Aztec Treasure

Maria (Meztli) Gonzales’ POV

Grand Island, Nebraska

I looked at the man sitting in my backseat. I wanted to trust him, but he had blood on his hands. His actions set into motion events that killed my family and left me alone and hunted. “I appreciate the offer, Mr. Grimes. I wish I could accept it, but trust is in short supply for me right now. It didn’t help when you and your men surrounded me and forced me to drive away from my friends at gunpoint.”

“I’m sorry I had to do that, Maria. We needed to get you clear so we could talk. You can trust me.”

“The last man I could trust in this world is dead now, courtesy of the government you represent.”

He didn’t expect that answer, and his reply was reflexively defensive. “That wasn’t on us, Maria. We were heading there to help you!”

“Actions and consequences, Frank. The Task Force went after me when I’d done NOTHING. Why were they spending so much time looking for Maritza and me if we weren’t suspects? Why would they dig through my life until they found out what car I was driving? I was safe at our cabin. No one knew about me, Christian brought me supplies once a month or so, and we had mountains behind us to run in. I could have stayed there for YEARS, but it’s all blown now. Tell me WHY! Why did your Task Force target me, Frank?”

He didn’t have a good answer for me, and he knew it. “Once they figured out the Sons leadership were werejaguars, they couldn’t stop themselves. It was the same way with our Pack when we first came onto the radar, and we had to stomp on them hard to get them to stop looking. Even then, we had to keep watching them and make sure they didn’t try to screw us again.”

“You don’t trust them,” I said evenly.

“Trust, but verify,” Frank replied. “Some I trust more than others. Frank Donovan, one of the agents who went to talk to Christian, used to work for me. I trust him with my life, and I trusted him with yours. The Task Force is fatally compromised, and I’ve accepted that now. Some agencies like the FBI and Secret Service are working well with us. Other agencies are following their agendas, and the CIA seems to be working against us.”

“This is another reason not to trust you, Frank. You think you can protect me from the Government that you can’t trust yourself. Why would I believe you?”

He shook his head. “It’s dangerous out there, Maria. If you can keep off their radar, you might be fine, but you’ll slip up, or they’ll get lucky. When that happens, and the wrong people find you, I won’t be able to help you.”

“At least you’re honest about it. I’d be gone already if you tried blowing sunshine up my ass.” He snorted at that. “What happens when I leave Arrowhead?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to live my life on house arrest, hiding indoors so that no one recognizes me. What happens to me off Pack territory when I’m at school, the shopping mall, or a movie theater? If you can’t trust the Government, and I have no treaty protection, how exactly am I safe with you?”

I don’t think he’d thought about that. “I guess we’d have to make you part of the Pack.”

It was my turn to snort. “Me, in your Pack? Jaguars don’t have Packs or Pack bonds, and I’m pretty sure I’d stick out in my animal form.”

“Arrowhead has human Pack members, Maria. Our Beta’s mate is human, as are Rori’s mother and stepfather. None have the Pack link, but all are Pack, and the Council recognizes them as such.”

I hadn’t expected that, but it was encouraging. “You said you wanted me to go to Arrowhead. Why?”

“That’s where Colletta and I are now, and Rori is close to your age, as are her babies. I think you’d fit in there. If you’d rather go to a different Pack, we could make that work, too. Chase’s twin sister is Alpha of a Pack in western Canada. We could build a Canadian identity for you, and that gets you away from the US government.”

“Except the CIA,” I said.

“Yes.”

“Arrowhead doesn’t have good experiences with werejaguars, does it?”

“No, we haven’t. The Sons attacked multiple times, some using humans in the gang, others in jaguar form. They all died, and so did some of our people. Chase and Rori are part of the Steel Brotherhood, and they’ve lost people to the Sons as well. You can’t ignore that background, but we can’t blame you for it either. If you don’t seek vengeance for the deaths of your family, the Pack won’t blame you for what your adult relatives did without your knowledge.”

It wasn’t perfect, but it was realistic. If I found it was hard to get past, I could leave again, right?

“There’s more. Julio is family, the only family I have left. What happens with him? Are you going to help me get him back?”

Frank didn’t know what to say. “Julio is still a Federal prisoner, Maria. Even if we get him back, he’s spending the next twenty-to-life in a prison cell.”

“He’s also the only person I know who can keep my kind from extinction, Frank. How does saving the two of us prevent that if there isn’t a Jaguar to mate with me and give me offspring?”

Frank took a deep breath. “We don’t talk about it much, but Arrowhead figured out a way to help some humans survive a werewolf bite. Until a year ago, that bite was an ironclad death sentence and a painful one. Now, we’ve had three successful turns, including my own. Perhaps our doctors can find a way, especially if you fall in love with someone along the way.”

Love was a dream my parents dashed long ago; my kind couldn’t afford it. “It’s a lot to think about, Frank. I’m afraid I have to decline your offer of assistance, at least for now. I can’t risk going to a Pack, with all the scrutiny you are under from the Feds, until I know I’m protected from that same Government. Fix the CIA problem, and get my kind explicitly covered under your treaty or in another, and I might change my mind. Until then, I need to stay independent.”

His shoulders dropped, and I could tell he was disappointed in my decision. “Keep the envelope and the pistol, as you may need both. My people will do what they can to help you stay hidden; only five people know the name on that driver’s license, and I trust them all with my life.”

“I’ll do my part to disappear,” I said.

“Please, let me take care of this car for you,” he begged. “It’s only a matter of time until they find it. You can have one of my cars instead.”

I thought about it; if I took his car, they’d know what it was. “I’ll buy a new car tomorrow and text you with a location for this one,” I told him. “If you can drive it to Texas, great.”

“You have my card; call me if you need anything.” He opened the door and got out; one of his men ran up to him and handed him something. He tossed another bundle of cash and a bunch of debit cards and gift cards onto the front seat. “It’s all clean. Stay out of sight, Maria, and I’ll work on what you need to feel comfortable joining us.”

“Thank you, Frank.” He walked away, getting in another car, and drove away with the other vehicles following him. I sat there rocking Maritza, wondering if I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life.

There was no point in dwelling on it, not when I needed to find a place to sleep tonight. I put Maritza back in her car seat, then packed everything Frank gave me into my bag. The pistol was a good one, with custom three-dot night sights, so I loaded that and put it in my jacket pocket before I got back out on the road. Heading back to Highway 30, I headed east out of town. I found what I was looking for just past Highway 281 in the old area of the city. I saw the VACANCY light and turned into the Conoco Motel, a rundown single-story place where you could park in front of your door.

“I need a room for tonight, preferably in the back,” I told the old man at the desk.

“Sixty dollars and twenty-two cents with tax,” he said as he grabbed a key for me. Yes, this place was so old it didn’t even have keycards.

I pulled out three twenties and a one. “I need a driver’s license and a credit card,” he said as he took the money. “Since you paid cash, the card only gets charged for any additional room fees. Ice machine here by the office works. Checkout is at eleven.”

I handed over my Maria Gonzales license, not wanting to use my new Minnesota identification until I had a new car. I was back in the car a minute later, driving around the back. I parked the car in a guest spot, not wanting to tip anyone off as to which room I was at. I also didn’t want my license showing to the road.

I knew I’d have to get rid of the car tomorrow; there was a car dealership nearby, so it wasn’t the worst place to leave the car behind. While Maritza slept, I opened up the secret compartments in the seat and removed the rest of my cash and weapons, putting them in my bag. The last thing I needed was to have the car stolen and lose my stash.

The room was what I expected; old, stale, and dirty. I brought my things in and left them on the dresser. I got Maritza settled, took a quick shower, and was asleep moments after I put my head down.