Second Chances (Athena Group Novel Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

listen to their guides' history of the temple. She couldn’t help herself, by scanning the group for a familiar face. She felt a twinge of disappointment when she didn’t see him. Just as she was about to turn back to follow Pedro to the ball court, she saw him looking right at her. She wasn’t fast enough to disguise her shock of surprise. Quickly she turned and caught up with her group as they were entering the ball court.
    The ball court had a long narrow field with stone walls on each side with a stone hoop that extended vertically from the center on each side seven meters in the air. At the end of the court were additional stone walls.
    Pedro spoke. “There were six field players along with a captain that would attempt to pass the ball through the hoops. The first team that accomplished this was declared the winner. The captain of the winning team was then beheaded.” Shelby felt a shiver run down her spine when she heard Amanda gasp. Pedro continued. “The captains considered it an honor and a guaranteed passage into heaven.” He turned towards the end of the field and began to walk.
    The group continued to move down the field as another group moved into the ball court. Pedro stood next to the wall at the far end of the field. He asked everyone to turn and face the wall as he spoke. “The Mayans were very inventive and ahead of their time. When you face the wall you can talk and the people at the other end of the field can hear every word that is said even if you whisper.” They all turned to the wall, and Shelby watched as the others spoke towards the wall.
    “Hello Shelby.” She heard his voice. She turned around to find him, but he was nowhere that could be seen. She saw a group at the opposite end of the field. She turned towards the wall and said. “Where are you?” She quickly asked as she noticed that Amanda and the others starting back towards the entrance.
    “If you’re hearing me, then where do you think I am?” She heard the smirk in his voice.
    “Are you following me?” She demanded.
    “Shelby, really?” he asked.
    “Oh, right, what was I thinking? You don’t follow anyone, do you? It’s easier to cut bait and run.”
    “Mom, are you coming?” Amanda shouted to her.
    She turned to her daughter in surprise. “Yes.” They began walking back up the field to continue with the tour. As they passed the other group Shelby saw Max watching her intently as she passed by. She could tell her words had hit their mark. But the man sure did know how to unnerve her. They walked through the ball court opening and continued on to the temple of warriors.
    As she walked through the temple, she was admiring the columns which represented the warriors. She saw Max step out from behind one of the columns. She glanced around, and he was gone. She turned only to see him step from behind another column closer to her. Good grief! The man was everywhere. She felt like she was in a hall of mirrors. He was trying to drive her crazy. That was it. She saw him at the last row of the warriors. She started walking towards him, but he turned and walked away. She watched as his group walked towards the entrance of the ruins. She felt both relief and regret at the same time. Relief that she could relax and enjoy the rest of the tour, regret that she wouldn’t see him again.
    As they finished up their afternoon Shelby continued to look for Max, but she never saw him again after the temple of warriors. They were walking back out of the ruins when she stopped at a local vendor table. They had intricately carved masks. She had always been a collector of masks and decided she wanted to take one back with her to add to her collection.
    They were getting back into the van when Shelby saw the tour bus that Max had exited from earlier. She didn’t see him anywhere, but as they were driving out of the gate area she saw him through the back window. He was standing by the bus watching as they drove away.

    Chapter Five
     
    When