Garrett paused at the top of the hill, staring down at Liberty’s Jeep, their transportation out of this nightmare. “Lib?”
She hurried to his side, Walter and Corey close behind.
“How many spares do you have?” Liberty clutched the strap to her camera bag with both hands as the flat tires registered.
“Not enough,” she finally managed.
“Corey, how far to your car?” Garrett asked.
He pointed up the road. “Half a mile?”
“Let’s grab whatever we’re going to need and head out then,” Walter said, rushing down the hill to the Jeep.
“We’ll come back for it when this is over,” Garrett said.
Liberty set out after her father. “The flats are worth the photos I’ve got, but not worth Maddy’s life. Let’s get moving.”
Corey followed several steps behind, keeping his distance while they pulled out the briefcases, notebooks and a small cooler. Twenty minutes later, Garrett shifted Corey’s car into reverse and pulled out onto the highway.
“Where to?” he asked.
Corey pulled the codex from his backpack and flipped through several pages, his hands trembling. Garrett checked his rearview, catching Liberty’s nod.
“I need the last page,” Corey said.
“Where are we now?” Garrett asked.
Corey pointed to images resembling the petroglyphs they’d seen on the cliffs the night before. Garrett touched a circle with intricate engravings within its borders on the next page. “What’s this?”
Corey cleared his throat several times. “It’s a place of records. No depository there.”
Garrett emerged from the canyon and checked his cell phone, his signal was growing. “Call her.”
“Maddy?” Corey asked.
Garrett nodded. “We’ve got to stall Angelo.”
Corey dialed his wife’s number and held the phone by his ear, slowly closing it seconds later. “Nothing.”
“No answer or out of service?” Garrett asked.
“It didn’t even ring, just transferred right to her voicemail.”
Liberty leaned forward, her elbow on the back of the driver’s seat. “You’ve got to try her back in a little while.”
Corey nodded, staring at the blank display.
Garrett motioned to the codex and turned right onto Main Street in Parowan. “How do you know about that location?” Garrett asked.
“I’ve seen it.”
“Where is it?” Liberty asked.
“Parowan Gap.”
“Those are Fremont carvings,” Walter said.
Corey shook his head. “Not all of them.”
“You’re sure?” Garrett asked.
Corey folded the codex. “Let’s say this record doesn’t exist, that I didn’t see the Aztec warriors leaving their mark on the rocks. We’ll try a little common sense instead.”
“Okay,” Garrett said. “Give it to me.”
“Fremont Indians inhabited the area from 700 to 1250 A.D. This is the time most of the carvings took place.”
“Three hundred years before the Aztecs left Tenochtitlan,” Walter said.
Corey nodded. “The Fremont traded turquoise with people in Mexico as early as the 800s. They had established trade routes directly through Parowan Gap, through Nevada, where the turquoise was mined, and into the heart of Mexico, Aztec country.”
“How does this relate to our hunt?” Walter asked.
“We’re establishing the Aztec presence in Parowan Gap,” Garrett said.
Corey glared at them both before continuing. “In addition to trading precious stones, they exchanged information. Did you know that Parowan Gap has been hailed as nature’s perfect observatory?”
“Of course,” Walter said. “I’ve lived in Cedar most of my life.”
Garrett crossed under the freeway, not another car in sight.
“The Aztecs spent years devising a calendar, which they called Tonalpohualli. Do you know how many days were in their sacred calendar?”
Walter leaned forward. “Two hundred sixty.”
“The Mayans also had a 260 day calendar,” Corey said.
“The Fremont calendar in the Gap is 260 days,” Walter said.
Corey nodded. “They were all experts in astronomy, so would have had a common thread to discuss while on their trading expeditions.”
“So you think the Fremont Indians got their calendar from the Mayans or the Aztecs?” Liberty asked.
Corey shrugged. “Or the other way around. Either way it’s all connected.”
“Why would the Aztecs come here though, when fleeing Tenochtitlan with their gold?” Garrett asked.
Walter jumped in. “Astronomy was a part of who they were. The calendar days dictated which gods were in control on which days and how the Aztecs were to behave on those days. Everything in their lives revolved around the gods and day counting.”
Walter cleared his throat and continued, “So I’m guessing that they’d lost that sense of time, that sophisticated calendar they left behind and they were searching for another means to record the seasons and the reign of the gods.”
“There’s another connection,” Corey said.
Fields flanked the road, farms and ranches stretching out on either side.
“The Fremonts believed their race emerged from the underworld through a cave. Nearby a likeness of their god, Tobats, was discovered.” Corey opened the codex and pointed to the profile of the man. “It’s a rock formation, and it looks just like that.”
“The Aztecs wouldn’t worship another people’s god,” Walter argued.
Garrett’s cell signal faded and he debated whether or not to turn around. Liberty leaned forward. “When we get done at the Gap, could you pull over when we get cell service again? I’ve got to make a call.”
Garrett nodded, catching her smile in the mirror. “Definitely.”
Corey’s head jerked around. “Who are you calling?”
“Work,” she lied. “I need to arrange for a few more days off.”
“How does Tobats tie into your theory?”
Corey looked from Garrett to Liberty and back. “The Aztecs were searching for their god Quetzalcoatl. It was time for him to reign again. Maybe they thought Tobats was the key.”
“So you’ve convinced me,” Garrett said. “How’d you learn all that?”
Corey cleared his throat. “Research.”
“I’m impressed.” Garrett left the fields and entered a winding canyon, sloping hillsides on either side of the road. They were close.
“So where’s the last page?” Corey asked.
“We’ve got several more pages before the ripped one, have you figured them out yet?”
Corey shook his head. “It looks like there may be one more depository here, near the Gap, but then the trail heads south and the rip …”
Garrett pulled into a dirt parking lot next to a fenced off cliff. “We’re here.”
Corey replaced the codex, zipping it away in his backpack. “Do you trust me, Garrett?”
Garrett nodded. “You’re my best friend.”
“I’m only trying to do what’s best.”
“I know.”
Corey climbed out of the passenger seat, but didn’t shut the door right away. His hands trembled on the straps of his backpack and his jaw clenched and unclenched until he finally began to speak. “Do you think she’s okay?”
Garrett closed his door and leaned his elbows on the roof of the car. “I think they’ll take care of her enough to make good on a trade.”
“But she didn’t answer her phone. Nobody did.”
“She may have lost her signal, or her battery.”
Walter and Liberty wandered to the fence, searching the glyphs.
“I never wanted anything to happen to her.”
“I know, and I’m going to do whatever I can to help you get her back.” Garrett pushed a hand through his hair. “Angelo did seem pretty insistent on getting that medallion. I doubt he’ll cut off communication altogether.”
“Yeah. We’ll hear from them soon.” Corey shut the door and headed for the road that stretched through the gap. “I’m going to check out a site over there by the cave.”
Garrett nodded. “I’ll come with you. We’ve got 30 minutes, then we’ve got to get to cell service to try Maddy’s phone again.”
Corey nodded, his eyes downcast. “Garrett?”
“Yeah?”
“I found one other thing in that cave back there.” Corey unzipped his backpack and pulled out a stone flute. “Maybe you can have Walter check it out, see if it’s got any significance.”
Garrett took the flute, inspecting the details. “Amazing.”
Corey nodded. “That’s what I thought the first time I saw it, but I’m not the historian Walter is.”
Garrett nodded. “I’ll take it to him now. I’ll meet you across the road in a few minutes.”
Corey started away.
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