Ethan struggled to hold Nina still with one arm. He couldn't cut while she was struggling like this! She was thrashing around so much he'd kill her for sure. She'd bleed to death just like Joanne if he cut too deeply.
Ethan dropped the knife. It was no good. She wouldn’t stop moving. He tried to force the air down to her lungs by blowing hard, but it didn’t work. Her feet gave tiny bicycle kicks as he covered her gaping mouth with his own.
Kline suddenly said, 'He's kissing all the girls today, huh?'
Nina stopped moving. She'd gone unconscious.
The knife! He could cut now that she wasn't moving.
He spun and saw the knife was gone. He yelled, 'The knife! Where's the knife, you bastards!'
'Too late for the knife,' said Rourke. 'You missed that window of opportunity. You failed.'
Ethan charged at Rourke. He made it three steps before Kline downed him with a heavy blow from behind. Ethan felt the world tipping....
....and came to his senses propped up against the spot where the tent joined the stonework.
Nina was lying dead where he'd last seen her. The tent flap was open. Kline was gone. Rourke sat in the folding chair watching him. A rifle rested across Rourke’s knees. 'Nice try. You've got spirit. I'll give you that much.'
Ethan stared at the lifeless flesh that had been his friend. He’d failed to save her. He had a chance, and he’d hesitated. Rourke was going to kill him next, unless he had some new torment prepared. It couldn't get any worse.
Rourke said, 'I need your help. I have a favor to ask you.'
Ethan answered wearily, 'I just want to see my family again.'
'I know,' said Rourke. 'That's why I chose you. And besides, it doesn't feel like it right now, but you still have a lot to lose.'
Rourke pointed to where three security guards were dragging Claire Hudnell towards the tent.
Chapter 5
Daniel stared at the piece of human jawbone in the tray.
'You have to call the police.'
Abby rushed back to the bench and set down the box. 'Not yet.'
'What do you mean 'not yet'? These are human remains you've found.'
'I can see that, Daniel. But what exactly do you think the police are going to do?'
'I don't know - maybe find out who the person was!'
'The first thing they're going to do is put those remains in a plastic bag and take them away. How can I analyze them if they do that?'
'Why would you want to?' Daniel pointed into the tray. 'You've got a piece of a person here, Abby.'
'Look, Daniel. They've recovered human remains from all over the site. This could be the same thing.'
Daniel raised his eyebrow. 'With gold fillings?'
'OK,' conceded Abby, setting up her microscope. 'You’ve got me there. This is recent. I can tell that just by looking at it. It's probably less than a few weeks old. I just need a few minutes, then I'll call Ethan and he can decide about calling the police. This is all his material after all.'
Daniel pulled himself up onto the bench beside the phone. 'I'm going to wait here until you call him.'
'Suit yourself.'
Abby went to her row of filing cabinets and pulled out the site's collection of artifact x-rays. It was common practice to x-ray all human remains found on site to identify bone damage invisible to the naked eye. This was especially true of Mesoamerican sites where the tools and methods of human sacrifice could be discerned. Certain weapons left distinctive marks on bone, and sometimes even left physical remains.
The Plaza remains all shared a type of bone damage found nowhere else. The bone damage had been anywhere and everywhere, inflicted with equal viciousness to every point of the body.
The only common element was the mysterious nature of the tool inflicting the damage. X-rays indicated many of the bones had been sheared from opposite sides at the same time. Abby could easily spot such trauma. The bones demonstrated tell-tale pressure fractures. The fractures radiated outwards from two points of impact.
It was so peculiar that Abby could spot it immediately, and this gave her an idea now.
She used some forceps to carry the jawbone over to her microscope. She positioned the bone under the lens and then raised the blinds for more light. After checking the damaged section of bone was in frame, she flicked through the x-rays, hoping to find another piece of jaw. She got lucky, finding an x-ray of a jaw sheared further along the mandible line. It was close enough for what she needed.
She slapped the x-ray up to the glass and then while holding the film in place, looked down through her microscope. She adjusted the magnification twice.
They're exactly the same.
The pattern of bone damage was identical.
Whatever had done all the damage six hundred years ago had done the same damage to someone near the Plaza just a few weeks ago. Somehow the bone ended up in an animal’s digestive system. Had something eaten the human remains after the time of death, or had the animal been what caused the death?
'What is it?' asked Daniel.
Abby ignored him. She rushed to the phone. Grabbing up the receiver, she entered the pin number that let her made long-distance calls. She knew the Plaza sat-phone number by heart. It rang out unanswered.
Of course. They've left the site already.
They might be in cell phone range. She tried Ethan's cell and heard the ‘out-of-range’ message.
She bit the side of her mouth. After a moment’s thought, she dropped the receiver in Daniel's lap. 'You want to call the police, then call them.'
She sat down at her computer and started banging off an email to Ethan. She had no idea if Daniel was calling the police, and she didn't really care.
#
Claire realized they were bringing her to the security tent. They shoved her through the flap.
Inside, she blinked as her eyes adjusted.
Ethan was slumped in the corner. Ambrose Rourke sat in a folding canvas chair like a king taking court.
Rubbing her shoulder where the guards twisted it, she said, 'Does somebody want to tell me what the - '
She spotted Nina dead on the ground.
Claire stood speechless for a second, pointing. 'Is she...?'
'Dead?' finished Rourke. 'Very much so. Drag her out of here. Kline will show you where to put her. I think I can hear him arriving now.'
Claire heard one of their jeeps approaching. Normally their jeeps towed around the silt pumps, but this jeep was moving too fast for that.
Claire glanced at Ethan, trying to see if he'd been shot or wounded. He didn't look good, but he wasn't sitting in a pool of blood or anything. She hadn't heard any gunshots. Perhaps Rourke had been using the Taser on him.
However he was hurt, he recognized the question in her eyes. 'Do what Rourke says, Claire. Don't make trouble. He's not messing around. Just do whatever he asks. I've agreed to help him if he doesn't hurt you.'
'I didn't agree to that,' countered Rourke.
‘I won’t help you if you hurt her,’ said Ethan.
Rourke ignored Ethan and pointed the rifle at Claire. 'Take the body. If you speak again I'll shoot you.'
Claire came forward and looked for the best way to move Nina outside. There was no way she could lift the woman. Drag her.
She pushed Nina's boots together and grasped her ankles.
After the second heave, Nina's body started shifting. Nina’s skirt rode up, but Claire didn’t stop pulling. A dozen rapid backward steps got Nina from the tent. Outside, Claire dropped Nina’s ankles and swayed unsteadily. She felt dizzy. Not from the exertion, but from the fact she was dragging Nina’s dead body.
'Into the jeep,' barked Kline.
Claire felt her dizziness settle.
She peered through the sun’s glare at Kline, who she’d spoken to and joked with almost every day of the season. She'd even felt disappointed when he hadn't asked for her contact details.
The four guards, Kline and the three from her tent, w
atched as she struggled to lift Nina into the jeep. The jeep had no roof, just a single roll bar between the front and back seats. After two failed attempts, Claire used her own body to wedge Nina up against the jeep’s spare wheel. Pinning the smaller woman’s body in place with her left hip, Claire tipped Nina’s head and shoulders over the back seat. When most of Nina's weight hung in the jeep, Claire gave one final push. Her friend flopped over the back seat and slid to the floor.
The sound of Nina’s thumping corpse was too much. Claire vomited, just turning enough to avoid splattering the jeep.
She spat out the filthy taste of bile. The guards climbed in around Nina. Not Kline, though. He just pointed into the jeep.
'That's your ride, Sheriff,' he said. 'Have a good time with your new friends.'
Claire reluctantly climbed in, sharing the crowded back seat with Nina, a guard, and a collapsible shovel. The vehicle lurched forward. Nina's head was right under Claire's feet.
This couldn't be the same woman hustling around the site two hours ago helping everyone pack. This slack body bouncing on the floor couldn't be another dead friend.
Claire made herself look.
What’s that? Nina had something around her neck. A black band like something you radio-tagged animals with. Claire recognized the object. Rourke suffocated her with a cable-tie. He tightened it around her neck and let her suffocate.
I need to get that thing off her.
'Hey,' she said to the guard next to her. 'Can I take that thing off her neck? She was a good person. She deserves better than that.'
The guard glanced down at the body, obviously suspicious. 'I think she's past caring about fashion accessories.'
The guard driving the jeep sniggered at the sick joke. Tyler was sitting in the front passenger seat with his body turned to keep an eye on Claire. He wore reflective aviator sunglasses. She couldn’t really tell where he was looking with those glasses on.
Claire persisted. 'I won't try anything. I just want to take that off her neck.'
'Let her try,' said Tyler.
The guard in the back seat shrugged.
Claire leant down and felt around Nina's neck. Her hand came up against abrasions where Nina had torn at her own flesh. But that couldn't be right. Nina's hands were bound behind her back. That meant someone else had been trying to save her. Ethan? What had happened in that tent? Whatever it was, Ethan had looked shattered.
And these three men would do something equally ghastly to her when the jeep stopped. They only kept her alive to carry Nina.
Claire felt the collapsible shovel poking her thigh. And maybe dig my own grave.
These three men were going to murder her. They knew nothing about her. They didn’t care who she was. She could be anybody. She was just another chore to get done.
These are the men who will take my life away. Any second now.
Claire sat up from fumbling with Nina's neck. She couldn't get the damn thing off. She had blood on her fingers.
The guard nudged Nina with his boot. 'If she couldn't get it off, then how the hell did you think you were going to? Trust me - she was much more motivated than you are.'
Claire couldn't help herself. 'But I'm next, right?’
From the front seat, Tyler said. 'Why ask? You're not going to like the answer. Besides, we haven't determined the fine details yet. Needless to say, the next hour will be a pretty memorable time for you. Well, for us, anyway.’
Claire spat back her answer before she could stop herself. ‘You're a gutless pack of filthy dog! I'm not scared of you. You don't even know me! Why are you even doing this?'
Like a striking snake, Tyler savagely grabbed Claire's left breast. He lunged so fast, so unexpectedly, the bastard had her before she could react. He pinched savagely on her nipple with his thumbnail. Claire jolted in her seat and pushed at his wrist. It was useless. His fingers held like surgically embedded steel. Claire's eyes bulged. Her cry caught in her throat. The pain got worse with every moment. It seemed to claw right into her brain. She thumped his wrist. The muscles in his forearm bulged. He seemed to be pinching harder - NO, he was twisting!
Claire jerked her head down, felt her teeth connect with his arm, but he jerked away before she could bite.
She pushed herself back in the seat, pressing her breast to dull the pain.
He studied her steadily, then raised his glasses. 'Any more questions, sweetheart?'
Claire shook her head as the jeep drove up and over the silt barrier.
They turned into the jungle. Rourke had pushed several patrol tracks into this section of jungle. These resembled wet subway tunnels, completely cut off from the sky by the meshed canopy that never got a chance to dry out. Claire knew that Marco jogged down a different track every morning, but she had no idea how far they went.
The driver pressed on about two hundred meters before Tyler spoke. ‘Here’s fine. This is deep enough.’
Claire looked at the surrounding jungle. Here. This is where they plan to kill me. She considered making a run for it. The thick canopy made it dark, but it also restricted the undergrowth. The undergrowth looked sparse enough for the guards to have a clear shot at her. Her time was running out. She needed to do something soon if she wanted to live beyond the next two minutes. One patch of thick vegetation started about ten meters behind the jeep.
Tyler dropped the collapsible shovel in her lap. 'Unfold that and start digging.'
Claire looked around uncertainly. 'Where?'
'Just off the track there. Hurry up.'
As Claire hopped out of the jeep, Rainer stepped over from the passenger seat. He and Samson pulled Nina up from the floor by her shoulders and ankles.
Rainer had Nina by the armpits. 'She’s pretty small. Let's see how far we can throw her. Ready?'
Samson tested Nina's weight and moved his hands to better grip her ankles. 'On three?'
Tyler walked around behind the jeep and drew a line with his boot heal about four meters away. 'You'll never toss her over this line.'
Claire didn't miss that Tyler had placed himself between her and the area of thick cover.
Samson and Rainer started swinging Nina's body like a sack.
'One.'
'Two.'
'THREE!’
They heaved and threw. Nina's body flew through the air.
Before it hit the ground, Samson was ripped from the jeep. Everyone else was watching Nina's body flop through the air, so only Claire caught sight of Samson’s legs disappearing into the canopy.
'What the fuck!' swore Rainer, looking straight up.
Blood splattered over Rainer's upturned face.
'Bloody hell,' he cursed, wiping it from his eyes and reaching for his gun.
Claire should have been running, but she gripped the shovel like a weapon and peered into the canopy above the jeep. She couldn't see a thing up there. Just dark foliage and the rare glint of sunlight. She could certainly hear whatever was happening though. From up in the canopy, Samson was screaming for help. Screaming like something ghastly was happening to him.
'Something's got him,' yelled Tyler, bringing up his rifle. He aimed into the canopy, but didn't fire. 'I can't see it!'
A huge section of canopy sprung up like something heavy had shifted its weight.
'There! There!' pointed Rainer. 'What is that?’
'It's dead, that's what it is.' Tyler fired into the canopy above the jeep.
Claire ducked as Rainer fired straight upwards from the jeep’s back seat. Something came tumbling from the canopy. Before it landed, Claire recognized the mangled remains of Samson's body. Samson bounced off the jeep's windshield and slid wetly off the hood.
'Holy shit,' cried Rainer, following the path of Samson's body as it settled on the track.
The next attack came so fast that the first Claire knew of it was Tyler's aviator sunglasses flicking through the air like a tiny mirrored helicopter.
His body flew in the other direction.
This ti
me she'd seen what happened. Something shot out from the foliage beside the track, struck Tyler in the chest, and then yanked him back into the bushes. He flew sideways as though struck by an invisible speeding bus. His boots hadn’t even touched the ground. He’d crashed sideways into the same bushes Claire had considered running towards.
There’s more than one, Claire realized. One up in the canopy and one on the ground.
She scrambled back into the jeep as Rainer yelled, 'Tyler! Tyler!'
She wouldn't get this chance again.
Two-handed, she swung the shovel straight into the back of Rainer's skull. He tumbled over the jeep’s windshield. Before he rolled off the hood, Claire dropped into the driver's seat and gunned the engine. She found reverse and floored it. The jeep shot backwards, jolting up over something that Claire realized had to be Nina.
The engine roared as Claire kept the accelerator flat to the floor, rocketing the jeep backwards and passing the thrashing foliage that had swallowed Tyler.
Twisting in the seat to hold her driving line, she glanced forward again. Rainer was rising to his hands and knees on the track.
Do it now.
She yanked up the handbrake and twisted the steering wheel, making the jeep skid and spin through the first two points of a three-point turn. The back of the jeep ended up in the jungle, but it was all good. These things were made for the rough stuff. She spun the wheel the other way, found first gear and hammered back onto the track and towards the Plaza.
She prayed that Rainer wouldn't recover in time to shoot at her. She glanced over her shoulder, but he was gone from the track.
They've eaten him too.
She looked ahead just in time. Someone ran into the jeep's path. A person had burst from the jungle right in front of her!
It’s Tyler!
But it wasn't Tyler. It was a woman.
Claire slammed on the brakes, struggling to control the sliding jeep.
The vehicle stopped just inches from the woman's knees. Exhausted, the woman steadied herself with one hand on the hood. She was breathless from running.
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