Skull of the Zipa PREVIEW CHAPTERS by Chuck Chitwood (english novels for beginners TXT) š
- Author: Chuck Chitwood
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āHa. You scream, chica, and you be back in that tree and I still gonna get you. Go on, scream.ā
āYou touch me and youāll have to deal with Santiago. And I know youāre scared of him.ā
āSantiago? Santiago wants to be paid for the job. His boss say to take your papĆ” and then when your papĆ” tells where the gold skull is, everybody is happy and we let him go. But your papa did not tell where the gold skull is, so we not get paid. Then Santiago says we take you and make your papĆ” tell or you get hurt. Simple. But I do no think the skull is real. Is legend. So, I be happy with just you.ā He smiles broadly at me.
Pabloās missing four teeth. Yuck. āSo, if you donāt have my father, what did you do with him? Where is he?ā
Pablo shrugged and rubbed his scratchy beard against my right cheek. āHe is no here. I do not know where Santiago takes him. Santiago, he make the deals. No me. I just get paid. Now you shut up.ā
Think.
He moves his face closer to mine scratching my cheek until his dried cracked lips are touching mine. I start to gag, but force myself to let this squatty little perv kiss me. He tilts his head to the left and closes his eyes like heās in some old black and white movie.
Moron.
Nowās my chance. My only chance. I raise the SAT phone quickly and bring the metal case down with lightning speed on his left temple.
Pablo crumbles to the ground with a grunt. Before he can get up I kick him between his legs. The steel-tipped boots Iām wearing make a powerful impact. He doubles over and tries to scream, but heās not fast enough. I bring the SAT phone down again on the back of his head and he falls to the ground with a dull thud. I check to see if heās breathing, but I could really care less. Hearing low gurgling breaths, I spit on him and wipe my mouth. Iām free.
I take off running down the dirt road. Thereās only one way to go on this lonely path snaking through the trees. I know I need to hurry but I need to pace myself and pay attention to the terrain. Itās not quite dawn yet and Iām basically running blind. One misstep and could easily twist an ankle on a tree root or one of the many ruts in the road. I could get caught up in the vines hanging down all over the place. The small flashlight barely shows the road ten feet ahead of me.
After about a mile, my knees start to feel weak. Iām tired. Iām hungry. Iām anxious. And I exerted so much energy getting away from Pablo, I feel woozy.
I want to stop and catch my breath or maybe throw up. I know that distance is the most important thing. But they have a truck. They could be here in two minutes. No matter how far I run they can catch me.
My stride shortens. My body feels like itās shutting down. Hot tears roll down my cheeks. No sobs, no crying, just tears.
Then from somewhere in the back of my mind, I hear my mother speaking to me. No shortcuts. Within a stride, Iām walking. No shortcuts. Her voice is louder. I stop and reach over, grabbing my knees to catch my breath. No shortcuts, Hadassah.
I think about what my mom would say about Pablo. She wouldnāt congratulate me on kicking a kidnapperās butt or getting myself out of hanging upside down in a tree. She would hand me a cup of coffee and say with barely a smile, āSo, was he a good kisser?ā Then she would burst out loud laughing.
Laughing bubbles up from somewhere deep inside me. I whisper, āNo shortcuts.ā As rays of sun start break through the jungleās canopy. āNo shortcuts.ā I take off down the road faster this time. I am filled with confidence. āNo shortcuts.ā
Chapter 10 - NO CHANCE
Iāve wondered over the last three days while I was on the plane, or hanging upside down, or now while running at a feverish pace through the Colombian jungle what Chance must think. No phone call informed him why his date stood him up for prom, just a cryptic note on the door. āFamily emergency, Iāve got to go out of town. Call you from the plane to explain. Iām so sorry! Haddie.ā
He probably ended up in Courtneyās arms after they were announced prom king and queen. If I hadnāt dropped my phone in the kitchen, at least I could have called him. Stupid Dr. Waters refused to let me use his on the plane. He gave me some lame excuse about the school phone could only be used for official school business. Dad was right about him. Heās lucky heās even alive. If Iād been just a tad bit quicker he wouldnāt be. And I wouldāve been justified in taking him out. After all, I was alone, he broke into my house. He came towards me first.
The day of prom, I stood in my kitchen wondering where my father was and holding a butcher knife as a tall man walked towards me and I charged at him. Lucky for him, he quickly side stepped the blade headed straight to his chest. If Iād been wearing regular shoes, instead of flip-flops to protect my pedicure, Iād have tried again. But my foot caught the bottom of the doorframe leading to the dining room. I fell to the ground and the knife flew out of my hands clanging on the hardwood floors. Whatās more, my phone slid under the china cabinet. I scrambled for the knife but stopped when I heard a familiar voice.
āHaddie? Are you alright?ā I turned quickly towards the voice and saw that it belonged to my dadās boss, Dr. Julian Waters, Dean of Something or Other.
āIām fine.ā I stood up. There was no doubt I was relieved but I was also frustrated. āWhat are you doing in my house?ā
Dr. Waters, a thin man with dark bags under his eyes, paced back and forth. āIā¦ I came here hoping Iā¦ I would find your father.ā
āWhat? Heās in Colombia. Iām sure you must have known that.ā
āWell, yes. Of course I didā¦ doā¦ look, Haddie.ā Waters struggled to think of what to say. He looked genuinely concerned and I thought the guy my pass out or something because he had broken out into a sweat. āI donāt want to worry youā¦ butā¦ā
Iāve never liked it when people say they donāt want to worry me because whatever it is they tell me always worries me. āWhat is it?ā
āLike I said, I came here hoping Iād find your father. But when I got here, the door was wide opened and I came in. Thatās when I saw someone had ransacked your house and I knew it was true.ā
āWhat was true?ā
āHaddie, I got a call early today saying your father had been kidnapped and that if we wanted to see him alive, I had to find some map your father had. At first, I thought it was a joke so I tried calling your fatherās cell. But he didnāt answer.ā
āKidnapped? What do you mean kidnapped?ā
Dr. Waters straightened his red power tie. āKidnapped. As in ātaken by force and held captive until a ransom is paid.ā
āYes, Dr. Waters, I know what kidnapped means. I meant ācould you please explain the situation further?ā Soā¦ā Iāve always loathed people who speak down to me but it wasnāt the time to get angry.
āAs I was saying, the man on the phone said something about finding a map your father was working with or if I had knowledge of its whereabouts. Oh, Iām so sorry Haddie, maybe you ought to sit down?ā He pulled out one of the dining room chairs for me.
āIām fine, Dr. Waters. Just please tell me what you know.ā
āThese men found out about something he was working on; something incredibly valuable. They took him and told me they would trade him for it.ā
āHave you called the cops?ā
āNo, no, no. Iā¦ we canāt. They told me if we involve the cops they would kill him. Apparently they grabbed him not long after he stepped off the plane in Colombia.ā
I suppose I shouldāve been beside myself with worry but I was surprisingly calm. āYouāve got to be kidding me. My dad was kidnapped in Colombia? And just to be clear, they told you that if we give them whatever it is theyāre looking for, theyāll just let him go?ā
āYes. Exactly.ā He smiled like Iād just hit the jackpot or something. āIāve heard about groups in South America that kidnap Americans. Most of the time they want money but since they only want a map, it must be very valuable. When I called my office and had them check your fatherās itinerary, I found out he was supposed to meet Dr. Javier Quesada at a restaurant in BogotĆ”, but I contacted Javier just an hour or so ago and he said your father never showed up. Itās like they had somebody there waiting for him who knew his itinerary.ā
āDr. Waters,ā I was trying to process what he was telling me but it all sounded so off the wall I couldnāt quite grasp hold of it. Why would anyone want my father? Okay, so he is known for finding treasure. āOkay. So he was kidnapped for ransom so why canāt we call the police or the FBI or the CIA or whoever you call when things like this happen?ā
āHaddie, we canāt call the police. They told me no police at all or theyāllā he gulped, ākill him. Thatās how they do these things.ā He rubbed his hands together. āI can only guess he didnāt have the map with him and they had someone here search for it. When they couldnāt find it, they called me. Thatās why I came over. Iāve looked but I canāt find anything that looks like a map. Do you know what map theyāre talking about?ā
āNo. I havenāt got a clue.ā
Dr. Waters furrowed his brow. āThis is terrible. I donāt know what to do. Even if I can figure out what the map is, the kidnappers might not even be able to read it because he uses that silly code of his. Wait.ā Waters stopped speaking as if he was deep in thought. āHaddie, do you think itās not really a map? Your father is always scribbling things down that look like nothing to me. What if the map is one of his scribbles; somewhere in this room? Maybe in a notebook or something?ā
āI guess. Itās possible.ā
He sat down and rubbed his forehead. āHaddie, I know this is going to sound crazy but if we can find this map or whatever it is, would you be willing to come with me to Colombia?ā
āExcuse me?ā
āIāve seen the little coded notes from you on his office wall at the university. You understand your fatherās gibberish shorthand. If I can find whatever
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