The Evening News (73 page)

The
reference to "three hostages
,”
which Sendero's high command would have
learned of through news reports, conveyed approval of Miguel's decision to
include the old man in the kidnap, something originally not planned
.
He turned his attention to the special equipment brought from Ayacucho for
the video and sound recording session. It comprised a Sony Camcorder with
cassettes, a tripod, photoflood kit and a portable 110-volt generator
,
gasoline-powered. None of it presented a problem to Miguel, who had handled
recording sessions with kidnap victims before
.
He realized, though, that he would need support and certain stem measures
to ensure obedience from the woman, who he suspected would be difficult. To
he
lp him he chose Gustavo and Ramo
n, both of whom he had observed being
tough with the prisoners and who were unlikely to be squeamish, whatever
punishment they were asked to inflict
.
The recording session, Miguel decided, would take place the following
morning.

As soon as there was sufficient daylight, Jessica was busy at work
.
Soon after she, Angus and Nicky had recovered consciousness in Peru, all
three discovered that at some point almost the entire contents of their
pockets had been removed, including any money they had had. A handbag
Jessica had been carrying at Larchmont, not surprisingly, had disappeared
.
Among the few things left were some paper clips, a comb of Jessica's, and
a small notebook in Angus's back pants pocket, which apparently was
overlooked. Also, in the lining of Nicky's jacket was
a ballpoint pen which had fallen through a hole in a pocket and had not been found
.
At Jessica's urging, the notebook and pen were carefully hidden and used
only if the guard on duty was one of those known to be more easygoing
than the martinets like Rarn6n
.
Yesterday Jessica had borrowed the notebook from Angus, and Nicky's
ballpoint pen. Although the screens between the prisoners' cages
prevented them from passing anything to each other, Vicente, while on
guard duty, obligingly collected the objects and handed them to her
.
What Jessica intended was to make drawings of the people she had
encountered while s
trong memories of them still ren
amed. While not an
accomplished artist, she was a competent amateur and was sure the faces
in her drawings would be recognizable if eventually she was able to use
them for identifying those involved in the kidnap and this aftermath
.
The first drawing, which she had begun the preceding day and was still
working on, was of the tall, balding, authoritative man whom Jessica had
become aware of as consciousness returned to her in the first darkened
hut. Although not totally alert at the time, she did remember her
desperately mouthed plea, "Hel
p
!
. . . please help . . . tell someone
.
.
.”
A subsequent impression, sharp and clear, was of the man in
question reacting, looking startled, but afterward doing nothing, as was
now apparent
.
Who was he? Why was he there? Since he was present, he had to be
involved. Jessica believed that the man was American. Whether he was or
wasn't, she hoped that one day her drawing would help track him down
.
When she had finished, Jessica had sketched a recognizable likeness of
the Learjet pilot, Captain Denis Underhill
.
The sound of footsteps outside caused her to fold the drawing hastily and
conceal it in her brassiere, the first place she thought of. The notebook
and pen she thrust beneath the thin mattress of her bed
.
Almost at once, Miguel, Gustavo and
Ramon
appeared. All three were
carrying equipment which Jessica recognized instantly
.”
Oh, no
!”

she
called out to Miguel
.”
Don't waste your
time setting that up. We will not help you by making any recording
.”

Miguel ignored her. Taking his time, he installed the Camcorder on its
tripod and arranged the photoflood lights which he plugged into an
extension cable. The cable ran out of doors where the sound of a generator
starting up could be heard. Moments later the area in front of the three
cells was brightly lit, the lights focused on an empty chair which the
Camcorder faced
.
Still unhurriedly, Miguel walked forward to Jessica's cage. His voice was
cold and hard
.”
You will do precisely what I tell you, when I tell you
,
bitch
.”

He held out three handwritten pages
.”
This is what you will
say-exactly that and no more, with not one word changed
.”

Jessica took the pages, read them quickly, then tore them into pieces which
she threw outward through the bamboo bars
.”
I told you I wouldn't do it
,
and I won't
.”

Miguel did not reac
t but looked toward Gustavo who was waiting nearby
.
Miguel nodded
.”
Get the boy
.”

Despite her determination a moment earlier, a shiver of apprehension ran
through Jessica
.
While she watched, Gustavo opened the padlock securing Nicky's cage. Going
inside, he seized Nicky by a shoulder and one arm; then, twisting the arm
,
propelled him outside until both were in front of Jessica's cell. Nicky
,
though plainly frightened, said nothing
.
Becoming frantic, and now sweating, Jessica demanded of the men, "What are
you going to do
?
”

No one answered
.
Instead,
Ramon
brought from the other side of the building the chair
usually occupied by the armed guard. Gustavo pushed Nicky into the chair
where the two men tied him with rope. Before securing his arms, Gustavo
loosened Nicky's shirt, exposing his small chest.
Ramon
, meanwhile, was
lighting a cigarette
.
Jessica, with a sense of what was coming, cried out to Miguel, "Wait!
Perhaps I was hasty. Please wait! We can talk
!”

Miguel did not answer. Stooping to the floor, he picked up
several pieces of the paper which Jessica had thrown
.”
Those were three pages
,”
he said
.”
Fortunately I thought you might do something foolish so I gave you a copy. But three is the figure you have set us, just the same
.”

He
signalled
to Ramon
, holding up three fingers. 'Vuo
melo bien . . . tres
veces
.”
Ramon inhaled, brin
ging the tip of the cigarette in his mouth to a glowing
red. Then deliberately, with a single swift movement, he removed the
cigarette and pressed the burning end against Nicky's chest. For the
briefest moment the boy was so surprised that no sound escaped him. Then
as he felt the burning, searing agony, he screamed
.
Jessica was screaming too-wildly, incoherently, tearfully pleading for the
torture to cease, assuring Miguel she would do whatever he wanted
.”
Anything! Anything! I don't care! Just tell me what it is! But stop! Oh
,
stop
!”

From the third cell, Angus was banging his hands against the screen of his
cage and shouting too. His words intermingled with the other din, though
a few could be heard
.”
You filthy bastards! Cowards! You're animals, not
men
!”

Ramon
watched and listened, a slight smile around his lips. Then he
returned the cigarette to his mouth, drawing his breath in hard several
times to reignite the glow. When it was again strong and red, he quashed
the cigarette once more against another part of Nicky's chest. Nicky's
screams intensified while, for the third time,
Ramon
drew on the cigarette
and repeated the process. By this time, a smell of burning flesh
accompanied the boy's screams and desperate sobbing
.
Miguel remained coolly impassive, outwardly indifferent to it all
.
After the third bum lie waited until some of the noise had subsided, then
informed Jessica, "You will sit in front of the camera and speak when I
signal you. I have written on cards what you are to say. It is the same as
you read and the cards will be held up. You will follow them exactly. Is
that understood
?
”

"Yes
,”
Jessica said dully, "it's understood
.”

Hearing her voice, choked and dry, Miguel told Gustavo, "Give her some
water
.”

Jessica protested, "I don't
It's Nicky who needs atten
tion-somethin
g for those bums. Socorro will know . .
.”

"Shut up
!”

Miguel snarled
.”
If you give any more trouble, the boy will
suffer again. He will stay as he is. You will obey
!”

He glared at Nicky
,
who was whimpering
.”
You shut up too
!”

Miguel turned his head
.”
Ramo
n
,
keep the hot poker ready
!”

Ramon
nodded
.”
Si
jefe
.”
He inhaled until his cigarette was again a
glowing red
.
Jessica closed her eyes. Her own obstinacy, she thought, had brought them
to this. Maybe one day Nicky would forgive her. To protect him now, she
would concentrate on what had to be done, completing it without a
mistake. But even then, a sudden thought occurred
.
At home in Larchmont, the night before the kidnap when Jessica and Crawf
were talking, Crawf had described signals which a hostage making a video
recording could transmit surreptitiously. The point was that someone back
home would know of the signals and be able to recognize them. Crawf had
had the notion that someday he might be kidnapped and make such a
recording. But now it was Jessica instead-something neither of the-n had
dreamed of-and she struggled to remember the signals, knowing Crawf would
see this tape What were they?
The conversation at Larchmont was coming back . . . her memory had always
been good . . . Crawf had said, "Licking my lips with my tongue would
mean, Y am doing this against my will. Do not believe anything I am
saying.' . . . Scratching or touching my right earlobe-My captors are
well organized and strongly armed' . . . Left earlobe-Security here is
sometimes lax. An attack from outside might succeed'
“
. . . There were
other signals, Crawf had said, though he hadn't described them. So the
three-or rather two, since she could only use one of the earlobe
messages-would have to do
.
Jessica's cell was opened by Gustavo who motioned her to move outside
.
Her impulse when she emerged was to run to Nicky, but
Miguel's face was glowering and Ram
o
n, also watching, had lighted a new cigarette Jessica stopped, her eyes meeting Nicky's, and she knew he understood. Guided by Gustavo, she sat in the chair facing the photofloods and Camcorder. Obediently, she sipped water that he gave her
.
The message she would speak was written in large letters on two cards which
Gustavo now held up. Miguel had moved to the Camcorder and was squinting
into an eyepiece. He ordered, "When I drop my hand, begin
.”