Red Leopard (The Vistaria Affair Series) (34 page)

A little less than an hour later they piled back into the car. This time Joshua and Beryl were with them. The plan was simple; they would drive to the yacht club on the coast and use Nick’s boat to cross over to Acapulco.

Nick sat behind the wheel again, Joshua in the passenger seat. Between Beryl and Calli in the back seat, Minnie sat like a statue. She had withdrawn into herself again.

Her remoteness worried Calli, but she didn’t know what to do about it. She mentally listed it as something she must take care of when they reached the boat. She couldn’t deal with it now. She knew the drive to the yacht club would not be as breezy as Joshua made it out to be.

Nick had an encyclopedic knowledge of back roads and side streets. As a result, they avoided crowded main thoroughfares nearly altogether. When they drew closer to the eastern outskirts of the city, Nick sat up straighter, showing more alertness than before.

“What is it?” Joshua asked.

“We have to use the main road for a few miles. It’s the only one until we get to a turnoff about five miles away.”

“Oh well,” Joshua said philosophically.

The car climbed over a raised lip and bumped onto a wide, sealed road. They turned right, heading east. The sun sat low behind them, sending their long shadow down the road.

There was a lot of traffic, moving slowly. Cars, buses, mini-vans, rusted out hulks blowing blue smoke, even horse-drawn carts. Along both sides of the road a long, strung-out line of people headed east, too, carrying their burdens, shepherding children, goats and other household animals. This far from the city, they had settled into a rhythm and uniform speed. None of the panic Calli had seen in the city showed here, just a stoicism that told her more clearly than words could just how used to fleeing and hiding Vistarians were. As Nick had said, it was in their blood, part of every page of their history.

She felt sad for the pretty country and the happy people. Their resistance to outsiders, to Americans, hadn’t been whipped up overnight. The rebels had tapped into a deep-rooted foundation of fear built by generations of abuse. Her sadness was tinged with indignation, too. How could a people be treated this way? How could anyone watch it and not want to take up their cause?

Nick had taken up that cause. Now he would look upon these refugees and tell himself he had failed to save them from this misery.

She moved forward to sit on the edge of the seat and reach through the front seats to lay her hand on his chest. Although she could not see him because of the headrest, she said very quietly by his ear, “Don’t look at them and tell yourself it’s finished, Nick. This doesn’t have to be the end. Not until you decide it’s over.”

Silence. But she knew he listened, for he had stopped breathing. His chest did not rise or fall under her hand.

“Yes, they’re taking a beating and you’ve made a mistake,” she added. “But it was just a mistake and it doesn’t have to be fatal. Look at them, Nick. They’re sturdy, determined. All they need is you to find a way for them to get back what they’ve lost.”

She felt him breathe again. A deep breath. He picked up her hand and she felt his lips against the backs of her fingers.

Satisfied, she sat back again and saw that Joshua had turned to study her. She tried to smile at him, but could only manage to curl up one corner of her mouth. After a moment, he turned back to watch the road again.

Thirty minutes later, after climbing up and down undulating hills, they turned off the main road without meeting any trouble, nosing their way through the pedestrians with agonizing slowness. The new road was sandy for they drew closer to the coast now, but it was firm enough for Nick to pick up speed.

The trees closed in around them, crowding right up to the edges of the road. At times, small branches would actually swipe across the windows as they went by. After a mile or so the hard dirt road swung left, heading toward the northwest, and a tiny track branched off to the right.

Nick turned right, but he did not slow his speed and now the bushes scraped along the sides constantly. The dirt grew soft and boggy.

They turned a long, curving bend in the road, Nick working at the wheel to keep the car in the deep ruts as it leaned sideways. As the curve straightened, two things happened at once—the windscreen directly in front of Nick blossomed with three stars that radiated out across the glass and Joshua threw up his hands with a dismayed, “Oh, holy shit!”

Nick stamped on the brakes and the car slewed to a halt, the back of it fishtailing in the loose sand as he fought the wheel to keep the skid under control until they had halted.

Calli leaned forward to look between the seats. On the road ahead of them, she could see the outline of two men standing with their legs spread. A third stood off to the side, lowering the gun that he had been aiming at the car.

Joshua whistled. “Bulletproof glass?” he asked Nick.

Nick nodded.

“You are one lucky son of a bitch,” Joshua declared.

It confirmed what Calli had thought—the stars on the windscreen were bullet marks.

“Everyone stay very still and nobody say a word, no matter what they say. Understood?” Nick said in an undertone.

“Who are they?” Calli breathed.

“I think we’re about to meet our first official rebels.”

The smallest of the pair standing on the road waved them forward. The man with the pistol ran down to stand level with the car and Joshua’s open window. “
Fuera! Salga del coche.”

“What did he say?” Beryl whispered.

“
Ponga las manos arriba!”
he screamed.

Joshua shot his hands up into the air. “All right, already,” he said. “I’m getting out.”

“All of you!” the man said with a heavy accent. “All. Out.”

Nick switched off the engine, pulled out the keys and got out of the car. Calli followed his example and tugged Minnie into following her.

The man with the gun herded them towards the other two. A fourth man stepped out of the trees, pointing a rifle with a long, curved magazine at them. Calli caught her breath and tried not to show any reaction. The fourth man was Harry, the congenial guitar player she had met in the truck on the way to the party. He did not look so young or easy-going now.

They were surrounded. Calli kept Beryl and Minnie beside her and in the center of the ring where Nick, Joshua and she would offer a little protection if the men began firing.

The smaller of the two men standing in the middle of the road appeared to be unarmed, but the other held a large revolver, cradling it in the crook of his other arm, his finger resting against the barrel. All of them were unshaven and dirty and none wore anything that resembled a uniform. Harry wore the jeans and tee-shirt she had seen him in at the party

The small man smiled as Nick stopped in front of him and spread his hands in welcome. “
La mirada lo que yo me agarré hoy
...
Señor Nicolás Escobedo
.” He seemed to be gloating.

“Pablo Santos,” Nick drawled. “I’m surprised to find you on the other side.”

Pablo laughed a little. It was not a pleasant sound. “When Serrano told me to watch this dirty road, I thought he had sent me away but he was right. He said that rich
bastardos
would try to get to their big boats and run away. But I do not think even he thought someone like you would run away,
el leopardo
.”

Nick simply looked at him.

“Oye, Pablo!”
It was Harry, speaking softly. “
La alta rubia allí. Esa es la dama fuerte.”

In amongst the Spanish, Calli focused on words she recognized.
La dama fuerte
. Her skin crawled. Harry was talking about her.

Pablo stepped forward, trying to move past Joshua so he could see her. “
La mujer de Escobedo?”
he asked with an evil smile, and reached behind his back.

The motion seemed to trigger Nick into action. He took two big strides towards Calli, pushing Beryl out of the way as he did so. A shout went up from the rebels surrounding them, panic clear in their voices. Nick threw his left arm around Calli and at the same time he spun her around. Calli felt his right hand tug something between them. His hand shot out to point at Pablo...and his gun was in it.

Beryl screamed and Minnie dropped to the ground, her hands over her ears.

At the same time Pablo pulled his hand out from behind his back and brought up a revolver and cocked it, pointing it straight at Nick.

Both of them grew still, their guns aimed directly at each other.

Nick had pulled her around so she would be out of the line of fire. Calli began to tremble when she realized that Pablo had either intended to shoot her out of hand, or else use her to force Nick to comply with whatever he wanted. Thank God Nick had guessed his intentions.

Pablo smiled. “But shoot me and Harry will kill everyone here. Including you.”

“But you’ll be dead,” Nick responded, his voice low and even.

Pablo considered it a moment. Then, with a quick movement he lifted his revolver up in the air, taking his finger off the trigger. “You see?” he said. “This will get us nowhere.”

Nick didn’t lower his gun and from the corner of her eye Calli could see that none of the other men had, either.

Pablo shrugged and let the gun hang from his hand. “We have more to offer you,
señor
Escobedo, than a bullet.”

“Recruitment?” Nick said, his voice dry. “What makes you think I would sell out as easily as you?”

Pablo’s face flushed but he shook his head, shaking it off. “How long is it since you heard a status report, Nicolás? Three hours? More?”

Nick didn’t answer.

“The army has laid down its weapons. The people have emerged from their homes to show support for the revolution. Serrano is on his way to the palace. Your brother Jose will be escorted from the grounds before midnight tonight. We have won, a great victory that will be forever known as the fastest revolution in history.”

“I don’t believe you,” Nick said evenly.

Pablo shrugged. “Believe me. Or not. It doesn’t matter. I can see from your face that you know the end is near even if it has not happened already. We could use your skills,
el leopardo rojo
. We could use your expertise.”

Nick shook his head.

“Think about it,” Pablo encouraged. “You have worked your whole life to make Vistaria a good country. Serrano is simply offering you a second chance to continue that work. He would be a fool to not acknowledge your skills. He knows and you know, Nicolás, that after today, after this revolution is over, there will be much rebuilding. Much more work to do.”

“Why would I consider such an offer when you and your associates have already wiped out all the work I have done to this day?” Nick demanded.

Pablo pointed to Harry, on the other side of the irregular circle surrounding them. “Because if you do not agree, Harry will shoot you all.”

“I see. Work for Vistaria or die. Is that it? If I agree, you let the rest of them go?”

Jose took a moment to answer. “I have my orders,” he said.

Nick’s slowly lowered his gun. Calli wanted to protest, to cry out her disappointment, but how could Nick resist such an offer?

She felt his arm loosen from around her shoulders and stepped back a little. He lifted up her chin to make her look at him, turning to face her properly. “I have to accept,” he said simply.

“I know.” She held back the torrent of words, the warnings her instincts yelled at her.

He kissed her, but it was a dry, passionless touch of the lips and she knew then that she had lost whatever hold she had on him. Nick had moved on from her. The man that kissed her now had no thought for her. His mind was elsewhere, already turned to the task of rebuilding a country. He had no use for the American woman who had begun the conflagration that had ruined that country in the first place.

His hand was on her shoulder and moved around to plant itself in the middle of her chest. “Go away,” he said firmly and gave her a mighty shove. It sent her tumbling backwards, to land almost flat on her back in the dirt. She grunted as all her breath was knocked out of her.

She lifted her head, stunned, just in time to see Nick spin on his heel in a full circle, the gun coming up. He fired one shot and Harry dropped to the ground, the lethal-looking rifle clattering down with him.

“Down!” Nick said.

Joshua dropped to the ground, bringing Beryl with him, the old soldiering reactions barely blunted. Minnie remained a condensed ball on the ground.

Nick spun again, another half circle, to face Pablo. The revolutionary was just bringing his revolver up to aim, an expression of anger and shock building on his face. Nick shot him directly between the eyes, then instantly leapt towards the crumpling body. At that moment, the man who had stayed standing in the middle of the road fired his own pistol at the place where Nick had been a second before.

Nick caught and held Pablo’s body against him and shot at the man with the revolver. Calli saw a small red rose bloom on the man’s forehead as his knees gave way and he folded into the dirt.