The Governor's Wife (57 page)

"No. She lives in the guesthouse."

Jesse led the governor to the guesthouse and unlocked the door for him.

Blanca knocked on the door at seven.

Lindsay had fallen asleep from fear and exhaustion. She had dreamed of Bode and Becca, Ramón and Chelo, Lupe and the
vaqueros
… and Jesse. She had woken with the vague outline of a plan. She dressed and now followed Blanca to the elevator and then to the second floor. They walked down a hallway and into an elegant dining room against a wall of windows facing the lights of Laredo. Enrique de la Garza stood by the windows, wearing a black suit and tie and checking his hair in the reflection, as if looking for gray streaks. He noticed her and turned.

"
Buenas noches, Señora
Bonner. My, you look beautiful."

She wore a black dress and black heels.

"Blanca, champagne for the
señora
."

He seemed oddly happy. So she decided not to upset his mood with Hector's attempted rape. She wanted him to remain happy and relaxed, to feel at ease with her. To enjoy her company. She wanted to appeal to his manhood.

Blanca returned and handed a flute filled with champagne to Lindsay.

"
Gracias.
" She turned to Enrique. "Were these your wife's clothes?"

"Yes."

"She liked short dresses."

"Yes, she had beautiful legs. As you do."

His eyes went to her legs.

"Congressman Delgado said we killed her."

Enrique nodded. "It was a mistake."

"I'm sorry. There's been too much killing on the border."

"Yes. Too much."

He stepped closer and raised his flute as if to toast the moment, but she instinctively backed away.

"
Señora
Bonner, I said you have nothing to fear from me. But still you fear me?"

"Yes. I do."

"Why?"

"Because you're El Diablo. The devil. A drug lord. You've killed thousands of people."

"Who said that?"

Like a kid on a playground whose veracity had been questioned.

"Everyone … the newspapers, the government."

"The American government?"

"Yes."

"And, of course, the American government would never lie." He sighed. "
Señora
Bonner, we live by a code of honor,
Los Muertos
. We do not kill women, children, or innocents."

"You sell drugs."

"Americans sell weapons to the world, but I am a bad guy because I sell marijuana to Americans?"

He shook his head.

"Your government, they are telling the American story, so Americans must be told that they are the good guys. They cannot be the bad guys. That is not allowed in the American story. God bless America. Americans must believe that God looks with special favor upon America. But if America is God's protagonist, who is the antagonist? Who is the bad guy? Every story must have a bad guy, is that not true? So your government creates bad guys for Americans to hate so they will not hate their own government. Yesterday it was Osama and the Taliban, Saddam and Gadhafi. Tomorrow it will be North Korea and Iran, although I must agree that those two guys, they do not seem right in the head. But, today it is me. Enrique de la Garza. I am the bad guy in the American story of this border. El Diablo. The devil. Your government gave that nickname to me, you see, so that I would sound like a very bad guy indeed—El Diablo, he must be a very bad
hombre
. And that is my role in the American tragedy. Because America must demonize its adversaries, anyone who will not submit to American rule. It is so much easier to demonize than it is to understand and acknowledge grievances against America, is it not? So, please,
Señora
Bonner, save the American self-righteousness for someone else. We Mexicans have heard it for one hundred and sixty-five years. Oh, here is Charles. Let us eat."

He held a chair out for her. She sat, and the chef named Charles served soup.

"Tortilla soup," Charles said. "The entrée tonight is grilled sea bass flown in fresh from California served with a Greek salad and snow peas. For dessert we have cheesecake with a strawberry sauce or chocolate soufflé. Ma'am, would you like a glass of wine?"

"I have an extensive wine cellar," Enrique said. "Do you have a favorite?"

She shrugged.

"Surprise us, Charles."

"Yes, sir."

Charles left, and Lindsay tasted the soup.

"It's delicious."

"Yes, Charles is an excellent chef."

"He's not afraid to work for you?"

"Oh, no. You see,
Señora
Bonner, I am beloved by my people. I can walk the streets of Nuevo Laredo without fear. I employ the people and pay them well. I do not sell drugs to my people. I fund churches and schools. I love my country and my people. And they love me."

"Congressman Delgado said you give away a billion dollars a year."

"Yes, that is true. I tithe twenty percent. Of course, it is not as if I'm paying taxes."

He had amused himself.

"Are your children joining us?"

"No. Charles prepared hamburgers for them. They enjoy the American food."

"They seem like nice kids."

"I like them."

"Do they know what you do for a living?"

"Julio does, not Carmelita. She is a bit young, I think."

"Do you think she'd be proud of you?"

"I hope so. I have tried to be a good father to my children,
Señora
Bonner. It has been difficult since my wife's death. And now my son … I apologize for my men endangering your daughter that day. That should not have happened. So, how long have you worked in the
colonia?
"

"Five months."

He smiled. "I have admired you since you came to Laredo in March, the census count, I believe, with Congressman Delgado. I saw you on television. And in the
colonia
that day after you saved my son, but I did not know it was you. Five months you have been just across the river from me. And I never knew."

He stared at her from across the table, almost as if …

Bode Bonner smelled his wife's scent. It was there, in the small guesthouse, where she had lived the last five months. Where she had gone to escape her life with him. Because of him. She was another casualty of his ambition.

He would trade his life for hers, even up.

After dinner, they had wine on the balcony.

"The lights of Laredo are beautiful," Lindsay said. "I've grown to love the border."

"Yes, the borderlands, it becomes a part of you. I was born here, and I will die here. This is my home. My country.
México
. Once, such a magnificent country. I often stand here and try to imagine what it must have been like when
México
extended from the Gulf of Mexico
to the Pacific Ocean. Think what
México
would be today. What America would be today."

"I would love to see Nuevo Laredo. I've heard it's a beautiful city."

"It is indeed. I would love to show you my city. Perhaps that will happen one day."

After you kill my husband
, she thought but did not say.

Instead, she said, "Perhaps."

She wanted to give him hope. She dropped her eyes, then looked up at him, as if she couldn't resist. Men loved that little look. Why?

"You're not what I expected."

He looked deep into her eyes, then broke away and gestured at the lights of Laredo.

"On that side of the river, you see life one way, looking south. On this side of the river, we see an entirely different life, looking north. We see the same land, the same river, the same sky, the same history—but we see it very differently. That is the borderlands."

Jesse found the governor sitting on his wife's bed.

"Governor—it is time."

He did not stand.

"Was she happy here?"

"I think so."

He did not respond.

"Governor, may I ask you a question?"

He nodded.

"Why did you let her go? Why did you not come to the border and beg her to come back to you?"

"
Beg her?
"

"Yes. Beg."

"I'm not that kind of man."

"Not that kind of man? What, have you had so many women love you that you no longer respect love? To have such a woman as your wife love you, you should respect that. You should have fought for her love."

"I'm here now."

"You hurt her, with the young woman."

"I know."

"Okay. I just thought you should know."

The governor exhaled heavily.

"Doc, when this is over and we get her back—and we will get her back—if she wants to stay here with you, I won't stand in the way. Hell, I don't deserve her, anyway."

"Then why did you come for her?"

Now he stood.

"Because she doesn't deserve this."

Lindsay had viewed Enrique's art collection and was back in her room by midnight. She checked the news, but there was nothing of her abduction. She lay back on the bed in the black dress. Enrique had said they would spend the day together tomorrow. Get to know each other. Breakfast, perhaps even a helicopter tour of Nuevo Laredo and the border. As if this were a vacation for the governor's wife. As if Enrique de la Garza and Lindsay Bonner might have a relationship once the minor matter of killing her husband the governor was behind him.

But that would not happen. Not in this life.

Because her husband was not far from where she now lay. She could feel him. And she knew that by the time the sun rose over the Rio Grande, either Bode Bonner or Enrique de la Garza would be dead.

The water was warm.

It was after midnight, and they were naked. They were not the only naked men crossing the river that night—the moonlight illuminated the river and the human beings holding their possessions aloft as they waded across—but they were the only naked men heading south into Mexico.

"Governor," Jesse said, "I am willing to die to save her. Are you?"

"She's my wife."

"I did not ask if she were your wife. I asked if you are willing to die for her."

"Yes. I'm willing to die to save her."

"Good."

"Why's that good?"

"Because we are going to."

"Save her or die trying?"

"Both."

"I can live with that."

The doctor chuckled. "I like you, Governor."

"Oh, that's swell. Now I can die a happy man."

"Happy or sad, it is of no consequence. You will die, and I will die with you. But she will live."

"You love her that much?"

"I do."

"Does she love you?"

"I hope."

"I should probably be mad about that."

"Be mad later, after we save her."

"You just said we're gonna die."

"Oh. Yes, that is true."

They had waited until midnight and then driven to town and to the river. Directly across the water, only one hundred fifty feet away, a large white structure rose tall above the river.

"That is El Diablo's headquarters and home," the doctor said.

"So everyone knows where to find him?"

"Oh, sure."

"Why doesn't the Mexican government take him down?"

"Because he is beloved in Nuevo Laredo, as you are in Texas."

"I'm just a politician."

"You give the people what they want, as he does."

They crossed downriver of the white compound. They arrived at the other side of the river, and Bode tossed the duffel onto the bank. They climbed out of the Rio Grande and stepped onto Mexican soil. They dried off then got dressed. Bode opened the "tan in a can" and smeared the cream on his face.

"A large Anglo might attract attention on this side of the river," the doctor had said.

Bode pulled a knit cap over his blond hair then put on a hunting coat with big pockets. He loaded the spare ammo in his pockets, stuck one six-shooter in his waistband and handed the other to the doctor, and secured the Derringer to his right wrist with a rubber band. He slung the dangerous game rifle over his shoulder.

"Probably won't get a second glance in Nuevo Laredo."

The doctor held the gun as if it were a contagious disease.

"And do you know how to use these weapons, Governor?"

"I do."

The doctor stared at the pistol in his hands. "I have treated many gunshot victims, but I have never before shot a gun."

"Well, Doc, you're fixin' to make some victims tonight."