Chapter 1
Jenny sat next to Emperor Caligula and drank ambrosia, which tasted like Coors Light. The emperor gestured for a slave to pour him some more when they were interrupted by a commotion in the corner of a vast atrium. It was Dr. Hauben from the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Ancient Studies, a megalomaniac prick and Jenny’s number one adversary—universally hated by students and faculty alike.
Dr. Hauben wore a red and white polka-dot bikini and bright-green stiletto shoes. Why didn’t he pick red or white stilettos to match his bikini? Before Jenny had a chance to ponder that dilemma, the emperor pointed to Hauben and said, “Take this filthy eunuch out of here!”
The Queen of Hearts riding Caligula’s horse, Incitatus, yelled, "Off with his head!"
King Richard the Lionheart raised his massive sword over Dr. Hauben, but Marcus Aurelius stopped him. “Wait! We have a Vestal Virgin here. Let her decide his fate.” He looked at Jenny.
I’m a Vestal Virgin? I'm okay with Vestal, but the virgin part is grossly exaggerated. If they find out that I don’t meet their chastity requirements, they’ll bury me alive. Jenny decided that the best course of action would be not addressing the chastity issue at that time.
“What do you have to say for yourself,” she asked Hauben.
The man looked terrified. He opened his mouth and… buzzed.
“What is it? Can’t you speak?”
Dr. Hauben tried but, once again, produced only a buzz.
Jenny slowly opened her eyes. It was to her cell phone buzzing on the nightstand. She picked it up.
“Hello?”
“I need you here. If you can, come immediately. It’s a matter of life and death.” The voice belonged to Dr. Sonia Ruiz, a physician from the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Sonia also became Jenny's best friend after the two were involved in a mystery surrounding a medieval mummy and an ancient manuscript.
“Whose life and death? And why couldn’t you call five minutes later? I really wanted to see Richard the Lionheart cutting off Hauben’s head.”
"What the hell are you talking about? Did I wake you up?" Sonia asked.
“No, of course not. Why would I sleep at two in the morning? You realize that it’s 2:00 a.m. in Wisconsin, right? Or they don’t teach you about time zones in medical school?”
“Listen, I’m serious. I really need you, and it can't be postponed or delayed. You’re the only person I trust.”
“What do you need me for? And why is it so urgent?”
“You must help me kidnap a child.”
"What?! Are you out of your freaking mind? I mean, I know you usually are, but now you want me to help you kidnap a kid? That's insane, even by your standards!"
“Relax. We only have to kidnap this boy from the people who have already kidnapped him. So, it will be kidnapping from the kidnappers, which makes it all right. But I’ve got to go. I’ll explain everything when you get here. After you land, take a cab or Uber, and go straight to my house. Don't call me. Mom will be waiting. I'm counting on you!" Sonia hung up.
Jenny went to the kitchen to get a cup of water. “Did you know,” she said to Nohla, her Bengal cat, "that in Ancient Rome, shedding the blood of a Vestal Virgin was considered a sin? So, when a Vestal Virgin broke the vow of chastity, they would bury her alive in the underground chambers of the House of Vestal.”
Nohla looked at her human with an expression meaning, Do I look like I care?
“Dreams are a strange thing,” Jenny continued. “I was concerned about Hauben’s shoes not matching his bikini, but it didn’t bother me that he wore a bikini. Is there something wrong with me? Maybe I spend too much time with Sonia…."
Nohla yawned, closed her eyes, and went back to sleep.
Jenny considered following Nohla’s suit, but she was too intrigued by Sonia’s phone call.
What is she up to now?
The beginning of the fall semester at the university was still a few weeks away. So, technically, nothing was preventing Jenny from going to California. But the cryptic explanation that Jenny was needed to help kidnap a child?
Sonia is crazy, but not THAT crazy.
Jenny went back to the kitchen, this time to make coffee. After her previous adventures, Jenny’s life went back to its usual routine. Brian was in New Zealand, working on his dissertation. She hadn’t seen him for almost a year, and once again, Jenny wondered if their relationship had a future. Sonia was in LA, probably doing some medical research. Jenny was back at the University of Wisconsin, teaching and working on a paper about the Black Death in Norfolk County, England. That was the only thing she could publish without breaking promises that she gave following their crazy adventures on three continents.
Jenny was a professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Wisconsin and one of the youngest members of the faculty. She was tall and lean; she had a serious, intelligent face with high cheekbones, hazel-green eyes, and shoulder-length chestnut hair. Thanks to her experience in mountain climbing or maybe due to her exceptionally long legs, Jenny was often described as a person who moved with the grace of a feline.
Dr. Sonia Ruiz was, in many ways, Jenny's opposite. Sonia’s face was surrounded by short, curly hair probably inherited from some long-lost African ancestor. Short and petite, she looked more like a recent high school graduate than a physician and a scientist. Dimples on her cheeks and an ever-present spark of amusement in Sonia’s dark-brown eyes added to that impression.
The two women became close friends when they were both involved in solving the mystery of Lady Miren, whose mummified body was found inside a cave in the Himalayas. What followed was a series of dangerous adventures that moved from the third tallest mountain on Earth to medieval dungeons in England and, finally, to the Mayan ruins in Mexico and Belize. Part of that mystery was a secret group led by an older gentleman called Zumar, and a patrician-looking middle-aged woman, Ximena.
From time to time, Jenny would talk to Ximena, but in their typical, polite manner, the strange group from the Basque country made it clear that they would prefer to keep their distance. If she needed help, Jenny could probably count on them, but they were not eager to become close or reveal more of their secrets.
Consequently, Jenny’s day-to-day activities went back to normal, yet, something was missing. Jenny remembered a definition of an adventure she'd once heard. Adventure is something you hate with a passion when it's happening to you, but then, you remember it for the rest of your life. While pursuing Lady Miren's secret and her mysterious manuscript, Jenny faced mortal danger more than once. She felt relieved when it was over, and she could go back to her small house in Madison, hug her cat, and return to her research of dusty, medieval documents. However, because she'd experienced adventure, that daily academic routine was no longer enough. Jenny craved for more.
It was also vitally important to Jenny that Sonia, that brilliant but eccentric Latina from LA who happened to be Jenny’s best friend, could count on her. When your friend needs you, you respond. So even if Sonia planned something insane, Jenny should be there to talk her out of it. One way or another, she had to go.
Jenny opened her laptop to check the flights to LAX. She looked outside to see if there was a light in Ms. Hanson’s window. Brave Ms. Hanson, Jenny’s elderly neighbor, would probably agree to take Nohla again during Jenny’s absence. Jenny made a mental note to buy something nice for Ms. Hanson and her poor cats, mercilessly terrorized by Jenny's Bengal whenever they dared to cross Nohla's path.
Jenny booked a morning flight and went to take a shower.
