operation had been brought to a halt. He still needed the package, but maybe he could get it through her. He dropped his innocent pretenses. “Is this the niece of John Cahill?”
“Yes, this is Jennifer. What do you want? How do you know who I am?”
“I’m a business associate of your uncle’s. He told me that he mailed you a package by FedEx yesterday. Unfortunately, he mailed you something that he had promised me, and I need to get it back. My two friends were sent there to get it from you, but apparently you would prefer to steal what is rightfully mine.”
The phone went silent. After a pregnant pause, the woman spoke.
“I don’t know what to say. I don’t have a package from my uncle. If you would let me talk to him, maybe I can sort this out.”
Miguel knew he had to manage this carefully. His only lead was the phone call going on right now, and both would likely flee as soon as they hung up. He didn’t even know the man’s name. He needed to turn this to his advantage, bringing the mountain to Muhammad, as his foreign guests would say.
“I’m not sure what else your uncle could add to the conversation. He told me he sent you a package, the method it would arrive, and the date. What I need is that package, and since you have seen fit to prevent my men from collecting it, I’m going to need you to bring it to me.”
“I’m telling the truth. I didn’t kill your guys, Pike did.”
“I’m the person they threatened. I don’t want to be a part of this either. Whatever my uncle owes you, I’ll help him to repay. Whatever is in the package, I’ll make sure you get a replacement. If you would just get my uncle on the phone, we can sort this out.”
I saw Jennifer’s face go white at whatever the man was saying. I quit trying to get the phone.
“Please, please don’t hurt my uncle…. I’ll do what you want…. Whatever you want…”
She looked me in the eye, her expression pleading for help, and said, “Pike wants the phone…. I don’t know… Please… Here’s Pike.”
She held out the phone with her hand over the microphone and said, “Talk to him. Please… do something. I don’t know what to tell him. I don’t know anything about a package. Don’t let him hurt my uncle.”
I snatched the phone and put my own hand over the microphone. “Why in the hell did you give him my name and tell him his men were dead? I’m trying to help us out and you’re sitting there digging a grave for both of us. Focus on your own damn grave and leave me out of this!”
“Please… Talk to him.” The fear on her face cracked my anger.
I removed my hand and said, “This is Pike.”
“I didn’t know the extent of the damage to my operation. Is what she says true?”
I gave up any pretense of operational security. If someone was recording this, I was already screwed.
“Yes, it’s true, but I only reacted to what they did. The assholes came on my boat and tried to knock me out. When I stopped that, they pulled out a knife and tried to gut me. I have no idea what this is about, but I’m not going to be held accountable for your team losing their cool. I really didn’t want anything to do with this. They escalated, not me.”
“I don’t give a shit about your excuses. I only care about the fact that your interference will cost me profits. I don’t have my package because of you. I’ll give you a choice. Either get the package and deliver it to me or I’ll take the profits out of your skin.”
Shit. That was the last thing I wanted to hear. What in the world had this girl gotten involved in?
He continued. “Don’t test my patience. If you wish, you can run. It’ll just increase the pain of your death. Put on the girl.”
“Hang on, hang on. I’ll get your package. We don’t have it here. I just met the girl, and she’s been out here all week.”
“I’ll make this plain, as I’m not sure my English would be able to get across any subtle nuances. Bring me the package or I will kill your uncle in a very slow, painful manner.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I don’t speak Spanish, so I’ll talk slow as well. It’s not my uncle and I don’t give a shit about him.”
I saw Jennifer snap her head around, looking at me like I was a piece of dog shit on her shoe. I held up a finger and continued. “The package is probably at her house in town. We’ll go see if it’s there.”
I waited a beat, hearing only silence. “You still there?”
“Yes. I’m now trying to decide if I want the package more than the pleasure of killing you. Let’s get something straight: I will slaughter you and anyone you have ever known if you speak to me in such a manner again. Do you understand?”
“You and Jennifer call me when you have the package. If you don’t call in the next six hours, you can start the clock ticking on your life. Tell the girl her uncle will be skinned alive.”
I hung up the phone and looked at Jennifer’s ashen face.
29
It took relatively little time for us to determine that there was no package waiting at Jennifer’s apartment. She went to her computer to see if she had a FedEx tracking number, or anything to indicate something was on the way, but came up empty.
Jennifer said, “What the hell am I going to do now? I don’t even know what’s supposed to be in the package, so I can’t even fake it.”
I needed to get some background before I offered any advice. “What was your uncle doing in Guatemala? I mean for real, no bullshit?”
Jennifer sighed again, like she didn’t think I would believe what she had to say, which was smart, because if it was some sort of Indiana Jones bullshit, I wouldn’t.
“My uncle has a theory about the demise of the Mayans. He thinks the Mayan priests created a weapon a long time ago that got out of control. For the last twenty years he’s gone down to Guatemala to find a temple that he thinks will prove his theory.” She saw the skepticism on my face and raised her voice. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. That’s what he’s doing in Guatemala.”
This was getting downright stupid. “So, your uncle believed that the Mayans had invented or found the world’s first WMD? Did he look for crop circles during Christmas break?”
Jennifer’s eyes clouded with a scowl. “I never said anything about WMD. I said a weapon. Many, many respectable scholars believed his theory.”
I chuckled and held up my hands in a gesture of surrender. “WMD stands for weapon of mass destruction. It’s a military term meaning any weapon that can kill a lot of people, like a nuke, or biological weapon. They’re pretty hard to make. I’m not trying to get you mad, but is there a chance that your uncle was doing something besides looking for this temple?”
Jennifer shook her head adamantly. “No. No way. He was obsessed with the temple. He spent all year using every spare minute to research possible new sites. Nobody was paying for the trips anymore, so he had no reason to pretend.”
“Was there anything about this trip that was different from the other trips? Did you talk to him at all?”
“Not really. He didn’t have the money for a satellite phone. The only contact I had with him after he went into the jungle was an e-mail he sent a couple of days ago.”
Jennifer paused a moment as a look of realization crossed her face.
“Actually, I did think it was a little odd, because it came before he was supposed to be out of the jungle. I just figured it meant he hadn’t found anything.”
“What did it say?”
