Chasing Power Read online

  “So we go back to Tikal and start jumping? That’s the plan?” Kayla asked. Her stomach clenched and unclenched. Was she really doing this? The man who caused the cave-in could still be there. Or worse, he could have already figured this out and be on his way to find the stones.

  “You need beverages and snacks,” Selena said. “Can’t jump around in a jungle without water.” She scurried to the minibar, found a nylon backpack from a technology conference, and filled it with water bottles and packets of pretzels. She shoved the bag at Daniel. “Oh, and let me print the photo for you. Multiple copies.” She crossed to the computer and started to print. “You’ll each carry one, and I’ll keep one here.” She handed them both the pages and also gave Kayla back her phone. “Give me your phone number, Daniel, and I’ll text the file to you too.” He gave them both his number, and Selena forwarded him the photo. “There. Now you don’t have to worry about theft again. Just about cave-ins and other murder attempts.” Selena hesitated. “You guys … You don’t have to do this.”

  “Yes, I do,” Daniel said gravely.

  “Okay, yes, your mother, but Kayla …”

  “I’m not going to live my life in fear,” Kayla said. “I’m not Moonbeam.”

  Selena took a deep breath as if steeling herself. “Do you need me to come?”

  Kayla shook her head. “I need you here to deflect Moonbeam if she calls—when she calls.”

  She exhaled. “Oh, thank goodness. I’m seriously not the heroic adventurer type. I’d be the sidekick that gets killed off so the heroine can be extra-motivated. Also, my mom is due home soon. So what do you want me to say to Moonbeam when she calls? Your mom is seriously hard to lie to. I don’t know how you do it so easily.” Quickly, she added, “Not that that makes you a bad person.”

  “Tell her I’m with you. I needed some beach therapy.”

  “And if this jaunt of yours takes longer than a trip to the beach?”

  Kayla felt her face heat up. “Then tell her that I slept with him and I’m not ready to face her yet but I’m okay and not to call the police and not to run and hide.” Cheeks blazing, she turned to Daniel. “All right. Let’s go.”

  “Wait!” Selena said. “That guy has the same map. We figured it out in about seven seconds. He could too. What are you going to do if you see him again?”

  “I doubt he can teleport,” Daniel said. “We should have the advantage.”

  “But he has the parchment. Combine that with a topographical map … If you know the number of jumps and the contours of the land, it’s not impossible to figure out. Just need some serious math skills. And then a plane or a helicopter. Kayla, you need a plan for what you do if you encounter him again.”

  Kayla pointed to Daniel. “He’s my plan. No splitting up this time. I stick close to him, and if we’re in danger, we jump out of there. I don’t want more rocks on my head, thank you very much.”

  Selena nodded, appeased. “Much bravery in running the hell away.” She pointed her finger at Daniel. “If you get my friend killed, I will personally have you drawn and quartered. I am dead serious. I know how it’s done, and I have the horses to do it.”

  Impulsively, Kayla hugged her. “You are the best friend ever.”

  Selena patted her on the back. “Just the most bloodthirsty. Now go.”

  Kayla stepped away, and Daniel put his hand on her shoulder. White. Black. Green. And they were back in Tikal on the plaza in front of the temple. Heat slammed into Kayla. She felt as if she’d been shoved underwater. She gasped for air, and after a minute her breathing adjusted.

  A man ran toward them, shouting in Spanish. He’d broken away from a group of men and women, mostly Guatemalans wearing khakis and holding shovels, who were clustered around a ring of vans. The site was crawling with people, many more than last time.

  Kayla felt Daniel’s grip on her shoulder tighten as the man switched to heavily accented English. “You! Not dead?” He called to people behind him in rapid-fire Spanish.

  “Don’t vanish,” Kayla ordered Daniel.

  “Are you sure?” Daniel asked.

  “They’ve seen us. We can’t!”

  The man skidded to a halt in front of them. Others joined him, and Kayla watched their expressions switch very quickly from relieved to angry. She caught a few stray words tossed back and forth in Spanish. The workers had tried to rescue them, she gathered. They’d been presumed dead. A portly man jogged over to them. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He had a mustache that sagged as if from the heat over his mouth. It looked like a limp woolly caterpillar. He appeared to be Guatemalan as well, but he spoke to them in unaccented English. “What was this? Some kind of trick? You are in very big trouble. Very big. Damaging, irreparably, a national treasure. The cost of the rescue.” He ticked off the items on his pudgy fingers. “Do you have any idea how many men were sent in after you? Do you have any idea how much bad PR you caused?” He continued to rant as he and the others propelled Kayla and Daniel across the plaza. On the opposite side of the plaza, where they were headed, Kayla saw a helicopter and a large group of people. Some were doctors. Some were police. Many held cameras with impressively weighty lenses, and several held professional-grade video cameras.

  “Oh, no,” Kayla muttered. “Daniel, I can make an exception. Get us out of here!”

  He didn’t argue. The world flashed white then black then beige, and in an instant, they were back in Selena’s media room. She was at her computer. She spun around in her chair. “Guys, I think you missed. You’re supposed to be in the jungle, remember?”

  “I think we may have caused an incident.” Kayla dropped Daniel’s hand and strode across the room to the computer. “Can you look for Guatemalan news? Anything about an accident at Tikal?”

  Selena searched. In less than a minute, she found it. She switched it from her monitor to the TV screen and swiveled in her chair. Kayla felt her heart sink. The cave-in. The rescue operation. And one photo, in profile and in motion, of Daniel’s face, the friend of the victim. It was plastered all over Guatemalan news.

  “This isn’t good,” Selena said. “How many people saw you this time?”

  “Too many,” Kayla said. “But I don’t think the news cameras caught us.”

  “People snap photos all the time,” Selena said. “You could be online right now.” She started searching again.

  Kayla felt ill. Her stomach flopped. “What do we do?”

  “We have to go back,” Daniel said. “That’s where the map starts.”

  “But the whole area is swarming with people.” Kayla took several long steps away from him, in case he got any ideas. “If you’d just rescued me like a normal person—”

  “There would have been news and cameras then too, celebrating your survival,” Daniel said. “I thought I was saving you from that, as well as the rocks that nearly crushed your head.”

  “I can’t be caught on camera in Guatemala. Or anywhere. You don’t understand. I can’t be famous. Or infamous. Or have any kind of image of me out there. There’s … someone looking for me.”

  Daniel fell quiet. “Your father.”

  “Yes.” She tried to think of the words to convey how absolutely serious it was.

  Before she could, Selena did it for her. “This isn’t a joke. She really does have to hide. Her father killed her sister.”

  Kayla felt her breath stolen out of her lungs. That wasn’t something she said out loud, ever. To hear it stated so casually … “I don’t … we don’t talk about it much. And he …” She swallowed. “I can’t be on the news. Ever. He could see.”

  Daniel clearly didn’t know what to say.

  Not wanting to see pity in his eyes, Kayla went over to Selena’s computer. Reaching over her to type, she brought up pictures of Tikal. “I bet Fire Is Born’s great-grandkid—or whoever he was—started from the highest point in the area for the greatest visibility. So, can you jump us to the top of the Temple of the Great Jaguar? Skip the people and their cameras entirely.
”

  “Heights are … difficult for me.”

  “Really don’t want to be splattered all over the side of the temple. If you can’t do it, we’ll think of another idea.” Not that she had any other ideas.

  “I think I can do it. The top should be more stable than the steps.”

  Kayla studied him. Was she willing to risk her life and her happily unbroken bones on an “I think I can”? He was tense, she could see, but also intense. She wasn’t sure she knew anyone as intensely focused on a goal as he was. It wasn’t very Californian. On the other hand, she didn’t think she knew anyone in such a serious mess. “Selena, do you have a compass? We’ll need to identify west fast, before anyone notices us and points their cameras.”

  “Maybe with the camping supplies.”

  “You camp?”

  “No one camps, except for people who hate to shower and families whose teenagers don’t like them anymore but who desperately wish they did. Follow me.”

  The three of them traipsed through the house. Nearly to the front door, Selena held up her hand, motioning for them to stop. Kayla listened. Beside her, Daniel held his breath, as tense as a compressed spring. Footsteps echoed across the marble floor.

  “Selena, are you home?” A woman’s voice. Selena’s mother. Kayla caught a glimpse of her in the foyer mirror. She wore a soft gray power suit and black heels. Her hair was slicked back into a tight bun. Her makeup was flawless. She made Kayla feel grubby and unkempt just by glimpsing her.

  “Camping supplies are in the attic of the garage,” Selena whispered. “I’ll distract her.” She waltzed out into the foyer. “I’m home, Mama.”

  Her mother’s voice drifted into the hallway. As always, Kayla thought she sounded like a distant aunt who was faking polite happiness. She had a musical, lovely voice, but it was never warm, not like Moonbeam’s. “Come give me a hug,” Mrs. Otieno said. “You don’t look well. Are you sleeping all right? Getting enough exercise? I left you those Pilates videos. Tell me you tried them.”

  Kayla heard the rustle of fabric.

  “Ah, mi chica, you worry me. Are the classes going well? Did you sign up for more, like we talked about?”

  “Yes, I’m sleeping and I’m exercising and I signed up for the classes. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry so much,” Selena said, her voice sad, as if she already knew what her mother was going to say next. When she talked to her mother, she sounded muted, as if the force of Mrs. Otieno’s personality dampened Selena’s own. In the hallway, Kayla listened, hoping that this time—

  Kayla felt Daniel’s hand squeeze her shoulder, and the house flashed. They reappeared outside, near the garage. He started in through the garage door, passing Selena’s red convertible before Kayla had fully gotten her balance. Looking back once at the house, she darted in after him.

  Inside, she saw Daniel had found a set of pull-down stairs next to the tool bench. He lowered the stairs, and their hinges squealed and squeaked, proof that even in a mansion, not everything worked perfectly smoothly. He climbed the stairs into the attic, and Kayla hurriedly followed.

  The attic was crammed with piles of bags, stacks of boxes, and furniture, but even with all the junk, it was well organized and dust free. Kayla thought there was something not right about this much cleanliness. Lives needed a little mess in them. But it served her fine now. She spotted the camping gear in one corner. Climbing over bags and antique chairs, she reached it the same time Daniel did.

  Side by side, Daniel and Kayla dug through the gear. She pocketed a new lighter, a few prepackaged trail rations, and a bottle of bug spray. She was glad she’d picked shorts with lots of pockets. Daniel was already carrying the water and snacks in Selena’s backpack. Inside a box, Daniel found the compass. Holding it flat on one hand, he held out his other hand to Kayla. She took it.

  In an instant, they were back in Tikal.

  Chapter 10

  The view from the top of the Temple of the Great Jaguar was breathtaking—and not only because teleporting made her innards feel as if they’d been dumped in a blender. She held Daniel’s hand as her equilibrium steadied. Before them the rain forest stretched off in all directions, an ocean of green with crests of white clouds. “First jump, west,” Daniel said. He pointed to a peak on the horizon. She thought she heard the blades of a helicopter whirl and looked down to see that the crowd on the plaza had grown.

  White. Black. And then green.

  They stood on a stone ledge. Greenery filled the mountainside above and below them. She heard birds call to one another in elaborate trills. A monkey swung from one tree to the next, the branches bowing beneath its weight. Turning carefully—very carefully—Kayla saw Tikal far behind them in the distance, the stone tops of the ruins rising out of the jungle. He’d done it!

  With luck, news of their appearance and disappearance would be confined to local stations and newspapers. It might not ever reach California. And with more luck, there might not be any photos of her. She could still make it through this without Moonbeam discovering the truth.

  Above Tikal, the helicopter was a speck against the blue. “Look, the rescue copter is leaving! They’ve given up on us.” Or it could belong to their enemy. Kayla thought of what Selena had said—all the kidnapper needed was the parchment, a topographical map, and a plane or helicopter. She dismissed the thought. Much more likely that it was a rescue helicopter. Or from a news station.

  “Think I’ll skip looking,” Daniel muttered. He pressed against the rock face of the mountain, away from the edge, the backpack squashed between him and the rock.

  “Where next?”

  “South.” Daniel checked the compass, fixed his eyes on a mountain that was due south, and they jumped to another peak. This time, they appeared on a slope of rock. Kayla caught her balance on the rocks and scraped the palms of her hands. Wincing, she rubbed the dirt off on her shorts. She glanced at Daniel. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes looked wild. Gripping her arm, he jumped again.

  After three more jumps, Kayla had to break the silence. “What if the landscape was different when the ancient jumper hid the stones?”

  “Mountains don’t change that fast.”

  They jumped again.

  “Visibility can be different from day to day,” she argued. “If it was cloudier or foggier then or now, wouldn’t that make a difference?”

  He shot her a glare and then consulted the photo again. “South.” He jumped them again. “I think it’s safe to assume he’d have picked a clear day for greatest visibility. He obviously wanted someone to be able to retrace his steps—otherwise, he wouldn’t have left a map. Our jumps should be the same distance.”

  Kayla shook her head to clear her vision. The air was clammier here, and the heat sucked at her skin. The trees were spindly, and a barbed-wire fence ran along a dirt road. “Just saying that this might not work right away.”

  “Or at all,” he said. “You can say it.”

  She didn’t say it.

  On the next jump, they reached the shore.

  Waves crashed onto gray rocks. Palm trees bowed out over the ocean, and the water was a frothy blue. The rocks were slick with seaweed and ran into the water—there was no beach here. In the distance, mountains jutted up, seemingly out of the water, and white birds arced over the waves.

  “Can I catch my breath?” With each jump, Kayla felt as if she were leaving a layer of herself behind. Daniel released her hand, and she sank down onto the rocks. She hung her head between her knees and let the crash of waves soothe her like it always did. She tried to imagine she was home on the Santa Barbara beach with Selena. The salt air tasted almost the same. “How can you stand it? Every time we jump, I feel like I’ve been shoved through a colander.”

  “The more familiar the destination, the easier the jump. These kinds of jumps … hurt.”

  She heard the exhaustion in his voice. She lifted her head to look at him, to see if he was all right. He was looking out across the water, and the wind wa
s blowing his hair back. His eyes matched the ocean, dark and churning beneath a clear sky. She wondered what was going through his head. “What’s your mother like?” Kayla asked. “Are you close to her?”

  He sank onto a rock and pulled out a water bottle from the backpack Selena had given them. He drank and then handed it to Kayla. She drank and then returned it. “She’s the only family I have. She’s … Well, she looks the opposite of yours, no offense meant. She’s more like Selena’s mother, from what I saw, minus the pricey jewelry. She only wears power suits, and I haven’t seen her without makeup in years. She’s always working, even when she’s not. She has her cell phone glued to her. Not much choice. Academia is cutthroat, and she started late. I’m proud of her.”

  “She uses you for her travel, you said.”

  “I don’t mind,” he said quickly. “It’s a good way for us to spend time together, you know? Anyway, maybe when this is over, she won’t go anywhere for a while. She’s been promising … Look, she is what she is, just like yours is what she is. I don’t go around thinking I can change her. But she’s my mother, and I know she’d do anything in her power to save me if the situation were reversed.”

  “You don’t need to get defensive,” Kayla said. “She’s your mom. She doesn’t have to be flawless for you to want to save her.”

  He was silent for a moment. “We fought the last time I saw her. Total cliché, right? You’d think I’d be racked with guilt and want to find her to say I’m sorry. But I don’t. I mean, sure I’ll say I’m sorry. But I just want to find her.”

  “I get that.” Looking out at the water, she thought about Moonbeam. Kayla always tried to protect her too. She shielded her from the stuff the neighbors said, she secretly paid off bills with money she stole, and she made sure Moonbeam took her vitamins. “I’m sure your mother’s okay.”

  “You don’t know that.”