The Evening News (95 page)

He proffered the printout which
Chippingham
took and read. It repeated a
Chicago Tribune report from Lima. describing the finding of Angus Sloane's
dismembered head
.”
Oh, Christ! Crawf, I'm . .
.”

Unable to finish the words,
Chippingham
shook his head, then held out his arms and, in a spontaneous gesture, the
two embraced
.
As they separated, Sloane said, "Don't say anything more. I'm not sure I
can handle it. I can't do the news tonight. I told them outside to call
Teresa Toy . .
.”

"Forget everything, Crawf
!”

Chippingham told him
.”
We'll take care of it
.”

"No
!”

Sloane shook his head
.”
There's something else, something I must do
.
I want a Learjet to Lima. While there's still a chance . . . for Jessica
and Nicky . . . I must be
there
.”

Sloane paused, struggling for control, then added, "I'll go to Larchmont first, then to Teterboro
.”

Chippingham said doubtfully, "Are you sure, Crawf? Is this wise
?
”

"I'm going, Les
,”
Sloane said
.”
Don't try to stop me. If CBA won't pay
for an airplane, I will
.”

"That won't be necessary. I'll order the Lear
,”
Chippingham said
.
Later, he did. It would leave Teterboro that night and be in Peru by
morning.

Because of the sudden, tragic news of Angus Sloane, Chippingham's letter
to Partridge did not get signed and faxed to Lima until late that
afternoon. After his secretary had left, Chippingham sent it to a fax
number he had for Entel Peru, from where it would be delivered to the CBA
booth in the same building. He added a note to the transmission, asking
for the letter to be placed in an envelope addressed to "Mr. Harry
Partridge
”
and marked "Personal
.”

Chippingham had considered informing Crawford Sloane about the letter
,
then decided Crawf had had all the shocks he could handle in a single
week. He knew the letter would outrage Crawf, as well as Partridge, and
expected indignant telephone calls with demands for explanations. But
that would be another day and Chippingham would have to cope with it as
best he could
.
Finally, Chippingham telephoned Margot Lloyd-Mason who was still in her
office at 6:15 P.m. He told her first, "I have done what you asked
,”
then
gave her the news about Crawford Sloane's father
.”
I heard
,”
she said, "and I'm sorry. About the other, you cut it fine and
I was beginning to think you wouldn't call. But thank you
.”

Away from the highway where the Cheyenne 11 had landed, the trek through the jungle for Partridge and the other three was difficult and slow
.
The trail-if it could be called that-was often overgrown and frequently
disappeared entirely. Faced with a dense and tangled mass of vegetation
,
it was necessary to hack a way through using machetes, hoping for a clearer
space beyond. Tall trees formed a canopy above their heads, under an over-
cast sky which hinted of rain to come. Many trees had grotesquely twisted
trunks, thick bark and leathery leaves; Partridge had read somewhere that
eight thousand known species of trees existed in Peru. At lower levels
,
bamboos, ferns, lianas and parasitic plants were everywhere intertwined-the
result described by the same source as "green hell
.”

"Hell
”
was appropriate today because of the sweltering, steamy heat from
which all four men were already suffering. Sweat streamed from every part
of them, their condition made worse by swarms of insects. At the beginning
they had soaked themselves with mosquito repellent, applying more along the
way, but as Ken O'Hara put it, "The little devils seem to like the stuff
.”

Fortunately, when contact with the trail was re
-
established, there were
areas where overhead shade from closely growing trees had made ground
growth less prolific, therefore it was easier to move ahead. It was obvious
that without the trail, progress would be nil
.”
This route isn't used much
,”
Fernandez
pointed out, "and that's to our
advantage
.”

Their objective was to approach Nueva Esperanza, but to stay well clear of
it while locating a position on higher ground. From there, hidden by the
jungle, they would observe the hamlet, mainly during daylight hours. Then, depending on what was seen and learned, they would devise a plan
.
The entire surrounding area for a hundred or more square miles, broken
only by the Huallaga River, was dense jungle over an undulating plain
.
But the large-scale contour map acquired by
Fernandez
showed several
hills near their objective, one of which might work as an observation
post. Nueva Esperanza itself was about nine miles from their present
position-a formidable distance under these conditions
.
One thing Partridge had memorized was the second message Jessica managed
to convey while making her videotape recording. As reported to him by
Crawford Sloane, in a sealed letter which Rita hand-carried to Peru
,
Jessica had scratched her left earlobe to mean: Security here is
sometimes lax. An attack from outside might succeed. Sometime soon that
information would be put to the test
.
Meanwhile, they labored on through the jungle
.
It was well into the afternoon, when everyone was near exhaustion, that
Fernandez
warned them Nueva Esperanza might be near
.”
I think we have
covered about seven miles
,”
he said; then cautioned, "we must not be
seen. If we hear sounds of anyone coming, we must melt into the jungle
quickly
.”

Looking at dense brush and thorns on either side, Minh Van Canh said
,
"Makes sense, but let's hope we don't have to
.”

Soon after Ferna
ndez's warning, the going became easier and several other
trails crisscrossed their own.
Fernandez
explained that this whole area
of slopes and hills was laced with coca fields, which at other times of
the year would be bustling with activity. During a four-to-six-month
growing season, coca bushes needed only minor care, so most growers lived
elsewhere, coming back and occupying hilltop shacks during harvest time
.
-
Using his contour map and compass,
Fernandez
continued to guide the other
three; at the same time, the extra effort now required in walking told
them they were gradually moving uphill. After another hour they entered
a clearing and, beyond it, could see a shack amid jungle trees
.
By now it had become
evident to Partridge that Ferna
ndez
knew the area better than he had admitted earlier. When questioned, the stringer-fixer conceded, "I have been here several times before
.”

Inwardly, Partridge sighed. Was
Fernandez
one more among the army of
pseudo-upright people who benefited in back-door, insidious ways from the
ubiquitous cocaine trade? Latin America, and the Caribbean especially, were
full of such pretenders, many in high places
.
As if sensing the thought,
Fernandez
added, "I was here one time for a
'dog-and-pony show' put on by our government for your State Department
.
There was a visitor-your Attorney General, I think-and the media were
brought along. I was one of them
.”

Despite his reaction a moment earlier, Partridge smiled at the
"dog-and-pony show
”
description. It was one applied contemptuously by
reporters when a foreign government staged an anti-drug performance
designed to impress a visiting American delegation. Partridge could imagine
the scene here: An "invasion
”
by helicopter-borne troops who would uproot
and burn a few acres of coca plants and destroy a processing lab or two
with dynamite. The visitors would praise the host government's anti-drug
efforts, either not knowing or ignoring the fact that thousands of
coca-growing areas and dozens of other labs nearby remained untouched
.
Next day the visitors' photos would be in U.S. newspapers, accompanied by
their approving statements, the process repeated on TV. And
reporters-knowing they had been part of a charade, but unable to pass it
up because others were recording it-would swallow hard and nurse their
shame
.
It had happened in Peru, which was neither a dictatorship nor communist
but, Partridge thought, might soon be one or the other
.
Fernandez
inspected the clearing,
they had reached, including the hut
,
satisfying himself that no one was there. Then he led the way eastward into
the jungle again, but only for a little way, the others halting when
Fernandez
cautioned them with a signal. A moment later he parted a cluster
of ferns and motioned the others to look. One by one they did so, observing
a
c
ollection of dilapidated buildings about half a mile away and two hundred feet below. There were two dozen or so shacks located on a riverbank. A muddy path led from the buildings to a rough wooden jetty and the river, where a motley collection of boats was moored
.
Partridge said softly, "Nice going, everybody
!”

He added with relief, "I
guess we,
found Nueva Esperanza
.”

After having deferred to
Fernandez
on the trail, Harry Partridge now
resumed command
.”
We don't have a lot of daylight left
,”
he told the others. The sun was
already near the horizon, the journey having taken far longer than
expected
.”
I want to observe as much as possible before dark. Minh, bring
the other binoculars and join me forward.
Fernandez
and Ken ' pick a sentry
post and one of you keep watch to see if we're approached from behind. Work
that out between you, and if someone does show, call me quickly
.”

Approaching the strip of jungle, which prevented them from being seen from
below, Partridge dropped to his belly and wriggled forward, carrying the
binoculars he had brought. Minh, beside him, did the same, both stopping
when they could see clearly but were still shielded by surrounding foliage
.
Moving the binoculars slowly, Partridge studied the scene below
.
There was almost no activity. At the jetty, two men were working on a boat
,
stripping an outboard engine. A woman left one shack, emptied a pail of
slops behind it, and returned inside. A man emerged from the jungle, walked
toward another house and entered. Two scrawny dogs were clawing their way
into an open garbage pile. Other garbage littered the area. Viewed overall
,
Nueva Esperanza appeared to be a jungle slum
.
Partridge began studying the buildings individually, letting the binoculars
linger several minutes on each. Presumably the prisoners were being held
in one of them, but no clue was evident as to which. It was already
obvious, he thought, that at least a full day's observation would be needed
and any idea of a rescue attempt tonight and departure by air tomorrow
morning
was clearly out of the question. He settled down, simply to wait and watch while the light diminished
.
As always in the tropics when the sun receded, darkness followed quickly
.
In the houses a few dim lights had come on and now the last vestiges of
day were almost gone. Partridge lowered his binoculars and wiped his
eyes, which were strained after more than an hour of concentration on the
scene below. There was little else, he believed, that they would learn
today
.
At that moment Minh touched his arm, gesturing toward the huts below
.
Partridge picked up his binoculars and peered again. At once he saw
movement in the now dim light-the figure of a man walking down the path
between two groups of houses. In contrast to other movements they had
seen, this man's walk seemed purposeful. Something else was different;
Partridge strained to see . . . now he had it! The man was carrying a
rifle, slung over his shoulder. Partridge and Minh both followed the
man's movement with their binoculars
.
Away from the other buildings, standing separately, was a single shack
.
Partridge had seen it earlier, but there had been nothing special to
attract attention. Now the man reached the building and disappeared
inside. There was an opening in the front wall and dim light filtered
through
.
Still they continued watching, and for a few minutes nothing happened
.
Then, from the same shack a figure emerged and walked away. Even in the
faded light two things could be distinguished: This was a different man
and he, too, was carrying a gun
.
Could it be, Partridge wondered excitedly, that what they had just
witnessed was a changing of the prisoners' guard? More confirmation was
needed and they would have to keep observing. But the probability was
strong that the shack standing alone was where Jessica and Nicky Sloane
were being held
.
He tried not to let his mind dwell on the likelihood that, until a day
or two before, Angus Sloane had been confined there too.