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Lund shook his head, frowning in frustration.
An idea came to Suki’s mind. She looked at her mom. “There is another way to get in and out of the temple. The same way you used.”
Lund turned around, his eyebrows lifting. “Wait . . . you can get back in?”
Sarina nodded. “But only from Cozumel,” she said. “That island is a conduit of Ix Chel’s power. When we’re there, we can travel from one shrine to another in moonlight. It only works at night. That’s how we escaped. The grounds are extensive, and there are hidden shrines to Ix Chel that I’m sure Calakmul doesn’t know about. He’ll probably have the main shrine guarded if he hasn’t already destroyed it.”
“But can you bring people with you?” Lund asked emphatically.
“What are you suggesting?” Sarina asked. “That we go back?”
“Are there any Special Forces teams already down there?” Lund asked Wright hopefully.
“We have a SEAL team on an aircraft carrier in the area and the 82nd Airborne is ready to deploy,” Wright said. He looked at Suki’s mom. “Mrs. Roth, our soldiers can’t do anything against Calakmul’s priests without help. But if we can take down their magic shields, our bullets would work, right? It might be the only way to save the hostages before Calakmul sacrifices them. Including your husband.”
Sarina lowered her head. “As long as my children are safe, I’ll do it. I’ll take you there.”
“Mom!” Lucas gasped, eyes wide with fear. “You can’t go!”
Suki felt a knot of pain in her heart at the thought of her mom going. Even though she had been given fluids and was on regulated insulin again, it would take a day or so for her to bounce back from her weakened state. And even if Jane Louise hadn’t been too young, Suki suspected the girl was only a conduit for Ix Chel’s power, not able to use the kem äm by herself. It was a terrifying thought, but Suki was the best choice for this mission.
A realization struck her hard. She was the one Ix Chel had chosen to help. And if there was any way she could stop her dad from dying, she was going to do it.
“No, I’ll go,” Suki volunteered.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON, DC
January 10
“No!” Sarina said adamantly. “If anyone is going back down there, it’s me. He’s my husband. And I know the compound. I’ve lived there for the past year.”
“Mrs. Roth,” Director Wright said, “I think we should discuss all possibilities before discounting any.”
“It has to be me,” Suki said to her mom.
“I’m not going to let you,” Sarina said. She still looked fatigued from their journey. Suki could see that her mom was still recovering from the ordeal her diabetes had put her through, and any more physical stresses at this point would set her back.
“Mom, you’re too sick. You’ve been through so much. And so have I. You need to be here for the boys, for Jane Louise. I know the compound enough. I could find my way to Dad. And the longer we waste time, the greater chance he’s going to die.” She felt her throat start to catch. “I can’t let that happen. Not if I can stop it.”
“She knows how to take down their shields,” Lund said to Director Wright. “That gives us a chance to use weapons we couldn’t before.”
Sarina shook her head, but Suki could sense her resolve wilting. She was too much a nurse to ignore her own symptoms. They hugged each other. “It’ll be okay,” Suki whispered. “Ix Chel has been preparing me for this. I trained with that horrible lady, remember? The one who liked to whip my legs? I can use the kem äm better than you can.”
“Maybe so,” her mom said, “but I can use it well enough.”
“It’s supposed to be this way, Mom. Can’t you feel that it’s supposed to be this way?”
It wasn’t just talk. The rightness of it filled her like moonlight. The shimmer of tears in her mother’s eyes told her she was right.
“I can tell you feel it too,” she pressed. In her peripheral vision, she saw Jane Louise’s shallow nod.
“You’re not a little girl anymore,” her mom said, lifting a hand to her cheek. She allowed it, because right now she needed the bolstering of her mother’s touch, if only for a second. “But you’re still my daughter.”
“I’ll always be your daughter. I need to do this, Mom.”