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TAMIAMI TRAIL/US HIGHWAY 41

THE EVERGLADES, FLORIDA

January 10

“We’ll be at Miami Executive Airport in about ... thirty minutes,” Lund said from the passenger seat of the SUV, talking to Suki’s dad on his cell phone. The driver had picked them up from the airboat dock and was now hurrying down the highway toward Miami. Suki was watching the canal from the window while Jane Louise rested against her shoulder. There were miles of fencing alongside the road to keep crocodiles and alligators from becoming speed bumps.

“Yes, here she is. Switch to FaceTime so you can see each other.” From her peripheral vision, Suki could see him handing the phone to her mom.

“Hi, Jonny,” her mom said with relief. “Oh, it’s so good to see you. What did you do to your beard? And your hair?”

“It’s part of my disguise,” he said with a grin. “I’m not a scruffy-looking nerf herder anymore.”

“I like you scruffy looking better. But you’re wonderful. We’re doing fine. How are the boys? I want to see them too.”

Suki listened in on the video call, thinking about her brothers. She missed those little derps, only they weren’t so little anymore. Would they ever be able to go back home to Bozeman? The commotion at the White House was chilling. The news was only reporting that the White House was evacuated because of a bomb threat. Not that a maniac had decided to launch an invasion against the United States. If Jacob Calakmul was in DC, then she didn’t feel safe going there. But she also wanted to be reunited with her family. The end of the world would feel less daunting if they could face it together.

The Everglades were very different from Cozumel and the Yucatán. The trees weren’t as tall, and it was much flatter. In Cozumel, it had felt like they were driving through a tunnel of trees, but the openness of Florida had a way different vibe. There were a few palm trees on the left side, with little businesses every few miles, and big billboards, most of them featuring airboat tours. Some had buildings with thatched roofs like they were entrances to the Tiki Room show at Disneyland. Not a lot of cars were parked there since it was the off season. Occasionally they’d pass rickety wooden bridges that crossed the canal on the right-hand side.

They passed a billboard featuring a Native American village next to Shark Valley. That sounded pretty sus. Then open fields and standing water for miles ahead of them.

“Sure, here she is.” Her mom handed the cell phone to her.

“Hi, Dad.”

“I’m so glad you got out of Naples all right,” he said.

“It was pretty chill,” Suki said. She didn’t like talking on the phone. Texting was way better. But it was a relief to hear his voice. “Where are the twins?”

“They’re with Jordan at one of the Smithsonians. The Natural History one ... it has the rock collection and dinosaurs. I think they were all going a little crazy being stuck in that hotel room.”

“Being stuck in a hotel room sounds like paradise right now,” Suki said wistfully.

“How about I get you a Frosty from Wendy’s and some fries when you get in town?”

“That sounds pretty chill. The driver brought us food, so Mom has energy. She’s looking pretty good.”

“We’ll get her a pump when she gets to DC. Oh, I miss you. The FBI wants to see you and how you use the kem ?m.”

“They don’t believe you after everything that’s happened?”

“No, they need to learn how to get through the kem ?m. There’s a special forces team heading into the jungle, I think. Yeah, Monica said the president authorized it. They know bullets won’t work that great, so they’re going to be testing the defenses of the temple in other ways. The drones haven’t been able to get close. They keep short-circuiting and falling out of the sky. I think an aircraft carrier is already over there.”

“Wow,” Suki said, impressed. “I hope they figure something out.”

“The FBI director has asked me to bring the twins to the White House.”

“Really? I thought the president was evacuated?” Suki noticed a sign showing Miami was the next exit.

“He was. But the boys can see the glyphs now. There were some glowing ones along the walls of the Senate office buildings. They wonder if there are some in the White House and that’s how Calakmul was able to get in undetected. I’m not sure I want to put them at risk. They’ve been going from room to room, using dogs to sniff. They’ve already tried different kinds of tech as well, like goggles that can see different light spectrums. They didn’t find anything.”

“That’s legit,” Suki said. “It would be cool if dogs were able to sniff them. I’ll help if I can. If he tried to hurt us, I could just pull down his shield, and then the army dudes could blow him away.”

“Yeah, you could! But I’d rather not risk any of my kids. I’m okay with you talking to the FBI folks, though. They have a research team at Quantico. I think they’re going to take us all there when you get up here.”

“Sweet. We’re getting close to the airport, I think. Do you want to talk to Mom again?”

“Sure. Love you!”

“Love you,” Suki said, feeling awkward. She handed the phone back, and her mom and dad started talking again.

“So are we going to a big airport or a little one?” she asked Lund.

“A smaller one on the west side of Miami. I have a buddy with an executive jet who sent his pilot down to help us. We can bypass all the security stuff and the police this way.”

“That’s awesome.”

Suki watched the sign with the exit and heard the clicking of the turn signal as the driver slowed to turn right at the upcoming intersection. The turn had lots of trees, and it didn’t look like Miami at all. There were no skyscrapers or hotels, except for a dinky one they’d just passed. Her stomach began to twist with worry.

“This the right way?” she asked.

“The airport is south of here, so, yes—we’re going the right way,” Lund said. He turned around in his seat. “You got a funny feeling about this?”

“I do,” Jane Louise said, her expression somber.

Suki jolted in her seat. “So do I.”

Lund frowned. He tapped Suki’s mom on her knee and gestured to the phone.

“I’ve got to go. Love you, Jonny. I can’t wait to see you. We’ll be there in just a few hours. Bye.” She hung up and gave the phone back to Lund.

He quickly made another call. “Jenson. This is Steve Lund. Are you at the executive airport? Good. Anything strange over there? Is the pilot ready with the jet?” He listened for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. Go sweep the area for me. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, okay? We’re almost there.”

He hung up. “They haven’t noticed anything. But now you’ve got me nervous.”

“Can they track your phone?” Suki asked.

“I don’t think so. They’d need to get a hold of it to plant spyware, and I don’t let it out of my sight. It’s also encrypted with some pretty strong firmware. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t been watching the airports and paying attention to who’s chartering unexpected flights.”

As soon as he said it, Suki’s stomach did a little double flip. “I think that’s it.”

“How long would it take if we drove to DC from here?” Sarina asked, sounding worried too.

“Sixteen hours, give or take,” Lund said. “I’ve thought about it. Flying’s faster.”

“What if we changed airports?” Suki suggested. “Have the pilot meet us at another one?”

“Expensive but prudent,” Lund agreed. “Let’s change the venue. Fort Lauderdale isn’t that far north. They’ll have an executive airport too. I’ll call Jenson and reroute.”

It was another hour drive from Miami to Fort Lauderdale. She couldn’t see the beach, but she knew they were close to it because of all of the hotels and resorts. It reminded her a little of Cancún.

As they pulled off the freeway to the exit, Lund turned around again.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m nervous, but now I can’t tell if there’s an external reason for it. I just want to get back to Dad and my brothers.”

Lund’s phone rang. “Jenson. You beat us to Fort Lauderdale? Good. We’re almost there. Is the pilot ready to go? We want to pull in, get on, and take off. Is air traffic control okay with that?” He listened, nodding. “Well done. We should be there in five minutes. See you soon.”

When they passed a Wendy’s, Suki’s stomach growled. She reached for Jane Louise’s hand. “Excited to see your mee-maw?”

“Uh-huh,” Jane Louise said. “I still feel nervous, though.”

“Me too. There’s a word in Mayan that helps me, though. Let me teach it to you. Nake’ik. You try it.”

Jane Louise blinked. “I know that one! Nake’ik.”

“Nake’ik. Nake’ik. Nake’ik,”Suki said soothingly, invoking the power of the kem ?m. A peaceful feeling settled in the SUV. Their fear melted away.

They reached the executive airport shortly after getting off the freeway and drove to an access gate with a security guard. The driver rolled down the window, and the guard looked in at them.

“You Mr. Lund? Can I see some ID?”

Lund held out his wallet with a picture. The guard nodded, not looking in the back seat at all, and then made a gesture. The gate was electronic, and it opened with a clacking noise.

Lund called Jenson again. “We just came in. Where’s the plane?” He listened for a response. There was an executive jet—not a Pegasus, thank heaven!—out on the tarmac already. A small set of portable stairs had been rolled up to the open door. “See it. Where are you?”

A man in a windbreaker and Dockers slacks stepped out of the plane and waved to the driver. The driver, who hadn’t said a word the whole time, parked by the ramp and nodded to them.

“Everyone get out from Suki’s door,” Lund instructed. “The SUV will help shield us from sight. Let’s be quick.”

Lund drew his gun and stepped out of the SUV. Suki swallowed nervously and opened her door. The screech of the airplane engines was loud but not earsplitting. Lund gestured for her to head toward the stairs. As she started, she could see the pilot waving to her from inside the window. He was trying to get her attention.

Her gaze shifted to the man in sunglasses waiting at the top of the steps. She sensed the magic of the kem ?m instantly. He raised something to his mouth, a flute? No, a blowgun—

She reacted instantly, invoking the power of the ring and bracelet, and put up a shield that wrapped backward like a hemisphere around her and the vehicle. The dart shot at her, then ricocheted back at her attacker, who also used the kem ?m to deflect it. The dart pinged harmlessly against the hull of the jet.

“He’s here for us!” Suki shouted, pointing. It wasn’t Jenson. It was a jaguar priest in disguise.

Lund whipped his handgun around and put himself in front of her. “Get back in the car!”

Suki felt Jane Louise squeeze her hand. She’d already gotten out of the car. The intruder leaped over the rail of the stairs and landed gracefully on the tarmac. From his jacket, he drew an obsidian dagger and started toward them.

The driver took off with the passenger door still open, stranding them on the tarmac. Suki felt her mom grab her other hand. The three of them stood there, and suddenly the magic of the kem ?m exploded around them. It sucked away the jaguar priest’s disguise and his shield. It sucked the dagger out of his hand and sent it spinning. Suki had never felt the magic this strongly. The three of them, standing hand in hand, had become a vortex of power.

The man’s face transformed from Jenson’s to that of a stranger with glowing eyes, a furious scowl, and a look of panic twitching on his face as he realized his hold on the magic had been ripped from him.

“Shoot him!” Suki said.

Lund fired three quick shots, all clustered into the man’s chest. There was no shield. No protection. He jerked in pain, then collapsed on the tarmac, his glowing eyes fading to brown.

Just like that—he was dead.

The power continued to churn around them. Suki felt it, feared it, understood deep in her bones that if it continued to grow stronger, they would summon a hurricane that would strike the coast of Florida. She’d never felt such a strong surge of power before—a flood of energy that dwarfed her previous uses of the kem ?m. Intuitively, she knew it was because she was holding hands with Jane Louise and her mother. Together, the three of them were embodying the power of Ix Chel.

And the goddess was angry.