Buried Secrets

by Margaret Daley

  In frustration, Zach tried one more time to stuff his body through the opening. When it didn’t work, he pounded his fist against the stone.

  “It must have been that last candy bar you had.”

  Zach threw a glare over his shoulder at Hawke. “Funny. We need to go back to the surface and regroup. We have a couple of cousins who would probably fit through there, although it would be wise to check the cave’s stability before any more people come down.”

  “What if it’s a dead end?”

  Zach shrugged. “It might be, but we have to check it out. We’ve followed the monk’s map. This is the best lead we have. The stature of people hundreds of years ago was generally smaller, so this makes sense. Besides, there has been a rockslide, which I think closed off part of the passage. It might have been wider at one time.”

  When Zach started back toward the other side, Hawke asked, “You don’t think there is any way Maggie would come down here?”

  “You saw her. She was in a cave-in with her father when she was thirteen. He died, and she was trapped until the rescuers managed to dig her out.”

  “That explains a lot.”

  “Yeah. I couldn’t ask her to do that, even if she wanted to try again.”

  Hawke sent him a sharp look. “Even if that meant the bad guys got the codices?”

  “Yes.”

  “Whoa, cousin. You’ve got it bad.”

  Zach emerged from the pool. “Got what bad?”

  “Surely you know what being in love feels like. You were in love with your wife. Have you already forgotten?”

  “I’m not in love,” Zach immediately said, then realized he shouldn’t have spoken in haste. Was he in love with Maggie? They hadn’t known each other long. Then he remembered he hadn’t known his wife for long when he’d first realized he was in love with her. “You of all people shouldn’t speak of being in love,” Zach said.

  “Just because I’ve sworn off women doesn’t mean you have to,” Hawke said.

  A noise pierced the cavern. Zach whirled toward the sound while Hawke drew his gun. A light shone in the dark shadows.

  “It’s me, Maggie.”

  “Maggie!” How much had she heard? Zach wondered, and hurried toward her. “Is something wrong?”

  “It’s him. I mean, Joe Bailey. He’s here with two other men.”

  Hawke approached. “How? He should be in federal custody by now.”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t stay to ask him. They may be about half an hour behind me if they followed the same path.”

  “I don’t understand how they solved the code so quickly. They haven’t had the diary and map for long.” Zach looked over Maggie’s shoulder toward the direction she had come from.

  Worry creased Zach’s face, and she wanted to smooth the lines away, but there wasn’t any time. “What should we do?”

  “You say there are three of them?” Hawke checked his gun.

  “Yes. Armed and mean looking.”

  “We’ll have to surprise them.” Zach scanned the cavern. “There aren’t many places to hide here, but there are places back in the last chamber.”

  “Then let’s go.” Maggie started to swing around when Zach stopped her.

  “No. We only have two guns. I’m not putting you in danger with nothing to protect yourself.”

  Maggie did her own inspection of the cavern. “Where do you want me to hide? Under the water?”

  Zach’s eyes lit up. “I think we found the place where the codices are, or at least how to get to them, but we can’t fit through the slot in the wall. You should be able to. You can hide in there until it’s safe to come out.”

  “Where?” Maggie didn’t want to be alone anymore. She’d pushed herself to get this far because she’d had to warn Zach and Hawke.

  Zach slipped out of his backpack and plopped the bag on the floor. “I’ll show you. Where’s the gun?”

  Maggie delved into her bag and produced the weapon. Zach passed it to Hawke, then took her hand and led her into the pool. Cold water seeped into her boots. As she went deeper into it, she shook. Before long it was up to her chest, and she held her backpack above her head to keep it dry.

  Zach halted in front of the far wall where a rockslide had occurred. How recently, she couldn’t tell. The realization that it had sometime in the past, cutting off access to the rest of the cave, frightened her—especially since the mountain was still rumbling.

  “You want me to go through that?” She pointed a shaky finger at the small opening.

  “You’re the only one who can. Hawke and I are too big, as you can see.”

  “I—I—can’t…” She clamped her mouth closed. She was the only one who could complete the job unless they left and came back with someone else. She didn’t want that. This had been Gramps’s dream, to find the Aztec codices. She would do it for him, for Zach. “I’ll do it.”

  He clasped her upper arms and hauled her to him, then planted a quick kiss on her mouth before releasing her. “None of the men with Bailey are small, are they?”

  “No. About the same size as he is.”

  “Then you’ll be safe in there, and Hawke and I can be free to do what we have to.” As she neared the slot, he took her bag. “I’ll hand it to you so you can pull it through behind you.”

  Maggie squeezed into the opening sideways, the rough surface of the stones scraping across her body. She took her backpack and dragged it in after her. Her pulse rate increased the farther away from Zach she went, but she saw ahead that the narrow passage ended.

  Lord, watch over Zach and Hawke. Don’t let anything happen to them.

  She slipped from the slot and entered a chamber, so large the lamp on her helmet—which she had recovered, thankfully—didn’t shine on the far walls. After switching her lamp to the brightest setting, she walked a few paces forward, directing the beam in a sweep in front of her. Breathtaking formations littered the floor of the cavern, glistening white, some delicate like the petals of flowers.

  Awed by God’s artistry, she basked in the beauty about her, turning in a slow circle to inspect the room. For that brief moment she forgot that she was alone in a dark chamber, hundreds of feet below the earth, trapped. Then something along the wall to the left of her caught her attention. It glinted. She stepped closer and bent down, brushing the dust and dirt from its surface. A cup. She lifted it up to inspect it better.

  It was a jewel-encrusted vessel of gold.

  “Let’s rock and roll. We’ve got some people to take care of.” Zach checked his gun and grabbed his extra clip.

  “We need to make sure they are all through the bolt-hole before we do anything. We wouldn’t want one getting away.” Hawke put his backpack next to Zach’s on the floor near the entrance into the pool chamber, and grabbed some rope.

  “We’d better hurry. We have to assume they have the map and have figured out that it’s a diagram of this cave. It won’t take them long to find this.” Zach moved toward the short passage that led to the next cavern and went first.

  In the cavern he and Hawke found places to conceal themselves behind two hoodoos standing sentry near the bolt-hole. While they waited for Bailey and his two men, Zach’s thoughts went to Maggie. Was she all right? He knew the extent of her fear, but she’d come after him and Hawke anyway. The realization of what she had done to warn them astounded him. Other than Kate rescuing him in the Amazon, he had never had someone do that for him.

  He was almost afraid to examine his feelings about Maggie. He’d loved Helen so much and had given up part of what he loved to do for her. Could he be happy doing it again?

  The sound of someone coming through the bolt-hole pushed the unanswered question to the back of his mind. When they got out of the cave alive, he would have to deal with his personal life. But first he had to take care of the men after them.

  Zach signaled to Hawke that he was ready. Bailey slid through the opening and immediately straightened, alert. His lamp swept a wide arc around
the chamber as the next man came through. The last one followed a minute later. When all three had finished their visual inspections, they started forward.

  They would have to walk between the two hoodoos to get to the passage that led to the next chamber, the only passage from this cavern. Bailey saw his target and went first. As he passed, Zach moved around to continue to hide until all three were through the narrow passageway between the two stone sentries.

  Zach stepped into the path with Hawke right behind him and leveled his gun at the three men. “That’s as far as you go.”

  All of them whirled, fumbling to get their weapons.

  “I wouldn’t try anything if I were you.” Zach pointed his revolver at Bailey, the leader.

  “Drop your guns slowly, then your backpacks.” Hawke came forward. “It’s nice to see you again, Bailey. How kind of you to turn yourself in, although it would have been more convenient to do it at the station.”

  Bailey growled his anger, his eyes full of fury. “I have a knack for escaping.”

  “Not this time.” Zach smiled. The sight of the rope hanging off Bailey’s bag brought back memories of when Maggie had tied him up at her grandfather’s house. Now he found humor in the situation. “Take that rope and bind your friends’ feet and hands.”

  Bailey grumbled something under his breath but complied, moving to the smaller of the two men and twisting the length around his feet first.

  “Pull it tighter. Don’t think I won’t inspect your work.” Zach kept his attention on Bailey, but said to Hawke, “It’s such a shame that people nowadays just don’t take pride in their workmanship like they used to.”

  “Personally, I don’t understand how Bailey would work for someone who killed his partner. There’s no honor among thieves,” Hawke replied.

  “Or friendship obviously,” Zach saw Bailey stiffen.

  When Bailey stood, his two cohorts tied up on the floor of the cavern, he balled his hands at his side. Angry darts shot from his eyes.

  “Now it’s your turn,” Zach said. “Get down between your two partners.” Zach gave Hawke his gun and took the rope his cousin had brought with him, then he cautiously approached Bailey. After securing the large man, he checked the other two. He tightened the length around the smaller one’s hands, then scooped up their guns, which he passed to Hawke to put in his backpack.

  “A word of advice—you might want to find someone else to partner with. Bailey’s partners turn up dead.” Zach backed away from the trio, satisfied they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. “Care to share who you are working for?”

  Bailey glared at him. “We won’t double-cross the man who hired us.”

  “Aah, so you do know who paid you.” Hawke returned Zach’s gun to him. “Too bad you aren’t talking. It could have helped your case.” He turned to the other men. “Either one of you want to cut a deal?”

  Both men looked toward Bailey, who cackled. “I ain’t no fool. They don’t know.”

  “Oh, well, I thought I would give you a last chance.” Hawke started for the passage into the pool chamber.

  One of the men shouted, “You can’t leave us here!”

  Zach twisted around and grinned. “Sure we can. We ain’t no fools, either. There is no safe way we could escort you out of this cave.”

  As he disappeared into the passage, he heard Bailey telling the man to shut up and stop moaning.

  “A job well done if I say so myself,” Zach said with a chuckle.

  “When we get out of here, I can radio for help to transport them out,” Hawke said.

  “Perhaps by that time, Bailey will have rethought his stance on making a deal.”

  “Don’t count on it, Zach. I’ve seen his kind before. Whoever he’s working for isn’t a nice man to cross.”

  A chill went through Zach. They were definitely crossing this mysterious man.

  Out of a sarcophagus filled with Aztec artifacts, Maggie lifted one of the codices. It was a book written on deerskin. It had been preserved by the stone coffin. Although there were abundant treasures before her, this was what had started it all. According to her grandfather, because of the Spanish purge when they conquered the Aztecs, no books had survived, even though they had been common among the Aztecs.

  She emptied her bag, then carefully laid the three codices in it. She hated leaving all the other artifacts, but someone else would have to come back for them. Looking around at the darkness that hemmed her in, she shivered. A panicky feeling crept up her spine.

  No bones had been in the stonelike coffin, but its shape unnerved her. She needed to get out of there. She rose with her backpack in hand and started for the narrow passage.

  Another rumble beneath her feet froze her. The sound of rocks hitting the floor thundered through her mind.

  THIRTEEN

  The crash of rocks falling echoed through the chamber. The sound came from the hidden cavern. Zach thrust the gun into Hawke’s hand and hurried toward the pool. “I’ve got to get Maggie out of there.”

  As he tore across the water, stirring up the silt, all he could think about was Maggie trapped by tons of rocks, as she had been before with her father. He’d done this to her. He shouldn’t have insisted she hide in the other chamber. The codices weren’t worth it. Nothing was.

  Father, please keep her safe.

  At the slit in the rocks, he pressed his face against their rough surface and shouted, “Maggie! Maggie, are you okay?” His pulse raced.

  One heartbeat. Two. Silence.

  “Maggie!”

  “I’m coming.” She coughed. “Some rocks slid down on the other side of the cavern. The dust is thick in here.”

  Another cough filled his ears like sweet music. She was alive. Thank you, Father.

  He stepped back, seeing her light through the haze of dust coming toward him. When she appeared, he assisted her through the passage, then pulled her against him, his arms tight about her. He didn’t want to let her go.

  She chuckled and mumbled against his chest, “I’ve got to breathe, Zach.”

  “Sorry.” He pulled back and ran his gaze over her beautiful features, saw the dirt smudges on her face. He wiped his finger across them. “What have you been doing? Playing in the dirt?”

  Smiling, she leaned back. “Something like that. I’ve got the codices. They’re in my backpack. Three of them.” She opened her bag to show him the codices.

  “Three? I’d have been happy for one or two, but three! Are they readable, intact?” Excited, Zach slipped one of them out of her backpack.

  “Yes, as you can see.” She took the deerskin book and secured it in her bag. “Right now I need to leave. I don’t want to stay another minute in this cave.”

  He cupped her face, his eyes a soft gray. “We caught Bailey and his men. They’re in the next cavern, tied up.”

  “Good. Let’s go.”

  Zach waded across the pool with Maggie next to him, his arm about her shoulder. “We’ll hike out and send someone else for the three men.”

  “Will they be okay until then?”

  Zach peered down at her upturned face. “They are in God’s hands. It’s too dangerous for us to escort them out. I didn’t see any evidence of any recent rockslides in that chamber, so hopefully they’ll be okay until we get some help.”

  “I’ll pray for them and us. I don’t want any more deaths associated with these codices.”

  As they approached Hawke at the edge of the water, Zach said, “I agree. Praying will help.” We’ll need it, he thought silently, remembering the long climb to the entrance.

  When Maggie emerged from the dark cave, blackness surrounded her. She looked up at the star-studded sky and chuckled. “How appropriate. Nighttime. All I’ve been thinking about was getting out into the sunlight.”

  Hawke came out of the entrance. “When you’re in a cave, you have no sense of time.”

  Exhausted, she collapsed on the ground near where the tent equipment lay. She fingered the canvas. “All
I want to do is curl up and go to sleep.”

  “Not a bad idea.” Zach picked up the tent.

  “While you set up camp, I’ll hike down to my Jeep and call for help. As much as I would like to leave the trio down in the cave, we’ll need to stay here until help arrives, especially since Maggie told us they slashed our tires, and we forgot to search them for their car keys.” Hawke, with a flashlight, started down the mountain.

  Although she hurt all over from using muscles she’d forgotten she had, Maggie began to push herself to her feet.

  Zach stopped her. “Stay put. I’ll take care of making camp. You rest.”

  “You’ve got to be as tired as I am.”

  He shook his head as he slipped out of his backpack and put his gun away. After placing the bag by a huge boulder, he stretched the canvas out on the ground near Maggie. “I didn’t face a fear today. You did.”

  “Only because the Lord was with me every step of the way,” she said, then silently added, and I couldn’t let the man I love die.

  He pushed a stake into the ground. “With Him by our sides we can do some amazing things.”

  Maggie closed her eyes and listened to Zach finish putting up the tent then gather some sticks for a fire. Knowing he was nearby lulled her to sleep.

  “Look who we have here,” a man said in accented English.

  Maggie’s eyes flew open at the sound of the familiar voice. Darkness greeted her. For a moment she didn’t know where she was. She reached out and grazed her fingertips along the canvas of the tent. Somehow Zach must have carried her inside when she fell asleep. Through a narrow slit by the tent’s door she saw a fire, and Zach’s angry face. She clambered to a sitting position and inched closer to the opening.

  “Where are my men?” Señor Santos came into Maggie’s view.

  Zach shrugged. “What men?”

  “I know they are here. They contacted me before going into the cave.”

  Behind Señor Santos stood another man she could only describe as a hulking bodyguard, with a .44 Magnum in his hand. The Hulk gestured with his gun for Hawke to join Zach by the fire. The Mexican businessman didn’t seem to carry a gun, so if Maggie could take care of the bodyguard…