Afraid to Fall (Ancient Passages Book 1)

by Sutton Bishop

  Gus ignored his question. “What else?”

  “What else, what?” Luca ground out through his teeth.

  “What else do you see? This is important, Dr. Fierro.”

  Luca inhaled and let out an exasperated long breath. “Monkeys. Happy? Can we go now?”

  “No. We cannot go now. Tell me everything you see.”

  Luca’s voice was rife with impatience. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Seriously? I see red-breasted birds and larger brown ones with speckled heads. I see zapote hanging from that tree over there.”

  “Doctor.”

  “Fine. There is a highway of leaf-cutters crossing where we will next walk,” he continued, moving with the binoculars.

  “And?”

  Luca scrubbed at his hand over his face in frustration. “Palms over there.” He pointed. “The trunks are covered in skinny thorns.”

  “Root spines. Sí. What else?”

  “The leaves are large. They resemble deeply split fans.”

  “What do you notice about them?” Gus prodded.

  Inwardly, Luca rolled his eyes. “About the leaves?”

  “Yes. Look carefully,” Gus said, his voice rising.

  “One is torn. In half.”

  “Sí! Does the tear look accidental?”

  Understanding dawned on Luca. “No! It appears it has been deliberately torn.”

  “What else?”

  Luca pulled the binoculars from his eyes. A sad expression covered his face as failure overwhelmed him. “I see nothing more.”

  “Look again, Doctor. Travel each of the palms, slowly, with your eyes.”

  Impatiently Luca looked again. He was about to quit when he saw the edge of something orange and blue peeking out from one of the lowest root spines of a palm farthest from them. He tossed the binoculars to Gus and ran toward it.

  Gus, Pablo, and Tomás puffed in exertion after sprinting to catch Luca, who stood holding a colorful headscarf. Luca put it to his face, inhaling its scent. Ari. His voice quaked with emotion. “This is Ar— Dr. Antony’s. She often wears it.”

  Gus said, “An odd place for a scarf to be. Either it fell off Dr. Antony or she left it here as a clue.”

  Luca folded the scarf and put it in the cargo pocket of his pants.

  “You carry much,” Gus said. Then softly so that only Luca could hear, he asked, “Is it too heavy?”

  Luca responded, “No, amigo. I will be fine. Gracias.”

  “Let’s keep moving.”

  The clanging of pickaxes hitting rock and thudding into softer vegetation and earth brought Luca, Gus, Tomás, and Pablo to a halt. They dropped into crouches, scuttling close to one another to speak. Gus put his finger to his lips. They remained silent and were able to hear voices carried on the wavering breeze.

  “American and—” Luca spoke loud enough to be heard over the occasional squawking of parrots.

  “Maya also. And I don’t know…,” Gus said, closing his eyes to listen harder. “A large number. Stay here quietly. I will look and return.” He made no sound as he left.

  The men sat in the night-like shade to wait, Tomás and Pablo on either side of Luca. His sentinels. The two men had their backs to him, watching the jungle for predators and visitors. Luca reached into his pocket and withdrew Ari’s scarf. He held it to his nose and inhaled her familiar scent. He closed his eyes, retreating into his own private sanctum. Inhaling again, his body responded as images of her came to mind—shining earth-brown eyes when she was happy or angry as a hellcat or deepening to a rich cognac when they made love.

  She had been furious with him the night before she was taken, misinterpreting Natasha’s presence in his tent. He had been overwhelmed by Ari’s explosive and emotional outburst and unfounded accusations, allowing his temper to get the best of him, deciding not to go after her, let her cool off. Hell, he had just stood there—mostly mute except for when he had wondered aloud whether the passion they had would last outside of this summer-work bubble. That was fucking brilliant.

  To see her so distraught and angry hurt him, but his protective shield, honed from Sofia’s deceit, resurrected itself. He had been imprisoned within it, unable to free himself as Ari broke apart.

  What had he done? Ari was not Sofia. His decision to remain professional, forego intimacy with her, was epic stupidity.

  That he had crushed her ate at him. Luca had tossed and turned the rest of the night, planning to speak to her in the morning, but she buffered herself from him within their circle of close colleagues. She went to the Kaq dig. He began his day restructuring the schedule for Rax. By the time he arrived at Kaq, she was gone.

  Luca craved her. He needed her like he needed oxygen, water, food, and perhaps, even more than sleep. He thirsted for her smile and laughter. He hungered to watch her eyes spark when he challenged and teased her. He appreciated her intelligence, dry wit, and ethics. He yearned to hold her. She felt so right in his arms, especially when she slept, purring contentedly. He ached to be buried and moving inside her, as close as he could possibly be with another person, as close as he could be with the one he loved.

  He had to fix it, fix them. If he was fortunate enough to get the chance. When he got her back, Luca would rectify everything. Merda. He was tired of sitting on the ground, tired of doing nothing. He was starting to stand when Gus appeared.

  “Amigo! You gave me a fright. I did not hear you,” Luca whispered loudly.

  “Gracias for your compliment, Doctor.” Gus chuckled. “I have not lost my ability. We can speak normally; we are enough of a distance.”

  Luca stretched his back and shoulders and rubbed his neck. “Tell us. What did you find?”

  “There is a very, very large excavation. Many people dig and do other tasks. Many tents and Jeeps. A building. A sleep-in trailer and generators. Backhoes.”

  A helicopter flew overhead. All four men watched it through the treetops. It appeared to be landing and dropped out of sight.

  “They may have a small airstrip,” Luca said in disbelief.

  Gus scratched his chin. “I do not have the knowledge, but I think it is secret and illegal.”

  “An operation such as this requires a hell of a lot of money,” he said thoughtfully. “It must be privately funded. What can this be?”

  “Sí, Doctor. We need to talk more before we go to get Dr. Antony.”

  “You saw her?”

  “Sí. She was arguing with a man with flat white hair. I overheard a few Maya passing in front of me call him the Americano.”

  “What?” Luca shook his head. He had to have misheard Gus.

  “The Americano.”

  “He’s real…,” he said, feeling sucker punched. Matt had brought up the American during the kayak trip, around the campfire. They dismissed him as fictitious, archaeological lore. Luca rubbed fiercely at his beard. “Goddammit.” Of all places… And Ari was with him. “Does Dr. Antony appear to be healthy and moving freely?”

  “Sí. I saw her from a distance. I heard her angry words and gestures. She was not happy with the man. She does not like him. She screamed at him. He hit her, and she went to the ground. He laughed at her and then walked away.”

  “He hit her?” Luca’s voice rose in fury.

  “I did not see it well. It happened fast. The doctor did get up. She held her hand to her face.”

  Angry, Luca paced. “What did she scream?”

  Gus looked down, thinking, then looked Luca directly in the eye. “I’m sorry, Doctor. I did not hear it clearly. Aaron? Abram? It was difficult over tools and equipment. He had a bucket of water thrown on her after she was on the ground. They are clearing more jungle on a large hill near the river, with the backhoes. Probably a temple swallowed by the jungle.”

  “That is not the proper way to prepare a site. They could be destroying priceless history and artifacts,” Luca said. He was perplexed. Who was the American? Did Ari know him? It seemed as though she might since she had called the man by a name.

/>   “One more thing.” Gus paused before speaking. “When the Americano walked away, she did also, but in the opposite direction. They passed in front of where I hid. A woman with short black hair and dark skin led her away. I believe she may be the woman that Dr. Jordaan described. I could see that Dr. Antony’s mouth was red and her cheek purple. She was crying.”

  Luca clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly. His blood boiled. What the hell? Merda. He turned toward the site with intent, his anger evident in his brisk pace.

  Gus jogged alongside him and stepped in front of Luca, blocking him from going farther. “I understand how you might feel, Dr. Luca. But it is not good to go yet. We should walk back a mile or so and camp tonight. We need to think this through. I will go watch again in the morning. We will be patient, like stealth cats with mice.”

  “I disagree. I think we should walk in now and get her.”

  “And then what, amigo? What if they do not want her to go? They took her for a reason. We need to talk extraction strategy.”

  “I hear the guerrilla in you, Gus.”

  “Sí. I still have those skills. But remember that many, many Maya were guerrilla. There are many Maya on this site helping the Americano. They have similar skills, and many of them have guns. I do not have a gun. None of us do. That could make rescuing her very dangerous.”

  Guns? What in hell was going on? Luca massaged his temples, wanting to yell, scream, roar. But to do so could put Ari, and all of them, at risk. “Is there nothing we can do tonight? I am deeply worried about her.”

  “I believe she is safe. They need something from her.” Gus began walking in the direction where they would make camp. “Come. Tomás has the radio. We will call Dr. Jordaan. Maybe she can help in some way.”

  Luca followed, his mind turning over what Gus shared earlier. He swore under his breath, his thoughts churning. Was there any way he could reach her and let her know he was so close?

  Gus addressed the rest of the group. “Dusk is coming. The jungle will be black soon. We need to pick up our pace so that we can set up camp before sunset.”

  The men walked briskly. Despair cloaked Luca. He would report back to Natasha tonight with the additional information that Ari had been spotted and that she was with the American. He really existed. What would Natasha think of that?

  He wanted this entire ordeal to be over, safely. In all the years he had done fieldwork, nothing like this had happened. Sure, colleagues and students became sick, and they were bitten and stung by insects and animals. However, no one had been abducted, until now. And apparently by the American’s organization. A part of him had believed the American was lore—a great story created among archaeologists and anthropologists when they suffered boredom on a dig—like stories around campfires, embellished in the retelling, making the lore legendary. But another part of him had felt the rumors were too prevailing and proved the existence of a ruthless, heartless antiquities criminal. Recently, precious archaeological artifacts from Turkey and Peru had shown up in a European millionaire’s estate sale after he died. All the items were traced to several excavations the American was rumored to have looted. Yet his existence had never been proven or his identity uncovered.

  Goddammit. He closed his eyes and repeated the words Tata had given him last night. Peace moved in, like a soft blanket, helping to chase away the shadows of despair. He focused on the task at hand—getting Ari safely away from the American. After dinner, they would make a new plan with the information Gus had shared.

  An engine grew louder. The same helicopter flew overhead, back in the direction from which it had come, gaining altitude as it moved farther into the distance. He wondered who was onboard or who had been dropped off. What was the American doing in this location, excavating a site of this magnitude, possibly without consent from the Guatemalan government? Why had he kidnapped Ari? He would soon have answers to his many questions.

  Ari opened the flaps farther to help circulate the stale air in the stifling tent that Inés had yanked her to after her clash with Eric. It did nothing. Feeling faint, she unzipped the front screen flap and stepped out and under an attached awning. Her swollen tongue and lip throbbed with pain, and she could barely move her jaw. Every time she moved her mouth, the split in her lip reopened and bled. A camp chair and an accompanying table with a lantern sitting on top sat in the awning’s shade. This was somewhat better than steaming inside. A battery-operated fan was clipped to the edge of the awning. Ari reached and unclipped it. She turned it on and moved it slowly over her face and body. Much better.

  “Does the fan help?”

  She whipped around to face Eric. He had snuck up on her again. She sneered at him.

  “It’s nice to see you too, honey. I’m sorry about earlier, but you, like everyone else here, need to understand that what I say goes. You will not receive special treatment even though you are my guest. Inés is bringing you water to drink and to cool off with. Looks like you might need some ice for that lip and jaw.” He tipped his face up, sniffing loudly. “You stink. And you always smelled so nice, Ariana. Inés will accompany you to the shower, and you can then change into something less offensive.”

  Her voice was thick with anger and from biting her tongue. “Change into what exactly, Eric?” She rubbed her cheek where he had punched her and spit out the rest of her response. “I am hardly your guest. I was taken, not asked. And certainly not given time to pack. You had me drugged.”

  “Yes. Sorry about that,” he said almost cheerfully, hands on hips, a large sheathed machete hanging from his belt. “We’ll discuss those details later. I’ve got to get back to work. In the meantime, you will clean up. She’ll find other clothes for you to wear, and you will wait here for me. We’ll eat dinner together. Here, by lantern light.”

  Ari enunciated every word. “I will not eat with you.”

  Eric calmly took off his sunglasses. His light eyes flashed dangerously. “You will do as I say. All this could have been avoided had you not run off. I’m unhappy with you for leaving me, Ariana.”

  “I couldn’t leave you fast enough. You’re a man-whore. A real son of a bitch.”

  “I suspected you had a potty mouth.”

  “You are the shit of shits. Take me back to my colleagues.”

  “Any other insults? You are in no position to make demands. You are my guest, whether you believe that or not. You will conduct yourself within the confines of my rules. You do as I say, and you will be returned to your colleagues safe and sound within a few weeks.”

  “A few weeks? Are you fucking crazy?” Yelling made her mouth bleed more. She spit blood onto his boots.

  “Nice,” he said, stepping closer and drawing back his hand.

  Ari jumped back, finding the tent against her back.

  His arm struck out, his hand closing around her wrist to right her, squeezing it painfully. “Careful, Ariana. You destroy this tent, you’ll be sleeping with me.”

  “Over my dead body.”

  “That can be arranged.” Eric laughed and put his sunglasses back on. He turned on his heel and walked away.

  His threat made her shiver. Her mind was bombarded with thoughts. What the hell had she ever seen in him? How was she going to get out of this predicament? She was ashamed of turning her back on Luca and running off, like a child, the night before she was taken, regretting not talking things out with him. She had a difficult time reconciling the man who flirted with and made love to her with the man she’d found saying good night to Natasha at his tent. Was a search party out for her? She had put all of them at risk by going with Inés. Colossal stupidity.

  In the distance, Inés walked toward her with a water bottle and a towel. Eric stopped her and spoke. Ari couldn’t hear the conversation, but she did see Inés nod, turn, and walk away in another direction. Eric made a beeline for her.

  Ari slumped in the camp chair, moving the fan over her face, watching Eric come. She lowered her head, determined to fight the powerlessness she fel
t. What was she going to do? She couldn’t show weakness. His letters and her interaction with him demonstrated he would only get off on it. She pushed herself upright, forcing herself to look straight at him. “What do you need of me? Why the kidnapping?” She waved her hands around her. “What’s your connection to this excavation?”

  Eric regarded Ari silently, his fingers steepled under his nose. “Do not give Inés any trouble. Afterward she will take you to our medic. You have injured yourself, several times, and you may have a concussion. I need you as healthy as possible.”

  “Doctor,” Inés called gruffly, her expression resolute. Her demeanor was different in front of Eric. “Come. You will bathe. I have clothes for you to wear.”

  Ari eyed Inés with resignation. Right now there was no escaping. Armed men walked the perimeter of the large camp, and she suspected there were sentries strategically placed around the excavation. Security at Kanul was a priority, but this was an entirely different magnitude. “Where?”

  “The showers. Follow me.”

  She followed Inés across the clearing and down a hill, closer to the river. “Soap?”

  “Of course.”

  “Do you do everything he says? He’s such a son of a bitch.”

  “The Americano is a good man. He works hard and works us hard. He pays us well, with bonuses based on production. He is tough because he must be, but he is consistent. We know what to expect.”

  Ari tripped on a root snaking through the ground and went down on all fours, blindsided by Inés’s revelation. Eric was the American?

  For years she had heard rumors about the American—a ruthless looter and thief of priceless antiquities. She had never met anyone who’d run into him though, so she’d dismissed the rumors.

  As she walked behind Inés, Ari integrated the man she had known before arriving in Guatemala with the archaeological urban legend. The signs had been there all along, she just wasn’t looking for them—occasional secrecy, edginess, and disengagement. There was also the downright iciness directed at her when she had seen him with his family on that spring day, the ensuing violence at her apartment afterward, and his nasty letters. Her eyes now open, she realized he had been stalking her and that his interest in her was tied to what he wanted her here for. Which was what? She gently rubbed her hands over her pounding skull. It was all just too much to wrap her head around, but she had to. Her safe release depended on it.