Ruins by Kevin Anderson Read Free Book Online Page B

still managed to increase the offer by another fif-teen percent.
    When the guard led them back out to the parked police cruiser, everyone was happy. The drug lord had brightened visibly after acquiring his new objet d'art, while Aguilar and Barreio were more than satisfied with the agreed-upon price.
    The police chief drove his cruiser back out through the wrought-iron gate and down the long gravel drive. When they reached the dirt road at the bottom of the hill, Aguilar ordered Barreio to stop the car. He turned to talk to his young helper in the back seat.
    "You'll get out here, Pepe. I want you to return to Xitaclan right away. You saw how much money we earned for this one artifact. There must be more. I trust no one but you. See what you can find at the ruins—and hurry."
    Pepe climbed uneasily out of the rear passenger door. He reached under the seat to retrieve an old machete he fre-quently carried with him. "But ... you want me to walk there?"
    Aguilar scowled. "You can get there in a day. Two days if you're slow. Hitch a ride for part of the way, but hurry! Or are you afraid? There's a big bonus in it for you."
    Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. Wednesday, 10:49 a.m.

    Pepe swallowed, then shook his head. "I will do as you ask, Senor Aguilar."
    "You know where to find me," Aguilar said. He reached into his case and drew out a stack of pesos. "Here, this is for your family," he said. "There will be much more, but you shouldn't carry it all alone. Tell your lovely mother and your sisters hello for me. Perhaps I'll come and visit them again sometime soon."
    Pepe stammered his own promises, then fled into the jungle beside the road.
    Aguilar rugged his floppy-brimmed ocelot hat hard against his head again, then loosened his ponytail, letting his dark hair fall free. He lounged back in the police car's seat, immensely pleased with himself. He might even reward himself with another shave.
    "Off to Canctin," Aguilar said. "Let's spend some of our money, eh?"
    Carlos Barreio wore a hard, satisfied grin on his face. "Spend your own share," he said.
    "I intend to," Aguilar answered, and they drove off down the narrow dirt road through the thick trees.
    The stone jaguar stared at the spectators with eyes that were disks of polished green jade. Fangs of sharp flint were embedded in its open mouth; the scarlet paint on its stylized body of sinuous curves had weathered and faded over the centuries. A placard identified the statue as a relic from the tomb of a Maya high king in the city of Uxmal.
    "Reminds me of a cat my neighbors used to have," Mulder said.
    A crowd of third grade schoolchildren led by a har-ried-looking teacher bustled through the Pre-Colombian Treasures exhibit room, yelling and playing tag despite the teacher's strenuous efforts to keep them quiet and respectful.
    Mannequins dressed in bright feathered headdresses and ritual loincloths stood in front of colorful backdrop paintings that showed squarish ziggurats and the encroach-ing jungle. In another mural, Spanish Conquistadors arriv-ing from the eastern sea looked like spacemen in their gleaming silvery armor.
    Speakers mounted within the dioramas pounded out tinny recorded drumbeats, flute calls, and Indian chant-ing, as well as the sounds of jungle birds and insects. Tinted lights simulated Central American sunsets.
    In the middle of the exhibit hall a carved limestone stela—or at least the plaster reproduction of one—tow-ered nearly to the ceiling rafters. Bright spotlights shone down on the high-relief glyphs and exotic carvings that depicted the Maya calendar and astronomical markings.
    Scully bent over to scrutinize a strange stone sculp-ture within a rectangular Plexiglas case: a squatting scare-crowish figurine with a long chin and hooked nose, wearing what appeared to be a charcoal brazier on his head. Scully glanced at her watch, then at her partner, and raised her eyebrows.
    "Archaeologists deal with centuries at a time," Mulder said.