Tikal, Guatemala
4:56 am
Amy picked herself up from the damp rainforest floor. She had long since cried herself out. Dan was kidnapped, gone to who-knows-where. She gave one last glance up to Pony's broken, prone body and mentally made a note to call in an anonymous tip to the Guatemalan police; she couldn't stand the thought of him staying one more second up in that tree. With an expression reminiscent of concrete, Amy slowly, slowly made her way back to the hotel to face Jonah, Hamilton, Ian, Jake and Atticus. It was going to be the hardest conversation of her life.
The boys had returned from finding the riven crystal hours ago. Jake had immediately gone to look for Amy and Dan when they realized Pony was not manning the computer anymore. He hadn't found anything. The site of the drop was abandoned. Begrudgingly, he had returned to the hotel, hoping against hope that she and Dan would have returned in his absence. She hadn't. No one slept. No one spoke. Hours passed. The first glimpses of light began to creep over the horizon and dread settled into everyone's stomachs. If they had not returned by now, it was because they weren't returning. Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
Atticus took a deep breath, wrapping his mind around the inevitable; his best friend was gone. Either dead or kidnapped. What now? He didn't dare ask. One look around the room and it was clear that all of the occupants were sick with worry. Ian was chewing on his perfectly groomed fingernails, Ham was doing his 1,000th pushup with such vigor it was like he was mad at the floor for getting in his way. Jonah sat, slouched in a desk chair with such a worried look on his face, no doubt, he would develop permanent wrinkles there. But Jake, Jake was the hardest to look at. He had been standing in the same spot, arms crossed, back stiff, overlooking the window ever since his return, like some sentry on duty. If Jake could have willed Amy, Dan and Pony back to the hotel, they would have zoomed like some Harry Potter spell. It was his sheer will that kept Atticus going. He didn't dare think what would happen to his brother if they didn't return; if Amy didn't return. Atticus didn't spend much time thinking about his brother's love life, but Amy seemed to have gotten under Jake's skin like he had never seen before. Jake wasn't in love, exactly, or, maybe he was? Maybe that's what love looked like when it was under duress? Fighting all the time? Glowering at each other? Maybe this extreme worry that Jake carried with him was the manifestation of love itself? Could love give someone an ulcer?
It was in the middle of this thought that the key pad gave a swipe and the door opened. There stood Amy; muddy, wet, bloody, blotchy faced Amy. She looked terrible. And, she was alone.
Everyone instantly stood and stared at her. No one spoke. No one had to. Amy had their full attention. Her slack face and dead eyes said it all; Dan and Pony weren't coming back. With her eyes downcast on the floor, she spoke in a flat tone, like that of an automated voice messaging system.
"Pierce's men have Dan. They took him in a helicopter. I couldn't stop them. Pony tried to go after the helicopter, but—" Amy paused and swallowed hard. "he fell. He's dead."
The room was silent; everyone was in shock. Amy's face remained impassive for 5—6—7—more seconds before she broke, sobbing, and began to crumple to the ground. Five sets of arms reached out to grab her before she fell, but it was Jake who reached her first. She collapsed against him and let him hold her up. She didn't care that they technically weren't dating, she didn't care that he was still furious with her over Svalbard, she just knew it felt good to be in his arms. He led her over to the couch and sat down next to her. Jonah handed her a box of tissues.
Ian found his voice first. He was careful, as if she were made of glass, "Amy, can you tell us exactly what happened?"
Amy looked around at all of them. All five were there. "Did you find the crystal?" she asked, wiping her nose.
Atticus answered, "yes, we got it. It was right where we thought it would be."
Amy simply nodded. She didn't even have the emotion to give Att a smile. She swallowed hard, took a deep breath and plunged into her version of events from the night. As she spoke, she bodily leaned against Jake, often resting her head on his shoulder. Several times she had to stop, giving herself time to collect herself before continuing on. All of the boys listened with rapt attention. Halfway through her recount, Ham got up and began to pace the room while he listened. He had one thought: They never should have gone alone.
Jake was having the same thought, but, as it was too late to change things, he kept this thought to himself. On one pass across the room their eyes met and Ham and Jake shared a look; they knew, but would never, ever voice it to Amy. It would crush her.
"Well, we just have to find Dan now." Ian said matter-of-factly. "I suspect this 'code A' that I've been staring at on Pony's computer the last few hours is some sort of tracker. If it has something to do with Pierce, then I suspect we will find Dan."
Concrete-faced Amy was back. "Ok," she said, rising from her seat. "I need to shower and change then we're out of here. Jonah, how fast can the plane be ready?"
"Pilot says wheels up in 30 minutes." Jonah says, glancing at his phone.
"Fine, make sure you're all ready to go in 10."
Amy grabbed her pack and made for the bathroom. After she had closed the door, the five of them all stared at one another. Very little of the worry had drained from their faces. Dan kidnapped. Pony dead. It seemed like too much for one night.
"Let's get moving," Jake said, standing and rousing the others from their stupor. "We can't dwell on this right now. We have to find Dan."
The others mutely stood and began to gather their things like zombies. They hadn't slept so 'zombies' was an apt analogy. How long could the human body go without rest? Ham had a feeling they were about to find out.
Jake wanted some time to himself, so he told the others to meet in the lobby. He let himself out of the room and headed for the stairwell instead of the elevator. At this early hour, he knew it would be abandoned. As the door clicked behind him, he leaned his head against the cinderblock wall and closed his eyes.
How can I help? What can I do? He hated feeling so, so…powerless. That's what this feeling was—powerless. He thought back to seeing Amy walk in the room, looking like she had been run over by a truck and despite the knowledge that Dan was in enemy hands and Pony was dead, he couldn't suppress the glimmer of relief he had at seeing her alive and whole. How he wished things were different. Would they ever have a chance to make things right? Would she ever see him differently?
Maybe, he dared to even think it, she'd recant her words on the fishing boat and say it was all a lie? No sense dwelling on that right now Rosenbloom, he thought to himself. Those are thoughts for another time, another day, another life. Right now, you have to figure out a way to help Amy and if we're going to Angkor Wat, then that's what I need to prepare for. Good thing Jake knew so much about it. He'd grown up hearing stories about this famous Cambodian city; his father had even done his doctoral dissertation on Angkor Wat. He fixed his face, stood up straight and for the first time all night, a tiny smile crept on to his face as he jogged down the steps to the lobby.
