The Evening News (71 page)

Rita glanced around her, aware of others in the room.

"Let's go in a private office
,”
she said, and led the way to her own
.
It took twenty minutes for Kettering, aided occasionally by Mony, to
describe all that they had learned. Kettering produced the New York Post
report of the Salaverry-Efferen alleged murder-suicide, a copy made by the
American-Amazonas Bank manager before they left. The two correspondents and
Rita knew that when this meeting was over, CBA News research would
routinely obtain all other material on the same subject
.
After Rita read the clipping, she asked Kettering, "Do you think we should
start investigative work on those two deaths
?
”

"Maybe some, though it's incidental now. The real story is the Peru
connection
.”

"I agree
,”
Partridge said, "and Peru has come up before
.”

He remembered his
conversation two days ago with Manuel Le6n Seminario, owner-editor of the
Lima-based Escena. While nothing specific had emerged, Seminario had said
,
"In Peru nowadays kidnapping is almost a way of life
.”

"Even though we have a Peru involvement
,”
Rita pointed out ' "let's not
forget that we don't know for sure whether the kidnap victims have been
taken out of this country
.”

"I'm not forgetting
,”
Partridge said
.”
Don, do you have anything more
?
”

Kettering nodded
.”
Yes. Before I left the bank I had the manager agree to
an inteiview on camera, maybe later today. He knows he may be sticking his
neck out with the bank's owners, but he's a good old guy with a sense of
responsibility and says he'll take his chances. If you like, Harry, I'll
do that one too
.”

"I do like. Anyway, it's your story
.”

Partridge turned to Rita
.”
Cancel
what I said about going to Bogot
a
. Now it's Lima. I want to be there early
tomorrow
.”

:'And how much do we broadcast, when
?
”

'Everything we know, and soon. Exactly when, we'll discuss with Les and
Chuck, but if possible I'd like a clear twenty
four hours in Peru before an
army of other correspondents gets there, which will happen as soon as we
go with what we have
.”

He continued, "So starting right now, we'll work all night
p
utting everything together. Call everyone on the task force in for a meeting"- -Partridge glanced at his watch: 3:15 P.m.-"at five o'clock
.”

"Yessir
!”

Rita, enjoying action, smiled
.
At the same moment, the phone on her desk rang. After answering, she
covered the mouthpiece and told Partridge, "It's the same man-the one
who's been trying to get you all day.,' He took the phone
.”
This is Harry Partridge
.”

"Don't use my name at any point in this conversation. Is that clear
?
”

The
caller's words sounded muffled, perhaps deliberately, but Partridge
recognized the voice of his contact, the organized crime lawyer
.”
Yes, it's clear
.”

"You know who I am
?
”

"I do
.”

"I'm calling from a pay phone, so the call's not traceable. And something
else: If you ever name me as the source of what I'm about to tell you
,
I shall swear y
ou're a. liar and deny it. That clear too
?
”

"It is.,
,
"I've taken big risks to get what I have, and if certain people knew of
this conversation it could cost me my life. So when this call ends, ray
debt to you is paid in full. Understood
?
”

"Fully understood
.”

The other three in the small office were silent, their eyes fixed on
Partridge as the muffled voice, audible only to him, continued
.”
Some clients I do business with have Latin American connections
.”

Connections with the cocaine trade, Partridge thought, but didn't say it
.”
Just as I already told you, they wouldn't touch the kind of thing you've
been inquiring about, but there are other things they get to hear
.”

"I understand that
,”
Partridge said
.”
All right, here it is, and the information is solid, I guarantee it. The
people you are looking for were flown out of the
U
nited States last Saturday and are now imprisoned in Peru. Got that
?
”

"I have it.
,”
Partridge said
.”
May I ask one question
?
”

"No.”

"I need a name
,”
Partridge pleaded
.”
Who's responsible? Who is holding
them
?
”

"Goodbye
.”

"Wait, please wait! All right, I won't ask you to give a name, only do
this: I'll speak a name and if I'm wrong, give me some kind of signal
saying no. If I'm right, don't say anything. Will you do that
?
”

A pause, then, "Make it fast
.”

Partridge took a breath before mouthing, "Sendero Luminoso
.”
At the other end, silence. Then a click as the caller hung up.

Almost from the beginning, when Jessica regained consciousness in the darkened hut at Sion and discovered soon after that she, Nicky and Angus were prisoners in Peru, Jessica had accepted that she alone must provide their beleaguered trio with leadership and inspiration. Both qualities, she realized, were essential to their survival while they waited and hoped for eventual rescue. The alternative was profound despair, leading to an emotional surrender which could perhaps destroy them all
.
Angus was courageous, but too old and weak to be more than supportive, and
ultimately even he might need to draw from Jessica's strength. Nicky, as
always, must be Jessica's first concern
.
Assuming they came through this nightmare safely-and Jessica refused to
consider any other outcome-it was possible for it to leave forever a mental
scar on Nicky. Jessica's intention, no matter what ordeals and privations
lay ahead, was to
see that it did not. She would teach Nicky, and Angus if necessary, that above all they must retain their self-respect and dignity
.
And she knew how. She had taken a training course which some of her
friends had thought of as a whim. It happened because Crawford, who
really ought to have taken the course himself, had lacked the time
.
Jessica, feeling someone in the family should, had gone instead
.
Oh, thank you and bless you, Brigadier Wade! I never dreamed, when I
attended those drills and listened to your lectures, that I would need
and make use of what you taught me
.
Brigadier Cedric Wade, MC, DCM, had been a British Army sergeant in the
Korean War and later an officer in the elite British SAS. Now retired and
living in New York, he conducted small-scale anti-terrorism courses. His
reputation was such that the U.S. Army sometimes sent him pupils
.
In Korea, in 1951, Sergeant Wade was captured by the North Korean forces
and for nine and a half months held in solitary confinement in an earthen
pit below ground level, approximately ten feet square. Above his head
were securely fastened bars, open to the sun and rain. At no point while
imprisoned was he ever released from that lonely cell. During his time
there he had minimal communication with his guards, had nothing to read
,
and could see only the sky above
.
As he quietly described his experience in a lecture, which even now
Jessica remembered almost word for word, "I knew at the start th
ey
intended to break my spirit. I was determined they never would and that
however bad it got, even if I died in that hole, I would not lose my
self-respect
.”
He kept it, Brigadier Wade told members of his classes, by hanging on to
whatever threads of normalcy and order he could. To begin, he assigned
each corner of his tiny cell a separate function. An unpleasant one came
first. He had no choice but to urinate and defecate on the cell floor
.
One corner was kept for that purpose only; he saw to it that no other
portion of the cell was similarly debased
.”
At first, the odor was
terrible and sickening. 4fter a while I got used to it because I knew I
had to. The opposite comer, as far away from the first as possible, was used for
eating the meager food passed down to him. A third comer was for sleeping
,
the fourth for sitting to meditate. The center of the cell was used for
exercises three times daily, including running in place
.”
I reasoned that
stayingfit was another way to keep myself a person, and preserve my
dignity
.”
He received a ration of drinking water daily, but none for ablutions. From
the drinking water, he always saved a small portion with which he washed
.”
It wasn't easy and I was sometimes tempted to drink it all, but I didn't
and instead was alw
ays clean-something very
important in the way you feel
about yourself
“
At the end of nine months, taking advantage of a guard's carelessness
,
Sergeant Wade escaped. Three days later he was recaptured and returned to
the cell, but within two weeks American forces overran the North Koreans'
position and released him. He made friendships then which, long afterward
,
resulted in his residence in the United States
.
Something else Brigadier Wade taught Jessica and others was CQB--close
quarters battle, a form of unarmed combat in which even a small
,
lightweight person with the proper skills could disarm an attacker and
either blind that person or break an arm, a leg or the neck. Jessica had
proved an agile and fast
learning pupil
.
Since arriving in Peru as a captive, there had been opportunities to make
use of her CQB training, but each time Jessica had restrained herself
,
knowing such action would be self-defeating. Instead she kept her ability
concealed, in reserve for some moment-if one should arise-when it could
become decisive
.
No such moment had arisen yet at Nueva Esperanza. Nor did the chance of one
seem probable
.
During those terrible first minutes when Jessica, Nicky and Angus were
thrust into their separate cages, and Jessica wept on hearing Nicky
sobbing, there was a period of mental dislocation and misery which even the
best intentions could not bridge. Jessica, like the others, had succumbed
to it
.
But not for long.
Before ten minutes had passed, Jessica called out softly, "Nicky, can you
hear me
?
”

After a pause, a subdued answer came back, "Yes, Mom
,”
The reply was
followed by movement as Nicky approached the screen between their cells
.
Their eyes had adjusted to the semidarkness and the two could see each
other, though not touch
.
Jessica asked, "Are you okay
?
”

"I think so
.”

Then in a voice which quivered, "I don't like it here
.”