The Death Relic (43 page)

Born Charles Ian Holloway, Explorer had been known by many names over the years. He had attended the US Naval Academy in the early 1960s. Upon graduation, he was loaned to the Pentagon for an ‘alternative tour of duty’, after which Charles Holloway ceased to exist. Reborn as Charles Boyd, he majored in archaeology and linguistics at Oxford. He was eventually hired by Dover University, where he rose through the teaching ranks and was named head of the archaeology department in 1991. By that time, his reputation as a scholar was well established. This allowed him to travel the world without drawing attention. His cover as an academic allowed him to pursue his true agenda as a
CIA
operative. The
CIA
financed his intellectual pursuits, and in exchange he was obliged to do their bidding. Nothing too extravagant – mostly smuggling and simple intelligence – but important nonetheless.

Since Boyd truly enjoyed the activities associated with his cover, he continued to work as a professor and an archaeologist even after the
CIA
gave him the opportunity to move on. His research in one particular site, the Catacombs of Orvieto, had attracted an inquisitive student with a passion for history: a much younger Maria Pelati. Familiar with her surname – and her father’s influence in Italy – Boyd took her under his wing, where she quickly blossomed into his best pupil. He was so impressed by her abilities that he hired her as his teaching assistant. During the school year, they worked side-by-side in the classroom. During the summer months, they worked side-by-side in the field. Their relationship went beyond professor and student. She viewed him as a mentor and a surrogate father, someone she could look up to and trust.

But Boyd had been lying to her the entire time.

His double life finally came to light after they had discovered the Catacombs of Orvieto. Inside the legendary site, they found a scroll that threatened the sanctity of the Catholic Church. Fearing the damage it would cause, Benito Pelati tried to fix the problem by accusing Boyd of murder and theft. In the course of a week, Boyd went from a respected academic to one of the most sought-after fugitives in all of Europe – and Maria was labelled his accomplice.

Known for their ability to track targets, Payne and Jones were coerced by two ‘
CIA
agents’ to find Boyd before anyone else could capitalize on his discovery. It took a while, but they eventually found Boyd and Maria in Milan. Payne and Jones were ready to turn them over when they sensed that something wasn’t quite right. As it turned out, the men were actually working with Benito Pelati, and they had been paid handsomely to ensure that no one, including Maria, would bring the damning information about Christianity to light. To convince Payne and Jones of his innocence, and to save his life, Boyd was forced to reveal his role with the Agency and his non-official cover status. This was done at gunpoint in front of Maria.

In a matter of minutes, Maria learned that her father had sent two men to kill her
and
that her surrogate father was a long-time spy who had been deceiving her for years.

After that, it was tough for her to trust anyone.

Especially men.

Payne held his weapon steady. ‘I thought you had retired.’

Boyd shook his head. ‘Apparently not.’

‘Still with the Agency?’

‘I am indeed.’

Payne considered Boyd’s claim. It would be tough to verify in the field, since
CIA
agents weren’t issued credentials of any kind. Normally he would just call Raskin and ask him, but he was temporarily off limits. ‘Out of curiosity, how does someone stay on active duty after a clusterfuck like Orvieto? Your picture was on the front page of every newspaper in Europe. I’m guessing that much publicity would make it impossible to do your job.’

‘I guess that depends on one’s job.’

‘You’re no longer an operative?’

‘Not in the conventional sense, no. Then again, nothing about my career has been conventional. You know that better than most.’

Payne nodded. ‘I guess I do.’

Boyd crossed his legs in front of him. He appeared to be calm, totally under control. ‘So, I guess you’re wondering why you’re here.’

‘The question had crossed my mind.’

‘I was hoping to share that morsel with everybody, but since you are currently pointing an assault rifle at my chest, I am going to assume that is highly unlikely.’

‘What gave it away? My rifle or my rifle?’

Boyd smiled. ‘Glad to see that your wit is still working.’

‘So is my trigger finger, in case you’re wondering.’

He laughed, not the least bit afraid. ‘Tell me, my boy, what can we do to speed this along? I realize you must have several questions to ask, but upon our descent, we happened to notice a congregation of flashing lights heading this way. Based on conservative estimates, I’d say we have less than a minute to depart before we are fired upon by the Federales.’

‘What’s your point?’

‘My point? I realize that attacks of this nature happen to you frequently – so often, in fact, that you have built an unnatural tolerance to the threat of gunfire. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that Maria and Petr do not share your cavalier attitude about such things.’

‘Probably not.’

‘Then what do you say we invite them onboard for a mini reunion? I’d be happy to whisk them away to safety before they have to deal with any violence.’

Payne raised his voice. ‘The only reason they’re facing violence is because of you.’

‘Touché,’ Boyd said with a laugh. ‘And yet somehow I think they’ll forgive me once I tell them why they’re here.’

‘Why
are
they here?’

Boyd shook his head. ‘That, I’m afraid, I must keep to myself until we are in the air.’

Payne glanced out the cabin door and spotted flashing lights near the main entrance of Chichén Itzá. Boyd wasn’t lying. The cops would be there any second. Although he didn’t trust the man, Payne sensed they weren’t in any physical danger from Boyd. If he had wanted to hurt them, he could have done so already. With that in mind, Payne decided it would be safer to go with Boyd than to take their chances with the Federales. He figured that if they didn’t like what Boyd had to say, they could always leave him later.

‘We’ll come with you on one condition,’ Payne said.

‘Which is?’ Boyd asked.

‘I need you to stay in the cockpit until I have a chance to explain what’s going on.’

‘Why is that?’

Payne stared at him, serious. ‘If Maria sees you before I have a chance to brief her, there’s a damn good chance she will throw your ass out of the chopper.’

Boyd laughed. ‘Trust me, I know Maria better than any of you. She doesn’t have a violent bone in her body.’

‘Is that so? When was the last time you talked to her?’

‘It’s been several years, I’m afraid.’

‘In that case, you don’t know her at all.’

After rounding up Ulster and Maria from different ends of the site, Jones waited in the nearby trees for Payne’s signal. Once the ‘all-clear’ was flashed, the three of them hustled to the helicopter, where they were joined by Hamilton and Tiffany. Payne pulled them aboard, one after another, and ordered them to sit down and buckle up. It would be a bumpy take-off. Police in riot gear charged through the front gate as the chopper left the ground in a cloud of dust. The pilot banked hard to the north, barely clearing the trees as they flew over the Sacred Well. Having missed the chance to see it from the ground, Ulster stared wistfully out of the cabin window. It was the last thing he recognized before the jungle swallowed the horizon.

The multi-purpose utility helicopter had three bench seats and a small cargo area in the rear. Payne and Jones sat on the closest bench to the cockpit. Hamilton and Tiffany were in the middle. Ulster and Maria were in the back. Payne had purposely seated them in this order. He wanted a chance to talk to Jones in private before they were forced to tell Maria about Boyd’s involvement. Payne had a feeling Jones would want to handle that conversation. At least Payne hoped he would. Otherwise, the ride might get even bumpier.

The droning of the rotors made it difficult to talk in the belly of the chopper. It would be even tougher to eavesdrop. Payne and Jones could chat all day, and they weren’t the least bit concerned about being overheard.

Jones leaned in. ‘Who’s running the op?’

Payne answered. ‘Boyd.’

‘Boyd who?’

‘
Charles
Boyd.’

Jones did a double take. ‘I thought he was retired.’

‘So did I.’

Over the next few minutes, Payne told Jones everything he had learned in his conversations with Tiffany and Boyd. Jones listened intently, not the least bit amused about being played. He prided himself on being ten steps ahead of his opponent, yet he had failed to connect any of the dots. All along he had been saying that something was ‘off’ – Hamilton’s disappearance, the trunk of artefacts, the cache of weapons – but he hadn’t seen this one coming.

‘What does he want with us?’ Jones asked.

Payne shrugged. ‘The cops showed up before he could tell me.’

‘Fuckin’ cops. Always screwing things up.’

‘Tell me about it.’

Jones paused in thought. ‘What’s his role at the Agency?’

‘He claimed he isn’t an operative any more. I tend to believe him. His name was dragged through the mud with all of those false charges. It would have been tough to continue after that.’

‘You can’t be a spy if your contacts don’t trust you.’

‘What else could he be?’

‘Maybe an analyst. Maybe an instructor. With his teaching background, I could see him at the training academy.’

Payne shook his head. ‘Those gigs would be near Washington. No way he’d be running a mission in Mexico if he were an analyst or an instructor. He has to be something else.’

‘Maybe he went rogue.’

‘Rogue?’

‘It would explain a lot, including his need for cheap talent. He lured four of us to Cancún with a suite and a plane ticket. The crafty bastard.’

Payne glanced at Maria. For now, she was sitting quietly next to Ulster, but he knew it was only a matter of time before she left her seat and asked what was going on. ‘Speaking of which, who is going to tell Maria?’

‘I vote for Petr.
Definitely
Petr. It’s tough to stay mad at Petr.’

Payne laughed. ‘Chicken.’

‘You’re damn right I’m chicken. She
knows
I won’t shoot her. Without that threat, there’s no way I can protect myself.’

‘Just so you know, I’m willing to shoot her.’

‘Then you should tell her.’

Payne smiled. ‘In all seriousness, I will if you want me to.’

Jones weighed the offer. ‘Thanks, but no thanks. She needs to hear it from me. It will go down easier coming from me.’

‘You’re probably right.’

‘But do me a favour. Keep your rifle loaded, just in case.’

After switching seats with Ulster, Jones filled Maria in on the pertinent details of the last few hours. Her face flushed with embarrassment when she realized that she’d been manipulated. Jones assured her that she wasn’t alone – that everyone, including Hamilton, had been deceived in one way or another – and they would confront the mastermind together. For the briefest of moments, she felt better about the situation. And then she asked the question.

‘Who set us up?’ she wondered.

Jones grimaced. ‘That’s where things get messy.’

‘Messy? What do you mean?’

‘You aren’t going to like it.’

‘Who is it?’ she demanded.

‘Charles Boyd.’

She heard the name and winced. It hit her like a punch to the gut – one she didn’t expect. After years of denial, she knew she’d be forced to deal with some issues that had never gone away. She had done her best to bury them, but they were still there, lurking deep inside her psyche, like a childhood trauma she had just remembered. Her heart raced. Her hands perspired. Her face turned pale. Jones wasn’t sure if she was going to pass out or explode with rage, but he was prepared for either possibility. Instead, she did something that surprised him. She took a few deep breaths, then nodded her head in acceptance.

‘Is he in the cockpit?’ she asked.

He studied her face. ‘Why?’

‘I’d like to talk to him.’

He arched his brow. ‘Is this some kind of trick?’

‘Trick?’

‘Are you
pretending
to be calm so I lower my defences?’

‘Not at all,’ she assured him as the colour gradually returned to her face. ‘I’d honestly like to talk to him. There are some questions I’d love to ask. It’s been a long time.’

‘How long?’

‘Years.’ Her mind drifted back to the days after their discovery in Orvieto. Back then, she was still in graduate school, a few years from her doctorate, and Boyd was still her mentor. ‘He told me he had to return to the States to clear his name from all the rumours. He said he would be back in a couple of weeks, but …’

‘What?’

‘He never came back. No calls, no emails. Nothing. I haven’t talked to him since.’

Jones swallowed hard. ‘I didn’t know that.’

She laughed bitterly. ‘How could you know? I didn’t tell anyone. After that, I went into hiding for a very long time. I cut off contact from my friends. I was too ashamed to tell anyone.’

‘Ashamed? Why would you be ashamed?’

‘Why do you think? My father made up those rumours about him. It cost him his job. It cost him his reputation. It cost him
everything
. I wouldn’t want to talk to me, either.’

‘Hold up! You’re blaming yourself for your father’s actions? Pardon me for saying so, but that’s crazy. The man killed your mother. He tried to kill you. He tried to kill all of us. None of us blame you for what he did. You have to know that. None of it was your fault.’

Tears welled up in her eyes. ‘Yeah, but—’

He cut her off. ‘No buts. That’s it. End of story. I’ll shout it to the heavens until the day I die. You are
not
to blame for your father’s actions. You are
not
to blame for your brother’s death. And you are
not
to blame for Boyd’s departure. The guy was an operative in the
CIA
. He lied to you for years. There are a million possible reasons for his disappearance, none of which have
anything
to do with you. And if he
tries
to blame you, I’m going to shoot the bastard.’