“Sally come out! He will die if you don’t show yourself. Give yourself up, and I promise no harm will come to him,” said Tony.
The three girls stepped back a few paces while Tony began to pour boat fuel over Jason’s unconscious body. Travis then handed him his lighter.
“You have five seconds to show yourself, or daddy will be toast.”
Tony began the countdown, “one… two… three…”
Without warning Sally came out from behind them. She pushed her way through the girls, knocking them down. Then she threw herself onto Tony, who dropped the lighter from his hands onto the sand.
Sally went berserk.
“You leave him alone! You bastard. I’ll kill you. I will kill you all, just you wait and see.”
Caught by surprise, the group gave Sally the chance to swoop down next to her father, taking his firearm from the back of his jeans. She knew he always carried a weapon wherever he went.
With their hands held out in front of them, Tony and the rest of the group backed away slowly. The firearm was heavy, and its weight was a bit too much for her as it swayed around loosely in her hands.
Frightened it would go off without warning, Travis tried to calm her down.
“Sally! Take it easy! Lower the weapon before you hurt someone.”
“Hurt someone! Damn right I’m going to hurt someone! And you’re the first, you lying son of a bitch!” said Sally pointing the gun at Travis.
He got to his knees shielding himself with his hands.
“Hey Sally!”
It was Tony calling out to her holding the flame lit lighter in his hands, ready to throw it at Jason’s petrol soaked body.
“Put the gun down my dear, or he dies where he lays,” said Tony.
“Come with us Sally, and I swear we won’t hurt him. Don’t worry, I’m sure someone will find him eventually. Now throw the weapon down that’s a good girl.”
“You won’t harm him? Give me your word, and I’ll come with you,” she said lowering the weapon.
“I give you my word,”
With all her strength, she tossed the heavy gun as far as she could into the sea.
Immediately Travis raced towards her, knocking her senseless to the ground.
“Now get her on board the boat and let’s get out of here,” called out Tony as he beckoned the other girls to come back.
“We can still perform the ritual here,” said Travis.
Tony scanned the horizon before answering. “He managed to find us, and I’m sure he has more of his FBI friends heading this way as we speak. We’re going where we should have gone in the first place.”
Travis looked up at him.
“Gone where Tony?”
“Back to where it all began! Back to where this Mayan tablet came from. Back to the underworld cavern of the Mayan gods!”
They left Jason where he lay. Little did they know he heard every word as he slowly gained consciousness.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The sea was calm, just right for the fast moving boat. The sound of the four engines was deafening as the boat raced across the ocean with tremendous speed. Danny knew he had made the right choice in calling his buddy O'Neil.
Kate kept her eye on the GPS screen, watching the distance closing in by the minute. She was worried about Jason all alone in these dark, dangerous waters. Anything could happen to him out here.
Danny saw the concern on her face.
“He’s going to be alright. I promise you.”
Kate managed a smile.
“I just hope we get there on time before the worst happens.”
Back on the beach. Jason regained consciousness just in time to watch the boat fade away in the distance.
Did he hear right what Tony had said? Was he mad enough to make the journey to Mexico? One thing he knew for sure was that his daughter Sally was still alive, and he will do whatever it takes to get her back.
Jason felt for his gun, but it wasn’t there. He looked around hoping to find it in the sand. He moved closer to the waters edge where he saw something shining in the shallow surf. Picking up his Magnum, he shook out the excess water.
“You should have killed me when you got the chance Dr. Barrette,” said Jason.
All Jason could do was wait. He removed his petrol soaked clothes and washed the smell out with sea water. He reckoned he had enough time to take a look around the island before Danny came to pick him up.
As he wandered around, he kept thinking what Danny had said about Tony being involved with both Helen’s abduction and the two dead girls. He also thought, was it possible that he was also involved with the two murdered Americans back at the Chichen Itza site. Who was it that informed him about the discovery of an old ancient Mayan site, when not even the media knew about it?
Jason was now amongst the rocks at the exact spot where his daughter Sally had jumped down and entered the small entrance to the underwater cave. Little did he know that it was his deceased wife Anne who had saved her life.
After looking around the small island, he found some washed up wood between the rocks, which would make an excellent signal fire for Danny to see. Taking them to the highest point on the island, he managed to light the wood with a little help from his petrol soaked top which he cut into small pieces. The flames lit up nicely under the glowing moonlit sky.
The timing couldn’t have been more precise. Not too far away Kate saw the light that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“That must be Jason lighting the way for us,” said Kate relieved to know he is still alive.
After a few minutes, the GPS started to beep as they reached their destination.
Jason warmed himself next to the flames and at the same time smiled as he heard the roaring engines of the boat getting nearer.
They slowed down once entering the lagoon. Danny was at the wheel, and Kate stood up front scanning the island for Jason.
As they approached the beach, they saw him making his way across the sand.
Kate jumped off the boat and ran up to him. She clasped her arms around his neck as he lifted her off the sand pleased to see her again.
“Are you alright? Are you hurt Jason?” She said, “and what is that smell?”
“Quick we have to hurry! We have quite a journey ahead of us. I’ll explain on the boat,” said Jason as they ran across the sand.
Danny welcomed his friend on board.
“Glad you’re safe and sound. Were they here on the island?”
Jason answered, “they were here alright! Dr. Barrette is not what I expected him to be. This time he got the upper hand, but next time things will be different.”
Danny started the engines again and checked the fuel gauge.
“This baby sure can move and the tanks are still three-quarters full. Do you know which way they’re heading? Asked Danny.
Jason said, “then we have enough fuel to get us to the main island of the Bahamas. From there, we have to catch a flight to Mexico.”
Danny looked back at Jason, saying, “don’t tell me he’s taking them to that Mayan site. I’m telling you once we get through all of this, I’m blowing that damn place to smithereens,” said Danny as he pulled out from the lagoon.
Sally lay unconscious tossing and turning as visions began to appear in her mind, but this time they were not happy ones.
She saw herself as Helen had seen. Flames all around her as she floated in mid air. It was not her mother who was calling out to her this time, but instead a dark figure wearing a monk’s robe whose face was covered with a long hood.
She tried to see his face, but saw only emptiness as the dark figure came closer and closer to her. Once close enough, it revealed itself, removing the long black hood. What she saw frightened her so much that she screamed herself out of consciousness. All on board the boat got the shock of their lives as she suddenly woke up screaming and lashing out with her hands.