Chapter 16
A Question of Trust
Returned to the bedroom, unshackled, and changed out of the overalls into Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt, I lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. The ordeal of the filming out of the way, I tried to blot out what might come next to garner some emotional respite.
I’d always thought of myself as a strong character. There had been many sticky moments spelling out danger during my career, but then that was the job. At work, I had always felt in control of situations. My current plight was outside anything I had ever experienced. Without the comfort of backup and a decent array of weapons at my disposal, doubts about my ability to keep my emotions under the surface nagged away at my mind.
I worried that other than Leandra, the guards might have seen my tears. Any sign of weakness and I wouldn’t be able to puff out like Dad talked of; instead, I would have to hope for the ability to shrink to the size of a mouse. Then I could scurry into a corner like the bullied child I used to be and be considered a coward by all. That’s how a bully works, seeking a weakness and playing with it to gain the upper hand.
A new persona was called for to get me through the ordeal. Like an actor, I had lived with two personalities. At home, I was the loving husband and doting father, sharing responsibilities. Meek and mild, I guess I was a pushover at times, with Mary’s will gaining the high ground in family decisions. With a strong moral base, our family was rock solid, built on truth and openness.
Work was a whole different scene. In the interview room, I could be the forceful guy, or the sympathetic guy, but one who didn’t suffer fools gladly, prepared to lie and cheat my way into gaining the confidence and confessions of lawbreakers. Turning the other cheek wasn’t in my repertoire, but a doggedness to bring villains to justice. Somehow, I needed to find the traits of a middle ground to survive the psychological pressure.
I rolled off the bed and walked over to the French doors. As I glanced around the garden, three men exited the maze carrying canvas bags similar to the ones Squat had handed to the pilot. Guards approached them, exchanged bags and then the three men walked back into the maze. The guards threw the bags into the trunk of a car and set off towards the playing fields where the airplane had landed earlier.
I turned sharply to the voice of Leandra.
‘Something interesting out there?’
‘No, just wondering if we could have a walk around the gardens before settling in at the pool.’
The guard held the door open for her to enter and left it open. He remained standing outside the bedroom. Leandra carried the clothes and boots I had worn when I arrived at the villa.
‘Can’t see why not. Your clothes are washed and I’ve cleaned your boots.’
‘Thanks.’
When I glanced out the window, there was no sight of the three men, leaving me puzzled.
‘I’ll put your clothes in the wardrobe.’
‘Fine,’ I said, edged to the bed and sat.
The closet door opened and swung against the wall. That’s when I noticed that the floor-to-ceiling door obscured the camera. I jumped up and headed for the balcony.
‘I’m just opening the doors for some air.’
All the while, I kept my line of sight on the hidden camera. Pulling open the doors, I stepped out onto the balcony. It was only a small area surrounded by a wrought-iron balustrade, cemented to the floor and the wall. Grasping the iron rail, I looked left and right. There was no camera facing my way and I shook the rail to test its strength. Straight ahead, I could make out a deserted beach and the Pacific Ocean lapping at its shore. When I stepped back inside, Leandra closed the closet door and turned to me.
‘How are your feet?’
‘Getting there, but not quite ready for wearing those boots just yet. I can manage in these slippers.’
‘Good. Let’s go for a walk. Perez has gone away until tomorrow, so you can relax.’
‘Does Perez have a boat down at the beach?’
‘No, there are no boats. The beach is out of bounds for everyone, especially for you.’
She looked down at my tracking bracelet. Leandra was right; the beach was at least two hundred yards beyond the range of safety for the detonator not to trigger the explosive charge. She turned to walk out of the room and I followed. Leandra spoke briefly with the guard outside the bedroom door and he followed us down the stairway and into the reception area. We stopped at the door where they had filmed me.
‘Do you want to watch your film before we go outside?’
One part of me wanted to forget the whole episode, but the agent in me wanted to cast a professional eye over the proceedings.
‘Sure.’
Save for the equipment the room was empty. Leandra walked over to the laptop. Pressing a key to bring it out of its slumber, she started the video and we stood back. The edit on Stony Face’s monologue had left a short gap. The distress was there for all to see when the film arrived at my pleas for my family. The slow walk to the door at the end topped off my despair and helplessness at the situation. The camera zoomed in on me and there it was: that damned sideways glance and smirk with my lips curled in a churlish smile.
‘Can’t you edit out that smirk?’
‘Too late, it’s done and gone.’
Rolling my eyes, I looked up at the ceiling. I wondered what they would make of me smiling. She turned off the computer and we sauntered outside the villa. All the while, I couldn’t get the image of that final grin from my mind. I couldn’t work out what those scrutinizing the film would think the smirk signified. They would never guess that the makeup woman blowing me a kiss had brought on a nervous reaction.
The crop duster engine split the silence as it rose from the makeshift runway and passed overhead. A vehicle that I’d seen loaded with the bags from the guys at the maze entered the driveway and parked at the front of the villa. Guards exited the SUV carrying yet more loot from the crop duster and walked through the entrance to the villa. I doubted this was the only flow of money from Perez’s activities, but this one operation alone was mind-blowing with the amounts involved on a regular basis.
We approached the maze. A garden bench fronted the opening and I sat, patting the wooden slats for Leandra to join me.
‘Are you superstitious?’ I asked.
‘A little, why?’
‘I thought I could see a wishing well in the centre of the maze. Do you have a coin? I could make a wish.’
She snickered. ‘I’ve no need for money here, and I doubt the guard watching would let you get through the entrance.’
‘Why?’
‘Come on, I’m not stupid. How old do you think I am?’
‘Around twenty-one, maybe less.’
She placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh and snickered. ‘Why, thank you, kind sir. Actually I’m twenty-four, going on twenty-five. How old are you? Forty or older, I’d guess,’ she said, and laughed.
‘Thirty-four, if you must know.’ She obviously wasn’t up to giving me the same consideration. ‘Why would you think I thought you were an idiot?’
She gave me an all-knowing wink. ‘Because my bedroom is next to yours and I looked out the window just before I brought your clothes, so I’m guessing you saw the exchange?’
‘Exchange of what?’
‘Now I know you think I’m stupid.’ She shrugged and turned her back to me, folding her arms. ‘If you don’t want to trust me, that’s fine. I am a prisoner too, remember?’
Her voice had trailed off, telling me I needed to tread lightly.
‘Have you never thought of escaping? You seem to have the run of the place.’
She didn’t answer at first but bowed her head. Then she turned to face me. Her eyes were moist and she swiped the back of her hand across them to wipe away a tear. ‘Look around the outer landscape and tell me what you see.’
We both stood and I did a three-sixty turn.
‘Hillsides.’
‘Seven of them. The Seve
n Sisters. There’s one hill on either side of the beach and five in a horseshoe around the villa. Each peak has a guard base, manned twenty-four hours. Why do you think Perez makes this his main hideout? Then count the guards here on all three shifts. They’re billeted in barracks set in the woods until they are due leave and fresh guards arrive. Now look at the cameras on the poles around the grounds. The only way out is the way I came in... by boat. They have enough fire power to bring down a fleet of helicopters, so I hope your Special Forces don’t find you and attempt a rescue.’
She was right about the way out. Hijacking the crop duster would be a big gamble.
‘I thought you said he didn’t have a boat?’
‘He doesn’t, it’s a mini-sub. The wishing well is an opening down to an old smugglers’ cave. There’s an underground lake regardless of the tide. Out beyond the limits, he has an exploration vessel, supposed to be surveying for wrecks. I was taken to the ship first and then brought here in the sub.’
‘So that’s what the exchange was all about... drugs in, money out.’
‘Ah, so now you did see it?’ She lowered her voice and glanced at the guard standing a little ways down the path. ‘Look, I’ll help you if I can, but I don’t know how you can get around your tracker.’
‘Maybe we can work on something together for us both to escape and I can help you get back to your parents.’
A single tear rolled onto her cheek. In the depths of her eyes, they spoke of anguish. ‘I can’t.’
‘What, you can’t go to your parents? Or you can’t escape?’
‘Both.’
‘Why?’
Her mouth opened, but she uttered no words and looked down at her feet. Finally, she raised her head and looked directly into my eyes. ‘I can’t tell you. You just have to trust me that I can’t.’
Tears streamed down her face. With no handkerchief to offer, I placed an arm around her shoulder and drew her face to my T-shirt, wrapping my other arm around her and holding her tight, her tears soaking through to my skin.
‘Shush, I trust you. Only tell me when you’re ready.’
A forceful strike and a searing pain between my shoulder blades and I let go of her, falling to my knees. Another blow, this time to my backside, sent me sprawling on the ground to the sound of Leandra screaming. I rolled over to see Stony Face aiming his assault rifle directly at me. He was good, very good. Someone getting the jump on me was becoming a bad habit, but he’d done it without creating a sound.
‘Touch her again and you’re dead, whatever Perez says.’ Stony glanced at Leandra. ‘You stop snivelling and get in the villa. I need a word with our friend.’
Leandra complied, making her way back to the villa, but all the while turning her head to look back at me.
Stony Face spat on the floor. ‘Don’t ever touch her, you understand?’
‘Yes, I understand, I was only consoling her. She was...’
‘Never.’
I couldn’t make him out. Was he her boyfriend and he was jealous? Maybe he was the reason she wouldn’t want to leave. He hadn’t been there to see her stick her hand down my boxers, thank goodness, or I might be dead already. It sounded as though Perez had left word I wasn’t to be terminated. Just what would motivate him to go against an order from Perez left a big question mark.
Chapter 17
Slaughter in the Desert
Trudging through the villa to get to the pool with Stony Face following reminded me that as much as I had freedom to stroll the grounds, a watchful eye was ever-present.
Time dragged as painfully slowly as did my step, as if my body was reluctant to reach its destination. Only four days in captivity, yet it gave the impression I had been kidnapped in the distant past.
Home might as well have been a world away. The more I thought about home and my family, the more they seemed to be like that cell-door lever at the hacienda, out of reach. I had to remind myself that through hope and tenacity, I had fought and beaten the odds on that occasion.
Emptiness and despair resonated and dwelt within me as a blow to my equilibrium. Loneliness followed every deliberate step, yet at the same time, it was a blessing with a need to be by myself to think. I hoped Leandra would not be at the pool. The idea seemed ironic. Until now, she had been the only cool spot in a furnace of hell and a calming influence, quenching the thirst of an otherwise tortured mind.
If Stony Face was her boyfriend, then I might just have made a big mistake in confiding in her that I planned to escape. Then again, she had told me about the mini-sub and the strength of the guards on the Seven Sisters.
The whole situation felt as though I were working out a strategy for a game of chess, but the queen who had the freedom move anywhere on the board might turn traitor and usher me into checkmate. That trust thing bugged me again. The trust was gone. A sense of isolation gripped the pit of my stomach.
Relief hit me as I stepped through the patio door. When I scanned the pool area, Leandra was nowhere in sight, just two guards. Stony Face’s hand grabbed my shoulder and he growled in my ear.
‘Don’t forget our little talk.’
‘Yeah, yeah.’
He turned and walked away. I made my way over to the chaise lounge and sat. My wish to be solitary didn’t last. Maybe only five minutes had passed when Leandra joined me. She looked concerned.
‘What was all that about before?’ Leandra said.
There was no point in being anything other than to the point. If she was trying to act as a neutral, I decided to see how far I could push her for information. ‘Jealousy, maybe because I had my arms around you and he jumped to conclusions. How long has he been your boyfriend?’
‘Boyfriend? No way. More like self-appointed bodyguard. What did he say?’
I’d given up trying to work out her facial expressions. If she was lying, she was good. Her reply had snapped back as if she hadn’t had time to think about an answer, so I thought I’d push further. ‘He said to keep my distance. What can you tell me about him?’
‘Well, his name is Pedro. He arrived around six months ago. He rose through the ranks quite quickly and when the colonel went missing, Perez placed him in charge of the guards.’
‘What do you mean when you say self-appointed bodyguard?’
She shrugged. ‘One of the young guards took an interest in me. He was always picking flowers from the bushes in the garden and handing them to me. Pedro found out and beat him to a pulp. I don’t know what happened to him after that, because I never saw him again. When I asked one of the guards, they said he’d gone missing. I’m hoping he ran away.’ Her eyes dropped along with the tone in her voice. ‘But I doubt it.’
‘So he’s never made a pass at you?’
‘Never. In fact at times he’s off with me. Remember the knife and fork drama? Then take when Perez ordered me to... you know, when they took pictures. I thought Pedro’s eyes were going to blow out of his head, he was so red with rage, and he snatched the camera from the guard inside the villa. Before he took charge here, a few of the guards tried to be friends and to be pleasant with me. Now they don’t give me as much as a sideways glance. If it wasn’t for the women staff, I’d have gone mad by now.’
She said the last sentence with such a wide smile. Leandra had done it again. It was difficult not to believe she was telling the truth. Or maybe I was desperate to believe her. Perhaps I was vulnerable, looking at her as some sort of magic cloak, and willing for her to be an ally in order to protect my own sanity. Either way, I needed to break the spell and seek out a self-imposed exile so I could become organized.
‘Listen, I don’t feel so good today. That filming knocked hell out of me. I hope you don’t mind, but I need to go to my room and relax on my own, maybe watch some television.’
‘Sure.’
I wasted no time getting to the bedroom. The guard following me moved ahead on the stairway, his finger poised on the remote detonator. He opened the door and sat on a chair outside the room.
I sat on the edge of the bed and then, swinging my feet over, I sank into the mattress. Glancing at the picture of my family on the nightstand, I picked it up and gave them a kiss, then gently placed it back against the lamp stand. With my head on the pillow, I began to deliberate.
The first thing I needed was to take out a guard and release the tracker. Then I needed to make it to the wishing well and to the mini-sub. What would happen if the sub wasn’t there? The plan would only work when they made an exchange. That raised the question, if the sub would make it out of there if the tide changed. What if they had to wait for a high tide after the exchange? I needed to work out the tides. A vision of me backed up against an underground lake with pursuers on my heels and being unable to determine how long it would take to swim to the ocean, sounded like setting my own trap.
I kept coming back to the idea that the guards were under instructions not to kill me. That supposition was supported by the fact that they all now had Tasers. It had to be the weak spot I was searching for to create an advantage. I knew I had to plan any escape for the sub to be there, to make it to freedom and beyond their reach.
Then doubt struck. What if I couldn’t operate the damned thing and I didn’t manage to take the pilot as a hostage?
With my thoughts whirring as if I was trapped in a tornado, a news item sparked my interest. According to the caption, they were beaming live pictures from a chopper near the border in El Paso. Their camera zoomed in and out of the burned-out wreck of a trailer. A car, still smouldering, was parked alongside with the trunk open. A single fire department truck attended, with a number of police vehicles. The chopper banked and turned to reveal a wind generator set behind a gas station at the side of a border road. The hairs on my neck bristled at the recollection of whooshing blades and the smell of gasoline through the burlap sack over my head. Despite my lack of vision at the time, the scene fit the picture I had in my mind of the area before the tunnel ride.
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