Ancient Hiss Story (5 page)

T
he open-air
market was alive with activity. Kate looked around at the blankets, clothing, fruits and vegetables. She contemplated buying one of the large, colorful shopping bags and stuffing it with produce to bring back to her hotel.

The thought of her hotel brought a sigh to her lips. It was decent, not top-notch, but Kate didn’t really need a top notch hotel. That wasn’t what made her sigh, though. It was the company.

Max hadn’t wanted her alone on the job and Gideon had spilled the beans to her parents, who just ‘happened’ to have always wanted to go to Mexico on vacation. They agreed to eagerly combine that with helping out Kate. If Kate found the site, Max would get the appropriate permits and send a crew out to dig, but for now, it was just her and her folks.

Kate had to admit she was a little put out and she couldn’t help but wonder if her parents’ eagerness to accompany her had anything to do with her freezing up in the steam tunnel. It would be just like her mother to spill the beans to Gideon and he would probably tell Max. Maybe they were all worried she would freeze up again.

She knew they had the best of intentions, but she could do her job without her parents watching over her and she hardly thought that fumbling around in the jungle for an old tomb would require the skills of a jewel thief and a con artist. Then again, one never knew. At least the weather was warm and the area was gorgeous, with the high bluffs overlooking a white sand beach and aqua ocean.

Thoughts of the beach evaporated as she scanned the market, looking for her contact. Gideon had set up a meeting with a local man who had information—handed down from his family—on the location of the tomb.

She strolled the aisles, taking in the smell of roasting meat, the sound of children playing, the cluck of chickens. She passed colorful stalls loaded with lush fruit and vegetables.

She walked at a slow pace, looking for a small hut with an indigo print curtain. Gideon and told her a man would be inside the hut and would be expecting her. Her eyes raked the crowd, her heart skittering when she spotted the curtain. Just inside, an old man, his face a map of wrinkles, sat on a stool. In front of him, smoke drifted out of a hookah. Behind him, the inside of the hut was pitch black.

Kate hesitated just outside the hut watching the man, trying to guess his age. He looked ancient. His skin was dark and incredibly wrinkled, his black hair shot with gray. He looked up, piercing her with brilliant blue eyes. He gave an imperceptible nod.

“Matzaleah?” Kate gave the code word Gideon had told her to use.

The man nodded and gestured for her to enter. She stepped inside and, with one swift motion, the man shut the curtain, cutting off the sunlight that had been warming her shoulders, surrounding her in darkness.

Kate felt a niggle of doubt take root in her stomach. Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to come here alone.

The pungent, spicy smoke filled the hut. Kate focused on breathing through her nose, hoping to filter out the effects of whatever it was the guy had going in his pipe.

The sound of water bubbled out of the pipe as the man took a toke through a flexible hose whose resemblance to a snake made Kate shudder. He turned his brilliant blue eyes on her.

“So, you want to know about the legend,” he said.

Kate nodded.

Light filtered in around the curtains in the front and back and between the cracks in the flimsy walls of the hut which was empty except for the man, his obnoxious pipe and a plain, wooden stool. The man gestured for Kate to sit on the stool and she did. She started to relax—maybe because the man seemed harmless, or maybe it was the effects of the secondhand smoke. She wasn’t sure which. She pulled the stool up and took a seat.

The man held his palm up toward her. Kate remembered that Gideon had told her the man would expect payment. Silver coins. She dug them out of her pocket and dropped them into his palm.

He looked at them, flipping each one over, and then smiled a toothless smile as he slipped them into his own pocket. He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

“The legend is old, from my great-great-great-grandfather’s time,” he said. “Many think this is the area of the Mayans, but the Aztecs that came after them were great rulers here, too. My grandfather was descended from these rulers and the old stories were passed down through the generations.”

Kate nodded. She wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t really care about the guy's grandfather or his legends. She just wished the guy would get on with it and tell her where the tomb was.

“Many have tried to find the burial place of Itizuma.” The man’s face darkened. “And many have failed.”

“Well, hopefully I’ll have more success than they did,” Kate said.

The man laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound. It was ominous, and Kate felt a chill dance up her spine. “You would do well to stay away from the tomb. No good can come of it. Some things should stay buried forever.”

Kate straightened on the primitive stool. “That may be the case but there could be significant historical finds in that tomb. Finds that could help us understand the way the Aztecs lived. Wouldn’t you want us to find out more about your ancestors?” Kate asked

The man snorted and took another long toke on his hookah. “Is that what you think is there?”

Kate’s brow creased. “What else would be there?”

“Perhaps you don’t know or perhaps I don’t know. I just know of the legends. None of my people will go near there. But you haven’t paid me to tell you the dangers of what is inside, you’ve paid me to tell you
where
the legend says the tomb is and I will comply because to do anything else would be wrong.”

“Okay.” Kate pushed away the uneasy feeling that was spreading in her chest. The man was probably referring to the curse and they’d taken care of that … not that she believed in it in the first place.

The hookah bubbled as he took another long toke. He sucked in the smoke, held it and then blew it out in a slow stream that wafted up to the ceiling. Kate’s nerves crawled around annoyingly inside her skin as she waited for him to speak.

“The site is outside the town. Fifty miles due north. Take a left when you see the mountain on the old dirt road. It is overgrown there now, almost jungle, but if you look with care, you will see the signs. It is reputed the tomb is near there.” The man gave a little half-nod, then pushed the curtain aside, latching it on the corner and letting the light in before turning his attention back to the hookah.

“Thanks.” Kate stood. The man nodded slightly and Kate stepped out of the hut.

As the sunlight washed over her, she felt relief, then the familiar excitement started to bubble up inside her. There was nothing Kate loved more than being on the hunt. She sensed that she was just about to discover something extraordinary. She hurried back to the hotel feeling alive with the excitement of the discovery in front of her and the man’s ominous words about some things being better left buried quickly forgotten.

“
T
ake a left at the mountain
?” Vic stared at Kate incredulously after she relayed the details of the meeting with the hookah man. “What kind of directions are those?”

Kate shrugged. “That’s what he said. I figured we could use the painting to orient ourselves and figure out where to take the left.”

Vic glanced down at the photocopy of the painting they’d brought with them. The real painting was still back at the museum with Gideon who was working on it to try to see if it would give up any more clues. “Too bad we only have half of the painting.”

“I’m sure we can figure it out,” Carlotta yelled from the bedroom of their suite.

“Anyway,” Vic said. “I take it we’ll be camping out?”

“I guess so. The man said it was fifty miles from here. It’s not practical to drive there every day and there are no hotels out there. We need to be on site so we can cover ground as quickly as possible. Gideon sent out the appropriate equipment right?”

“Yep.” Vic spread his arms to indicate several duffel bags of khaki-colored canvas. “We’ve got tents, we’ve got mosquito netting, we’ve got metal detectors, we’ve got tools for digging, and we’ve got weapons.”

“Weapons?” Kate’s brows tugged. “What do we need those for?”

Vic shrugged. “You never know when you might run into in animal … or an enemy.” He picked up a long, javelin-like object and handed it to Kate. “Gideon sent this especially for you. You can swoosh it in the thick underbrush and scare any snakes away. Some of them are poisonous down here, not to mention the other creepy crawlies we don’t want to step on.”

Kate shuddered at the thought as she took the weapon from her father. It reminded her of a fencing foil or saber with a long, thin blade and a guarded handle at the end. She swished it in the air, thrusting and jabbing as if she were fencing an invisible opponent.

“That reminds me, you were pretty good at fencing in college, weren’t you?” Carlotta appeared, leaning against the door frame to the bedroom.

Kate laughed. “Yes, and it looks like I've still got what it takes.” She swished the letter ‘Z’ in the air with a flourish.

“That has a dual purpose. The end of it has a razor-sharp knife,” Vic said. “Just press on the side of the handle.”

Kate did as told and a gleaming, silver dagger shot out of the end like a switchblade. “I guess I'd better be careful with that.” Kate pressed the other side of the handle and the blade retracted.

“Do we need any other supplies? Food?” Kate asked.

“I already stocked up on groceries and packed them in the cooler.” Carlotta pointed to a big, red cooler sitting by the door.

Maybe having the folks around wasn’t such a bad thing after all
, Kate thought. They certainly were thorough and she liked how they had taken care of the details. All she had to do was hop in the car and go.

“I’ll just catch up with Gideon and then we can pack the car and leave.” Kate looked around the room, spotted the laptop on the table and grabbed it. She flipped open the screen, then logged into Skype and connect with Gideon.

“Hi, Kate. How goes it?” Gideon’s smiling face filled the screen.

“Great. How are things back at the shop?”

“Same old, same old. So give me an update. Did you talk to the contact I gave you?” Gideon asked.

Kate told him about her visit with the hookah man and that they were packing up the car now and heading out to the area. “Have you been able to find out any more about the other half of the painting?”

“No. We have a tail on some of Markovic’s men, though. We weren’t able to get a picture of the other half.”

Kate cringed. Why hadn’t she thought to take a picture of the painting when she’d been in the museum? Of course, she never expected that she’d leave with only half of it.

“I've been working on the half you brought back,” Gideon continued. “And it does seem like there might be something under the painting. I’m not sure what it is, though. It’s very delicate work and I have to go slowly so as not to damage it.”

“Of course,” Kate said. “In the meantime we’ll just work with what we've got.”

Gideon nodded. “I sent you out some special gear.”

“I got the snake beater,” Kate said. “Thanks. Looks like that could come in handy.”

“There’s something else. In the striped duffel bag, you will find a funky-looking watch. That’s going to be our communication device out at the site. There’s no cell phone tower out there, you know.”

Kate hadn’t thought about that. She found the striped duffel bag and rummaged inside, pulling out a watch with a white band and a large face.

“This one?” She held the watch up to her laptop camera so Gideon could see.

“Yes, that’s the one. I’ve rigged it so that we can communicate via one of the satellites.”

“I didn’t know you could access satellites.”

Gideon leaned closer to his computer and lowered his voice. “Technically, I’m not supposed to. I kind of hacked in to one of the government satellites, so don’t tell anyone. Especially the FBI. Anyway, the satellite is in an oval orbit and we’ll only be able to communicate when it is overhead, a different time each day. Tomorrow, that time is twelve fifteen.”

“Okay.” Kate fiddled with the watch that showed a digital display of the time. She pressed a button and got a screen filled with static. Another button told her the weather.

“We'll only have a fifteen-minute window, so make sure you have all your information on hand and ready. Make your reports brief and concise. Compile a list of things you need me to send ahead of time.”

“Will do.” Kate strapped the watch onto her wrist.

“Anything else?” Gideon asked.

“Nope. I’ll check back in with you tomorrow at twelve fifteen.”

“Okay. Over and out. Oh, and Kate?”

The edge in Gideon’s voice tore her attention from the watch and she looked at her laptop screen to see his concerned, green eyes looking back. “Yes?”

“Be careful. Markovic’s people have the other half of the painting and they’re bound to find out you’re in Mexico. Keep your eyes peeled for them.”

Kate’s heart flooded with warmth at her friend’s concern. “Don’t worry. I will.”

“Okay, then. Over and out.” Gideon’s face disappeared and the screen went dark.

Kate logged out of Skype, shut down the laptop and packed it in the bag which she brought out to the Jeep where Vic and Carlotta were waiting. They’d packed the whole thing while she’d been on Skype with Gideon and were sitting in the front. Kate climbed into the back.

“This will be just like one of our old camping trips we took when you were a kid,” Vic said.

“I don’t know about that, Dad. I think this one could be a little more dangerous.”

“Danger is my middle name.” Vic shoved his dark sunglasses up onto his forehead and twisted in his seat to look at her, his blue eyes dark with concern. “That’s never concerned you before. Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts about this.”

Kate straightened in her seat. She wasn’t having second thoughts and she certainly wasn’t going to freeze up, if that’s what they thought—curse or no curse. “Not at all. Full speed ahead.”

Vic slid the sunglasses back down over his eyes, turned forward and drove north.