is to the temple,” she told her father. “To save Michael.”

  “I’ll take you to the temple,” Hector agreed. Too readily.

  Maria had no idea about what else her father had planned. But Caitlyn did. “Tell her, Hector.”

  He ignored her, taking Maria’s arm and steering her away.

  Caitlyn stood. Her guard nudged her with his AK-47, but if she was going to die, she’d rather be standing. Maria needed to know the truth about her father.

  “He plans to blow up the temple, Maria!” she shouted. Maria spun back to look at her. “If he does, an entire village will die.”

  “What is she talking about?” Maria asked her father. Then she faced Caitlyn again. “Who are you?”

  “Caitlyn Tierney, FBI. I came here to rescue you. Wasn’t counting on your father having other ideas.”

  Hector made a motion and Caitlyn’s guard hit her in the back, sending her sprawling.

  “No. Stop,” Maria cried. “I want to hear what she has to say.”

  Caitlyn licked blood from her split lip and looked up. “If you don’t tell her, Hector, I will.”

  He remained silent, the first sign of indecision she’d ever seen in him. Maybe he really did love his daughter. Or maybe he was simply deciding how best to protect himself.

  Caitlyn didn’t wait to see what his decision would be. “Your father was an army colonel. He ran this prison—that’s what it was before it was whitewashed into a hospital. The doctor was his second-in-command. Together they tortured and executed hundreds.”

  “No,” Maria gasped. “That’s not true. My father, his company, he saves lives. He would never—”

  “Their bodies all disappeared before the UN commission came to investigate,” Caitlyn continued. Maria’s expression twisted in anguish. “Buried in the temple, so conveniently hidden nearby. Last thing your father wants is for that temple to ever be found again, much less picked apart by archeologists.”

  Maria pulled away from her father’s grasp, whirling to face him. “That can’t be right. Tell her she’s wrong. Father, say something!”

  There was a faint crack in his stony expression. Sorrow—and maybe regret. “Maria, it was a long, long time ago. We were following orders, fighting a war. Nothing to do with us now.”

  “Not as long as he can finish destroying the evidence,” Caitlyn put in as she climbed back to her feet. The guard watched her warily but didn’t hit her again. She rubbed her sore back, could feel the bruise forming below her rib cage. “That includes killing Carrera and Michael. Your brother. Not to mention dozens of innocents trapped nearby—including your mother, Maria. Your real mother.”

  Helluva way to orchestrate a family reunion, but if it helped stop Hector, Caitlyn was willing to try anything.

  Maria’s mouth opened, then shut again as her face twisted with pain and confusion. “No. Father, no.”

  “Maria, you must trust me in this. It’s the best way to protect you. Carrera has gone mad. To think what he almost did to you. To my precious, beautiful baby?” Hector placed his palm against Maria’s cheek.

  She slapped his hand aside and took a step back. “No. Don’t you touch me. How could you—all those people dead? Because of you?”

  “It was my duty. Just as my duty now is to protect you. Come with me. Now.” It was clear that Hector’s patience with his daughter had run out.

  Maria stood her ground. “Unless you want to kill me as well, you will let these people go and help me save Michael.”

  Hector’s face flushed dark with fury. His hand fell to his weapon and for a heartbeat Caitlyn wondered if he was going to shoot his only child.

  Caitlyn lunged toward him, although he was much too far away for her to have any hope of stopping him if he drew his weapon. Her guard tackled her, shoving her to the ground.

  Cho leapt to place himself between Maria and Hector, ushering her protectively behind him, using himself as a human shield.

  Hector looked at Cho in surprise. “Get away from my daughter,” he thundered.

  “Why? So you can kill her? You’ll have to go through me first.”

  Now all the guards had their weapons trained on Cho. The surgeon looked around, as if he’d surprised himself, but stood his ground. Hector raised an eyebrow and drew his sidearm, aiming it at Cho.

  Maria screamed. “No!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Maria couldn’t believe this was happening. In a way it was worse than the nightmare of finding Prescott’s mutilated body or being locked away with the insane prisoners on the ward. Those were horrors so beyond comprehension, she could almost pretend they weren’t reality.

  B
ut this, this was her father. The man who had taught her to swim, who’d urged her to always face her fears and never back down, the man she’d spent her entire life trying so desperately to please.

  And now he was a killer? Had executed and tortured people? Wanted to kill Michael and Kevin and destroy a temple that held knowledge that could change history? All to cover his crimes?

  The questions came at her from every direction until she was dizzy and not sure what was real and what wasn’t.

  Then Kevin stepped between her and her father’s gun. Just as he’d moved to protect her from Dr. Carrera earlier. She didn’t even know him, yet he valued her life more than her own father did.

  She looked past Kevin’s shoulder at her father. His face had an expression she’d never seen on it before. Gone was the haughty arrogance that made him seem so young and confident, able to handle anything. Instead he looked … haggard. Old. Tired.

  And in pain.

  “No,” she repeated. This time she moved to stand between Kevin and her father. She kept walking toward her father until she stood inches away. She laid her palm on his hand holding the gun. “No more killing, Father. Not if you love me.” Tears choked her words. “I don’t know the man who did all those awful things twenty years ago. I only know my father. The man I’ve looked up to all my life. The man I used to love more than life itself.”

  He looked down at her and it felt like they were the only two people in the world. Exactly the way it used to feel when he’d challenge her to climb higher on the diving board or to pedal faster on her bike. The way it felt when she’d taken her First Communion and turned to find him staring not at the priest, but at her, only at her.

  “Father—” She swallowed hard. “It’s your turn to make me proud.”

  His gun slid back into its holster and he wrapped his arms around her. “Maria, my angel. I would do anything for you.”

  She gripped him tightly, then pulled back. “Then help me save my brother. Help me save Michael.”