Trapped in the Mayan Tattoo Read Online Free

get you
settled in. Then you can do all the online stuff you want. I cleared the top
bunk for you, and I made a little room in the closet.”
    “Thanks! I shouldn’t
need much room. I won’t be here long.”
    “OK. Just the same,
it’s there for you.”
    Abbi hugged Louise
and smiled. Louise released herself from the hug and held Abbi by the
shoulders.
    “You need to
relax, Abbi. Not everyone’s out to get you!”
    The Pelletiers once
again opened their home to Abbi. She planned to help with household chores and
then dance as much as possible for release, staying inside, out of sight. Most
of all she wanted to unlock whatever riddle the drawings held.
    Abbi went upstairs
to the room she would share with Louise. She hung her bookbag on the bed post
and pulled out her laptop. The first place she decided to look was images on
the Mayan calendar.
                Why Mayan, she didn’t
know, but the drawings reminded her of something she had studied in fifth grade
about the mysterious culture of the ancient Mayans—the hidden meanings in their
artwork.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
FOUR
     
    Maria stepped
outside the cantina, stood on the front step, breathed deeply once and let it
out slowly. Then twice. She scanned the desolate street and its few parked cars.
She looked for a blue sedan with freedom waiting inside. There!
    Suddenly running,
she reached the car in just seconds.
    “I’m Miss Shoe. Hurry!
Get in!”
    The driver wasted
no time taking off, spinning some gravel onto the cracked sidewalk. Maria tried
not to look back but saw Ramon rushing through the cantina door.
                “Already a rough day?”
                Maria studied her, wondering
how much this woman could know of the workings that went on inside that
cantina. She tried to figure out the trust factor.
                “Yesterday would have
been better. You have a badge?”
                Miss Shoe flashed the
inside of her lapel. Maria seemed satisfied.
                “I also have these,”
she said as she reached into her pocket. “That’s what took so long. They
weren’t ready yesterday.”
                Maria took the two
items: a driver’s license and a passport.
                “These aren’t me!” she
said. “Just my face. My name is Maria.”
                “They are now. Get used
to it. You’ll have a new identity.”
                “Christina? You’re
naming me Christina? I hate that name!”
                “Call yourself Tina. You
want away from here? You want to never come back? How much cash do you have?”
                “One hundred fourteen
American dollars and a few pesos.”
                “That may not get you to
your dad. I’ll spot you some.”
                Miss Shoe handed over a
clip of bills. “Here, Tina. Take this.”
                “Don’t call me that,”
the girl said as she reached for the money.
                “After you get there,
you and your dad will be leaving Texas. Go with him, wherever he takes you. Several
agencies, the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, and even diplomats with the Mexican
Government and the U.S. Passport office, are working together to help you out
of this nasty trap. You’re making a clean break. Don’t call your friends. Don’t
tell anyone where you’re going. This wasn’t easy to arrange.”
    Miss Shoe jerked
the steering wheel as she attempted to avoid some potholes. On this dilapidated
street, and at her high rate of speed, there were too many to miss.
    “Can’t we go a
little slower?” the girl asked.
    “Not really. If
they catch you, you’re dead.”
    “Come again?”
Maria held the money tight to her chest, wanting to know how much was there but
stunned by what she just heard.
    She knew the back
of Ramon’s hand. In fact, she knew more about him than she ever