Deadly Journey (23 page)

‘You’re on your own now. Good luck,’ he
said.

He limped over to the four-by-four, hopped
in and drove away. With Carlos out of sight, I took one last scan of the area toward
the woods, and then turned, wary of the thick cover of bushes only five feet
from the wing tip.

Leandra clambered on board and I was just
about to follow her when at the sound of footsteps brushing the grass behind us
brought me to a halt. I turned to face the barrel of an assault rifle trained
directly at me and I froze. Pulses of cold energy ripped through my body.

‘Where do you think you are going? Turn
around.’

Chapter 37

Mexican Standoff

Oh, crap.
I had been right to be nervous about the cover of the bushes next
to the crop duster. But doubt had tormented me about the whole escapade. Every
nook and cranny had been a potential chance for someone to be surveying the
area. Without eyes in the back of my head and with Stony and his guards’
expertise in Special Forces operations, I guessed we were lucky to have made it
that far. The only redeeming feature until had been was that all eyes and
efforts had been concentrating on access to the villa since the Cobras’
insurgency. I’d been thinking it was all too easy. Stony’s voice was the last
thing I had wanted to hear, never mind the feel of the barrel of his assault
rifle prodding the back of my head.

Leandra peered at me through the open
cockpit door, a look of terror distorting her features. An arm gripped her
around her throat. My shoulders stooped even lower. Perez’s face appeared to
one side and behind her. Tearing away the duct tape from his mouth, pistol in
hand, he jammed the barrel of his gun to her temple.

‘Well done, Pedro. Seems your personal
alarm set-up worked. Take his guns. He won’t need them where he’s going. The
same goes for this slut.’ Perez pushed Leandra out of the plane and followed
her. Putting his lips to her ear, he growled, ‘Think you were going to escape
to your child? Well I’ve got news for you
–
she’s dead.
Still, I guess you’ll soon be joining your little bastard.’

‘You’re lying,’ Leandra shouted and tried
to wriggle from his grip

‘Drop your weapons,’ Pedro ordered. The
cold steel barrel of his rifle stabbed at the nape of my neck.

I ignored him, resting my hands on my
rifle, hoping for an opportunity to put a round into Perez.

‘Kill the bastard,’ screamed Perez,
spitting through his gritted teeth, waving his gun and then forcing the barrel
to her ear.

Leandra looked me straight in the eye, her
body passive. It was as clear a signal as I needed. All I could hope was that
I’d get my shot off before Stony Face dispatched me, or Perez squeezed his
trigger.

‘What are you waiting for? Shoot him.’

Pedro took a step back.

‘Why shoot them? Let’s cut them up and make
them both suffer. Really, we should keep the girl until we can replace her with
her sister.’

Like some slowed-down movie, events played
out before my eyes. Perez waved his gun with a frustrated scowl aimed at Stony.
Then, as if someone had switched on a light, he relaxed and grinned.

Perez said, ‘Good thinking.’ He tapped the
side of his head with the barrel of his gun and loosened his grip on her neck.

Leandra tore his arm from around her throat
and dropped to the floor. A shot rang out, instantly taking out the side of
Perez’s skull to the sound of the click of his empty pistol. His arms flailed
as if an unseen hand controlled his contortions and then had released the
strings. Perez crumpled to the ground. I swung my aim to Stony. He was still
facing Perez, his rifle shouldered and smoke drifting from his weapon.

‘You’d better get out of here,’ said Stony.
He didn’t even look at me.

My finger twitched on the trigger. Leandra
scrambled on all fours in my peripheral vision, past and behind me. My mind
raced, trying to make sense of Stony’s intervention, but hit a dead end. At a
loss, I had to ask the question.

‘Who are you? Why...?’

‘Orders. It doesn’t matter who I am, just
get her to the Bolivian Embassy. They have her travel documents ready and
waiting. They’ll take it from there and see she gets home.’ Stony lowered his
rifle. ‘I’ll cover your asses from here.’

His radio crackled. Stony let go of his
rifle, leaving it swinging on the shoulder strap by his side, and ripped the
handset from his jacket.

‘Stay there and guard the mini-sub. He’s on
the loose somewhere on the grounds. I’ll alert the Seven Sisters.’ He turned to
me. ‘What are you two waiting for? Get going. I’ll tell them you must have shot
Perez.’

From his words, it was easy to deduce that
the guards had pursued my ghost down the wishing-well ladder and into the
smugglers’ cave.

Leandra said, ‘What do you know about my
child? Perez said—’

‘Sorry, I don’t know about any child.’ He
looked genuinely shocked at the revelation that a child was involved. ‘Listen,
I’ll get word to the DEA that you’ve escaped as soon as I can and tell them the
truth. Hurry, there’s no time for idle chatter. But be careful. One of the
Cobra prisoners we tortured says they were tipped off we were holding you. They
were under instructions to kill you. Someone over the border wants you dead in
return for favours to the Cobra cartel.’

I nodded and hauled Leandra to her feet.
She was dazed, but then so was I, still amazed by Stony’s apparent change of
allegiance. Fortunately, I had the sense to help Leandra on board the aircraft.
I fired up the engine and eased the throttle control, and we set off down the
runway.

Thank God they designed the Zenith STOL
CH801 for short takeoff; we lifted from the ground and took the flight path I
had witnessed almost daily.

Banking and turning, I could see guards
emerging from the tree line. No doubt the rifle shot had alerted Perez’s men
resting in the barracks. Stony waved at them, cradling Perez in his arms, and
then beckoned the guards to his position. As I gazed out of the cockpit, the
villa, the maze and the swimming pool all passed by. The sheets still hung from
the balustrade at the balcony. All were images I doubted I would ever forget.
For all I knew, we could have had a hail of bullets passing by on the outside
of the plane. My hands visibly shook on the controls, knowing we were not out
of danger.

Clearing one of the Seven Sisters hills by
the bay, I braced, hoping that Stony would be true to his word and an RPG
wouldn’t put an end to our escape to freedom.

Taking hold of Leandra’s hand, I gave it a
squeeze. She looked directly ahead. Her hand was limp and there was no acknowledgement.
Leandra’s mind wasn’t in the crop duster, but then I couldn’t blame her and I
left her to her thoughts.

Headed along the coastline of the Pacific,
I sighed as our flight path took us over dry land again, out of the range of
any incoming fire from any of the lookout posts.

With a ninety-degree turn, it would be a
straight line from there on, but not toward home. There was unfinished business
to attend to. Most of all, we had to find out if Perez had spoken the truth
about Leandra’s daughter. It would have been impossible for me to make it out
of there without Leandra’s help. There were promises I had made and I wasn’t
about to go back on my word.

The drone of the engine put Leandra to
sleep. At least sleeping gave her some respite from her anguish. Me? Well, I
couldn’t help but go over what had happened back there on the airstrip. Stony
Face puzzled me. Having contacts at the Bolivian Embassy who had Leandra’s
travel documents ready, I had to think he was undercover. Stony couldn’t have
known I was going to escape with her. He had to have planned Leandra an escape
route all along. It made sense of his protective attitude towards her that had
baffled me.

The department would jump for joy when they
heard about Perez’s death. Still, I couldn’t help but think of the many
innocents who would end up caught in the fight to fill the vacuum left by the
death of Perez. Stony’s words, “I’ll tell them the truth” nagged at me. The
words seemed out of context, unless it was to say it was the Perez cartel who
had kidnapped me and not the Cobra gang.

Picking up the radio mike, I pressed the ON
switch
–
but it was dead. That made sense; the pilot
would hardly likely want to contact Customs, especially when he was carrying
contraband.

Looking over my shoulder, I noticed the
duct tape that had bound Perez. The tape wasn’t unwrapped, but stretched. It
had been a big mistake not frisking him and I shook my head that I had goofed
that up. Lucky for all of us that he hadn’t loaded a new magazine since
emptying it on those prisoners. A stray bullet could have taken any one of us
down. Lady Luck had sure been with us this time.

A sense of newfound freedom overwhelmed me.
I couldn’t have stopped the glow that I felt rise inside me if I tried, or the
curl on my lips. It was as though I could smell Mary’s perfume and the scent of
the children’s freshly shampooed hair, but their touch eluded me.

That’s when it hit me. Whoever had put the
original contract on my life wanted to see it through to a satisfactory
conclusion. But just how they knew I had been taken by the Perez cartel left me
perplexed.

Down in the footwell, next to Leandra’s
feet, I could see Perez’s laptop. The sight brought me back to the reality of
the situation and I scowled at the realization that Perez’s death had left a
hole in my plan. Instinct told me to turn and head for the border, but torn
loyalties ending with a final resolve spurred me to continue with our chosen
path. We could have used Perez to trade for Leandra’s daughter before the
authorities arrived to take him into custody. Now we didn’t even know if Rosa
was alive.

Chapter 38

Unwelcome Reception

Approaching our
destination, we had made good headway with a strong tail wind and hit a steady
cruising speed of 120 miles per hour. I nudged Leandra.

‘We’re here. I need you alert.’

Leandra stretched her legs and yawned,
shaking her head to come around. She had a look of determination on her face.
She shuffled her butt on the seat, stooped and picked up the pistol from
between her feet.

‘Oh, I’m alert all right, and ready,’
Leandra said. Holding the Glock in both hands, she outstretched her arms,
aiming at an imaginary target and mimicking recoil. ‘Bang.’

‘Hey, steady, we don’t want a bullet to
ricochet in the cockpit before we land.’

‘Don’t worry, I know exactly how to handle
a gun.’

I didn’t doubt her for one second.

‘Listen, there are a couple of bags behind
you. Lean over and put the laptop in one of them.’ I took the pen drive from my
pocket and handed it over. ‘This too.’

Leandra manoeuvred to kneel on the seat and
leaned over the back of her chair. I heard the zipper draw back. She knelt
upright.

‘Hell, it’s full of one-hundred-dollar
bills.’

‘Put a couple of hundred in your pocket and
pass me the same. We may need some money.’

Leandra turned to sit, stuffing some bills
in my pocket.

‘Fasten your seat belt. We’re going to land
soon.’ I eased up on the controls and turned the aircraft. ‘There it is. I can
see the building I told you about, tucked in the trees. The runway looks clear.
I’m going to circle before landing. Keep a lookout on your side and tell me if
you see any movement.’

As we circled the field, Leandra called
out. ‘There’s a pickup truck over by the gate, but I can’t see anyone.’

‘Damn. Okay, listen. I can’t just keep
circling. I’ll come in from the opposite end and land away from the building.
As soon as we stop, we’ll grab a bag each, run over to the bushes, and then
follow the hedgerow. We’ll dump the bags there, so we can collect them later.
If no one shows, we can head to where you saw the truck. If they haven’t left
the keys, we can hotwire the ignition. Then we need to get hold of the
authorities to meet us at Squat’s farm.’

‘Hotwire? We?’

‘Okay, I meant me. Whatever happens, keep
low behind me, and watch for my signals. With a bit of luck it could be the
pilot’s pickup. Or maybe it’s only a driver waiting to collect the pilot and
the drugs. If it is just a driver, we can hopefully get a jump on him and ask
him about your daughter. Are you prepared for that, whatever the answer is?’

‘I honestly don’t know. If she’s dead, it
depends how she died.’ Her eyes moistened. ‘If she’s alive, have they told her
about me, or claimed her as their own? Whichever it is, I’m still the loser. If
everything turns out perfect, I still can’t get back those four lost years.’

Leandra swiped the back of her hand over
her eyes. She took a deep breath and we exchanged glances. Her eyes glazed,
giving me the impression that she was devoid of emotion and mentally prepared.

Lining up with the field, I feathered the
throttle and adjusted the flaps. I was out of practice, so we hit the ground
and bounced, sending my innards skyward. The tyres touched down again. This
time I had the STOL under control. With a rumble, I taxied near the hedgerow
and we slowed to a halt. In a frenzy of activity, we unfastened our belts,
grabbed the bags, opened the doors, and jumped. Leandra rolled over, clutching
her ankle, and winced.

‘Damn it, I twisted my ankle.’

I launched my bag at the hedge and then,
rolling under the crop duster, I helped her to stand. My vision danced in all
directions as I stumbled toward the hedgerow, dragging Leandra with her arm
over my shoulder and carrying the second bag. Crawling on hands and knees
through a gap, we both collapsed in a drainage ditch, breathing heavily.

‘How’s your ankle?’

‘Painful. I don’t think I’ll be able to
walk very far.’

I turned around on my belly and peered
through the hedgerow. As I looked in the direction of the barn, the large
wooden door rolled open, grating on the runners. Alongside the barn, there were
barrels of aviation fuel, one of them mounted on a refuelling cart.

A figure appeared in the doorway. He
gestured, pointing in the direction of the crop duster, and someone joined him.

Sweat from my brow dripped and smarted in
my eyes. I rubbed both eyes and blinked, focusing on the two figures. Damn if
it wasn’t Squat and his sidekick, the one who’d gunned down Leila and her
family. Another figure joined them and Squat pointed to the crop duster and
then scratched his head. Squat slapped the third figure on the backside,
sending him stumbling in our direction. As he approached, I identified him as
the young man I’d put to sleep back at the farm. He looked nervous, constantly
looking back at Squat, who simply waved the young man onward.

‘We’ve got trouble,’ I said.

Leandra’s eyes widened and she crawled over
to my position. The young man walked around the crop duster, whose doors were
still open. He looked over in the direction of the barn, outstretched his arms,
palms upright, and lifted his shoulders.

He put his hands to his mouth and hollered,
‘
Vacío
.’

Leandra whispered, ‘He’s saying it’s empty.’

When she moved her hand, a twig snapped.
The young man looked directly over our way. I looked down the barrel of my
rifle, lining him up in my sights. Leandra grabbed the barrel.

‘Don’t shoot, he’s retarded.’

The young man froze, like an actor on stage
who had forgotten his lines, not sure whether or not to exit stage left.
Bewildered, he glanced over at Squat and then back in our direction. He made to
grab his rifle still hanging on the strap over his shoulder, but he fumbled and
it dropped from his hands. Darting toward him, I grabbed him, bringing him to ground
with a tackle any linebacker would have been proud to make. A burst of gunfire
dug up the soil around us, raking in a line and stopping just short of causing
any damage.

Spinning him over, I wrapped my arm around
his neck, and twisted his arm up his back. My body reacted with a flinch at the
explosion of Leandra firing a covering round past us and toward our assailants.
I dragged our prisoner through the hedgerow into the ditch.

‘That’s blown any surprise. Now we’re in
for a fight. How do you know he’s retarded?’