“Crap!” Maddock snarled. He gave chase, even though he knew the effort would prove futile. There was little chance of catching the man before he reached the woods, and even less chance of finding him once he slipped into the dense jungle.
But just as the man reached the edge of the forest, he stopped abruptly and appeared to rise off the ground, as if attempting a backflip. The maneuver ended with him flat on his back and Angel standing over him, one foot pressing down on the man’s throat.
She raised her eyes to Maddock as he drew near. “I love you, but you should know better than to tell me to wait.”
“Noted,” Maddock replied. He knelt beside Angel’s struggling captive. “All right, friend,” he said in Spanish. “Start talking. Why were you following us?”
“Following you? No, señor. You are mistake—”
Angel’s foot pressed down harder, cutting off the denial.
“Let’s try that again,” Maddock said. “Why were you following us?”
The man emitted a strangled sound until Angel eased off a little. “I was only going to warn you.”
“Warn us of what?”
The man’s reply was a hoarse whisper that had nothing to do with Angel’s boot on his neck. “La Hermandad de la Serpiente. They will never let you find Ciudad de Sombre.”
CHAPTER 11
Isabella Beltran kept a firm grip on the saddle with her thighs, remaining perfectly erect as the stallion cut around the barrel, executed a three-quarter loop, and charged off again. She held the reins loosely, letting the animal do what it knew how to do, but ready to assert her authority if it needed a reminder. It did not.
Not anymore.
Early on, when she had first acquired him, she had been obliged to exert a much firmer hand, but now he not only knew who was in charge, but knew what he was supposed to do and did it without being goaded.
Animals seemed to learn that lesson so much better than humans.
They rounded the second barrel, but as the stallion started to gallop toward the next, she spotted Hector’s car rolling down the drive. She thought about finishing the practice run; it was what the stallion would expect and she hated to interrupt him since it would only confuse him the next time they rode, but knew that her uncle would not have made a second in-person appearance in as many days if the matter were not important. She tugged on the reins, turning the horse toward the fence at a trot as Hector pulled to a stop on the other side and got out to meet her.
He had been in her thoughts a lot of late, and not just because of the risk of what might be revealed if the cenote became public knowledge. The possibility that el Guia and the curse which clung to it might be real had brought all of Hector’s stories back to the surface, making her question the choices she had made.
She wanted her father, God rest his soul, to be proud of her, but had he wanted her to follow in his own footsteps, or her uncle’s?
“I thought you were going to call me,” she shouted. “Did you decide not to involve the federales?”
Hector looked pensive as he approached the fence. “The archaeologists managed to overpower the men I hired to deal with the situation.”
Isabella reined the horse to a stop, but did not dismount. “Do you need me to arrange an intervention?”
He shook his head. “The damage is done. I have decided to try a different approach. That’s not why I’m here.”
“The other matter? Honduras? Did someone really find el Guia?”
Hector would not meet her gaze. “They’re all gone.”
“Gone?”
“Dead.”
“What do you mean all? Everyone with the fever?”
“Everyone. The village is gone. Torched.”
Isabella stiffened. “You need to get control of your people, uncle.”
“It wasn’t… ” He hesitated. “The order did not come from me. I’m not certain what happened. There may be another player. Or… something else.”
“But you have lost control of the situation,” she snapped. She took a breath. “I’m sorry, Uncle, but you must realize how important it is to get this situation resolved.”
“I do,” he said. “I intend to take care of it personally.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Right now, just a way to get there quickly and discreetly.”
“Done.” That was the simplest thing he could have asked for. The cartel’s transportation network routinely moved both people and cargo — drugs, guns, cash — from Columbia to the Texas border and back again. “I will have Garcia make the arrangements.”
Hector looked her in the eye. “And something else. If something happens to me… ”
Isabella sucked in a breath. “Don’t say that.”
“El Guia must be recovered at any cost. You know this is true. And if I fall, you will have to finish this.”
Isabella stared back at him for several long seconds. “Whatever you need, Tio.”
Maddock hauled the man to his feet, gripping him by his shirtfront. “Hermandad de la Serpiente? Serpent brothers? What the hell does that mean?”
The man quavered in fear, but said nothing coherent.
“Who are these serpent brothers?” Maddock pushed, giving the man a shake. “Are you one of them?”
The man shook his head, but Maddock couldn’t tell if it was an answer or a plea for mercy.
The rest of the group was coming back up the path to join them. Griego looked dismayed, but did not intervene. Bones, however, moved in close, looming above the man. “Motor oil and wooden stakes,” he said with gleeful menace. “I’ll get him talking.”
“They paid me to warn you,” the man gasped. “That’s all I know.”
“Who paid you? Give me a name?”
“Nobody knows their names. They are the old one who guard Ciudad de Sombre.” The admission seemed to restore some of the man’s courage. “They won’t let you find it. They will kill you to protect the secret. I was sent to warn you.”
“The City of Shadow,” Maddock repeated. “You know about it?”
“Si. Everyone knows about it.”
“Starting to seem that way,” Bones muttered.
“Do you know where it is?”
The man shook his head again, emphatically, as if the question both frightened and offended him. “No one knows. The Shadow must remain hidden or the world will die.”
“The mumbo jumbo is strong with this one,” Bones said. “Let me handle this.”
“You’re not going to get anything from him,” Miranda said. “He’s just hired help. Like the guys that tried to rough us up back at the cenote.”
Maddock was inclined to agree. “At least now we know who’s behind it.”
“Serpent Brothers?” Bones was dubious. “Sounds like the name of the world’s worst boy band.”
Maddock relaxed his grip, holding the man at arm’s length. “Tell the Serpent Brothers that if they want us to stop looking, they’re going to have to stop with the threats and vague warnings, and meet with us, face to face. Got it?”
The man just stared back at him, goggle-eyed. Maddock held onto him a moment longer, then let go. The man stumbled back a few steps, then took off running, plunging into the trees and vanishing.
Bones frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “You sure that’s a good idea, Maddock?”
Maddock thought about the man’s dire warning—the Shadow must remain hidden or the world will die—and shook his head uncertainly. “I’m starting to wonder if any of this is a good idea.”