by Dancer, Jack
Twenty minutes or so go by, and the video swings around to the door again, and Libica is walking through. Her demeanor is all business now, and she stops in front of Julia and is speaking with little animation. She looks at Monica and Monica takes a wary step back. She says something to Monica, then again, to Julia, and the video again goes black when Monica steps in and gives Julia another hug. When she pulls back she's been crying again. Julia begins stepping back distancing herself from Monica. Monica's hand goes up in a small wave; she's crying but has a smile on her face.
Again, the video and audio quit streaming. The screen goes black and stays that way for around forty or so minutes. When the video returns it's marching through a door following Libica. Again, the screen goes black and doesn't reappear until they’re back in the same room Julia entered when she came out of the tunnel. I can see the maw of the tunnel through the open door. Julia walks to the opening and flips a switch on the wall, and the tunnel lights up. She turns and faces her mother who is standing across the room.
Her mother mouths some words and Julia turns and begins her way back through the tunnel. Oops, that one's no good. She's cussing up a storm that the door won't open.
As I'm concentrating on the iPhone display, I am not concentrating on the two guards who've sneaked up on me and have now taken possession of my rifle and grabbed the iPhone out of my hand. I have my hands raised, and they're talking but I cannot understand a word they're saying.
"Do you speak English?" I ask.
"No," I get back.
One motions for me to lie down on my stomach which I do while the other kneels over me and ties my hands behind my back with a nylon zip tie.
The next thing I hear is a woman's voice, "Deixar anar les seves armes." (Drop your weapons.) And they do. "Tombar a terra," she commands, and they lie on the ground.
"Take their weapons, Tucker," she says.
"Where'd you get the pistol?" I ask.
"Little late to ask me that, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Listen. I know this may sound weird but ask them to strip. I want their uniforms."
"Treure's la roba."
When she says this, they both look at each other and hesitate.
"Jo mataré vostè tant aquí," (I'll kill you both here.) she says and they both begin stripping. When they are down to their underwear, I pick up the uniforms and stuff them into the backpack. She next instructs them to sit with their backs against a tree, opposite each other and has me tie their wrists with nylon zip ties. When I'm done we grab our stuff and head for the car.
"What took you so long? I ask.
“Goddamn old dump,” she complains.
“What's the matter? Why didn't you come out the same way you went in?”
“Because the Goddamn door in there got stuck. I couldn't open the thing, so I had to take another tunnel and walk around half this God-awful mountain to get back here. You'd think these people might replace some of these old iron locks wouldn't you? I mean just to make sure they work when you need 'em to? Like escaping? I mean God, if there's a point where the idea of preserving history has crossed the line into the realm of stupidity this has got to be it.”
I can't help but laugh at the woman's line of thinking because she's right, except that, in this particular case, it was the modern miracle of Superglue drawing the line. I think it's probably safe to say this tunnel will be out of commission for a while. That leaves only two to cover for Friday. We know where one is, and if she lies about that one, I'll just have to make her walk me to the one on the southeast corner.
“Were you able to see or hear anything?”
“Some, not all but I saw you with your mother in her office then you both appeared in the tiled room with Monica. I saw her, but I couldn't hear anything. I did see she knew she was on camera because she looked straight at me. It appeared to me everything went as you thought it would. Tell me about it,” I say taking her by the arm leading her down the hill.
“What you did must have worked. She's been barraged with phone calls, faxes, and e-mails; her world has been under siege all day. She didn't know what was going on. She hadn't read your text message because her phone's been going off so much she just stopped answering it. She read it when I was there in her office. I told her too. She freaked, Tucker. She's scared out of her mind. If you saw it on the video, you must have seen her give in pretty quickly. What else is she going to do? That's what I kept telling her. I told her; she's getting the best deal of her life; she can get out and retire somewhere, somewhere out of the country.”
“Out of the western hemisphere,” I corrected.
“Right.”
“What about Monica?”
“I told mother I had to see her while I was there, I had to see she was unharmed just like you said. She's in the dungeon, but you know; that dungeon has been completely remodeled since I left. The room that Monica was in was all tiles, very sterile.”
“I'll bet. Sterile for cutting people into pieces,” I say. "Did it look like the same tiled room the flayed girl in the photo was in?”
“Oh, God, I didn't even make that connection. I think I'm going to be sick now,” she says covering her mouth with her hand.
“No, you aren't, keep going,” I say sternly.
“Why do you have to be so mean?”
“Because I am."
"Aren't you even going to thank me for saving your ass back there?" she says.
"Thanks for saving my ass, really. I say that and wonder if she didn't send these guys out after me? Now what about Monica? Tell me.”
“She seems okay. I told mother I needed some time alone with her, and she didn't object. When she left I told Monica she was going to be out by Friday, that you had made arrangements with mother, and she agreed.”
“What was her reaction when you told her the little witch doctor was your mother?”
“I didn't tell her. I told her she was Pau's mother, and that I've been a lifelong friend of Pau's, and I knew her mother from growing up. I told her I was probably one of the few people who can just pop in on Drusilla and be welcomed.
"There's no way I could've told her the truth under the circumstances. There wasn't enough time for me to explain it all away and expect her to trust me. I doubt there'll ever be enough time to explain it and make her understand.
“She'll probably hate me forever,” she says bursting into tears and wrapping her arms around me. "Oh, Tucker how can I ever make her believe, I had nothing to do with her being in my mother's dungeon? Would you believe a story like that?”
“It'd be difficult. But, if she knows you were key in rescuing her; she'll have to believe you,” I say. "Did you admit anything to her about the Spanish Prisoner scam you, and James and company tried to pull?" she pulled away from me and paused. I think I caught her off guard.
“Of course not. There wasn't time for me to get into all that no more than there was time for me to explain away my mother. Oh, God. If she finds out about that too, she really will hate me forever. Do I have to tell her, Tucker? What would be the point? It's all over with anyhow, right? You promised, remember? You said if I helped you rescue her; we'd have a deal.”
“I know that. I just want to remind you of your plans for her in the first place. The only difference is she lucked up by jumping out of the limo. But, then her luck went bad again when your mother's goons grabbed her.” But now we don't know who those guys were working for or who Rakim's with. I need to get Dick to interrogate those guys.
“But, that wasn't my fault, so don't try to pin that one on me, Tucker Blue.”
“Maybe not directly. But, I gotta say, you've got one hell of a family. Fortunately, for you, I can empathize. Blood is not necessarily thicker than water. That's why God invented friends. It's his apology for family.”
That brought a smile to her face, and such a pretty face too. It's a shame so much evil lurks behind it. But, then, I can empathize there too.
“So, what did you tell her?”
“What? You weren't to mention the ticket.”
"Tucker, she already knew about the ticket. Drusilla’s been on her all week about it."
"And what'd she say?"
“At first she didn't say anything, she just started crying. She said she knew nothing about the ticket, and she couldn't believe you had the ticket all along and didn't tell her about it. Just as we said she would. She thought you were betraying her until I told her you were trading the ticket to Drusilla for her release. That's when she really started bawling. She was very upset, Tucker. I hate to say it, but I think she really does love you. Even I can't take that away from her, as much as I'd like to.”
Just hearing Julia's sincerity pulled at my heartstrings something awful.
“What'd you tell Drusilla?”
“I told mother she'd better make sure Monica is treated well, and that she's comfortable, no tying her up. I think she'll be just fine until Friday," she says.
“And your mother is clear on what's going to take place tomorrow in Barcelona, and she understands the wheels are in motion and can’t be stopped?”
“I told her.”
“What's she going to do?”
“I would imagine she'll stay where she is and wait it out until Friday. I told her we'd be in contact beforehand with details on how the exchange is to be carried out.”
“Let's go, Julia. We need to get back to Barcelona. Your mother could have a change of heart any moment so we need to put some miles between us, and quick.”
Christ, this is killing me. What I'd give to have both these women. If it were only possible. Why not? Had 'em both last Friday. Don't recall any objections then. Naw, no way, one's more than enough; two would kill me. I don't know how those Mormon guys do it.
We make our way back down the hill to the car. I open the trunk and toss my stuff in and walk around the driver's side when Julia calls out, "Tucker?”
"So why did you want those guys' uniforms?" she asks getting into the car.
"I dunno. I thought they might come in handy," I say.
"I love a man in uniform. Could you put one on for me?"
"Give me the gun, Julia."
"Pretty please?"
"Give me the gun, Julia, pretty please."
She takes it out of her pocket, raises it, and sticks it in her mouth.
"No!"
fifty-eight
15:25 Hours, Wednesday, 10 September.
Back to Barcelona.
"Wasn't funny, Julia. I should put you in a straight jacket.”
“Yum. Sounds good, then what?”
“Take you to the nut house that's what. You scared the shit out of me doing that. If you really loved me, you wouldn't take the thing I love away from me. Right?”
[“Days of Our Lives, Bluesman. Did you just hear yourself? Stop it!”]
"Butt out Speed," I say under my breath and follow it with a cough.
"What?"
"Nothing. I had a cough."
“People kill what they love, Tucker," she goes on. "Wait. You just said you loved me didn't you?”
“No.”
“Yes, you did. Look, Tucker, I'm showing my desperation here because I know when Friday comes and Monica's rescued, that'll be the last of me. You won't want anything to do with me after that. You'll go home and marry her, and that'll be that. You'll live happily ever after, and I'll end up being my mother. Oh, God what a horrible thought.”
“I'm not even divorced.”
“Two months, big deal.”
“And I still don't know about Monica. She told me she was married to a guy named Al, then, later she told me she made the whole thing up. So, which is it?”
“She's married, Tucker, and the guy Al, she's married to; he'd kill you, and her before he'd let her go. He's as rich as Caesar too, owns like a million hamburger restaurants, and he's built like a Peterbilt truck. If you were smart, you'd avoid Monica like typhoid Mary.”
I'm tuning her out now because I know she's giving me a line of bullshit.
All right, let's get back to business, "I want you to point out to me where the other two tunnels come out.”
“Okay, keep going. Now slow down. It's been a long time. Wait. Stop. I think that's one up there. See the pile of rocks?” she points.
“Yeah.” I open the car door and get a couple of shots with the camera. I think she's telling the truth. It's a little hard to tell from this direction, but it looks like the one I saw her come out of a little while ago. "Okay, now the next one. You said there were three, right?”
“Right. Just drive to the end of this road where it intersects with Rue Jean Vigo.”
“Okay.”
I drive to the end of the road and stop, and we both get out of the car. I walk around to her side with the camera.
She points. "See the circular turret on this corner?”
“Yeah.”
“If you look straight down from there about fifty yards you'll see another rock formation. Do you see it?”
“Yes,” I say and start shooting the whole side of the hill and zooming in on the rock formation. "Okay, I think I have it. Thanks.” We both get back into the car. I think she's telling the truth.
I take a right on Rue Jean Vigo and continue through town and about a mile southwest of Llivia, back on the N-152 until we come upon what appears to be a roadblock. We slow down and prepare to stop.
[“Tucker, I'm picking up Rakim ahead. Can you turn around?”]
"No," I say.
"No what?" Julia says back.
"You know what this is ahead?" I say to her. I see out of the corner of my eye, she's giving me an odd look. Can't blame her.
“I don't know. A traffic stop?” Julia says.
“There's only one uniform,” I say just as the uniform steps into the road and motions for me to pull over. I do.
["Watch yourself Bluesman.”]
“This doesn't look right,” she says.
“It's okay. Just stay put. I'll talk with them. Lock the doors after me,” I say opening the door and stepping out. The cop motions for me to walk back to the police cruiser where three others - not in uniform and their backs to me - are talking, standing around a Ducati motorcycle.
I approach and all three turn.
“Hello, Señor Blue, fancy meeting you out here,” Rakim says stepping up and offering his hand like we're old friends. I take it and also shake hands with Guillem and Cesc, who follow.
“Likewise,” I say, "so you guys are all cops by day, huh? Doing road checks?”
“Gotta make a living,” says Cese.
“S'pose so, but I don't see you've pulled anyone else over. Am I special?” That gets a group laugh.
“What brings you up this way, Señor Blue?” asks Rakim.
“Nice day for a drive. Thought I'd come on up and see what was going on at the castle and rescue Monica while I was at it. Been waiting for you fellows to do it, but it looked like you weren't ever going to get around to it. So, here I am.”
It was a Kodak moment.
“That who you have in the car?” says Rakim.
He doesn't know; I'm thinking. This is priceless. I should keep it up and see where it leads.
“No. I have Drusilla Libica's daughter, Julia, in the car. We came up to have a picnic and watch the festivities. So, whaddaya think? Pretty decent turnout for such short notice, eh?”
It's silence the length of a commercial break before Rakim pipes up, "Tucker you are full of shit man. Drusilla Libica's daughter?”
“You don't believe me?” I say and step toward the car. "C'mon, I'll introduce you." They look at each other. "C'mon, don't be shy.”
We all walk over, and I rap on Julia's window. She pushes the but
ton sliding the window down. If I had to describe her expression, it would be, indifferent, unsmiling, and an 'I can't be bothered' knockout. She's cool and aloof.
God, I think, if I looked like her, I'd want to have sex with me all the time.
“Señora Libica I'd like you to meet some friends of mine," I say "This is Cesc,” I point to Cesc, and he returns a smile and slight bow. She doesn't flinch. "This is Guillem.” He mimics Cesc and Julia's demeanor remains icy. "And this is Rakim.”
“Mademoiselle, my pleasure," says Rakim giving a slight bow. The ice doesn't crack and her charcoal eyes remained locked onto Rakim's, almost taunting.
The domme is out; I'm thinking.
“If you don't mind sweetheart, confirm to these gentlemen that you are Drusilla Libica's daughter, Julia," she returns a single nod, and the window whines its way back up. "Play the radio honey, I'll be right back.” The four of us walk to the rear and stand behind the car, the uniform remaining stoically in his cruiser.
“Why did you flag me down? You have something?” I ask.
“Did you meet with Drusilla Libica?” asks Rakim avoiding my question.
“No, I brought Julia up to meet with her.”
“And for what purpose?”
"She's her daughter? Besides she wanted to meet Monica Reyes. You remember Monica Reyes don't you Rakim? She's the woman who was kidnapped last Saturday night. The same woman you refused to help. Remember? The same woman who has been held hostage in the dungeon for ransom." As I'm saying this to Rakim, I see Cese and Guillem exchanging suspicious glances.
They know nothing about this. Excellent, I press on with Rakim.
"You know, the dungeon?" I repeat, and Rakim's face is turning red with anger. "Drusilla Libica's dungeon up there at the castle, the one you knew about all along but refused to tell me or do anything to help rescue the woman, unless I gave you the lottery ticket? You remember Rakim?"
The guy barely keeps himself together. If the others weren't here he'd be pulverizing me right now.
"What is this?" pipes up Guillem. "What is this about a rescue?"