Rowan drained his beer and decided not to take it personally. He’d been a decent son, though he always felt like he could have done better—like he should do better. His father had retired as a Colonel from the Air Force after 30-some years in the military. Mom had been the perfect officer’s wife. She hosted the weekly Bunco night for the other officer’s wives, as well as the garden club and the book club too. When Rowan and his sister were older, their mother had gone to work at the public library in Denver. She worked for twenty-some years before she finally retired to spend more time with her husband. Still, they’d been too busy to come out and visit.
Rowan, unlike his father, had gotten out of the military much sooner, thanks to an unfortunate series of events. He had been more than ready to take an early retirement. Many of his friends continued to go back into the fray, only to end up with a more serious case of PTSD. Rowan knew when to let it go, and move on with his life, regardless of whether his father understood.
Whatever. Rowan got up, casting aside bad memories. He tossed the empty beer bottle into the recycling bin. He decided he better check on Lauren.
He could only see shadows of the room, the daylight growing dimmer as the hours had passed. He flipped on the light on their dresser. The room was empty. “Lauren?” He switched on the overhead light. It chased the shadows away. Still, there were no signs of his wife. “Lauren?” He checked the bathroom. She wasn’t there. She wasn’t on the balcony. In their cramped townhouse, there wasn’t anywhere else for her to be. Panic coursed through him. He found his phone and tried to call her, but it went straight to voice mail. He called again, tracing the sound of the ring tone back to the bed. Her phone was beneath her pillow. Dammit! She was nowhere to be found. She’d left without her phone—or her purse. It was still hanging on the hook on the back of their bedroom door.
Calm down, think, man! Rowan ran a trembling hand over his head. Panic threatened to overtake him. Where would she go? She was supposed to be on bed rest. She wasn’t supposed to go anywhere! He looked down at his phone. He dialed Bahati.
“Hey Rowan, Merry Christmas,” she answered brightly.
“Hey,” he managed. “Have you talked to Lauren today?”
“I called her this morning. I haven’t talked to her since. Why?”
“I went to the store and when I came back... she was...” His voice failed him. He took a deep breath to keep the room from spinning. “She isn’t here.” he managed.
“She’s not supposed to leave her bed, much less the house ...” Bahati’s tone changed. “Did you call her cell phone?”
“Yeah,” he said. His heart thudded in his throat. “It was under the pillows. Her purse is still here too.”
Bahati was silent for a moment. “I’m coming right over.”
“Have you noticed anything... different about her lately?” Rowan sat down, no longer able to keep his feet.
“Pregnancy changes a woman,” Bahati said.
“It’s not just that.” He shook his head. “Never mind, maybe I’m just seeing shadows that aren’t there.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Bahati said. “Just hang on. I’m coming.”
* * *
Rowan was agitated by the time Bahati walked in. His face and eyes were red. He paced feverishly back and forth behind the couch when she walked in. After losing her in Washington State, he was having flashbacks and all those same feelings of fear and dread had overtaken him.
Bahati pulled him into her arms. He held onto her tightly. He tried not to sob into her damp hair, but it was no use. Bahati led him over to the sofa and made him sit down. He took the tissue she handed him. “How long were you gone to the store?”
“An hour and a half, maybe more. I don’t remember.” He sniffed. Bahati handed him a tissue. “I came in and put everything up and started dinner. I sat down to have a beer. When I got up to check on her, she just wasn’t there.” He was panting. “I thought she was asleep.”
“How was she before you left?”
“She was fine,” he said. “She had a bath. I put clean sheets on the bed. I fed her lunch.”
“You said something about her being different. What did you mean by that?”
“I can’t put my finger on it. The other day when I got home from Mexico, she picked up this Maya glyph and read it.” He picked up the coaster off the coffee table. “Do you know what this says?”
Bahati inspected it. “No,” she said.
“It’s the Maya symbol for Jaguar,” he said. “Lauren knew exactly what it said.”
“We have spent a lot of time studying the glyphs,” Bahati nodded.
“That’s what she said. And then when we called to talk to Professor DeLaFuentes in Mexico. She carried on a complete conversation with the operator in Spanish. Did you know she spoke Spanish?”
“No,” Bahati said.
“That’s because she doesn’t... didn’t. Yet suddenly, there she is talking like a local, right down to how she rolled her r’s.”
“Lauren? Rolling her r’s? Now that really is weird.” Bahati backed away. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans.
Rowan looked at her sharply. “Really? That’s what surprises you about all that?”
“There are a lot of things about Lauren that amaze me. The least of which is how she rolls her r’s. I’ve said it before. She’s always been a bit of a mystery to me. She continues to surprise me.”
“I don’t like surprises. I don’t like not knowing where my wife is.” Rowan crossed his arms. He was frustrated. Why did she always do this? “I didn’t like it any in Washington and I certainly don’t like it now.”
“We should call the police,” Bahati suggested.
“She has to be missing for twenty-four hours before they’ll take a missing person’s report,” Rowan said.
“I don’t think that’s true, but where would she go?” Bahati asked. “Maybe we can figure out where to look for her.”
“I don’t know,” Rowan grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged at it. He was frustrated and helpless to do anything about it. Bahati reached up and caught his hand, pulling him into her.
“It’s going to be okay, Rowan.”
“You don’t know that.” His voice cracked.
“Let’s start calling the team. We could see if anyone’s talked to her or seen her today. Maybe she’s at the library, or the Asian market. We can check there.”
There was a pounding knock on the door. Where Bahati seemed to melt with relief, Rowan lept to his feet. He was at the door before Bahati could even turn. He took a step back when he realized there were two police officers, holding on to his soaking wet wife. She was shivering but didn’t look up at him. Someone had thrown a blanket over her shoulders. Her hair hung in dripping cords around her face. She trembled violently.
“Lauren!” Bahati rush towards her, catching her arm and pulling her into the townhouse. The police officers stepped in behind her. “We’ve been worried sick.” She made eye contact with the officers. Rowan seemed too stunned to move.
Lauren pulled away and stood, frozen. Her eyes never moved from the spot on the floor where she stared. Finally, Rowan reached out for her. He pulled her into him. She didn’t shy away from him. She didn’t melt into him as she usually would. He kissed her head before he looked to the police officers for answers. “Where did you find her?”
“She was in the San Diego Zoo after closing time. That’s where the security patrol found her,” one of the officers responded. “She was just standing there, staring at the animals.”
“We couldn’t get her to answer. We were about to call the paramedics to come take her to the hospital for a psychological evaluation. Then, she just looked at me and said I’m looking for Rowan Pierce,” the police officer explained. “Are you Rowan Pierce? How do you know her?”
“I am Rowan Pierce. That’s my wife Lauren.”
“Does your wife usually go out for a walk in the middle of a rainstorm?”
&nb
sp; “Nothing my wife does is usual,” Rowan said. “Lauren is... different. This pregnancy has been hard on her.”
Rowan rubbed her arm. He felt the subtle movement of her body as she rested her head on his chest. His shirt was immediately soaked. He didn’t mind. He kissed her wet head again. He could feel her arm snaking around his waist. “Mrs. Pierce?” The first officer raised his voice.
Lauren turned and looked at him. “It’s okay. I’m home.”
It took several minutes of additional questioning before Bahati got fed up and came over, taking Lauren by the shoulder. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go get you into something a bit... drier.”
Lauren moved obediently, and Rowan was left to answer questions.
* * *
Lauren was soaked to the skin. A puddle collected on the tiles around her as Bahati peeled her out of her damp clothes. Even her under garments were drenched. Lauren didn’t protest. She didn’t exactly participate either. Bahati turned on the shower, setting it to warm before wrapping Lauren in a dry towel to get her to stop shivering.
Bahati helped her with a quick shower. By the time she had her hair washed, the shivering ceased. When she got her out, Bahati helped her dry off and paused to find Lauren’s bath robe, getting her limp arms into it. Then, she herded her towards the bed. Lauren veered off to the living room, where Rowan was being questioned.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” One of the officers eyed her warily.
She nodded. “I am home now.”
“Come on, Lauren. You’re tired,” he said. “She needs sleep.”
“Of course.” The cops glanced at one another. “We’ll follow up if we have more questions, but... it can wait. The Zoo doesn’t intend to press charges, so I suspect this will be the last of it, unless they change their minds.”
“Press charges?” Rowan’s brow tightened.
“For trespassing,” the second officer said.
“Oh,” Rowan said. “Well I’m sorry about that. She hasn’t been herself lately. We’ll talk to her doctor, so we make sure nothing like this happens again.”
“Thanks, Mr. Pierce.”
* * *
Lauren curled up and closed her eyes. Rowan and Bahati stood over the bed. Both of them were puzzled. There were no words between them.
Bahati finally broke the silence. “I’ll call and check on you both in the morning,” she said. “Get some rest.”
“No promises.” Rowan pursed his lips.
Bahati managed little more than a worried smile. “I’ll let myself out.”
Rowan slipped out of his wet clothes. He put his pajama pants and t-shirt on then climbed into bed beside her. She made no protests when he pulled her into his arms, and let his body warm her. His hand came to rest on the swell of her abdomen. He could feel her relax into sleep. The child within her kicked against his hand.
It was a comfort, but it wasn’t enough to help settle his racing heart. Lauren had never been one to sleepwalk. Not in all the years he’d known her could he recall her ever having an issue. Just when he thought he knew all her secrets; he’d learned something new. He knew exactly how Bahati felt.
Chapter 16
When he woke up, the bed beside him was empty. Rowan bolted, breathless and terrified. He realized Lauren was standing on the balcony, watching the waves, kissed by the first rays of the morning sun. The rain had let up and the skies were as clear as they could be. The ocean hummed in a rhythm as it lapped against the shore in the distance.
Rowan smiled as the cool ocean breeze met him when he stepped outside and put a hand around her waist. “Sleep okay?”
She nodded, sighing. “I miss the beach,” she said. “Remember our honeymoon?”
“How could I forget?” He smiled, inhaling the perfume of her hair. She’d already had a shower and had dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. “No clothes for a week,” he grinned. Just the thought of her dark brown skin made him smile. SPF 50 had been his best friend. That and the shade from the cabana had saved him from becoming a lobster.
“I miss the piña coladas, and laying in the sand... the warm sand...”
“So put on your bikini and we’ll go lay on the beach all day,” he said, as she leaned against him.
“But...” She started to protest.
“I know you’re supposed to be on bed rest, but what’s the difference between laying in the sand and laying on the mattress?”
“May I have a bahn mi?”
“So, do you think the Vietnamese restaurant is open on Christmas?”
“I still can’t believe it is already Christmas?”
“How could you forget Christmas?” He gasped. “Come on, I’ve got presents for you.”
“For me?” Lauren caught his hand and let him lead her into the house.
“Make yourself comfortable,” he said, pointing to the sofa. He was willing to break the rules for a short period, but she needed to comply with doctors’ orders as much as possible. She didn’t argue. He handed her one of the packages from under the palm tree, holding the other one as he sat down in the chair beside her.
“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Lauren said, blushing. “But... I didn’t get you anything.”
“I have everything I need,” he said, meaning it.
“What is this?” She got the wrapping paper off of it and was amazed at the red velvet box.
“Open it,” he said, lifting his chin.
She hesitated, eyeing him warily, then lifted the lid. There, on a bed of red velvet was a silver charm with a heart-shaped diamond at the top of a disk. “Another necklace?”
“The cartouche was actually a gift from our guide at Chichén Itzá. He gave it to me to give to you. I found this one at a shop in Mérida. I couldn’t resist.” She looked at him blankly, clearly trying to guard her emotions. It was a compass, and the diamond looked like a North Star above the circle. There was a lot of symbolism behind the North Star, and she recognized that fact immediately. “It’s to remind you that you are my True North. Wherever you are, that is my home.” He took the box out of her trembling hand. He took out the silver chain, reaching over her to clasp it behind her neck. The charm hung just below the hollow of her throat, and it was cool against her skin, but promptly warmed as her hand went to it. The cartouche that wasn’t her name hung in the hollow between her breasts. They were both silver.
“Rowan, it’s... it’s beautiful.” She trembled. “Thank you.” She threw her arms around him, kissing his cheek. She hugged him fiercely. When he let go of her, she glanced at the second box. “What’s that?”
He handed it to her. “Open it,” he said, smiling when she did. There was a similar pendant. This one was a bit bigger. The diamond was in the middle. It hung from a black leather thong, with a silver clasp. “That’s the matching one for me, so you know, and to remind me, should I ever forget... that you are my heart.”
Lauren managed a faltering smile. She pursed her lips to keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks. Nothing could stop the flood. He let her help him put it on, and she climbed up into his lap, putting her arms around his neck, resting her head on his chest, toying with the charm as she inspected it. “You are the sappiest son of a bitch I ever met.” Her lip trembled. She lifted her face to his. “And God, I love you.”
He leaned in and kissed her, drinking deeply of her. “I love you too.” He sat back, and settled in with her in his arms, his hand running over her stomach. “This other gift is for the baby.” Rowan took up the small, flat box. Lauren reached to open it and brightened when she saw the outfit looked exactly like one of Rowan’s favorite hiking outfits. There was a pair of olive drab shorts, a plaid shirt, and a matching vest, with a hat just like the one he wore. There was also a white undershirt printed with The Veritas Codex across the front.
“Thank you,” she said. “It’s perfect.”
“Now. Are you going to tell me how you ended up at the San Diego zoo, in a storm... after hours... when the gates were l
ocked?”
“Huh?” Lauren lifted her head off his chest. She looked at him as if he’d lost his ever-loving mind.
“Do you not remember anything from last night?”
“No, but... I did have the weirdest dreams.”
“Tsul’Kalu again?” The undertone of frustration was evident in his voice.
“Yeah,” Lauren said. “How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.” He offered. “Tell me about it.”
“Well, he told me he was taking me to talk to the Jaguar King,” she said. “And it was like I was walking... through a portal. It was one of those places where the boundaries between time and space are thin.”
Sure. Very dreamy, Rowan thought. “Did you see the King?”
“Yes,” she said. “But I saw him once before.”
“When?”
“The night of the solstice... I thought it was just the fever, but... it was so real, seemed so real. I can’t explain it.”
“Tell me what you saw,” Rowan said.
“I saw a circle of stones... and an altar,” Lauren said. “I could hear the drums beating deep in the jungle. It was so dark, except for this great bonfire in front of the altar.” She told him what Tsul’Kalu had told her, about the wars and the famines, along with the drought. He told her how the gods demanded blood. He’d heard the same stories from Enrique, or whoever the hell that had been. “The King knew the gods would only hear his prayers if he gave what was most precious to him. Since his sons had already died of war or disease, he gave the only thing he had left, his Queen. But... the fire never got a taste of her flesh because she was stolen away. Some say it was the gods, who had given her to the King in the first place, who had taken her back. They spared her heart from the flames, but...”
“How much of the footage from our expedition did you watch yesterday?” Rowan queried.
“None,” she said. “Why?”
“I’ve heard that story before,” he said. “Or a version of it.”
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