Bones of the Sun God

by Peter Vegas

  “You made it up to my office? You really are quite a resourceful boy. I had assumed you would be caught up in the tragic explosion that took my life tonight.”

  “I don’t understand,” Mary said.

  “Mr. Ramos’s crocodile park has gone bust,” Sam said. “He owes a lot of money, so he faked his death in a big explosion at Xibalba. He put a dead body in his office. And he left Elio to die.”

  Felix confirmed Sam’s words with a smirk. “Azeem purchased the body from a morgue in Belize. I paid a dentist to swap our dental records. Young Elio was collateral damage.”

  “No he wasn’t,” Sam said. “I saved him.”

  Felix smiled. “I thought you might have.” He turned to look at the pool. “I will be sad to leave all this. The secrets of Xibalba have been good to me.”

  “You didn’t even find it,” Sam sneered. “My father did.”

  Felix spun around and came at Sam with the speed of a man half his size. He clenched his fists into huge, meaty balls.

  “No!” Mary shouted.

  Azeem stopped and looked up, a sneer on his face. Felix glared at the man. “Keep digging,” he growled. “I want to get out of here.” Instead of hitting Sam, he sat down on the dirt opposite his two captives. “Your parents came to Belize, asking questions about the submarine.”

  “The submarine that Elio found,” Sam snapped.

  Felix ignored him. “They told stories about a precious cargo on the sub and the end of the world, but I always suspected that what sub 518 carried here were men searching for Templar gold, just like your parents. So I watched them. They gave me the slip by fleeing from their hotel, but I tracked your father down at Lamanai. I saw him leave the chamber with the dagger.”

  Felix crossed to a bag on the ground by the hole. He opened it, and the light caught the glint of polished metal; it was the silver dagger from his office. He raised it into the air, turning it slowly and admiring the way the light made the blade sparkle. “Your father located the chamber, but I returned and found the treasure. And I paid the price,” he said.

  Felix tossed the dagger into the air, caught it by the handle, and drove it into his thigh.

  Mary’s shrill scream bounced around the walls. In the hole, Azeem spun around searching for danger. When he saw the blade sticking from his boss’s leg, he laughed and resumed digging.

  Felix stood there with his hands on his hips, staring down at his audience.

  Sam had been as shocked as Mary, but he was closer, and the moment the blade entered the leg he knew something wasn’t right. It was the sound. He hadn’t seen someone stab themselves before, but he knew the dull thud he’d heard wasn’t natural.

  Mary’s sobs died away as Felix wrenched the blade out as if he was pulling it from a tree trunk. Then he pulled up his trouser leg to reveal the molded blue plastic.

  He let the material fall again as he turned and walked off around the edge of the pool. “Come,” he called out.

  Sam helped Mary to her feet, and they followed Felix to the far side of the pool. He was standing by a pile of white rocks, but as they got closer, Sam saw they were bones—huge bones bleached white by time. It was the skeleton of a massive crocodile, but as he studied the long-dead beast, he spotted another set of bones.

  “There’s someone under it,” Mary said.

  “A knight,” Felix murmured respectfully. “Do you notice anything strange about the body?”

  Mary spotted it before Sam. “It only has one leg,” she said.

  Felix nodded. “He lay there, mortally wounded, but before he died he killed his attacker. You can see where he used the dagger to kill the beast,” he said, pointing to a neatly shaped slit in the crocodile’s skull. “This is where your father found the dagger, Sam. But if he had searched the knight’s body, he would have found the man’s written orders. I did. That’s how I learned the truth behind his mission. But only after I was attacked.”

  “I don’t understand,” Mary said.

  “I, too, was attacked by one of the guardians of the chamber. I was pulled into the water by my leg, but I had one advantage the knight did not.” Felix’s empty hand disappeared behind his back and returned holding a handgun. “This,” he said proudly. “I shot the beast. But the attack was my salvation. If I hadn’t been pulled into the pool, I never would have seen the treasure.” He pointed to the chest hanging in the middle of the pool. “It was hidden in the water. But I found it.” He glared at Sam. “Not your father.”

  Sam stared at the old wooden box. Was this the Ark? The treasure his parents had chased around the world? His thoughts were interrupted by Azeem.

  “Mr. Ramos!” the man called from the other side of the pool.

  Felix scowled at the interruption, but when he saw Azeem holding up a bag, he waved Sam and Mary away from the skeletons with his gun. “Come,” he said, pointing toward Azeem.

  By the time they got back, Azeem had recovered three dirty canvas bags from the bottom of the hole. Felix put down the dagger and offered his hand to the Scar-Faced Man to pull him out of the hole.

  “You are filthy, Azeem,” Felix said. “Go and clean yourself.”

  Azeem looked at the pool anxiously.

  Felix chuckled as he pulled a carved piece of wood from his pocket. Sam recognized the necklace with the Templar cross.

  “Put the protection of Kinich Ahau to use one last time,” Felix said, tossing it to Azeem.

  The man hung it around his neck as he went to the edge of the pool. The moment he lowered himself into the water, ripples unsettled the glasslike surface on the far side. Something had been stirred.

  Mary’s horrified gasp was answered with a sneer from Azeem.

  Felix was enjoying Mary’s reaction too. “While you are in there, Azeem, fetch the chest. I want to show our friends what I discovered here in Lamanai.”

  Felix went to the nearest pole and unfastened a rope that ran up it into the darkness. Sam watched Azeem wade toward the middle of the pool, the water almost up to his neck. When he got to the center, he raised his arms. Felix fed the rope through his hands, lowering the chest down to him. Azeem took hold of it, unhooked the rope, then turned and walked confidently back.

  “Your parents talked of a magical heart to this pyramid. They couldn’t find it. But I did.”

  He pointed at the chest in Azeem’s arms. “When the crocodile pulled me under the water I found what your father missed. And thanks to the knight’s orders, I also discovered the truth. This chamber was nothing more than a secure place for the Templars’ treasure.”

  Azeem slid the chest onto the stones beside the pool. He was about to climb out, but Felix stopped him. “You’re still filthy, Azeem. Clean yourself.”

  The man slipped under the water and began rubbing the dirt off his body.

  “This is how I know your parents’ stories about the power of the pyramids were lies,” Felix said as he opened the chest.

  Sam and Mary leaned over it. Inside were a set of ancient tools made of wood and rusting metal. A hammer, a chisel, and three pottery jars with narrow necks jammed with corks.

  “This is what I found. No magic. Just tools and gold. Lots of gold. I hid the last of it over there,” he said, pointing to the bags by the hole. “The Templars knew their gold would be safe here in Lamanai, protected by Kinich Ahau’s guardians.”

  Azeem had finished cleaning himself and Felix bent down and offered his hand. Azeem moved to the edge of the pool to take it, but Felix suddenly grabbed the leather cord around his neck and pulled it off him.

  He stepped back, holding the wooden carving. Azeem looked down, realized what had happened, and leapt for the edge of the pool.

  “Stay there,” Felix said, pointing the gun at the stunned man.

  Azeem’s face went pale, highlighting the jagged scar on his face. “What? I don’t understand.” The confused look transformed to panic as he heard the noise behind him.

  Sam heard it too. The sound of water churning as something
broke the surface.

  “Let him out,” Mary said as she realized what was happening.

  “Mr. Ramos, please,” Azeem pleaded.

  Felix kept the gun aimed down at the Scar-Faced Man as he held the wooden pendant in the air. “It is fitting I leave a tribute to the guardians.”

  “No, please,” Azeem said, his voice becoming shrill as the panic took hold. He tried to climb out again, but Felix lashed out with his foot. The kick sent the Scar-Faced Man stumbling backward. He disappeared under the water, then popped up spluttering and pleading.

  “You can’t do this,” Mary shouted.

  “Silence!” Felix yelled. His voice boomed around the chamber but was quickly drowned out by a high-pitched scream from Azeem.

  Mary screamed too as the man threw his arms in the air. For a second he seemed to be trying to keep his balance, his arms waving wildly about as if he were performing some weird water dance. Then the movement stopped, and Azeem went rigid. The water around him became red and his screaming reached a new level of loudness. He made one last effort to reach the edge of the pool, but the water behind him erupted and the man was pulled under, his scream cut off as if it were a recording that had been stopped midplay.

  Mary had gone silent, shocked by the hideous spectacle, but now she rounded on Felix. “You animal,” she screamed. “How could you do that?”

  The water had already begun to settle and the red stain faded away. Felix turned calmly toward Mary, unaffected by her outburst. “I told you, I came here to tidy up loose ends.”

  Mary fought to stifle her sobs as she put a hand out for Sam, clinging to him for reassurance. Sam was silent. He had been just as shocked by what he’d witnessed, but he knew the man wouldn’t have blinked an eye if it had been him in the pool. That knowledge tempered his reaction. He also knew he and Mary were in big trouble.

  Felix Ramos was crazy. Sam had to keep the man calm while he tried to come up with a plan to get away, because there was no doubt he saw them as loose ends too.

  25

  FINAL RUN

  “DID YOU FIND THE NECKLACE in the chest?” Sam asked as casually as he could.

  Mary stared at Sam openmouthed. “Is that all you can say, Sam? He just killed a man by feeding him to a crocodile!”

  Sam gripped Mary’s arm and focused on Felix.

  “Yes,” the man replied. “If the knight had been wearing his protection, he might have lived. But the necklace was only part of it. These were the key.” Felix removed one of the jars and tossed it to Sam. He hadn’t been expecting to catch a piece of pottery and only just got a hand to it. His fumbling amused Felix, who laughed as he continued his story. “After I killed the crocodile, I was close to death. I had lost a lot of blood. I should have left immediately, but I had to know what was in the chest.” He crouched down next to the old wooden box. It was made of roughly cut planks, stained black and dotted with large brass nails. Felix patted it gently like it was a pet dog. He was still talking but seemed to be speaking to the box. “I couldn’t believe my eyes. Bags and bags of gold coins. I was rich.” He removed another of the pottery jars. Sam tensed in case it was coming his way, but Felix held it. “The tools and these things, I hardly gave them a second glance. In my haste to count the gold, I dropped one.” He looked up at Sam and paused dramatically. “That act saved my life.”

  “How?” Sam asked, genuinely intrigued by the story.

  “Who cares?” Mary shouted. But Felix looked pleased with Sam’s interest.

  “Another crocodile came for me. Almost as big as the one I had killed. It smelled the blood and leapt from the water. I was out of bullets. I prepared for death, but then the most remarkable thing happened. It stopped as if it had hit some invisible barrier, and then retreated to the pool. I was stunned. Then I realized the oil from the broken jar acted as a repellent.”

  Sam studied the jar in his hands. Engraved on the side was the same design as Felix’s necklace, a Templar cross.

  “There was no time to think about this miracle,” Felix continued. “I had to get medical treatment. I returned the chest to the water, knowing the guardians would keep it safe just as the old knight had intended. I returned to Orange Walk, but I took the crocodile’s body. While I was recovering in the hospital, the story of my fight with the beast spread. My fame grew. People came from all over the world to see the great crocodile slayer and hear my story. They wanted to know how I had survived. After my recovery, I retrieved some of the gold. Now I was rich and famous, and had a taste for more of both. Using the secret of the knight’s oil, I created Xibalba and the legend of Kinich Ahau.”

  “So your whole crocodile power thing is built around some oil.”

  “Not just any oil,” Felix said. He held up the pottery jar. “As my stock ran low, I spent a great deal of money getting chemists to re-create the formula. But nothing worked. Azeem’s face was proof of that.” Felix admired the necklace in his hand, then tossed it into the chest. “I learned that just a few drops would keep the beasts at bay and that the necklace was designed for that purpose. But now my supply is gone.”

  “Is that why your park went bust?” Mary sneered.

  Felix glared at her then tossed the pottery jar over his shoulder, into the pool. “Come,” he ordered. “You can be of use. Bring the chest.”

  “Stop making him angry,” Sam hissed at Mary as they picked up the old wooden box.

  “He’s crazy, Sam,” she replied.

  “I know, so don’t make it worse. I’m trying to get us out of here.”

  “Hurry,” Felix called as he picked up the bags of coins. He held them in his arms as he waited for Sam and Mary. “It is fitting they should leave the way they came in.”

  After he’d dropped the bags in the chest, he tossed in the dagger. Slamming the lid, he strode off toward the tunnel. “Come,” he ordered.

  Sam looked at Mary as they lifted the box again. “Play it calm and we might just get out of here.”

  Felix had picked up one of the large portable electric lights and was waiting at the top of the stairs as his two prisoners struggled up with the chest. “You know the Maya believed that 2012 was not about the end of the world, but a new beginning. And they were right.” Felix stared out across the pool. “This was the place of my rebirth. The beginning of my legend. At the height of my fame, I would bring my followers here to see the real Xibalba. For a fee, of course.”

  Sam thought back to the missing persons reports he’d seen at the police station, but he held his tongue.

  Felix continued, “I followed the knight’s orders and rehung the chest. But I removed the gold. I was unsure if the ropes and pulleys would hold it with so much weight.”

  “And the orders mention three sites,” Sam said. “That’s why you think there is more treasure?”

  Felix nodded. “I scoured the whole of Lamanai for other chambers.”

  “But it wasn’t just the gold. You needed the oil to keep your park alive, and your fame.”

  Felix shrugged. “Xibalba became a beast that had to be fed. Like the guardians in this chamber. But now it is all over.” He took one last look across the cavernous space, then turned and pushed past Sam and Mary. “Come,” he ordered again as he lit the tunnel ahead.

  THE WALK WAS SLOW AND painful for Sam and Mary. They made regular stops to swap hands. Each time he heard the chest go down, Felix would stop and swing the spotlight back at them. “Hurry,” he’d snap, and then resume his march to the entrance.

  By the time they got to the boulder, Felix had opened it. Sam felt the cool breeze coming off the river. The air smelled cool and fresh, almost edible. Felix stood to one side as they passed with the chest and stepped onto the sandy riverbank.

  “Put it down,” he ordered.

  Sam had no idea how much time had passed. He hadn’t had a chance to look at his phone, but it was still dark. The speedboat was rocking gently in the water. He didn’t risk a look toward his Jet Ski.

  “I will take it fr
om here now,” Felix said. When Sam turned, the man was holding his gun. His other hand was in his pocket, but when he removed it, Sam saw a small remote. Felix slowly raised the gun until it was pointing at Sam and Mary. He motioned to the tunnel entrance. “Inside.”

  “Why?” Sam asked. “We only came here to find my parents. We don’t care about your gold!” he pleaded.

  “I believe you, Sam,” Felix said. “When you first arrived, I thought your parents had sent you for the treasure. I thought you might know of the other two locations. But now I believe you really came here to find them.”

  “What happened to his parents?” Mary demanded. “You can tell us now that you’re going.”

  “Please,” Sam pleaded.

  Felix eyed his two prisoners coldly. “I was going to kill your parents, Sam.” He paused, enjoying the look on the boy’s face. “I followed your father and saw him find the entrance to the chamber. He left with the dagger and went to the jetty. He was waiting for Elio to return. That is where I planned to do it, but . . .”

  “But what?” Sam blurted out.

  “Men came. Foreign men in a helicopter, with guns. They took him.”

  “What do you mean? Who?”

  Felix shrugged. “Perhaps your parents had tried to steal from other people before me. I watched your father hide the dagger just before they grabbed him. When I returned to Orange Walk, Azeem told me your mother had also been taken when she tried to return to the hotel.”

  “And you don’t know what happened to them?”

  Felix laughed. “I didn’t care. They were gone, and I had the treasure to myself.” He waved the gun toward the entrance to the chamber. “Now, inside.”

  “Why?” Mary asked.

  “I told you, I came here to tidy up loose ends.” He straightened his arm and pointed the gun directly at Mary’s head. “I won’t ask again.”

  Mary took a breath. Sam saw she was about to speak, and suddenly he was more afraid for her than himself. He pushed her into the tunnel.