Deadly Journey

by Declan Conner

‘Yeah. He said to say thanks for the consideration. I guess all debts are settled now.’

  The guard joined us. Surfer walked ahead to reception, turning to hold an imaginary phone to his ear as I shuffled toward the interview room. The door swung open. Leandra stood at the desk with a welcoming smile. Sitting at the desk with his back to us was an odd figure with a gray, wide-brimmed hat, round on the top, and wearing what looked like a gray cape.

  ‘Who’s this?’

  Chapter 59

  Shown the Door

  Leandra looked at me, aghast.

  ‘What’s happened to your face? Why are you limping?’

  ‘Never mind that, who’s this?’

  ‘I thought you might need a priest for your confession,’ she laughed, but I didn’t see the funny side. ‘Looking at you, I should have brought a nurse.’

  ‘I’ll live, it was just a fight. Why would I want to confess?’

  The chair legs scraped on the floorboards and the figure turned to face me. Though his head was bowed, I could still see he was sporting a goatee beard. The priest lifted his face and looked me in the eye. Far from having the warmth I’d expect from a priest, his cold, black-as-coal eyes fixed me in a stare. I stepped back.

  ‘Pedro?’

  ‘Kurt,’ he acknowledged, with a slight nod and resting a Bible on his knee. ‘I thought I’d seen the last of you. If it were up to me I’d have left you here to rot.’

  ‘Whatever. Thanks for coming to Leandra’s rescue.’

  ‘I don’t need your thanks. It’s what I’m paid for.’

  ‘So why are you here? Why don’t you move on? Leandra and I are doing just fine now on our own.’

  Pedro stood and narrowed his eyes. ‘I’m here to get you out, because Leandra here won’t go home until you’re safe.’

  Leandra huffed. ‘Now, now, let’s not measure wienies. Let’s just stick to the task.’

  ‘What do you mean ‘get me out’?’ I asked Pedro.

  ‘We’re getting you out of here, right now. We’re all just going to walk out of the front gate.’

  ‘Don’t be stupid, I can’t just walk out. Besides, how do I know it’s not you who’s put a price on my head in here?’

  ‘What? When did that happen?’ Leandra asked.

  ‘Someone put a hit out on me yesterday. Pedro here would have a motive. Get rid of me and he could take you home.’

  ‘Well, that’s definite then, you can’t go back in there,’ Leandra said. ‘But it isn’t Pedro who wants you dead. He’s been with me the whole time, except—’

  ‘Can’t we try the warden again, or my consul to get me transferred right now?’

  Pedro interrupted. ‘To do what? To get you transferred to the equivalent of an American Supermax prison? There’s still no guarantee someone can’t get to you in there and there sure won’t be lax security like there is here.’

  There was a tap on the door and it opened. Wisps of smoke drifted in the corridor, together with the pungent smell of fabric burning. The guard stepped into the room, coughing.

  ‘En este momento, tenemos un motín. Tengo que le acompañará hasta la puerta,’ said the guard in a splutter and at too fast a speed to translate. There was clearly some urgency in the situation.

  ‘What’s he saying?’

  Pedro gave the sign of the cross and leaned forward to whisper. ‘He says there’s a riot and he needs to escort us to the gate for you to escape, my son. Now drop to the freaking floor in pain.’

  I didn’t buy the “escape” part of his translation, but I didn’t need more than one cue. Clutching at my chest with one hand, I dropped, grasping at Pedro’s gown with the other.

  Pedro called out for help. ‘Ayudar!’

  The guard knelt at my side. I heard a sickening crunch and the guard fell over me. I scrambled from underneath his body like a crab on all fours. Leandra held the door closed, her eyes flashing in apparent panic.

  ‘You’ve not—?’ My eyes popped wide.

  ‘No he’s just knocked out. Quickly, give me a hand,’ Pedro said.

  Pedro pulled two handkerchiefs from his pocket. One he stuffed in the guard’s mouth and the other he tied around the guard’s head to keep it in place. He released my shackles with the guard’s keys, re-fastening them on the guard’s ankles and wrists. Pedro slipped off his priest’s hat and gown and passed them to me.

  ‘Put them on, hurry.’

  As I slipped on the priest attire, Pedro – already wearing the same coloured shirt as the guard – removed the guard’s belt and put it around his waist. Finally, he removed the guard’s name badge and pinned it to his shirt.

  ‘Quickly, let’s go. When we get to the gate office, hand them this ticket.’

  Pedro thrust a ticket into my hand together with an identity card.

  Leandra opened the door and peered outside. ‘We’re clear.’

  Pedro tore his beard and moustache from his face and discarded them on the floor. Craning his neck to listen, he removed the guard’s baton from his belt, ran his fingers around his shirt collar, and opened the door.

  ‘Vamos,’ he called out and waved his baton at the door.

  Once outside in the corridor, Pedro locked the door and we headed for the exit. I didn’t dare to look back as the noise of what sounded like a multitude of tin mugs rapping on cell bars and prisoners chanting filled the air. My eyes smarted from the smoke drifting down the corridor from the direction of the yard. Head bowed, I lifted my gaze to the exit door. It felt as though I was on a treadmill with the motor running in reverse. I lowered my head and ploughed on, conscious that as the priest in the group, I’d developed a limp that wouldn’t have been apparent to the guards on the way in to the interview room. My heart raced along with my body temperature, the sweat dripping from my nose.

  The door opened and I followed Leandra’s ankles through and out onto a cobbled path. I heard a buzz and glanced upward as the mesh gate opened automatically for Leandra to walk through. I was just about to follow her when a voice called out.

  ‘Detener.’

  I stopped as ordered and turned. Pedro rolled his eyes.

  ‘Ticket,’ Pedro said in a hushed tone and then bit his bottom lip.

  Sighing, I handed my ticket to the guard at the window, lowering my head, and then carried on walking through the gate.

  Pedro walked ahead to the outer gate. The buzzer operating the lock sounded and the door clicked ajar. Shivers ran through my body. Any moment I expected a hand to grasp my shoulder. Pedro opened the door and we walked through to the sound of a siren winding up and growing louder. Pedro followed us through the door and snapped it closed.

  ‘Don’t run, just walk briskly,’ said Pedro. ‘Follow me.’

  ‘Do you think the siren is for us?’ I asked.

  ‘Who cares? Ignore it and just keep walking. Hopefully it’s for the riot,’ he said.

  If I hadn’t glanced in a shop window and seen a shadow of a man, I could have been forgiven for not noticing we were being watched by someone sitting at a cafe on the opposite side of the road. He stood as we turned to walk down a side street toward our getaway car.

  Maybe I was being paranoid. All the same, it was a great relief to be in the backseat, with Pedro stepping on the gas pedal. As we drove away, I turned and looked through the back window. Black smoke billowed over the prison walls, hanging in a thick cloud over the vicinity of the yard.

  ‘Where are we going?’ I asked.

  Pedro replied, ‘North, towards the border, to that abandoned house. The last place they’ll be expecting you to travel is towards the American border. I’ve arranged a switch of cars along the way. Then we can make plans to get the hell out of Mexico and to get Leandra home.’ His eyes met mine in the rear-view mirror. ‘For goodness sake, take off the priest’s outfit and put it under the seat, or we may not make it out of town.’

  As I disrobed, Leandra took the pins from her bun, shook her hair loose, and turned to me. I felt an overwhelming urge to take
her in my arms. The sun streamed through the window behind her, and I squinted. She took my hand and snuggled up beside me, resting her head on my shoulder.

  Leanrda said, ‘I think someone knows I have the computer. When we went to pick up some clothes from the apartment yesterday, someone had picked the lock.’

  ‘So what are you saying?’

  ‘I’m saying whoever shot Angelina, must have made a connection to me and the computer, so we gave the motel a miss and slept in the car last night. I hope you don’t mind, but I need to sleep.’

  Leandra pushed herself even closer until our bodies seemed to be joined as one and I placed my arm around her shoulder. A single tear worked its way out of my eye.

  Pedro reached over to the glove compartment and opened it. ‘Here, take this. You might need it.’

  He handed me a Glock and a spare ammunition clip.

  ‘Listen, on the way north, Pedro, I need is to stop to buy a pay-as-you-go cell phone.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Let’s just say I may have someone I can call for help in an emergency.’

  Chapter 60

  A Change of Direction

  We stopped a few a few times on the way to the abandoned house. The first time we changed our beat-up Ford Pinto for a Toyota four-by four with tinted windows and a change of clothes for me. Leandra stepped behind some bushes and changed into some jeans.

  We stood and watched as the Ford rolled down the bank and into a river next to a bridge. The engine block dragged it down at a tilt, the trunk taking a lifetime to sink, then it suddenly gave up and disappeared.

  The second time, we stopped for a much-welcome coffee and a bite to eat. Pedro entered the coffee shop before us and by the time we walked in, he had sat down on his own by the window. We sat away from him. He ignored our presence, more concerned with staring out of the window.

  They say third time lucky, but it didn’t feel that way as I searched the shelves for a cell phone. The hackles on my neck stood on end as a police officer walked into the store and stood next to me perusing the goods on the shelf. Picking up a cell phone, I walked briskly to the cash desk, pulled out some pesos, paid the cashier and left.

  Back at our SUV, Pedro said, ‘We’ve got a tail.’

  I eased onto the backseat and closed the door. Looking around the parking lot, I glanced over at the patrol car parked outside the store.

  ‘Probably waiting for back-up.’

  ‘Not the cops, idiot. We’ve had a tail for the last twelve miles, but whoever it is, they’re hanging way back.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘No, but I work on the old adage.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Your first instincts are always correct. Still, it could be someone simply heading in our direction, but then they haven’t driven past us at any of the stops.’

  Leandra was oblivious to our conversation, curled up asleep next to me. With the engine already idling, Pedro eased on the gas pedal and we headed out of the parking lot and onto the highway. My body tingled when we picked up a sign for the border town Ciudad Juárez. I can’t say I was happy to be driving toward the scene of my arrest. Pedro pulled over into a gas station that had been closed the last time I had passed by and drove around back of the store.

  ‘Wait here,’ he said and he switched off the ignition.

  ‘I could use the bathroom,’ I said.

  ‘Me too,’ said Leandra, followed by a yawn, and she stretched her arms.

  Pedro sighed. ‘Okay, but when you’ve finished wait in the vehicle, don’t go wandering around. We’re going to wait here for twenty minutes while I keep an eye on the road.’

  I picked up the cell phone package, walked around the corner of the store, and entered the bathroom. I changed my clothes. Ripping at the packaging, I removed the phone and operator card, plugging the battery charger in the power socket.

  After a tap on the door, Leandra called out. ‘Kurt, it’s me.’ When I opened the door, she stepped inside. ‘Who are you thinking of phoning?’ she asked.

  ‘I need to contact Rob and an old friend of mine in America.’

  ‘Why? You’re free now. Anyway, isn’t that dangerous? Can’t they trace our position through a cell phone call?’

  ‘It takes time to trace a call. We’ll be long gone by the time they have a location. Besides, it’s not as though I’m really free. I need to know how things are progressing before we get wherever we’re going. I won’t be able to contact them once we get there. Incidentally, where are we going?’

  ‘West, to the coast. Pedro says we can pick up a photo for your false passport on the way. He’s arranged passage back to my country and on to my hometown. He really isn’t happy about you coming with us. What about you – are you happy to be coming with me?’

  I already knew the answer. I’d been aware of my feelings ever since we played hide and seek in the rainforest and I’d landed on top of her. I’d been fighting my demons ever since. The search for the right words to reply was lost on me. Pedro’s words rolled through my mind, ‘Your first instincts are always correct.’ The divorce papers had tipped the scales. Rob used a similar saying, ‘If you think it, it’s true.’ I knew the truth. Her actions had gone way beyond loyalty to a friend.

  Her eyes searched mine for an answer. The impulse to take her into my arms overwhelmed me. I drew her toward me. We gently kissed and then drew back. The answer to her question telegraphed between our eyes and we embraced in a passionate meeting of our minds and moist lips.

  Leandra rested her head on my chest. ‘I’ll take that as a “yes”, then, shall I?’

  She already had my answer. I tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Time we went back to the SUV. We’re not out of this yet.’

  We parted. I picked up my clothes, the cell phone and charger and followed Leandra back to the vehicle.

  ‘What kept you?’ Pedro asked.

  ‘Charging the phone.’

  ‘Yeah, well, don’t go making any calls until we talk about it. We’re heading back the way we came for a mile. There’s a back road we can take that’ll bring us out near the house.’ His eyes met mine in the rear-view. ‘Why the smirk?’

  ‘Just happy to be free,’ I said.

  When I glanced at Leandra, the glow on her face matched mine. She entwined her arm with mine and held my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

  ‘What about our tail?’ I asked.

  ‘A couple of vehicles passed by that could have been them.’

  ‘Any ideas?’

  Pedro shrugged. ‘I’m thinking it could be anything from a covert government agency from either side trying to get hold of the computer, to some low life who has found out about what the computer contains and they need it destroyed. If you’d take my advice, that’s what we should do – destroy it and toss it in a river. Leandra here put the original hard drive and the pen drive in a safety deposit box down in Panama. Carrying a copy isn’t the best of ideas. It makes us a target.’

  ‘Yeah, well, for now I’m just pleased we have the laptop. It may contain information that will give me an alibi.’

  ‘Why do you need an alibi for the heist in America? I phoned the DEA to tell them you had nothing to do with the heist.’

  ‘Yeah, right. Like they’re going to take your word for it.’

  ‘They’ve taken notice in the past when I used my code name.’

  ‘Code name?’

  ‘Black Llama.’

  I raised an eyebrow. ‘What! You – you mean you were my informant all along? Why didn’t you tell me before? Why the need to torture me? What if I gave up your name?’ I had a flashback to the torture room and broke out in a cold sweat. ‘You mean I put myself through all that for nothing?’

  ‘It wouldn’t have mattered. The name wouldn’t have had a connection back to me.’

  ‘I could have made a connection,’ Leandra said. ‘We use Black Llama like the Americans would use black sheep of the family, so there’s a connection to Bolivia.’ />
  ‘Whatever.’ Pedro sucked air through his teeth. ‘It’s all in the past.’

  My head sank into the headrest, with my mind in a spin.

  Squat’s farm appeared along the road. As we drew closer, I shuddered as we passed the open gate. It looked deserted, with no signs of life. Any chance of having someone questioned as to how Leila’s family had met their demise was going to be no easy task. I shuddered at the vision of Miguel’s decapitated head drifting through my mind. As we drove along the road, I relived every tortured step of my escape from the hacienda. What I would have given to have a four-by-four back then.

  We drove on past the opening to Leila’s homestead; the police tape still on the gated entrance was broken and flapping in the breeze. The children’s screams and the sound of rapid gunfire swirled in my head.

  ‘Kurt, you’re hurting my hand.

  ‘Sorry.’ I loosened my grip. ‘Pedro, can’t you go any faster?’

  ‘No need, the house is up ahead.’

  We pulled into the drive and drove around back. Reliving the ordeals I had suffered was leading me to believe it was a mistake to have returned. ‘Listen, Pedro, I understand your thinking on heading for the border, But I was arrested only five miles from here. They may have roadblocks ahead.’

  ‘Don’t worry, this is far as we go. We can rest up here a while and then we’ll double back and head west. On the way, we need to stop at a safe house to take your photograph to attach to your passport. All we’ll need is to take your picture and you’re good to go.’

  ‘What nationality?’

  ‘Bolivian. And don’t worry, the name is legit.’

  Pedro dug into his pocket and handed me a passport. I opened it to reveal a piece of folded paper. ‘What’s this?’

  ‘Your birth certificate.’

  Andreas Jiménez de Silva. Date of birth: 5/5/1974 Place of birth: Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

  ‘I’ve lost five years, according to this.’

  ‘You should be so lucky,’ Pedro said. He winked and smiled for the first time since I’d met him. ‘Commit the details to memory.’

  Trudging through the open patio door, I headed for the bedroom and dropped my backside on the bed. Leandra followed, clutching a laptop to her chest.