CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE CUBA

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE

CUBA

January 11

A gentle knock sounded on the door. Suki was already awake. Awake and exhausted. The base doctor had given her a sleeping pill the previous night. She’d waited too long to take it and then woken up after just a few hours of rest.

Another tap at the door. Suki sighed, rolled off the bed, and walked to the door, scrunching her nose and rubbing her eyes. When she opened it, she saw Jordan Scott standing in the opening. His military clothes were gone, replaced by civilian attire—light brown Levi’s and a blue denim shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing tattoos down his right arm. He had on a white T-shirt underneath, and she saw a necklace with dog tags.

He leaned against the doorway. “I do a lot for your family, Suki, but waking up a teenager isn’t part of my job description.”

“I was awake. Chill.”

“You look like crap.”

“Thanks, I guess. Where’d you get the new clothes?”

“They have a NEX here at Gitmo.”

“Was that even in English?”

“A NEX is like Costco for the military. Your dad asked me to see if you were awake. They’re going to call FBI headquarters soon, and it’ll be your first chance to talk to your mom and the twins. I miss those guys.”

“I’m coming. Do I get a change of clothes too?”

Jordan shrugged. “Your dad is wearing nurse scrubs. You can have some of those if you want.”

“I’m good,” Suki said. “I need a shower really bad, but I’d rather talk to my mom.”

“Follow me, then.”

She reached into her pocket and felt the flat piece of quartz still there. It was about half the size of her cell phone and just as slim. Jorge had told her it worked best when it was totally dark, so she’d tried it out after getting to the base. With it, she could see other places. It was a temporary gift, and she’d have to return it when asked for it. She’d used it to see Brice, her boyfriend. He’d been watching a Studio Ghibli movie on his couch in his theater room, squeezing a plush plague doctor pillow she’d given him for Christmas. He’d looked ... pretty simp.

She’d also used the crystal to try to find Jacob Calakmul. She was pretty sure Angélica’s dagger had killed him, but she’d needed confirmation. She’d found him in a mass grave with Maya warriors who’d been shot up by Jordan and the other soldiers. That was pretty gruesome, so she’d moved past it. She’d looked up her mom and brothers and Jane Louise—and found them asleep in a hotel room.

Her dad was in a conference room with some military woman. He wore teal-colored scrubs, and his hair was freshly washed. When she hugged him tight, she smelled bodywash. No more introvert hugs. She was so glad he was alive.

“You look like you just came off a movie set after kicking some alien’s butt,” he teased her.

“I think it was the alien that was kicking everyone’s butts,” Suki said.

“I took out the jaguar priest who hurt me earlier,” Jordan cut in. “That was my kill.”

“I tranked Jacob Calakmul,” Roth said. “Do I get points for that?”

“That was pretty epic, Dad,” Suki said. “Almost as much as defeating Sans in the boss fight in the genocide run.”

“I have no idea what that means,” Roth said, chuckling.

“Wait. You’ve beaten Sans?” Jordan asked Suki, impressed.

“Wait, you’ve played Undertale? I took you for more of a Super Smash Bros. kind of guy.”

“Game on, girl. Whenever you dare.”

“Okay, you two,” Roth interrupted. “Let’s talk to Mom and the boys. This is Petty Officer Brown, she’s our liaison officer working with Quantico. Thanks for doing this.”

“Are we just talking to Mom and the boys, or do we have to talk to the big people?” Suki asked.

“Jordan and I talked to them last night when we got here. Along with Captain Rose. We talked for, what ... two hours?”

“Yeah,” Jordan said. “At least. This is just family time.”

“Are you all ready?” Officer Brown asked politely.

Suki nodded. The officer used a touchscreen sitting on the conference room table to complete the setup. The video conference screen at the head of the table flickered, and then Suki saw the twins hogging the screen, arguing with each other.

“It was your turn last time, let me talk to her first!” Lucas complained.

“Dude, she’s right there!”

“What? Where? You made me miss it!”

“Uh, hi Suki,” Brillante said, giving her a little salute.

Her heart clenched with relief when she saw their faces.

“Boys, you’re too close to the camera,” someone said. “Back up a little.”

“Hi, Monica,” Jordan said, wagging his eyebrows.

The FBI agent appeared as the boys backed away from the camera. Suki saw her mom, looking healthy, and it made her throat catch. Jane Louise was sitting at the table too, grinning brightly.

“Dad! Do you know what we had for breakfast?” one of the boys said. “French toast with crushed Cap’n Crunch! It was awesome!”

Suki started to laugh even as she felt the tears sting her eyes. She wanted to reach through the screen and touch them. Then she saw Lund standing against the wall, watching the scene. He’d done so much to try to save their family.

“Hi, Uncle Steve,” Suki choked out, rubbing tears from her eyes.

He gave her a proud look. “Hey, kiddo.”

Flying back to the United States in a military cargo plane wasn’t nearly as comfortable as if it were a private jet or a commercial airline. It was noisy, bumpy, and they were strapped into jump seats along the sides, with tons of military gear crammed in the middle. At least they were all wearing some new clothes. The liaison officer had taken them shopping at the base exchange where they’d picked up some new apparel.

Roth had taken two showers, which had felt amazing, and managed to get all the pomade residue out of his hair. His beard was still nothing but a bristle of whiskers on his face, but he was beginning to feel more like himself. He’d need to, with what lay ahead.

Once more he was a world-famous author—but for different reasons from before. His e-mail and social media were exploding. Everyone wanted to know more about his novel about the death games and what had inspired it. Even more so because he’d taken the new book down—the FBI and CIA had ordered him to pull it now that the situation was resolved and no further information was needed from the public. He’d listened, of course, but pirated copies were circulating through the dark web and other places faster than the NSA could take them down.

The notoriety was something he would need to adjust to. He hadn’t sought it and didn’t want it. All he wanted was a chance to see his wife again. To hold her hand. And hopefully not blubber like an idiot.

There wasn’t really anything to do on the plane other than endure the sickening bouts of turbulence, although Jordan was hamming it up with the army guys from the 82nd they’d come with. So Roth had plenty of time to stew on his thoughts. He’d asked about what had happened to the world leaders who’d been captured by the jaguar priests and learned they’d been hustled back to Europe with State Department officials the previous night. The news outlets didn’t even know about it. Their reports focused on the global pandemic, the unknown occurrence at the White House, and Mexico’s political posturing. One report he’d seen in his little bedroom in the military base had theorized that a biolab in Mexico had inadvertently unleashed a genetically engineered form of the plague that was spreading through Europe and making everyone sick.

There was no way the truth was going to stay out of the press for much longer, however, not with so many notable people involved, and especially not with his book blowing up across the globe. He knew some social media sites were already talking about it, tagging his profile, pleading for more information. This wasn’t the time to respond. Nor did he have the leave to do so. He’d made an agreement with Director Wright that the Roths could go home for a little while so Suki could do the school play. Then they’d be back in DC to “consult” with the government about a few things. Like all the glowing structures in Mesoamerica. Others might have the natural ability to tap into the kem ?m, but in the meantime Suki, Sarina, and the boys had the corner on that talent.

Suki wouldn’t be going to college anytime soon.

The pilot announced some military jargon, and the sudden plunging of the plane brought the realization they were preparing for landing. He gripped the harness straps, feeling his stomach roil with nerves. Not just from the bucking plane but the uncertain future.

“Dad?” Suki asked.

He glanced at her, trying to smile despite his sweating face. Another ripple of turbulence shook the cargo plane.

Suki gave him a knowing grin. “The pilot just said all the engines failed. We’re going to be stuck up here forever now.”

It was similar to the punchline of a joke he’d told her and the boys when they were flying to Cancún that first time.

“Ha ha,” he said, then grinned. “Good one.”

“I thought so.”

He gritted his teeth until after the plane landed. It took forever for it to taxi to the hangar, and his patience was wearing thin by the time the pilot said they could unhook from the harness straps. He released his fine, but Suki couldn’t figure it out, so Jordan came by and helped her.

Suddenly the back of the jet let out some noises, and the entire back section began to lower. Since they were near the rear of the plane, they saw the hangar and could see the military jeeps and people who had gathered. He saw the twins bouncing up and down.

“It’s Ausfahrting,” Brillante said to Lucas, pointing to the rear of the jet.

Roth grunted at their juvenile humor. Suki shook her head. But they both grinned as they made their descent because everyone was there. Sarina, Jane Louise, Lund, and even Monica, looking whole and healthy again. It hadn’t seemed possible that they’d get here—that they’d all survive. But Jacob Calakmul had been defeated. They’d ...

Well, they hadn’t won, exactly. But they’d come out ahead, for now. That was something. That was everything. To Roth’s surprise, Jordan raced down the ramp ahead of everyone, more accustomed to the tricky descent than Roth and Suki. When he got to the bottom, he lifted Monica off her feet and twirled her around. The twins began hooting as he kissed her, but Suki looked away, mumbling something about PDA. Roth barely noticed because his gaze was fixed on his wife. His beautiful wife. Weeks ago, he’d thought she was lost to him forever, but here she was, healthy and whole, and he couldn’t be happier than he was in this moment. It wasn’t possible.

Sarina met him at the bottom of the ramp. “You,” she said, shaking her head at him. “You made it.”

“I was just thinking the same about you.” He tried to laugh, sort of cried, and then they were hugging so tightly it almost hurt. It felt so impossibly wonderful that they were back together, that she was in his arms again, her hair tickling his bare chin, an unfamiliar sensation because he hadn’t been beardless in decades.

“This is ... this is unbelievable,” he whispered, choking. “I can’t. I wasn’t sure this was going to happen.”

She sniffled, rubbed her eyes, and then they kissed, and he didn’t care that everyone was looking at them. The pain and worry in his chest ebbed. Their lives wouldn’t be the same. But as long as they were together, they’d figure things out. After the kiss ended, they held each other for a long moment, Roth reassuring himself this was really happening—that his family had finally been reunited.

Sarina broke his grip and went to Suki and hugged her tenderly, kissing her cheeks, her hair. The boys were laughing and crying and talking over each other. Suki’s eyes were leaking, not full-on sobbing, and then Jane Louise came up and wrapped her little arms around Suki’s waist.

“Ready to see your mee-maw?” Suki said, choking up.

“I did,” the little girl said sweetly. “They arrived this morning.”

Roth tried not to lose it again when she hugged him next.