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“Yes,” Lund said as he approached. “Yes, of course you can talk to him. The twins are here too.”
“Who is it?” Roth demanded.
“It’s your daughter. It’s Suki.”
CHAPTER TEN
CARR TRANSVERSAL/QUINTANA ROO C-1
COZUMEL, MEXICO
January 9
There were few other cars and vans on the highway. The moon was beginning to set, and whenever an occasional oncoming vehicle approached, the headlights were blinding. Suki and Jane Louise hunkered down behind the first-row bench of the van as it moved. It was the same van that the Roth family had escaped in a year ago.
Sarina was crouching behind Jorge’s seat, and the two were carrying on a conversation in rapid-fire Spanish. The vibration of the van on the highway was a comforting feeling. But Suki was still shaken. One moment, they’d been in the Jaguar Temple. Another, after whispering a word about the wind, they were sitting on a beach in Cozumel. And, to think, rescue had been waiting for them all along.
“We’ll stop by the orphanage for a change of clothes,” Sarina said over her shoulder to them, switching to English. “What we’re wearing right now will stand out too much.”
No kidding. While the traditional Maya garb fit well and was kinda cool, it certainly wasn’t something you’d wear sightseeing.
“How did Jorge know we were going to be here tonight?” Suki asked. Jane Louise was looking around with excitement, tugging on the ends of her hair.
“I’ve been planning the escape,” Sarina said. “This island is sacred to Ix Chel, the moon goddess. She’s been helping us all along.”
“Like how?”
“It’s difficult to explain. When I was sick with the DKA, I kept having visions of my grandmother. But it wasn’t really her. It was just the way Ix Chel manifested to me. Cozumel is a nexus of her magic. We can come and go to any of her shrines. There was one on the beach, hidden in the bushes. She’s been helping you and Jane Louise too.”
“Me too?” Jane Louise piped in with awe.
“She’s been comforting you,” Sarina explained. “With memories of your grandmother. And she helped me conceal myself from Jacob Calakmul.”
“By turning you old,” Suki said with a shudder.
Her mom laughed. “Yes, by turning me old. Jorge told me that one of the girls who grew up in Huellas de Pan now runs a snorkeling business for tourists. She’s got her own boat and will take us to Florida.”
“Why can’t we fly to Florida from the airport?” Suki asked.
“We don’t have any travel ID, credit cards, anything. Once we get back to the United States, we can try to get help. But I’m going to get sick again after we leave Cozumel. We’ll need to get to a hospital or urgent care as soon as possible.”
The news that her mom’s diabetic ketoacidosis still hadn’t been cured was alarming, but not necessarily surprising. Magic had saved her, and they’d be leaving a magical place.
Jorge clicked the turn signal, and they slowed to turn off the highway. Suki peeked up through the side window and saw a military truck roar past them with soldiers sitting in the back. She ducked down again, her heart racing.
The van took several turns. Suki was thoroughly lost, but then she heard the roar of a passenger jet and remembered how close Huellas de Pan was to the airport in Cozumel. They drove up to the gate, and Jorge parked and got out to unlock it.
“This feels weird,” Suki said, peering through the windshield. “I remember this place.”
“Déjà vu,” Sarina said. Sighing, she added, “It was a bit like that when I was in the coma. Everything was familiar, but not. My mother was there. My grandmother. My great-grandmother. All my family came from the Yucatán originally. Time is strange in that place. It felt like I was there for an hour at most before I woke up, but I could remember everything I’d seen and done. I learned about Kukulkán and his followers and disciples. About Chichén Itzá and the other ruins. There’s so much history that’s been lost, but I knew all of it.” She rubbed her forehead, her expression a little sad. “It’s fading now, though, like it was a dream.”
Jorge finished tugging open the gates and then came back. He was wearing a tracksuit and sandals, just like Suki remembered from their previous visit. He had a fluttery gray mustache and graying hair combed back. He drove through the gate and then parked.
“Vamos,” he said, getting out again. Sarina went to the sliding door and opened it and then helped Jane Louise climb out. Suki followed, and they all went to the main office building.
Suki’s stomach clenched with dread. In her mind’s eye, she could see the security people who’d hunted them down. Jacob Calakmul’s men. They’d murdered a doctor here. But she was surprised at the changes she saw. There was a playground that hadn’t been there before. And new buildings were being constructed where there’d once been a thicket of trees.
“Wow,” Suki said. “It’s been busy here.”