Authors: Fey Suarez
Amethyst Rapture (7 page)
Chapter Fourteen
They took a taxi to the university and asked to be let out at the dormitories.
“There are a lot of foreign students here. The taxi driver shouldn’t wonder about why we’re here,” Armando told his companions. “Of course, most of them are from Norway.”
“What are students from Norway— Never mind.” Miranda shook her head.
The building is that one over there.” Armando pointed to a five-story building across the wide boulevard.
“There aren’t many people here,” Brandy pointed out.
“Wasn’t that the idea?” Ryan asked, a little too curtly. He wasn’t used to being set aside by women, and he could tell that Brandy’s interests were more inclined to the Cuban than to him. She’d been quite attentive to Armando all afternoon.
The small group crossed the street and walked around to the back of the building.
“I hope we don’t get caught. I think Bill would kill us if we got put in jail with Jones,” Miranda said quietly.
“If we’re lucky,” Armando began as he walked toward a metal emergency exit door, “it’ll be open.” He smiled as the door swung on its hinges.
“That was easy,” Brandy whispered.
“These are just the classrooms,” Armando said. “The offices should be more difficult to break into. There aren’t any guards but there are a lot of locked doors.”
“Which way?” asked Ryan.
“I think it’s this way,” Armando said, pointing. “I had physics and chemistry in this building.”
“Oh really, you studied here?” Brandy asked.
“I’ve got my degree in industrial engineering.”
“This is hardly the time for chitchat,” Ryan said.
“The archaeology offices are on the upper floors.”
They followed Armando up three flights of stairs and through the dark hallways, lit only by an occasional nightlight. They passed a wall of windows before they got to the wooden door with the word
Arquelogia
identifying the department. The lights were on inside the room and they could see wooden tables with plastic containers on them.
“So how do we get in?”
Miranda rested her hand on the doorknob and turned—it was locked.
“We can break it,” suggested Armando.
“Are you crazy, what if they have an alarm?”
“This is Cuba. They don’t have any alarm system. Trust me.”
Armando took off his shoe and was about to hit the glass when Brandy stopped him. “Wait.” She touched his arm.
“Why?” he asked.
“Are you sure there’s no other way?”
“No, actually.” Armando looked pensive. “Wait for me here.” Armando slipped his shoe back on and walked back the way they had come.
“I hope he isn’t going to get us into trouble,” Ryan said.
“He wouldn’t,” Brandy said.
“He probably went to get something better to break the glass with,” Miranda agreed.
Two minutes later they saw Armando jump through a window in the classroom.
“We’re three stories up,” Miranda said, amazed.
Armando walked to the door and opened the deadbolt. He laughed when he saw everyone gaping open-mouthed at him.
“There’s a ledge that goes around the building. Students have been known to use it once in a while.”
“Ah.” Brandy smiled.
On three tables were fifteen large plastic tubs. Each was labeled in Spanish and contained seawater and bones or other artifacts.
“This is her,” Armando said, reading the labels.
Brandy looked across the room. “No, it’s not.”
“Sure it is. It says so here. This was the first skeleton.”
“That’s not Sheila.” Brandy walked to the far side of the room. A complete skeleton was laid out on a cement table. “This is her.”
Armando spied a small garbage can and dumped the contents onto the floor. He began putting Sheila’s bones in the container.
“A trash can?” Brandy said.
“You got any better ideas?” he asked her.
“No,” she said watching him gather up the bones.
Armando gently set the skull on top. “Let’s go.”
“A trash can,” Brandy murmured, but followed him out.
Ryan hugged the garbage can as they walked.
“You’re sure it’s okay to use your uncle’s boat?” Brandy asked.
“He thinks I’m going to go fishing,” Armando replied with a grin.
“How far is it to the marina to get the boat?” Brandy asked.
“Only a kilometer or so,” Armando assured her.
Miranda rolled her eyes. “I didn’t wear walking shoes. I was expecting that we could just go by taxi.”
“It’s too risky.”
Miranda sighed loudly and kept on walking. “I think I should go back to the hotel,” she finally said, stopping.
Brandy looked at her friend. “You’re kidding.”
“My feet hurt and I don’t want to get caught. Besides, all you have to do is throw the bones and the stone into the bay, right?”
“Which way to the hotel, Armando?” Ryan said. “I’ll go with her.” He handed the bones to Brandy before he and Miranda went their own way.
Brandy and Armando continued in silence. They passed darkened buildings, houses and an empty schoolyard.
“The
laguna
isn’t far now,” Armando said.
The marina wasn’t large. There weren’t many boats and the ones that there were were old and wooden. They looked as if they’d been there since Fidel Castro became president. Armando pointed to a boat with a roof covering.
Rafael
was painted on her bow.
“She doesn’t look like much but she runs well,” Armando assured.
Armando pulled a key from his pocket and cranked the engine. The rumbling was unbelievably loud. Brandy was relieved no one came running at the noise.
Out in the bay it was darker than she had imagined it would be. The water was inky black. Brandy could see a line of light as it circled the lighthouse at the mouth of the bay. Lights from scattered hotels and the occasional house twinkled along the shore.
“Where are we going?” Armando asked over the roar of the engine.
“The mouth of the bay,” Brandy replied
The trip was quick. Armando cut the engine looked at Brandy. “We’re here.”
Brandy smiled at him and gently pushed the bones towards him with her foot.
“Let me hold the amethyst?” Brandy asked hesitantly.
Armando looked at Brandy for a long moment and finally reached into his pocket. The amethyst was pulsing with purple light.
“Whoa,” Armando said, dropping it to the floor.
Brandy picked it up. Her fist clenched tightly around the amethyst and her eyes began to glow. Without any warning she jumped into the water with a splash.
Armando didn’t hesitate. He followed Brandy as she swam deeper and deeper into the pitch-black water, the purple glow escaping from her fist his only guide. Armando caught her ankle and pulled her to him. His lungs were about to burst. Brandy had a relaxed look on her face as if she belonged in the ocean’s cold depths. She smiled an insinuating smile and reached for Armando. He watched in disbelief as her face changed from Brandy to someone else and back again.
Brandy coughed once and the look on her face changed. She wasn’t smiling anymore. She was drowning. Armando yanked on her hand but she didn’t move. Brandy coughed again, filling her lungs with seawater. Armando thought quickly and grabbed the hand holding the amethyst. With all his strength Armando pried open her fist and yanked the stone from her.
Instantly he felt a change. Brandy’s head hung down. It was only a matter of time before his own body rebelled and tried to breathe through the salty water. He swam to the surface, pulling Brandy with him.
Miraculously, they made it to the top. Air had never felt so good to his burning lungs. Brandy’s face drooped in the water. Armando heaved her limp body into the boat. He was relieved when he heard her coughing up the seawater as he climbed in after her.
“Throw her in there,” Brandy managed to say between fits of coughing, and Armando obliged, throwing the bones into the water.
The water around them turned transparent purple. It began to bubble and fizz and the boat began to spin.
“We’ve got to get out of here.” Armando said, stepping over Brandy and pushing the ignition. The boat roared to life and Armando opened up the throttle and steered them away from danger.
When they were safely clear Armando cut the engine. He needed to make sure Brandy was okay.
Armando knelt next to her. “You had me worried.”
“It wasn’t me. It was her.”
“I know.” He kissed Brandy, gently sucking her bottom lip and tasting the salty seawater.
“Armando?” She smiled at him.
“We’re alone in the middle of the bay in the middle of the night and I just saved your life. You can’t blame me for trying.”
“What I was going to say is I really should get out of these wet clothes.” She smiled up at him. “You’re soaking, too.”
This time Brandy was in no hurry. She rested her head on Armando’s shoulder while he gently stroked her naked stomach and breasts. She smiled. “Who ever knew Cuba would be so interesting?”
* * * * *
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ISBN: 978-14592-3114-6
Amethyst Rapture
Copyright © 2012 by Fey Suarez
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