The Jaguar Queen

by Betsey Kulakowski

  “I can’t pretend to know what you’ve been through,” Lauren said. “But he’s never going to hurt you again.” Lauren was just feet from the door. She debated whether she could make it out before Stephanie could react. “You don’t have to do this. You can start over... you can move on.” She managed to put a sympathetic hand on Stephanie’s arm.

  Snapping her arm away, she turned on Lauren. “I’m not a child! Don’t patronize me!”

  Lauren recoiled. “I wasn’t.” Her hand went to her stomach as it tightened.

  Stephanie started to say something, but her phone rang. She fumbled with it as she got it out of her pocket. She cussed at as she tried to activate it. She finally got it. “Hello,” she said, glancing up at Lauren. “Really? Well, get it over with and get out of there. Yeah, I got the delivery.” Her eyes darted to Lauren. “What do you mean?” She stopped short. “I don’t care. We don’t have time for delays,” she snapped. “Fine. I’ll take care of things here and meet you at the rendezvous.”

  Lauren didn’t have a good feeling. Her stomach lurched and she doubled over, as a sharp pain hit just under her breastbone. It knocked the wind out of her lungs, and she wanted to vomit. The knot in her stomach kept her from doing so. She dropped to one knee. She managed to catch her breath.

  “Cut that crap out.” She snapped. “We’re leaving.”

  Lauren caught her arm as she came over to help her up. “I need... I need to go to... to the hospital ..”

  “I’ll drop you off on my way.” Stephanie shoved her, but Lauren grabbed her and nearly drug them both down as the spasm returned. Suddenly, she felt a flood down her leg. Her water had broken. “What the...!” Stephanie tried to break free of her grasp, but Lauren had a death grip. She felt like her body was being ripped apart. She closed her eyes. In her mind, she screamed, “Rowan!”

  * * *

  One minute, she was in agony, the next she felt as if she had been consumed by fire. There was a blinding flash of lightning at the same time. The world around her screamed as the pressure of the air shifted dramatically. Her ears popped. The burning smell of ozone assaulted her nostrils. Lightning bolts crackled over the surface of her skin.

  Lauren’s grip on Stephanie’s arm couldn’t be broken. When she came to herself, she straightened, and looked around, feeling disoriented. The room tilted and dots danced in her eyes. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision. Her grasp tightened as a wave of dizziness swept over her.

  Rowan sat, tied to a chair. His splinted arm rested on his leg. He looked dazed. A startled Santiago Mateo stood at the bar in the kitchen holding up a document and a magnifying glass, looking completely stunned. Stephanie finally broke free and backed away from her. She looked at Lauren as if she had the plague. For nearly a full second, no one seemed to breathe, and the four of them looked at each other, stunned by the other’s sudden presence.

  Lauren managed a tentative step towards Rowan, but Stephanie had her weapon drawn. The hammer clicked as she locked it back. “What the hell?”

  “Where did you come from?” Santiago demanded to know.

  “How the hell do I know?” Stephanie snapped. “One minute, we were headed for the car, the next minute... we’re here,” she said, still stunned, breathless. She glared at Lauren, expecting answers. Lauren didn’t have any.

  She managed another tentative step closer to Rowan, holding her stomach with one hand, dropping to one knee as she reached him. “Lauren?” Rowan looked at her, puzzled. “What are you doing in Mexico?” She inspected him. His arm was in a cast, and he had bandages over his brow, his eye swollen shut.

  “Mexico?” Lauren gasped, her face contorting with the next contraction.

  “We have to get out of here,” Stephanie said, gathering her wits. “Do you have the money?”

  “No, but I know where it is,” he said. “I found something else you just won’t believe. It makes this codex practically worthless when you compare it to what I’ve found.” He held up the document and tossed it aside. The plastic protecting the ancient tome crunched as it hit the floor. She didn’t know what the document was, but the word codex piqued her interest, despite the contractions that washed through her. She noticed Rowan’s eye had gone to the document as well.

  “What?” Stephanie demanded.

  “There’s a cenote with an underwater river... there are artifacts... Maya gold... tons of it... more wealth than your father ever dreamed of.” He lowered his voice, but Lauren was not completely unaware of what was going on around her. She was in pain, but she was exaggerating the severity. She hoped they would find a pregnant woman in labor more trouble than she was worth. While they were involved in their conversation, the gun had lowered in Stephanie’s hand and wasn’t pointed at her.

  Lauren took a moment of distraction to find the edge of Rowan’s ropes and start working them loose. She managed to give him a look with a silent caution about what she was doing. Neither of them was in any condition to fight, but the element of surprise could be in their favor. “What codex is he talking about?” she whispered.

  “Grolier’s.” He rested his head on her shoulder, needing to touch her, just to make sure she was really there.

  “What are we going to do with them?” Stephanie’s voice interrupted their conversation.

  Suddenly, Santiago and Stephanie were looking at them. Lauren dropped her head on Rowan’s knee, doubled over, panting. The contraction subsided. “I’m in labor... I need a hospital ...”

  “Just leave them here,” Stephanie said. “Who cares?”

  “They know too much.” Santiago sneered. “We can’t leave any loose ends. I’ve been in jail and on the run too long. I don’t want to live my life that way.”

  Stephanie surrendered, handing him the gun. “Do what you need to do,” she said. “I just want to get the hell out of here.”

  Santiago took the gun from her. Stephanie started for the door, pausing with her hand on the knob. She waited for him to finish the job. Santiago considered his captives both for a minute. He arched a brow at Lauren, as her hand went to Rowan’s arm. “Damn Rowan, even pregnant, your woman is fine!”

  “Leave her alone, Santiago!” Rowan snapped. His speech was slurred. Lauren couldn’t tell if he’d been given pain medication, or if he’d been drugged to keep him compliant.

  Santiago grabbed Lauren by the elbow and yanked her to her feet, she stumbled, purposefully. She nearly pulled him down with her as she landed on her side, protecting her abdomen by rolling away from him. “I said leave her alone!” Rowan leapt to his feet and his ropes fell away. He charged Santiago, knocking the gun out of his hand, sending it flying. Lauren scrambled towards it, as Stephanie made a lunge in the same direction.

  Three things happened all within the span of a rapid heartbeat. First, a contraction gripped Lauren with such force, she collapsed just out of reach of the gun. Second, Rowan took down Santiago. The two landed hard, rolling into Lauren. Their momentum gave her the push she needed to get back on her knees, putting her at just the right angle to take out Stephanie’s Achilles’ tendon with a perfectly executed fist. Third, the front door burst open and half a dozen Mexican Federal Agents flooded in. One pissed-off FBI Agent, followed. Everything came to a screeching halt except for the contraction that had Lauren gasping for air, trying not to scream.

  Miller jumped for the gun, knocking it away from Stephanie’s outstretched hand, just inches from where she had frozen. Two of the agents caught Santiago by the back of his jacket and yanked him to his feet before planting him face first in the carpet. They wrenched his arms behind his back and cuffed him. Rowan was lifted to his feet, but his knees wouldn’t hold him. It was everything he could do to call Lauren’s name. He reached for her. She raised a hand to him as the contraction passed. She managed to get to her feet and fell into his arms. The agents held them both up.

  “She needs an ambulance,” Rowan announced.

  “So does he.” She ran her hand over his injured face. Someone
got a chair behind each of them. They sat in each other’s arms, holding one another up. His splinted hand rested on her back where his fingers entwined in her disheveled braid.

  “Lauren.” Miller knelt at her elbow. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be home in bed.”

  “Rowan was in trouble...” she said, taking a deep breath. “I had to...”

  She sat up, inspecting Rowan, as he did the same.

  “Lauren’s in labor,” Rowan slurred. “We have to get her to the hospital.”

  “Paramedics are on the way,” Miller said. “How far apart are your contractions?”

  As if on cue, another one came over her. “Minutes...” she gasped. Rowan’s uninjured hand went to the side of her stomach. He could feel the muscles as they went tight under her shirt.

  She pressed his hand under hers. Her grasp tightening as she leaned back. She held her breath and gritted her teeth. “Breathe, Lauren,” his brow creased deeply. “Just breathe.”

  “Wait,” Lauren gasped, turning her attention to where Mateo had been standing. “The codex?”

  Miller followed her gaze and went over to the counter. The ancient document was sealed in a zippered bag with a piece of cardboard behind it. He picked it up and brought it over. The contraction passed and Lauren took the document, holding it where she and Rowan could both see it.

  “What does it say?” Rowan asked.

  “It’s... Maya iconography... a calendar that charts the movement of the planet Venus.”

  “The missing calendar?” Rowan asked.

  “No,” the word hung in her throat as it turned into a groan. Another contraction gripped her.

  “Give me that,” Miller took the page and let the paramedics move in and take over. “You can study it later. We have to get you both to the hospital.”

  * * *

  By the time they got her to the maternity ward, Lauren was in hard labor. The nurses took over from the paramedics. Miller pushed Rowan in a wheelchair and stayed close behind following her into a labor and delivery room. They stood in the doorway, helpless as the staff went to work getting her prepped and checked.

  “We need a doctor that speaks English,” Miller announced.

  “She’s in good hands,” the nurse said. “If you are not the father, you may leave.”

  “I’m the father,” Rowan grinned broadly. He used his foot to pull the chair toward the bed. He took Lauren’s hand. It hit him at that moment. He was going to be a dad. His head swam and tears swelled in his eyes. His emotions overtook him.

  “Don’t sap out on me now, you bastard! You’re the one that did this to me. Man up and let’s get this over with.” Lauren snarled, just as the doctor came into the room and stopped at the sink to wash his hands.

  “Mrs. Pierce, I’m Dr. Miranda,” he said, as he scrubbed, glancing over his shoulder. Lauren unleashed a tirade in Spanish, and even Rowan pushed the chair back, though the doctor didn’t seem fazed.

  “She’s fully effaced and dilated to a 10.” The nurse informed him, in her thick accent.

  “As if I couldn’t tell,” he said, smiling brightly at the nurse. He looked over to Lauren. “Are you ready to have a baby?”

  “Get this thing out of me!” Lauren screamed, as a hard contraction hit her. She felt like she was about to come out of the bed. The nurse put her feet up in the stirrups as the doctor came over, drying his hands. Another nurse helped him into gloves.

  “Okay, let’s do this and then you can get back to your vacation,” he grinned.

  * * *

  Miller paced up and down the halls, hearing Lauren’s voice peeling the paint off the walls of the hallway. Her screams pierced the closed door. He winced every time she did it. He couldn’t believe they weren’t giving her something for pain. He had never been around a woman in labor. He had no idea they let them scream like that. He decided it was time for him to make his way downstairs. Maybe he could find a cup of coffee or a soda.

  Instead, he found the gift shop. When he came back upstairs, he had a bouquet for Lauren, and a box of cigars for Rowan. The doctor came out of her room, pulling off his scrub hat, smiling brightly. “Is the baby here? Is Lauren okay?”

  He smiled and said. “Yes. Yes. Of course.”

  Rowan came out behind him, grinning radiantly, the ill effects of his recent ordeal seemed forgotten. “It’s a boy!” He cheered.

  “Congratulations!” Miller shoved the box of cigars into his hand. “I didn’t know which to get, blue or pink, so I got the yellow ones.”

  “Thanks!” Rowan grinned. “You wanna see him?”

  “May I?”

  “Come on.” Rowan motioned with his injured arm. He led the agent into the dimly lit room. The nurses were still busying themselves measuring the baby and getting his weight and footprints. The baby wasn’t fussing. He seemed content to watch the goings on around him. One of the nurses put a blue hat on his head. He was small, but perfectly formed. He had dark blue eyes, and a button nose. He looked curious about everything going on around him.

  “Six pounds even,” the nurse said to Rowan. “His APGARs are 8 and 9. He’s 21.5 inches long.”

  “He’s going to be tall, like his father,” Lauren said. The nurse bundled him up and laid him in Rowan’s good arm, making sure he had the baby well-supported. She took the box of cigars and set them on the bedside table. Rowan glanced over at Lauren, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

  For having just delivered a baby, she looked remarkably beautiful. Rowan brought their son over and sat on the edge of the bed, so they could admire him together. “So, what are we going to name him?” Rowan asked. “We never really decided.”

  “I don’t think there’s ever been any doubt,” Lauren said as Rowan gingerly passed the baby to his mother. “Henry Jones Pierce,” she said, beaming as the baby looked up at her.

  “You’re going to name your son after Indiana Jones?” Miller wrinkled his nose.

  “Can we call him Indy?” Rowan seemed to inflate.

  “We can name the dog Indy,” she chortled.

  “We can get a dog too?”

  “Someday.” Lauren smiled dreamily. “A boy needs a dog.”

  “Henry, huh?” Rowan took her hand. His dimples cut so deep she was sure they had to hurt. “I like that.”

  “Me too,” Lauren said. Rowan leaned in to kiss her.

  “I know this isn’t the best time, but... I have questions,” Miller said, interrupting the intimate moment.

  “You’re right,” Rowan said. “This is a bad time. Any questions you have, can wait.”

  “But... I have reports to file, paperwork has to be done ...” Miller protested as Rowan rose and put a hand in the middle of the Agent’s chest. “I have deadlines.”

  “Make something up,” Rowan said, pushing him backwards.

  “What? Like what? I don’t even know what the hell Lauren is doing in Mexico. Lauren, how did you get here? Most airlines won’t let late-term pregnant women fly?”

  “Later, Miller!” Lauren called back.

  “You said you’d tell me everything...”

  “Later,” Rowan said. “I need to spend some time with my family. I’ll call you.”

  He handed Rowan the bouquet he’d still been holding. Rowan tucked a cigar in his shirt pocket and patted it. “Thanks for everything.” Rowan slugged his arm.

  “Congratulations!” He called before the door closed.

  Rowan turned back to Lauren, and his son. He set the flowers on the table. “Wanna go find some Maya gold after this?”

  Lauren smiled. “Sure,” she said. “Just let me feed the baby and I’ll be ready to go.”

  Epilogue

  “I guess no one can say we never find anything any more. Can they?” Lauren stood at the edge of the cenote Rowan had gone diving in the last time he’d been in Mexico. A crane hoisted up the giant stone circle. This was the new b’ak’tun—the missing Maya calendar.

  Finally, a mystery they could talk about! They cou
ldn’t tell people everything. They were under a gag order to prevent them from talking about the case against Mateo and Wentworth while the local authorities investigated and prepared their case.

  * * *

  Slick Rick had told Rowan the giant stone disc was the story of the jaguar queen, but that wasn’t exactly true. Lauren’s translation of the stone was completely different. It was a narrative of the gods will for the Maya tribes. It was a calendar first, but also a prayer for an end to war. A prayer for rain. A prayer for a world where no child would go hungry.

  The Grolier Codex had been returned to the University, and the renewed interest had universities from all over begging for access to the document for further study. Lauren had Miller take pictures of it for her before they returned it. He had almost as many pictures of the codex as he did of Henry on his phone. He’d sent copies to Lauren, since she’d gotten to Mexico without her phone. She’d danced around the subject of how she got to Mexico each time he asked. She didn’t have a good explanation. She still wasn’t sure herself.

  * * *

  Rowan stood beside her, watching as the workers moved the disc to the back of a flatbed truck. He had the baby strapped in a carrier to his chest. “We really do need a new catch phrase. Don’t we?” He beamed brightly.

  “Jean-René!” Lauren called him over. “Make sure you get some good photos of the calendar. I will need them when I start writing my research papers and blog posts on it. I’ll give you photo credit and we’ll be published in every scientific journal in the world.”

  “We’ll have funding flooding in from every possible source,” Bahati said.

  “We already have an extension to our contracts from the Network,” Rowan said. “I can’t wait to show you what we negotiated for you and Jean-René.”

  Bahati’s expression could light up the jungle on the rainiest of days. The four of them had an agreement. Jean-René and Bahati trusted Rowan implicitly. He had their permission to negotiate any contract on their behalf. Because they were a team, they refused to be separated by contracts. If Rowan and Lauren did well, so did Bahati and Jean-René. Rowan made sure of it.