Payne glanced at his watch. He hated to dampen the group’s enthusiasm, but he knew time wasn’t on their side. ‘I know this is an important discovery, but given our current location and my desire to avoid a Mexican prison, I was wondering if this information will actually help us find the treasure.’
She nodded. ‘As a matter of fact, it might.’
He tapped his watch. ‘Then let’s get moving.’
She signalled for them to follow her towards the altar. As she walked, she explained what she had in mind. ‘Take a look at the statue. What does it look like from a distance?’
Jones guessed. ‘A really ugly puppet.’
She glared at him. ‘David, that’s a statue of the Virgin Mary.’
He was ready to amend his joke, but thought better of it.
Ulster bailed him out. ‘At first blush, it appears to be a pyramid.’
She agreed. ‘I thought the same thing when I saw it. Not only that, but she’s wearing a medallion around her neck. That can’t be a coincidence.’
Payne was confused. ‘You think the treasure is inside the statue?’
She shook her head. ‘Not at all. I think this statue has another purpose. It was discovered in the 1500s and has been on this altar for several hundred years. According to legend, this statue is said to be the protector of the church. But I don’t think it’s protecting the church. I think it’s protecting what was hidden in the church. I think it’s protecting the treasure.’
Maria genuflected in front of the altar and quickly made the sign of the cross. Then she scooted round to the back wall, where the statue was kept in a gilded arch. Unfortunately, the arch started at eye level and soared more than 15 feet up the wall. Resting on an elaborate stand that took the form of a dark serpent encircling a blue globe, the Virgin Mary statue was positioned halfway up the arch. Maria’s mind quickly flashed back to the main pyramid of Chichén Itzá, the one that was attacked by a serpent during the spring and autumn equinox. She wondered if there was a link between that particular deity and the creature on the stand. If so, it would be another indication that the Christian and Mayan worlds were connected at that spot.
She stared up at the statue. ‘Can someone give me a hand?’
Payne was the strongest, so he picked her up and placed her on the stone ledge at the base of the arch. From there, she was able to lean forward and peek behind the statue.
After a few seconds of searching, she started to chuckle. ‘I’ll be damned.’
Jones heard the comment. ‘You will be damned if you keep swearing on the altar. That’s the Virgin Mary you’re talking to.’
She ignored him. She was too focused on her discovery. ‘You’re not going to believe what’s back here. There’s a carved circle in the wall. It looks about the same size as the medallion.’
Payne furrowed his brow. ‘A carved circle? What’s so exciting about that?’
She glanced down at the group. ‘Terrence, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Mercado’s journal say that the medallion was the key to unlocking the mysteries of the New World?’
Hamilton nodded. ‘As a matter of fact, it did.’
‘At the time, I thought it was a merely figure of speech, but what if he meant it? What if the medallion is literally a key — a key that gives us access to the treasure?’
Ulster grinned. ‘Trust me, my dear, I’ve heard crazier things in my day. Did I ever tell you about the temple that one of my colleagues unearthed in the rain forest of Cameroon? In order to get inside, they had to shove a stick into the rectum of a hippopotamus.’
Jones did a double take. ‘Excuse me?’
Ulster laughed. ‘Don’t worry, David. It wasn’t a real hippopotamus. It was the statue of a hippopotamus. Nevertheless, it was a crazy place to put a keyhole.’
‘Anyway,’ Maria said, ‘I think this will work, but I’m not quite tall enough to reach the slot. Unless we can find a ladder, one of you is going to have to do it for me.’
Jones pointed at Payne. ‘Dammit, Jon. You heard the lady. Help her!’
‘Don’t swear,’ she said.
‘But, you just swore, like, two seconds ago.’
She reached out her arms. ‘Be quiet and help me down.’
He pretended to pout. ‘Yes, ma’am.’
After moving the statue to the floor, Jones cupped his hands together and boosted Payne onto the stone ledge at the base of the arch. Payne studied the arch and saw the carved circle Maria had referred to. As she claimed, it appeared to be the same size as the medallion.
She handed it to Payne. ‘Good luck.’
Payne took the medallion in his right hand and reached up high. The rectangular slot in the centre of the medallion lined up perfectly with a tiny notch in the middle of the hole. Unsure of the physics, he tried to spin the medallion like a dial, but his hands slipped across the smooth surface of the gold. He tried again, this time pushing hard against the medallion as he twisted it to the right. This time, the dial moved. With every crank of the medallion, it went deeper and deeper into the wall until the arch behind the statue cracked open like a door.
Wasting no time, he swung the arch completely open and peered into the shadows ahead. There was a short hallway, then a stone staircase that curled into the darkness.
‘What’s back there?’ Maria demanded.
‘I can’t tell. Someone give me a flashlight.’
Jones held out his hand. ‘I’ll let you use mine, but we’re a package deal.’
Payne looked down at Jones, Maria, Ulster and Hamilton, and he knew what needed to be done. Having come this far, it would be unfair for any one of them to make the discovery alone. He nodded to Jones, who began to boost Maria up onto the ledge. Payne pulled the group up, one at a time, and helped them through the hidden door.
The space behind the altar was unremarkable in every way. It led to a storage vault that had been carved into the tip of the pyramid below. Made of simple stone, it wasn’t painted or gilded, and it didn’t have any of the architectural flourishes of the rest of the church. Of course, there was no reason to decorate a space that wasn’t meant for visitors.
Instead, the space was designed to be warm and dry.
The ideal place to protect the piles of Aztec gold and the hundreds of Mayan codices that lined the alcoves in the vaults below the church.
Epilogue
Built to resemble an Aztec pyramid, the main building of the Fairmont Acapulco Princess resort towers fifteen storeys above the tropical landscape on the southern coast of Mexico. Surrounded by lush jungles, sandy beaches and the Pacific Ocean, the Fairmont is annually recognized as one of the top resorts in Latin America. On most evenings, the Beach Club Restaurant was the type of place that Payne and Jones would enjoy without hesitation, but as they glanced around the crowded bistro, they realized the significance of the date. It was Valentine’s Day.
Or as it’s known in Mexico: El Día del Amor.
The Day of Love.
Jones cursed under his breath when the hostess led them to a cosy table for two, which offered a romantic view of Revolcadero Beach. Lit by candlelight and sprinkled with rose petals, everything about the table setting was designed for romance, including the bottle of champagne that chilled near by. He brushed the petals off his chair before reluctantly sitting down. If not for the growling in his stomach, he would have been tempted to leave.
‘Just so you know,’ Jones declared, ‘it doesn’t matter how much you wine and dine me, you’re not getting laid.’