Doomsday Match (The Dresden Codex), page 5
“A nose is made of cartilage.”
“We’ll just say he needs an X-ray. They’ll believe you because you’re a nurse. But that’s not the point.”
“What about our luggage?”
“We go as we are,” Roth said. “Can we leave? That’s the question. If they let us go to urgent care and back, then it’s nothing. A misunderstanding. If they don’t let us go . . . ?” He shrugged.
Sarina started pacing, her sandals clicking on the tile floor. Roth’s stomach was still churning, but now that he’d thought of a plan, he felt good about it. Any normal parent would be concerned for their kids, especially an injured one. If they were forbidden to leave the Calakmul resort under such circumstances, then he’d have to come up with a plan to escape during the night. That might involve “borrowing” one of the vans. Or maybe they could follow the beach south until they passed the property line. They could reach a different resort along the coast. Sarina was fluent in Spanish. They’d get by.
Roth went to the nightstand where he’d plugged in his phone. He checked the screen and saw the battery was still low. There was no cell service.
No cell service.
He’d been warned about that, of course, but it no longer felt like a positive thing. The clenching feeling in his stomach increased. He glanced at his wife.
Her expression matched his.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s give it a try. See what happens.”
Roth and Sarina headed to the resort offices to look for the assistant they’d met earlier. Only . . . the offices were directly in the middle, but they somehow bypassed them entirely and found themselves entering the Beasleys’ side of the complex. How had he managed that?
“I swear, I’d get lost in a public bathroom,” Roth said, turning around, confused by the corridors. “I thought the offices were supposed to be in the middle?”
“Did we make a wrong turn?” Sarina asked. She approached a wall with some framed photos on it. Most of the decor they’d seen had been old artifacts stored in glass display cases—rubber balls, obsidian swords, spear tips, and—in one case—a flat stone with a glyph on it.
“Looks like people,” Roth commented. “First photos I’ve seen around here.”
“What was the last name of the family the Beasleys usually come with?” Sarina asked. She had a curious look in her eyes.
“Um . . . Reynolds?”
“Yeah. Here’s a picture of the Reynoldses from last year. There’s a date on the frame. But the Beasleys aren’t in any of the photos.” She went from one to another.
Roth joined her, looking at the display. Each photo was of a different family. One was from Texas—the Reynoldses. Another from Bozeman. One from Connecticut. The oldest one was dated 2012.
“I thought they came here every year?” Roth said, wrinkling his brow. He felt a prickle of nerves, although there was nothing overtly odd about keeping photographs of old guests. But according to the Beasleys, they had been there.
Sarina shrugged. “That’s odd. Let’s go find the offices.”
They backtracked and easily found them, which made him wonder how they’d gone wrong before. Jacob Calakmul’s assistant was talking to Kendall Beasley and the little girl, Jane Louise, farther down one of the decorated halls. The woman had lowered herself down to be at eye level with the little girl.
Kendall looked up at them as they approached, and Roth thought he detected a flicker of animosity in her eyes.
Paranoid. He was probably being paranoid. It made him feel better, at least, that he was doing something about it. He’d be happier than anyone if he were proven wrong.
“Are you sure there isn’t anything I can get for you, honey?” the assistant asked brightly. “Some ice cream? What’s your favorite flavor? They have mango, chocolate . . . ? What do you like?”
“No, thank you,” said the little girl with a sniffle.
“Stop it,” Kendall said impatiently. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her. She won’t play outside with her brothers.”
The assistant gave Kendall a sympathetic glance and patted Jane Louise’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you’re upset, mija.” She turned her head back to look at Roth and Sarina, her blond hair swishing. Getting to her feet, she gave them an encouraging smile.
Jane Louise looked at Roth and started to tremble.
“If you’re going to be like this, you can do it in your room,” Kendall said sharply. She tugged her daughter’s hand and led her away.
Roth had never really liked Eric’s wife. She’d always been friendly enough on the surface, but she was a shallow conversationalist. Sarina was an excellent listener, and even she had struggled with Kendall’s aloofness and her constant bragging about her children’s accomplishments. Especially the boys’.
“Is there something I can help you with?” the assistant asked brightly.
They’d agreed that Sarina would be the one to ask. “My son broke his nose down by the beach,” she said.
The assistant’s expression instantly shifted to one of concern. “I’m so sorry! What happened?”
Roth watched her closely, trying to judge her sincerity. She either meant what she’d said or was a good actress.
“The kids were just horsing around,” Sarina said lightly, trying to make nothing of it. “I’m a nurse, and I think it needs an X-ray. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience, but can we borrow one of the vans and take him into town? Is there a little hospital or something nearby, or are they all in San Miguel?”
The assistant’s brow lowered. Her reaction seemed more wary than worried.
“All the hospitals are in San Miguel,” she said. “I’ll send for a doctor to come here. I can have one here in an hour or two. Would that work?”
Sarina looked at Roth, then shook her head. “I’d feel better if he had an X-ray, and a doctor can’t bring the machines. It would save time if we could go there ourselves.”
Roth added, “We don’t want to inconvenience your staff. My wife speaks Spanish, and I used to drive vans like those. We’ll go and come right back.”
The assistant looked perplexed. “I’m so sorry. I’ll have to ask Mr. Calakmul first. Insurance. You know how it is.”
“Thank you. We really don’t want to be any trouble,” Sarina said.
“Not at all. I’m so sorry for your son. The boys are so cute. I love their curly hair. I imagine having twins wasn’t easy.”
It was something they’d heard several times after they found out Sarina was pregnant with them. Roth shrugged, and they stood there as the assistant turned and walked away. Her high heels tapped against the tiles as she approached a door painted black.
“What do you think?” Sarina asked in a low voice.
“Her response was . . . sus.”
“Are we doing Among Us now or going back to Promised Neverland?”
“Both.”
They watched the assistant open the door. Roth could hear her voice. Beyond her, he could see Mr. Calakmul sitting at a desk in front of an open laptop, sunlight glinting off his rimless glasses. Roth’s heart was pounding double time as he waited for the outcome.
The conversation was over in moments.
The assistant came back, smiling at them.
“Of course you can borrow one of the vans if you’d like. Mr. Calakmul is sorry your son is hurt. He’ll pay for the hospital bill. Just tell the admitting person you are from here, and you won’t need to use insurance or pay for anything.”
“That’s very generous,” Sarina said. “Thank you.”
The answer was not what Roth had been expecting. His gut began to unclench. Maybe he had been wrong about the resort.
Or was Mr. Calakmul a man who thought three steps ahead too?
CHAPTER SIX
VILLA SARA DE CALAKMUL
COZUMEL, MEXICO
December 23
The tires of the Mercedes Sprinter van crunched on sand and gravel as Roth pulled away from the resort. When he was in college, he’d earned decent money—for a student—driving wine tours in Napa Valley. So he really was comfortable driving the fourteen-seater van.
“Why are we going to the hospital?” Lucas asked again in confusion. He still had that stuffy-nose sound. The swelling of his nose was more pronounced.
Sarina was in the front passenger’s seat, her brow knotted with concern. “I think your nose is broken. But that’s not why we’re going.”
“We’re getting out of here,” Suki said. “Are we going back to Cancún?”
“Maybe,” Roth said. “First thing’s first. We wanted to take care of Lucas. If the Beasley boys are jerks again tomorrow, we won’t go on the snorkeling trip. Maybe we’ll take off early while they’re gone. Stay at one of the resorts in Cancún. There’s no reason for us to have an unpleasant vacation.”
“How would we leave the island?” Suki asked. “We don’t have a boat.”
“The ferry goes back and forth all day,” Sarina explained. “We can buy tickets when we need them. It’s not like flying an airplane where you need reservations.”
Roth looked at his family in the rearview mirror as he maneuvered down the narrow road. The road to the main gate was only a mile or two away, with dense jungle on either side.
“I’m still surprised Mr. Calakmul let us go,” Roth said to Sarina.
She nodded. “They were acting weird. But they let us leave. That’s something.”
“I still don’t like the vibe there,” Suki said.
Roth’s mind was evaluating the situation fast. He wanted to talk it through to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. “One thing I didn’t think about is they could try to stop us at the gate,” he said. “What if they don’t let us leave the compound?”
“They will. We have Mr. Calakmul’s permission.”
“What if they don’t? Should we take them up on their offer to bring a doctor here?”
“That would be a good move on our part. We can try to scope out another way to leave.” He answered his own question and then thought a moment before adding, “I fell asleep on the way here. How far is San Miguel?”
“Thirty minutes,” Sarina answered.
“Not if Dad gets us lost,” Suki said.
“You’re not helping,” Sarina said, turning to look at her. Lucas and Brillante were in the first row of seats, and Suki sat alone behind them.
Roth heard his wife gasp.
“What?” he asked, looking in the rearview mirror.
That’s when he saw Jane Louise peeking out from behind the very back row.
Roth slammed the brakes, then remembered his kids might not be wearing seat belts, so he released it and gently hit the gas.
“Whoa! Dad!” Suki yelped.
Brillante flew forward but caught himself. Lucas smashed into the back of Roth’s seat. “Dad!”
Suki looked furious. “What the actual heck?”
Roth brought the van to a gentler stop this time, his heart thumping wildly, then put it in park and turned in his seat. Jane Louise had ducked out of sight. Sarina unbuckled her belt and hurried down the aisle to the back of the Sprinter. Leaving the engine running so the AC would keep working, Roth disconnected his seat belt and started to follow his wife.
“Um, you know you two are acting super weird, right?” Suki said.
Roth looked at Lucas, who was holding his nose with his hand again and had a pained look in his eyes.
“Sorry,” Roth apologized, then made his way back. He still couldn’t believe what he’d seen in the mirror.
Sarina crouched by the girl, her voice comforting. “Sweetie, why are you in the van?”
The girl looked at Roth as he approached, then shifted her attention back to Sarina. “I wanted to go with you,” she said, sniffling.
Roth was dumbfounded. He didn’t even know what to say. The last he’d remembered, Kendall was taking the child to her room. When had she climbed into the van? Why?
“Go where?”
“Back home,” Jane Louise said in anguish.
Suki came down the aisle, pushing up her glasses.
“We’re only going to the hospital,” Sarina said.
The girl shook her head. “You need to go home. Now.”
Sarina shot Roth a worried look before giving the girl her attention again. “Why?”
The girl’s eyes were bright with fear. “They’re going to hurt you.”
The words felt like a blow to Roth’s stomach. The calming feeling he’d experienced leaving the compound had shifted to dread.
He put his hand on the top of the seat and looked down at her. “Who is going to hurt us?”
Jane Louise frowned and began to sob.
Sarina hugged the girl and stroked her hair. Roth felt the moments ticking past, his sense of fear and anxiety ratcheting higher and higher. A family vacation in Mexico for Christmas. It was supposed to be an adventure, a celebration of their successes, but it had all gone wrong. Suki was right. Getting out of there was their only course. He began to consider their options.
“It’s okay, shhh, it’s okay,” Sarina whispered to the little girl. She was so good with kids, always had been.
Roth was deeply conflicted. His brain was screaming at him that they needed to run. Like—literally. Run into the jungle. Disappear. But what about the Beasleys’ daughter? Was it right to ditch her with the van? She was just a little kid.
He squeezed the seat cushion, watching the girl cry and hoping she’d calm down enough to talk.
When Jane Louise lifted her head, Sarina gave her a broad smile and wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks.
“It’s going to be okay. Do your parents know what’s going on?”
The girl nodded yes.
“Do they know you know?”
She shook her head no, her bottom lip wobbling.
Rage began to flame inside Roth’s heart. The Beasleys had knowingly brought them into some sort of ambush. They’d done it deliberately. Eric Beasley was a bigger and stronger man, no denying that, but in that moment, Roth was mad enough that he imagined knocking the guy out with a single punch.
“How did you find out they were going to hurt us?”
“I heard Daddy talking to Mr. Calakmul on the phone,” Jane Louise said. She blinked and wiped her nose. “I was going to his office to kiss him good night. I was on tiptoes. He didn’t hear me.”
“What did you hear?” Sarina coaxed.
“Daddy said . . . he said . . . we’d get your money after you were dead. All of it.”
Roth stared at her in disbelief. His estate attorney was the one who’d introduced them to the Beasleys after they’d updated their living trust upon moving to Bozeman. It sickened him to think of what might have led to that moment.
“Your daddy’s already rich,” Sarina said, then looked up at Roth with horror in her eyes. “Richer than us.”
Jane Louise sniffled. “He said . . . I heard Mr. Calakmul say . . . on the phone . . . that it would look like an accident. He said . . . he said they always make the matches look like an accident.”
The heavy rubber ball. The Maya ruins. The injury to Lucas.
Nearly every Mesoamerican culture had its own variation of the ball game. They used different names for it. But the history Roth had studied before coming on this trip, one of his rabbit-hole searches into Wikipedia, had revealed the same story over and over. It was a fierce competition, and it always ended with death for the losing side.
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
The Calakmuls were a prestigious, wealthy family. Why risk that to mess with a family of tourists? Money couldn’t be the motivation since both the Calakmuls and Beasleys had plenty of it. So why?
His mind darted to the display he and Sarina had stumbled onto within the resort—the framed photos, each marked with the year, of different families. Could they be . . . were they the winners? But no . . . the Beasleys had insisted they’d come before, and they’d clearly survived. He was probably jumping to conclusions again.
Still, there wasn’t good reason to doubt the little girl’s trustworthiness. She’d clearly been traumatized by what she’d heard back in Bozeman. There were the other signs too. The weird looks he’d noticed. The attack on Lucas. The strange undercurrents he and Suki had picked up on.
“We have to get away from Cozumel,” Roth whispered to Sarina. He couldn’t see out the back of the vehicle from his position in the aisle, but he dreaded the idea that another van was already on the way.
The guards at the gate wouldn’t let them through. Roth was certain Mr. Calakmul had already called ahead with a pretext for turning them around. And if they went back to the resort, he would be watching them day and night. For all he knew, there were cameras planted throughout the place.
“Jonny, we can’t leave with her in the van,” Sarina said.
“Just take me home,” Jane Louise pleaded. “I want to go home. I want my mee-maw.”
Roth knuckled his forehead.
“Who’s your mee-maw? Your grandmother?”
Jane Louise nodded and started sniffling again.
Stolen van. Kidnapping. Did Mr. Calakmul know the girl had slipped into the van? Had he allowed it? Or had he planted the girl there?
Roth had to know. “Does your mom know you’re here?” he asked her.
Jane Louise shook her head. “I heard you were going to the hospital, so I snuck out the glass door and went around to the front of the resort. I saw the driver bring the van closer and leave the door open.”
“Did anyone see you?” Sarina asked.
Jane Louise shrugged. “I’m good at hide-and-seek.”
So it was unlikely Calakmul knew about this unless he’d seen it on security cameras or something. Roth wiped a trickle of sweat from his temple.
Sarina stood and took the little girl’s hand. “What do we do?” she asked Roth in an undertone.
He gazed out the windshield, seeing nothing but road and jungle. “We can’t trust the police. They’re probably in on it, or they might be persuaded to turn a blind eye. We need to reach—I don’t know, the American embassy or a place like that. The consulate? I don’t remember what it’s called.”
“Is there one nearby?”
