The Last Election (12 page)

“I was just on the webcam with Professor Sean Jameson. The team conducting the dig at
Chacchoben
found something old, really, really old.” Chacchoben is the site of a well-known Maya temple on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.

She saw in his eyes that this was something big. “What is it?”

“Pack your bags. We’re heading to
Chacchoben
to find out!”

Ixchel and Daniel discussed their plans to travel to
Chacchoben
, playfully flirting the entire time. Finally, they left the lab. Patrick, who had been standing just inside the lab’s equipment storage room the whole time, walked into the lab towards the phone. “Those two lovebirds make me want to puke,” he said under his breath as he picked up the receiver.

He paused for a minute, and placed the receiver back on the hook. He needed to think this through carefully before he made the call. All this time watching and waiting had finally paid off.
This phone call is going to bring me a nice chunk of change!
Finally he dialed the number he had been given months ago but had yet to use.

“Yeah,” said the voice on the other end.

“Sir, this is Patrick Jones, from the Ancient Maya Studies Department at UVA,” he said with a slight gulp. “I have some information that you will find very useful.” He went on to recount the conversation he had just overheard. After a long pause, Patrick finally received a reply.

“
Gracias, amigo
.” Click.

Chapter 26

Jorge Delgado raised his eyebrows in surprise as he hung up the phone. It had been several months since he had received any tips about Maya relics, and he certainly hadn’t expected a call from that UVA geek Patrick. He had been so busy taking out KKK groups that he had almost forgotten about Bonsam’s directive to report the discovery of Maya artifacts. Delgado found the Maya assignment boring. He was never a believer in ancient prophecies, but the president sure was, and if something was important to the president, it was important to him as well.

Delgado plopped his cell phone onto the passenger’s seat as he continued heading up I-40 through North Carolina. He was riding high from yesterday’s extermination of 11 members of the Aryan Nations who had a compound set up in the backwoods south of Raleigh and he didn’t want to be bothered with Maya artifacts at this time. He was having much too much fun killing white supremacists. He smiled as he reminisced about his operations over the last few months. He started out with simple plans, shooting a prominent Klansman here and a notable Klansman there. He even lynched a few in Texas and Florida, which he felt was only fair.

Word spread fast through the Klan community that Klansmen were being killed and others had disappeared under suspicious circumstances. This reduced Klan activity across the country; however, the
onesie-twosie
killings weren’t having quite the impact that Bonsam desired. So Delgado became a little more creative. He started taking out Klansmen
en masse,
such as the time he and his team took the Wizard of the Knights of the KKK and several of his goons and tossed them into a murky pond in the middle of Arkansas, bound and gagged with cinder blocks chained to their feet. He had carried out a few similar operations that removed groups of KKK members from the face of the Earth, but by far his favorite mission was when he orchestrated an air assault attack on the Imperial
Klans
of America compound in western Kentucky. He and his gang of storm troopers got to blow up several buildings that night, sending dozens of Klansmen straight to their graves.
 

Delgado was very eager to get to his next mission in Michigan. Few people realized the extent of the Klan infestation in the rural areas of Michigan. Most people thought that the Klan was confined to the southern states, but the KKK was alive and well and thriving up north in the Wolverine State. This mission was unlike any of the others, for this was the one that President Bonsam himself had planned. It was going to go down in history.

When he reached Raleigh, he grudgingly hopped over to I-95 and headed north to Charlottesville. He called Agent Dolan and gave him instructions to meet him in Charlottesville and then briefly went over his plan to pay a short visit to Mr. Patrick Jones. “This better be worth it,” he said to himself.
 

Chapter 27

Long ago, a mysterious man who claimed to be very interested in obtaining Maya artifacts had approached Patrick Jones. The man told him that he was willing to pay great sums of money for quality artifacts, and he asked Patrick if he would be willing to assist. All Patrick had to do was contact the man if any new artifacts were discovered. He told Patrick that if the information led him to valuable artifacts, Patrick would be richly rewarded.

Patrick was well aware that there was a huge black market for Maya artifacts in Mexico and Central America, and this
hombre
looked and sounded like he was from that region. The man would not reveal his name, but he gave Patrick $100 and a card containing a phone number. Patrick took the card and the money, thanked the man and left. “Freaking bandito,” Patrick thought as he walked away.

Now it was time to cash in. Patrick left the campus around 7:00 p.m. and drove south into rural Albemarle County. He wound his way down the Thomas Jefferson Parkway, and then turned onto a curvy country road that led to a secluded bluff overlooking the
Rivanna
River. Patrick parked his car and approached the meeting point with trepidation. He saw that
Señor
Bandito
was already there, holding a brief case.
My money!

Patrick told the man everything he knew about the find. He gave the location of the dig and explained that this particular Maya artifact had to be a significant discovery since the best archaeologist from UVA had been invited to examine the relic.

“Tell me, Mr. Jones,” Delgado said while over-exaggerating his Spanish accent, “tell me about this archaeologist of whom you speak?”

“Her name is Ixchel
Cobán,” Patrick replied. “She’s a Guatemalan of Maya descent, and because of that she has brainwashed the entire faculty into believing that she is some kind of archaeology genius. She’s the first person they consult whenever an unusual artifact is discovered. Personally, I think she’s a big
ol
’ lesbian.”

“This is very interesting, Mr. Jones,” Delgado said. “I appreciate the work you have done for me.” Delgado extended his arm and held the briefcase in front of Patrick. “This is for you,” he said.

Patrick smiled.
Mine all mine!
As he reached for the briefcase, he saw a shadow move on the ground before him. That was the last thing he ever saw. Agent Dolan, who had sneaked up behind Patrick as he talked to Delgado, had a good follow-through as he crashed his
billy
club across the back of Patrick’s skull. Patrick’s body became slack and hit the ground with a thud.

Delgado looked at the crumpled body at his feet and smiled. He looked up at his friend and said, “Toss him in. Be sure you put lots of his blood on one of the rocks down there.”

As Dolan grabbed Patrick’s ankles and dragged his unconscious body down to the riverbank, Delgado said aloud, “I’m sure the president will be thrilled when I tell him about this artifact.”

Chapter 28
 

Late the next morning Ixchel and Daniel headed out to the airport. It was a two-hour haul to Dulles International from Charlottesville, but Ixchel didn’t mind since it gave her plenty of alone time sitting close to Daniel in the back seat of the airport shuttle. When they first entered the vehicle, she noticed that Daniel seemed to be deep in thought. Once they were on the highway, she turned to him and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“I have known Professor Jameson for a long time,” he replied. “I get a sense that he is somehow agitated by the discovery of this artifact. I can’t explain it. The more I think about the webcam conversation we had, the more I realize he seemed nervous or something.”

“What do you think could be bothering him?” asked Ixchel.

“I don’t know. He’s normally a down-to-earth guy, but I know he doesn’t write off ancient Maya legends as mere myths. And I think he believes that there is a spiritual connection between the ancient world and the present world. He’s been studying archaeology for years and has been on dozens of digs. He lives and breathes Maya culture and history.” Daniel paused then said, “Something about this artifact has spooked him.” Ixchel took Daniel’s hand and squeezed it tightly, and for the rest of the journey they rode in silence.

Once they arrived at their gate, Daniel decided to check back in with the lab to let them know their status. He left Ixchel in the waiting area and stepped away to a more quiet location to place the call. Daniel’s long-time friend, Thomas Gordon, answered the phone at the UVA archaeology lab. Daniel and Thomas had met in Archaeology 101 during their freshman year, and the two had been best friends ever since. He gave Thomas the details of their status, and asked him to let Professor Jameson know that they’d soon be wheels up. Thomas was very helpful as always, and promised to pass on the message to the professor.

Daniel’s spirits had been lifted as the conversation with Thomas wound down. Thomas was very reliable and that always put Daniel at ease, however his mood quickly changed when, just as he was about to hang up, Thomas asked a question that caught Daniel completely off guard. “Daniel, did you see Patrick today? He never showed up at the lab and no one has been able to find him.”

Daniel was so surprised he was unsure of what to say. “Dan, you still there?” asked Thomas.

“Yeah Thomas, I’m still here,” he replied. “Did you try to reach him by phone?”

“We’ve been calling him all morning,” said Thomas. “He’s not answering his cell and his voice mailbox is full. One of the undergrads just left to go see if he is at his apartment.”

Daniel paused. “I’m sure Patrick has a good explanation,” he said with uncertainly. “Let me know when you get in touch with him.”

“Will do,” replied Thomas. “Have a safe trip. Talk to you later.”

“Later,” replied Daniel and he hung up his phone.

Daniel walked slowly as he returned to the waiting area outside their gate. As he approached, Ixchel could sense that something was wrong. “Is everything okay, Daniel?” she asked.

Daniel sat down and Ixchel joined him. Daniel still felt uneasy as he told Ixchel about the conversation with Thomas. “Say what you will about Patrick, at least he’s dependable when it comes to covering his shifts at the lab,” said Daniel. “And he’s never missed a class since I met him, as far as I know.”

Ixchel was worried, too.
Patrick didn’t show up at the lab?
The more she thought about it the more it bothered her. Something about this just didn’t feel right. She couldn’t explain why, but she sensed danger. A chill ran down her spine, and from out of nowhere, in the back of her mind she heard a voice softly cry out, “I am here.”

Later that same evening, Agent Delgado received a call from President Bonsam. He had been waiting for this call for hours, cleaning his favorite pistol to calm his nerves. He was anxious to hear what the president would have to say about his latest report.

“Jorge, I found your report about the discovery of the Maya artifact most intriguing,” the president said. “I need you to find out everything you can about this artifact. Place one of your agents as a mole at the excavation site, or recruit someone that is already at the site to feed you information. Let me know immediately if there are any further developments or any more artifacts discovered. ”

“Yes, sir. I will.”

“Oh and Jorge, find out everything you can about this Ixchel
Cobán
,” Bonsam added, and as his thoughts of Ixchel intensified, the image of the Maya calendar appeared in his mind. “I may want to meet with her someday.”