CHAPTER THIRTEEN MARKET SQUARE RESIDENCES WASHINGTON, DC

MARKET SQUARE RESIDENCES

WASHINGTON, DC

January 9

With trembling fingers, Roth took the phone from Lund. Was it really his daughter, or a trick from Jacob Calakmul? Lucas and Brillante gathered near him, eyes eager, hopeful, and worried.

“Suki, are you okay?” Roth breathed into the phone, turning his back to the others in the room. He couldn’t bear to see his sons’ disappointment if the hope turned out to be false. He walked to the nearest window and looked out at the wintry sky.

“I’m okay. We’re okay.”

Roth squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and then looked at the caller ID on Lund’s phone. It was a number from Naples, Florida. “We?”

“I’m with Mom and Jane Louise. We escaped last night.”

Roth’s knees gave out. It was too much, too sudden. He found himself on his knees on the floor, Lucas and Brillante holding his arms. He just sat down right there, pressing his back against the wall. The boys hunkered down next to him.

“You’re with Mom?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes! She’s right here. And Jane Louise too.”

“J-Jane Louise?”

“Jacob kept her alive, and Mom’s been taking care of her. Now that we’ve left the Yucatán, Mom’s blood sugar is spiking again. I tried to heal her with the magic, but it didn’t work. I think it only heals injuries, not illness. Maybe that’s why the Maya couldn’t stop the smallpox from spreading ... or maybe I just don’t know the right words to use. We got to an urgent care center in Florida, and they rushed us to a hospital to get some insulin.”

“What town?”

“Um ... the town of Naples. I’m borrowing this phone from a nurse.”

Monica knelt down in front of Roth, staring at him. He could see she was startled by his reaction.

“How did you get away?” he asked. The relief was so great he could hardly take it. His heart was pounding. His ears were ringing extra loud.

“I’ll tell you later. We only have a little bit of cash. No credit cards or ID.”

“How did you get Lund’s phone number?”

“He made me memorize it after he picked me up from Brice’s house that night,” Suki said. “While we were sitting in his car for hours. I tried to memorize the number for your burner phone too, but for some reason, his is the one that stuck. It’s so good to hear your voice, Dad. Uncle Steve said the twins are there?”

“Yes!” they both shouted simultaneously. They could hear her well enough. Lucas hugged Brillante, and both boys looked so happy—more than they had since they’d left for their vacation in Mexico over a year ago. Roth felt tears in his eyes. He was going to start sobbing.

“What’s the name of the urgent care and the hospital? I can pay for any bills. Your mom’s with you? Right now? Can I talk to her?”

“She’s sleeping. We were on a boat ride all night, and she’s really sick. Her body was protected while she was down there. But now ... it’s ... it’s really weird. I’ll have to explain it later. But she misses you.”

Roth rubbed his forehead, still dazed. He heard another voice from Suki’s end of the connection. “Um ... Jane Louise wants to say hi.”

“Okay,” Roth said, his voice quavering. Then she passed over the phone, and he heard Jane Louise’s voice. It was a little different, but he still recognized it.

“Can you call my mee-maw?” she asked. “Can you tell her I’m okay?”

Tears streamed down Roth’s cheeks. “Yes, sweetie. Yes. What’s her name?”

“Her name is Barbara. Barbara McKinty. Everyone calls her BJ. But I call her Mee-Maw.”

Roth swallowed his tears. “You bet. I’m so ... I’m so relieved, Jane Louise. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you before.”

“I know. Tia Sarina said you did everything you could to save me. Here’s Suki. She took care of me too.”

Roth felt better than he could remember feeling. He felt ... grateful, so grateful he was almost sick from it, but he was desperate to talk to Sarina. To hear her voice.

“I need to give the nurse her phone back. We’re at NCH Baker Downtown Hospital on Seventh Street, and the urgent care is Station Medic 1, that’s on Eighth Avenue. I need to find us a safe place. I’ll call Lund’s phone again.”

“Okay. That’s good. Find a safe place. But here, write down my burner phone number so you can reach me too. Can you grab a pen or something? I’ll pay for your mom’s treatment with a private credit card. One that Calakmul can’t trace. Just ... be safe.”

“I will. Okay, I’ve got a pen. Give me the number.” He did and listened for her to repeat it back to him correctly. “Got it. I love you, Dad. I love you, bros!”

“Love you, Suki!” Lucas chimed in.

“Yeah, me too,” Brillante said, a little more bashful.

Roth ended the call and held the phone in his hands like it was a bar of gold.

Monica put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile. “They escaped?”

Roth nodded, and then the tears came out in a gush. His shoulders trembled, his chest rattled, and he sobbed and sobbed like he hadn’t in months. Sarina was alive. Jane Louise was alive. Suki had somehow managed to get them out of Jacob’s lair. How, he had no idea. But the relief and hope were overwhelming. Lucas leaned against him, patting his arm comfortingly.

Steve crouched and took his phone. “We’re going to get her back.”

“We have FBI offices in Florida. We can pick her up in an hour,” Monica said, rising.

“No way,” Jordan interrupted. “You know—”

Steve sighed. “Let me handle this. We communicate using any of your channels, and we may as well hand them over to Calakmul again. I’m going to get them. Myself.”

“Steve, you can’t be everywhere at once,” Monica objected.

“It’s less than a three-hour flight to Florida from here,” Lund said.

Roth felt the tide of tears rushing out again. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve. His family was safe. They would be back together again. They were still in considerable danger—not just from Calakmul’s people but from the virus they were spreading—but they’d eluded trouble for this long. There was good reason to believe that they might get back together to face what was coming as a family. And now they knew where to find the Jaguar Temple.

Roth patted Lucas’s head and then tried to stand, but his knees were still wobbly. The boys helped him back up. Looking at the others in the room—Dr. Estrada, Illari, Jordan—he felt more emotion welling in his chest. All these people had come together to help. That was a beautiful thing, and he had to believe that if they continued to work together, they could stop Calakmul. Hadn’t his family managed to continually elude the man?

“This is under the jurisdiction of the FBI,” Monica insisted. “I can go get them myself just as easily as you can. Not every agent is on Calakmul’s payroll.”

“I know that, but I let Moretti take Suki away.” Lund’s voice had steel in it. “I’m bringing her back.”

“If you make it personal, you—”

“Oh, it’s very personal,” Lund cut in. “I’ve seen what these guys can do. So have you. They took down an FBI chopper and a sniper team. They blew up part of the airport in Bozeman. I’m sorry, Agent Sanchez, but I don’t trust anyone else to do this job. I’ll coordinate with my guys here in DC to keep the family safe. Now that Jordan’s here, he can protect them personally. You now have actionable intelligence about Jacob Calakmul’s headquarters. Have the CIA take it out. And cancel the Friday pandemic meeting!”

“The director isn’t going to green-light starting another war in Mexico over a set of coordinates. But you’re right.” She sighed. “I can’t trust there won’t be a leak.”

Lund reached out and took Roth’s hand. Shook it. “I’ll be back tomorrow with the rest of your family. I promise you.”

“I want to talk to Sarina,” Roth said. “As soon as she wakes up. Have her call me.”

“I will. I need to get to Dulles right now.” Lund paused and looked at Monica. “I’m serious. Call the meeting off.”

“We’ve tried,” Monica said with visible frustration. “The director refuses to do it. It drives me crazy that they’re letting politics get in the way of safety. But we’ll keep trying.”

“There’s a reason I retired early,” Lund grumbled. “You have the GPS coordinates. Get a Sentinel over that jungle or some UAVs.”

Dr. Estrada spoke up. “Remember what happened to us,” he said. “The weather changed when we got close.”

Lund snorted. “A Sentinel can fly above the weather. All we need is to corroborate the location.”

“We’ll try, Steve. But you know how things work in DC.”

“So does Calakmul,” Lund countered. “See if you can keep the federal government intact while I’m gone. Give me the car keys, Jordan. We’ll get you a replacement vehicle.” Jordan tossed him the key fob. Lund nodded to Roth once more and then strode out the door, retrieving his phone to make another call.

Monica watched him go.

“So Steve left the FBI early?” Roth asked her.

“Yeah, I guess you’d call it office politics,” she answered.

“That makes it sound like a little snub,” Jordan said, shaking his head. “It was more than that.” Turning to Roth, he added, “He had a run-in with the attorney general’s security detail over a nonincident in Beijing.”

“Wait, isn’t the attorney general the FBI’s boss?” Roth asked. “I don’t know that much about the federal government, but I know that much.”

“You’re right,” Monica said. “Lund was in Beijing on assignment, rooting out State Department employees compromised by Chinese intelligence operatives. There was a big to-do about it around ten years ago. Back when you were in high school, probably,” she said to Jordan with a hint of snark.

“Not my fault you like younger men,” Jordan quipped in return. The boys snickered.

Roth shook his head and held up his hands, because this wasn’t a time for flirting or for fighting. “Was Lund in the wrong?”

“Of course not,” Monica said, her cheeks burning a little. “He’s always been a straight shooter. But the higher you go in government jobs, the more political it gets. That run-in with the attorney general’s security detail ended Lund’s assignment in Beijing. And damaged his reputation in DC. He wasn’t fired, but he was put out to pasture. Many believed he was a strong candidate for deputy director before the incident. Might be the reason it happened.”

Monica’s cell phone rang. She looked at the ID and then went a little pale. “Sanchez,” she answered. “Yes, Mr. Brower. Yes, sorry I didn’t call you sooner, but we just got the information from Dr. Estrada.” She walked over to the table where the professor and Illari were sitting. “What are the coordinates for Calakmul’s compound?”

Dr. Estrada turned the laptop screen. “It’s right here,” he said, pointing. “Not far past the Guatemalan border. There.”

Monica squinted and looked closer. “I’ll read them to you. The coordinates are 18°51”37.5”N 89°31”04.5”W. Do you want me to say it again? Okay. 18°51”37.5”N 89°31”04.5”W. Yes. That’s it.” She paused, listening. Then she smiled. “That’s good news, sir. Do you think you can convince the director to call off the meeting tomorrow in the Situation Room?”

She looked crestfallen. “Understood. There’s more news, sir. Steve Lund just got a call from Suki Roth. She escaped. With Mrs. Roth and the Beasleys’ daughter. They’re all alive. Yes. Yes, he’s here.”

Monica approached Roth and handed him the phone. EAD Brower, she mouthed.

Roth raised her phone to his ear. “Yes?”

“Mr. Roth, that’s wonderful news about your family. I’m happy for you. We just got a call from Senator Coudron, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee. The director gave a closed-door briefing on what’s happening. Senator Coudron would like to speak to you and Dr. Estrada in the Capitol building.”

“Why me?” Roth asked. “I’m just an author. Dr. Estrada is the expert.”

Silence hung on the line for a moment, then Brower said, “Mr. Roth, what I’m going to tell you is classified. Please do not repeat it. One of the senators on the intelligence committee is currently in Cancún vacationing with his family. We’re sending an SUV to pick you up and bring you to Capitol Hill.”

Roth swallowed, and an itching feeling crept over him. Even though his family was safe—for now—this was far from over. In some ways, it was just starting.