The Death Relic by Chris Kuzneski Page B

somewhere to go this weekend. Somewhere warmer than Pittsburgh.’
    She smiled. ‘I forgot how much you hate the cold.’
    ‘I really do.’
    ‘Not to rub it in, but the weather is gorgeous here. I was going to try out my new bikini this weekend.’
    ‘Me, too.’
    She laughed. ‘I’m serious. This was supposed to be a working vacation. Now I’m stuck in my room, worried for my safety. I feel like such an idiot.’
    ‘Listen,’ Jones said in a soothing voice, ‘I know you aren’t the type of woman who needs to be rescued. Trust me, I know that better than anyone. But it sounds like your boss might be in serious trouble, the kind I can handle. If you like, I’d be more than happy—’
    Payne cleared his throat loudly.
    Jones smiled and corrected himself. ‘I mean,
we
would be more than happy to come to Cancún to look into things for you. That is, if you’re interested.’
    She nodded. ‘Yes, I’m interested.’
    He grinned. ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’

15
    Saturday, 11 February
    Because of the winter storm, the Payne Industries jet couldn’t take off from its private airfield until early the next morning. Not only did the runway have to be cleared of snow, the plane had to be de-iced to prevent mechanical failure. Once they got off the ground and above the thick layer of grey clouds, they had a smooth four-hour flight all the way to Cancún.
    Having called ahead, a silver SUV was waiting for them at the hangar when they landed in Mexico. Payne handled the paperwork while Jones tossed their bags into the trunk and entered the hotel address into the vehicle’s satelite navigation system. Less than thirty minutes later, they were pulling up to the Fiesta Americana, where they were greeted by a valet and zero mariachi bands. To them, that was a good thing. No one should be forced to listen to trumpets before noon.
    So as not to scare Maria, Jones called her from the lobby to let her know they were on the way up to her suite. By the time they got there, she had pulled the furniture away from the door and put down the steak knife she had clutched throughout the night. For her, sleep had been next to impossible. She had dozed off once or twice while reading a book on the Maya, but the smallest sound in the hall or outside her window had caused her to wake in a panic.
    All in all, it had been a dreadful night.
    Just before dawn, as the sun struggled to rise above the distant horizon, she tried to recall the last time she couldn’t fall asleep because of fear. Was it during a thunderstorm when she was a child? Or the first time she went camping alone? Eventually, she reached an ironic conclusion, one that put a smile on her face and let her know that everything would be all right.
    For as long as she could remember, she had always loved the proverb, ‘God works in mysterious ways.’ Her mother had taught it to her at an early age, and Maria believed it with all her heart – so much so that she had said it thousands of times over the years. Despite the constant repetition and her steadfast belief in its message, she was still amazed whenever the adage proved true. And in her mind, this was one of those times. Why? Because the last time fear had kept her awake was the night she had met Payne and Jones in Milan.
    A night they had hunted her like prey.
    A night they had threatened to kill her.
    Now they were there to protect her.
    Jones knocked softly on the door. ‘Maria, it’s us.’
    ‘Just a minute,’ she said as she glanced through the peephole.
    Jones stood at the front, a forced smile on his worried face as he did his best to put a positive spin on a bad situation. Behind him, Payne loomed in the background. A quiet pillar of strength, he stood there with his arms crossed, muscles bulging against his sleeves, his eyes looking for trouble. If possible, he was even bigger than she remembered.
    Years had passed since she had last seen them, and a lot of things had changed. But at that moment, as she