Chasing Power Read online

  “Always has been,” Kayla said. “In sixth grade, she decided to catalog every one of my faults. She drew them up in a spreadsheet, marking off the frequency of behaviors that she found unlikable.”

  “What did you do?” Sam continued to fiddle with the phone, his hands working while his eyes were on them.

  “I dumped sand in her bed.”

  Selena shuddered. “I can’t stand unclean sheets.”

  Sam laughed, and the sound brightened the whole place. He transformed when he laughed, and Kayla saw the way her friend looked at him, as if she wanted to run into that brightness. He sobered. “So how do I convince her to confront her parents and tell them she wants to date me?” he asked Kayla. “Looking at her and listening to her, you’d never guess that she’s afraid of anyone. But I bet she’s never stood up to her parents in her life. Have you, princess?”

  Kayla opened her mouth to defend her friend but couldn’t. Selena never did break the law, stay out past curfew, or do anything to cross any lines with her parents. She was always talking about how she couldn’t stand up to her parents; maybe she wasn’t exaggerating. “And here I thought I was such a bad influence on you. I really have to work harder.”

  “I live vicariously through you. You know that.” Selena had said that before, many times, but now Kayla thought her voice sounded a little sad.

  Before she could reply, Kayla heard a familiar bong. Sam held up her phone triumphantly. “Fixed! You didn’t break it. Just got dust where dust shouldn’t be.”

  Kayla jumped off the stool and ran to the phone. She snatched it out of his hands and scrolled through the photos. The last one was the parchment. Immediately, she e-mailed it to herself and Selena as backup. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Sam! I’ll convince her to date you.” Grabbing Selena’s arm, Kayla propelled her out of the store and back to the car.

  Selena got into the driver’s seat. Hugging the phone, Kayla jumped into the car. “You’re right! He works miracles!” She couldn’t wait to tell Daniel.

  Gripping the steering wheel, Selena stared straight ahead. “I wish you hadn’t promised him me.”

  “Why not? You clearly like him. Also, why didn’t you tell me? Can we get back to that?” Kayla asked. “I tell you everything. In minute detail. You even know the disaster that was my first kiss. Not to mention my first period. And of course the teeny tiny secret of my”—she made the ridiculous gesture for telekinesis that Selena had invented—“you-know-what that could get me killed if my father ever found out.”

  “I wanted to tell you, but … I like him. Really like him. And I didn’t want to be teased about him, not until I knew if it would work. But then it didn’t, and it was my fault, and I wanted to tell you—was going to vent to you, in fact, as you recall—but you weren’t alone, and then after that … I was embarrassed, okay?” She said all this in a rush, as if the words were happy to escape. “I should be stronger, but I’m not. I’m not like you, master thief turned superhero. So I can’t be with him. And you can’t fix it because I won’t disappoint my parents. They worked too hard for me to have all I have. They want me to have the opportunities they didn’t and … I don’t want to talk about it.” Peeling away from Sam’s store, Selena cranked up the radio so Kayla couldn’t argue with her.

  Looking again at her precious phone, Kayla studied the photograph. She’d fix Daniel’s family first, and then she’d tackle Selena’s. She could do it, she was sure.

  She just wished she knew how to fix her own.

  Chapter 9

  Selena parked in front of Kayla’s house, and the music shut off abruptly with the engine. Before Kayla could say anything, Selena popped out of the car. Kayla stepped out too and spotted Daniel. He was leaning against the red gate, clearly waiting for her. He peeled himself away from the gate and crossed the sidewalk. His hands were jammed in his pockets, and his eyes drilled into Kayla. He didn’t even glance at Selena.

  He halted in front of Kayla. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. You?”

  “Sure. Yeah.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. Stormy, she thought. She’d read novels where the guy had “stormy” eyes, and she never knew what that meant. But he had them. The colors in them reminded her of clouds closing over the sky. “Actually, no,” he said. “I nearly got you killed, and I’m no closer to saving my mother. The police have no leads. They think maybe she walked out on her own. They’re saying—” He cut himself off and gulped in air. “But I know she’s still out there, and I know she’s in danger. If you don’t believe me, I don’t blame you.” He looked so very lost.

  “Of course I believe you. Honestly, it’s not like the whole cave-in and …” She trailed off as she suddenly realized that she hadn’t had a chance to tell Daniel any of what had happened. “We should go inside. I have a lot to tell you, and I’d rather not do it out in the open.”

  “Your mother’s home.”

  Kayla hesitated. She really wanted to be someplace she felt safe while they talked about this. The beach wouldn’t work with him dressed like he was. She turned to Selena. “I hate to ask, but we need someplace private …”

  “One condition.” Selena held up a manicured finger. “I don’t want to talk about Sam.”

  “Who’s Sam?” Daniel asked.

  “Exactly,” Selena said.

  Kayla glanced at the gate. If they stayed here too long, Moonbeam was bound to notice them. And Daniel needed to see what she’d found. “Fine. For now.”

  Selena hopped back into the car and turned on the engine. The music blared again. “Come on, guys, to the Bat Cave!” She patted the seat next to her.

  “Shotgun.” Kayla jumped into the passenger seat.

  Daniel hesitated, then climbed into the backseat. It was more like a half seat, and he had to pull his knees up to his chin. Selena drove off, and the wind mixed with the music.

  Crossing Santa Barbara, Selena took the curves fast, skimming the coast and then heading up into the hills near Montecito. Kayla felt the wind in her hair. The wind tasted like the ocean and like sunshine, so very different from the taste of dust and humidity in Tikal. Cradling the phone, she hoped the picture was worth what she went through to get it.

  Selena’s driveway wound up one of the hills. Palm trees lined either side, in between manicured flower beds. At the gate, Selena leaned over the side of the car door and punched in her combination. Kayla politely looked away, even though she could have broken the combo in less than a minute. The gate slid open, and Selena drove in.

  Every time Kayla visited, she thought she should hear trumpets. Arriving at Selena’s house felt like arriving at the palace for a ball. Her house was much more of a palatial complex than what Kayla called a “house.” At least four buildings were visible from the driveway: the four-car garage, the maintenance shed, the guest cottage, and the house itself. Behind, there was also a pool house, a screened-in gazebo, and a Victorian-style doghouse for a dog that had died two years ago. Selena zoomed into the garage, parked, and hopped out.

  The garage was the most spotless garage in existence, which Kayla thought was either because Selena’s family had so much other space to shove their stuff or because Selena’s mother prized neatness and had the money to buy it. It held beach chairs, a trash can, a tool bench with various tools, and four sparkly cars, including a Lamborghini and a Hummer.

  Getting out of the car, Daniel whistled softly, admiringly, at the array of vehicles. “Are her parents home?”

  “Selena wouldn’t have brought us if they were,” Kayla said quietly. “Her parents are firm believers in the study-more, socialize-less approach to life, even though Selena is always top of the class in everything. They have high expectations.”

  Outside, the driveway was pink cobblestones, and the gardens on either side were perfectly maintained with hibiscus and bird-of-paradise flowers every few feet. There was none of the overflowing green that Moonbeam favored. Each plant was neatly corralled in its own circle.

  “You live
here?” Daniel asked.

  “Shut up and don’t judge me.” Selena strode toward the front door.

  “She’s a little sensitive about it,” Kayla told him. “Rich-person guilt. Also, there’s this guy—”

  “No Sam!” Selena shouted.

  Kayla shut up.

  Daniel craned his neck as they entered the mansion. As much as Selena hated that kind of reaction to her house, Kayla couldn’t blame him. It was worth some unabashed ogling. The foyer alone was impressive. It featured floor-to-ceiling mirrors and its own fountain beneath a crystal chandelier, as well as a grand staircase with an oil painting by Georgia O’Keefe on the wall. As a kid, Selena used to try to coax ducks to walk inside and use the fountain like they did at a hotel that her parents once took her to. She’d leave a trail of birdseed from the front door, and it was a constant battle between her and the maids to see how long the seed was allowed to dirty up the marble tiles. As far as Kayla knew, her parents never noticed.

  “What do her parents do?” Daniel asked.

  “Her mom founded some high-tech computer start-up that majorly took off, and her dad’s a surgeon. I like them. Selena has a few issues with them.”

  “And the guy?”

  “Reading between the lines, I’d say they’re less than impressed with his career ambitions. Frankly, I don’t think they’d be impressed with anyone. But they do want her to be happy, so if she—”

  Selena shot a glare at Kayla. “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you. Just drop it.” She clomped through the house as if she were angry at it. Kayla followed behind with Daniel. She hadn’t been here in weeks. Mostly, they met at Kayla’s or at a café somewhere or on the beach. Selena didn’t bring people home often, despite its being large enough to house their entire school. In fact, she was one of the only rich kids who didn’t host keggers the second her parents were out of town. She never even had slumber parties. Her parents didn’t approve of them. Kayla wondered how many things Selena hadn’t done out of fear of disappointing her parents. She was good at making it seem like she made her own decisions. Before Sam, it hadn’t seemed like such a big deal.

  Instead of heading up to her princesslike room, Selena led them into the basement. She switched on the lights. Kayla’s basement was a crawl space infested with about three billion spiders. Selena’s basement was a game room, complete with billiards table, foosball, and Ping-Pong—all of which looked pristine, as if no one had ever played them. Absently, Kayla sent the foosball puck across the board with her mind. It slid into the opposite net with a clang. Selena shot her a glare. “Sorry,” Kayla said.

  Selena marched to the mammoth TV, which rivaled a movie screen, and sat next to a bank of computers, cable boxes, and stereo equipment. “Give me your phone.” Kayla handed it over, and Selena messed with a few wires and plugs. Soon, the photo of the parchment was displayed on the giant screen.

  Daniel sucked in air. “What—”

  Kayla pointed at the screen. “This is what I found in the tomb. Luckily, I took the picture before some guy said a spell that flooded the chamber with light, stole the parchment and my backpack while I was blinded, and then caused the stairs to collapse when I chased him.”

  “Do you think it was the kidnapper? Or someone who works for him? Or just a coincidence? Do you think my mother was near …” He trailed off and gulped in air like a fish. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Anguish filled his voice.

  “Maybe because you snatched me out of there and dumped me home without giving me a chance? Anyway, this is why I believe you.” She crossed her arms and stared at the image. It had three rows, each with glyphs and a series of dots. Above the glyphs … She squinted. “Are those letters? Selena, can you zoom in?”

  The photo blurred and then steadied, closer in.

  “Up,” Kayla instructed.

  Selena scrolled up, and then all three of them crowded in front of the wide screen to peer at actual, recognizable letters above the Maya glyphs. “I think it’s Latin,” Selena said. She scooted over to the computer and typed.

  Daniel read out loud, “Lapides tres, mors una.”

  “ ‘Three stones, one death,’ ” Selena said.

  All of them stared at it again. “Guess that settles it,” Kayla said. “It’s not a smoothie recipe.” Selena zoomed out so they could see the full parchment.

  “Freaky,” Selena said. “No way any Romans paddled to Guatemala a millennium before the Spanish. Are we voting aliens?”

  “We’re voting someone like me,” Daniel said. “Queen Marguerite said a white man came where no white man should be. He’d seen an empire fall, she said.”

  Selena whistled. “Sweet. Wonder if he wore a toga.” In a more thoughtful voice, she added, “Guess the date wasn’t a coincidence. Rome was falling then. Same year as the Battle of Adrianople, which did not go well.”

  Peering at the photo, Kayla said, “I think it’s a map.”

  “Ooh, a treasure map? Should I get my eye patch and parrot?” Squinting at it, Selena frowned. “Nope, I don’t see it. Totally doesn’t look like a map.”

  Kayla pointed to the three rows of glyphs and dots. “Three stones. Three rows. Maybe each row is directions to finding one of the stones.”

  “Ooh, yeah, I like that theory,” Selena said.

  Daniel was looking at Kayla, not the parchment. “I can’t believe you thought to take a picture of it. If you hadn’t, we’d have nothing. Again, you are amazing.”

  Kayla felt her cheeks heat up in a blush. “Yeah, just born that way, I guess. Really, the parchment seemed fragile, and I thought it could be dust by the time I found you. I didn’t expect to be robbed, then buried.”

  Selena pointed at a stylized face with a sloped, prominent nose and regalia on his head. “Okay, each row starts with the same image.”

  Kayla recognized the face from the murals inside the tomb. “Safe to assume that means the Great Jaguar Temple. I think that guy’s the king.”

  “After that … look, these four glyphs repeat,” Selena said. She was right. The same four glyphs repeated in a random order on all three lines, separated by dots. One glyph looked like a table on top of two clouds. Another looked like two clovers with a spout on top. A third was a snail with wings. And a fourth was a face looking at a wall with two clouds underneath.

  “Any idea what they mean?” Kayla asked.

  “Four glyphs on a treasure map? I vote they stand for east, west, north, and south.” She typed fast and then opened and closed several browser pages until she stopped on one. “Yes, I am brilliant. You can all worship me now. I will accept sacrifices.” She pointed to the computer screen. The glyphs were defined as four directional glyphs, exactly as Selena had predicted.

  “I was the one who said it was a map in the first place,” Kayla reminded her.

  Selena graciously nodded. “You inspire my brilliance. Now what about the dots?” Each row had about fifty dots.

  “Number of steps?” Kayla proposed.

  “Miles?” Daniel said, simultaneously.

  “The ancient Maya couldn’t have measured in miles,” Selena objected. “That’s an English thing. Even though the English use kilometers now. It’s basically just us. Because we’re ornery.”

  “The marks have to mean something,” Kayla said. “If the glyphs mean direction …”

  “… then the dots have to mean distance,” Daniel finished.

  “Exactly.”

  “Okay, so how did the Maya measure distance?” Selena typed and read, then typed more and read more. “Everyone’s obsessed with how they measure time. And astronomy,” she complained. “This might take a while. Help yourselves to snacks.” She waved in the direction of a kitchenette and bar behind the billiards table.

  Kayla frowned again at the photo. Each row ended on a dot. “Also, what do we do at the end of the trail? Highly doubt the stone will be just lying on the ground.”

  “X marks the spot?” Selena didn’t look up from the computer. “I think the key
is those dots. If you’re right that it’s distance, then we need to know the units of measurement …”

  Daniel was staring intently at the dots. “What if they’re jumps?”

  Both Kayla and Selena looked at him. Selena quit typing.

  “The map was hidden where only someone like Kayla could find it,” he said. “What if the stones are hidden where only someone like me can reach them? What if each mark is a jump?” He counted the dots. “Five jumps west. Twenty jumps south. Et cetera.”

  That … sounded completely plausible.

  “How far can you jump?” Kayla asked.

  “When it’s a specific place I know or have seen a photo of, like Tikal, there’s no limit. I just visualize it and I’m there. But otherwise, it depends how far I can see. On a flat plain … a few miles. On a mountain, maybe fifty? It has to do more with the topography than anything else.”

  “You’ve tested this?”

  “Sure. Wouldn’t you? Even tried jumping into the ocean once from shore. Nearly drowned. I was scooped out of the water by some fishermen. Interesting experience that I won’t repeat.”

  Selena blinked at him. “I will avoid the cliché ‘look before you leap’ and just say it’s a good thing you never tried to jump to the moon because your blood would boil and your brain would explode. Seriously, you didn’t think the ocean would be full of water?”

  Ignoring her, he said, “The tricky part with a jump like this—to a place I don’t know and can’t really see—is that it’s draining. A thousand times worse than jumping to a place I know or have seen a photo of. I can hop around to familiar places all day and feel fine. But jumping to a spot on the horizon … there’s just so little visually to focus on, you feel the miles as you jump. Makes it almost as exhausting as actually walking there.”

  “But is it doable?” Kayla pressed.

  He studied the photo of the parchment. “Sure,” he said at last. “And unless our ancient jumper had terrible eyesight or something, the jumps should be the same distance now as then. Unless you’re in a city where your sight lines are blocked by skyscrapers, basic geography doesn’t change all that much.”