He asked, “what do you think? Isn’t it amazing? Are you able to translate it?”
Helen seemed to forget the aspect of the situation.
“This is remarkable. I have never seen hieroglyphs like these. It must be some very rare dialect from the first Mayan civilization. Do you have a magnifying lens and a pencil and paper?”
Tony indicated to Carlos to get what Helen wanted. She took the lens and went over every description on the small plaque. She then turned it over and again carefully studied its detail with precise care. Tony sat impatiently, waiting for a response from Helen. She took her time, despite the feeling of tension building up in the room.
“Well, can you decipher it?” asked Tony.
Helen seemed to take no notice of what he was saying and kept on studying the writing. Then in her own time she put down the magnifying lens and said.
“Yes. I believe I can, but it will take time.”
Tony stood up. “How much time do you need?” He asked.
“I’m not sure. Five days, maybe six. I need to do research, plenty of research. This could be more than two thousand years old. It could be the first of its kind.”
Tony shook his head. “I can’t wait that long. No way. You got three days, no more, and I want every single word precisely translated.”
Helen thought of her niece and had no choice but to agree with Tony.
Later during the day at the FBI building, Chief Berks called in Jason and Danny after going through the report. To their surprise, standing behind Matt was David Hewitt his superior. Seeing Mr. Hewitt was enough for Jason to speak his mind.
“What the hell is he doing here? I’m out of here Chief. You know he’s only going to disagree with everything I say.”
Jason was about to leave the office, when Matt stopped him.
“Agent Mallock! Get your ass back in here,” he said.
Danny said to Jason, “let’s hear what the chief has to say.”
Matt cleared his throat. “We have read your report, and understand the situation you both went through. You were not expecting any trouble down in Mexico, which is in your favor, but letting the assailant get away with professor Shireberg and not knowing her whereabouts is another thing. You should have got more information from her, which could have given us a clue to where the kidnapper might have taken her.”
Jason stood up in protest. “That’s bullshit! You had warned me before I left for Mexico that I was not to pull another stunt that might risk the injury of a civilian, and that’s what I did. You know I could have taken that shot with precise accuracy. I could have blown his brains all over the wall, but held back as agent Langley warned me not to put Miss Shireberg’s life at risk.”
Matt cleared his throat again. He knew Jason was right, but had orders from his superior, leaving him with no other choice.
Matt said, “I’m afraid you have just three weeks to get professor Shireberg back. If not, then I have orders to take you off the case.”
Jason looked at David Hewitt, who had a smug look across his face. He knew it was his doings. Jason stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him. He needed to let off steam, and fast before someone gets hurts.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
On his way out of the office, Jason knocks over the coffee jug sending it crashing to the ground. He takes off in his black Mustang, tires screeching as smoke from burning rubber filled the parking lot. He heads straight to the shooting range, the only place where he can clear his mind. In ten minutes, Jason is at the firing range. He opens the trunk of his car and takes out two weapons. A Magnum .44 and the Colt Anaconda.
The person on duty recognizes Jason and knows best to let him through without question. All six shooting lanes are occupied, and Jason isn’t in the mood for waiting his turn. He enters his usual booth, where a young rookie is trying his best to hit the target at just ten yards away. As soon as he sees Jason with both guns in his hands, he lowers his 9mm weapon and leaves the booth. Next Jason loads both the Colt and Magnum, and wears the protective earmuffs.
He then presses a button on the switchboard bringing the target in front of him and replaces the paper target with a fresh sheet. The young rookie stands behind Jason, watching his every move. A new sheet is clipped to the automatic arm. Jason pressed the other button sending the target further down the lane. It went past the ten yard mark, past the fifteen yard mark, the twenty and thirty all the way to the very end of the fifty yard mark.
The young astounded rookie said, “you gotta be kidding me! I can barely see the target.”
Jason picks up the Colt without even pausing to aim and fires a single shot. The whole shooting range ceases firing as every single shooter heard the power of the Colt, deafening them even with ear muffs on.
Jason then presses the return button, bringing the target closer and closer. The rookie not expecting to see a mark on the target is amazed when he sees a hole in the bullseye. One by one each shooter in the range gathers behind Jason. Again he removes the paper target and hangs up another one. He then sends it away again all the way to the very end. Jason changes weapons and uses the Magnum 44. No one was expecting what Jason had in mind. He then turns to face the other participants, switching the lights off in his firing lane.
This time, steady as a rock, he aims, takes a deep breath and slowly squeezes the trigger. The rookie enters the booth next to Jason and turns the light back on, presses the return button bringing the target into view.
He said, “my god! Who the hell are you man? That’s an impossible shot, and in complete darkness!”
Someone at the rear shouts out.
“You’re either a great shot or just damn lucky!”
Without a word, Jason goes for his Colt. Again he hangs a new sheet and sends it all the way to the end of the lane. The young rookie switches off the light. Jason aims his firearm, shooting all rounds emptying the chamber. He places his earmuffs down on the table, picks up his Magnum and leaves. Everyone tries to enter the booth at once, wanting to see the results. They slowly bring back the target, staring in amazement at the smiley face that Jason had shot out.
Back at Tony’s place, Helen got to work straight away. She did not want to waste anymore time. The sooner she was ready with the translation the sooner she would leave Tony’s house. On the other hand, she was very eager to break the code of the ancient Mayan and understand them much better. She thought to herself. Could it be really possible they had found a way into the spiritual world or was it all a load of crap? She knew very well that the Mayans believed in many gods and were a very intelligent race. Did the ancient ones hide this hidden text for a reason? Was it never meant to be found? Was it something no one should ever know of or did something go terribly wrong, forcing them to hide it away from the rest of the world?
She was left to herself in the basement working while Carlos kept a watchful eye on her.
As Helen kept busy working. Tony was already planning things with Travis, his assistant. He knew the ritual to summon the spirits had to have four or more participants. It was not the first time he performed the ritual. He knew this time it would be different as he had always managed to talk with the dead. When he had a group of people all in deep meditation, he was able to communicate much longer and gather more than the usual amount of energy that entered his body.
Gathering participants for the calling of the dead was left up to Travis. He and Tony had an understanding between them. They had met one afternoon while on duty at the hospital. A young man had been brought into the emergency ward after being involved in a head-on collision traffic accident. Travis had almost died while on the operating table from head injuries.