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  Leandra sighed and closed her eyes. ‘I remember the farmhouse. It was painted white, but that’s about it, I think. Wait—’ She opened her eyes ‘There was a two-storey building with stable doors and wooden steps leading to the upper floor. I can picture large oil drums at the bottom of the stairway. They can’t have used the stables because they had razor wire rolled out in front of the stable doors.’

  I felt a cold chill creep though my bones. ‘You said you passed Rosa to a small guy. Can you describe him?’

  ‘I’ll never forget him. Bald head, fat, and a moustache with a goatee beard.’

  Miguel’s ghost seemed to walk through me again. It had to be Squat. ‘Did you see any gates to the entrance?’

  ‘Yes, large, ornate wrought-iron gates fastened to a high wall with a dirt road out front. I think there was a wooden cabin next to the gates. Yes, that’s right, a wooden cabin.’ She grimaced. ‘Kurt, you’ve gone white. Your hand, you’re hurting.’ She pulled her hand from my grasp.

  ‘Sorry, that’s a great help. I won’t ask again.’

  ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Yeah, it’s nothing, just a little cramp. It’s gone now.’

  ‘Good. I hope it does help. You know – I’m going to miss your company when you’ve gone.’ She pouted like a sulking child.

  ‘Me too,’ I said and drank the last of the coffee.

  ‘Better not keep our Mr Perez waiting. We can meet up later and go for that walk in the garden,’ she said, and getting up from the mattress, she pushed the cart out of the room.

  With my head pressed into the pillow, I closed my eyes. After what she had told me, I began to have doubts if the plan I had made to escape by mini-sub was the right one.

  The crop duster’s engine spluttered overhead. X-men, Border, Ultra Violet Wings, I recited in my head, followed by Leila’s address. Their home couldn’t be more than a mile from the farm where they had originally held me captive. It was a pity Squat’s hacienda was outside the jurisdiction of the DEA and the FBI. Relying on the Mexican authorities to release her child and at the same time, rescuing Leandra, to avoid one action causing the death of the other, would be fraught with possibilities for it to go horribly wrong. I shuddered at the thought, rolled off the bed and got dressed.

  Three guards entered the room and one of them ordered me to stand against the louver doors. Another guard whipped sheet from the bed. With two of the guards holding the sheet behind me, the other passed me a newspaper and stood back, pointing a camera. I got the message and looked at the title. The Detroit Free Press, dated yesterday. I held it in front of my chest and scowled as he clicked a few pictures. Throwing the sheet on the bed, they hustled me out of the room and down the stairs. One of them knocked on the dining-room door.

  ‘Enter.’

  When I stepped into the room, Perez took hold of the camera and removed the memory chip, placing it in an envelope addressed to D.E.A. Headquarters. I watched impassively, taking it all in and making a mental note. He placed the envelope into one of two canvas bags, zipped it, and nodded.

  ‘Make sure they know to get this through the usual channels to Detroit and have it posted from there,’ he said. ‘And remind them, no trail.’

  Grabbing the two canvas bags, they left the room and the remaining bodyguard stood behind Perez with his back against the wall. When I glanced at the wall clock, I noticed they were on time for the exchange.

  Perez beckoned with the sway of his hand.

  ‘Please, Kurt, take a seat. I hope they’re treating you well?’

  I sat, placed my arms on the table, and glanced at my bandaged hand and wrists. Suddenly, an “oh no” moment struck at the thought the photograph would indicate I might have attempted suicide.

  He must have taken my glance at the bandages as an answer. ‘Unfortunate – but it was your choice. You did well. They tell me you managed to hold out far longer than most. It’s not a record to hold out that long, but still impressive. You should be proud. Quite an achievement, don’t you think?’

  There was nothing to be proud of. I ignored his question and fired back with a question of my own. ‘Why the photo?’

  ‘Ah, yes. Good news. We’ve opened up a negotiating channel. I must say, I was surprised. I guess you’ve seen your wife’s plea. Good of them to give us a contact number.’

  ‘Yes, I saw it.’

  ‘Impressive. She was very touching. I must admit, I almost felt like sending you straight back to her and your children.’

  ‘Then why am I still here?’

  His smug expression tuned to a cheesy grin. ‘Chess – I can’t let sentiment get in the way of a good game. I promised you a game of chess and so far I’ve kept my promises to you.’

  The “so far” was right. All I had to do was tough it out for the next twenty-four hours and he could stick his mind games up his ass.

  Perez sat down opposite me and moved the chessboard between us both. He reached into a box holding the chess pieces. Withdrawing his clenched fists, Perez presented them to me.

  I tapped his left hand. He flipped it over and opened it to reveal a black pawn. ‘Unlucky. I have the advantage of making the first move. White always goes first.’

  I hardly needed lessons in the rules. Tipping the box out, the cheating bastard palmed the other black pawn with the rest.

  I wasn’t really thinking strategy as the game developed, making reckless moves without any thought of winning. For all his studying the board in silence, the game was heading for a stalemate when my mind whipped into overdrive. I stroked the stubble on my chin, calculating all the possibilities. Three more moves and I had him in checkmate. We returned brief poker stares and I saw him frown. He glanced over my shoulder.

  ‘What the—?’

  I turned in time to see a guard outside the window twisting a fruit from the branch of a tree.

  Perez jumped up from his seat and turned to his bodyguard. ‘Follow me,’ he said, his cheeks engorged, and he strode briskly out of the room.

  A few minutes later, I heard voices and turned to see Perez remonstrating and circling the guy who had picked the fruit. The guard stood to attention, staring straight ahead. Perez made a move, slipping his hand under his jacket at his back as he rounded on the guard. He pulled out a handgun. He pointed it at the back of the guard’s head, and there was a sudden explosion. A mist of brain matter and blood shot out from the guard’s head like a geyser spouting. I flinched. Then he dropped out of sight.

  I turned and stared at the chessboard, my heart responding to the scene by beating so loud and fast that I almost fainted. Winning the game didn’t seem to matter anymore, nor did I think it was an option.

  Perez burst through the door, his bodyguard in his slipstream. He walked over to the table and swiped the chessboard, scattering the chess pieces to one end of the room.

  He paced the length of the room, waving his handgun. ‘Thieving bastards. No one steals from me – no one.’

  Two guards hurried into the room, carrying canvas bags from the crop duster. When I glanced at the clock, I saw that they were on time, twenty minutes from the exchange.

  I lowered my head.

  ‘Sir, what’s happened?’

  ‘Get out of here, all of you. Take the body outside to the barracks and nail him to a tree. Then I want you to write up a placard and hang it around his neck, so everyone knows what happens to those who steal from me.’

  I felt a jab on my shoulder and turned.

  ‘You,’ Perez said. ‘You get out of my sight.’ He waved the gun in front of my face.

  I didn’t need telling twice.

  Walking briskly back to the bedroom, I worried about my escape plan. If he could kill someone for stealing the fruit from a tree, then even the slightest hint that Leandra had helped me would hand her a death sentence.

  Chapter 26

  Interrupted Sleep

  Nightfall brought with it a breeze from the Pacific. Standing outside on the bedroom balcony, my fingers g
ripped the metal balustrade. The full moon stood majestically in the sky. The sun had not quite surrendered to the inevitable. It was setting on the horizon, laying down a rippled pathway on the ocean, as if rolling out an invitation to follow its path – but then I would think that. Tomorrow, that’s where I would be heading, out to sea and the unknown.

  So much could go wrong. I guess that’s why my stomach bloated. I’d heard of opening-night butterflies, but these were bad ass, giant moths fluttering around inside.

  I hadn’t thought any further than taking over the mini-sub, other than skipping ahead to walking down the pathway at home and a warm welcome from my family. But looking out at the ocean, the middle part of the journey took over my thoughts. It wasn’t that it would be like hijacking a car and driving down the highway with directions at the side of the road to guide me. All I’d worked out was that we needed to turn right and head north, hopefully to end up on the American side of the border. Saying “we” assumed I could get the pilot to steer the damn thing. The thought of me steering the mini-sub alone and ending up trapped on a sandbank, or worse, smashing into rocks, scared the crap out of me. Still, I took some comfort that I had my pilot’s license. I hoped the sub would be far less complicated than flying a light aircraft

  A shrug of my shoulders, and I wheeled around to step into the bedroom. Jumbled voices outside the bedroom door and a glance at the time on the television screen told me that Leandra was right on cue. The door opened in time for me to catch a glimpse of the guard taking a sip from a cup.

  She entered, pushing the cart inside, and closed the door. Stepping over to the closet, she opened the door to obscure the camera. Moving back to the cart, she lifted a pile of sheets from the bottom tier, quickly placing them on a shelf. Leandra threw me a tight-lipped smile as she moved swiftly to close the closet door. Standing in a blind spot, Leandra held out her trembling hands and whispered.

  ‘That’s it, uniform stowed away. I’ve spread some treats around in the pants pockets and a small bottle of water in case you can’t get any supplies.’

  Walking over to her, I took hold of her still-shaking hands. ‘I’m sorry to have put you through this.’ When I released her hands, we briefly embraced. She started to sniffle. ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’

  ‘Nothing,’ she said and turned away, fussing around, pouring me a coffee and adding sugar.

  ‘You know I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.’

  ‘I know,’ she said and passed me the coffee. ‘How do you feel about going?’

  ‘Nervous as hell.’

  ‘No, I didn’t mean that. I – oh, never mind. I think I’d be nervous too. All I did was wheel in the uniform and I thought I’d blow it. My hands shook so much when I passed Carlos his coffee, I was sure he would guess I was hiding something.’

  She managed a faint smile, but moisture formed in her eyes and her cheeks flushed.

  ‘Come on, out with it, what’s wrong?’

  ‘I... I’m going to be lost tomorrow. I’ll miss your company. But it’s not just that. I can’t help it, I just can’t stop thinking about something going wrong.’

  ‘Nothing will go wrong, trust me.’ I hoped I sounded convincing, because inside I felt the same way about something going awry. ‘I’m going to miss you, too, but you know I can’t stay. Plus, when I get out of here, like I said, I’ll try and get you and Rosa reunited.’

  ‘Yeah, I know,’ she said. ‘Send me a postcard from El Paso.’ We both laughed and then I downed my coffee.

  ‘Come here,’ I said and gave her an affectionate cuddle. ‘Let’s not say goodbye. I’m sure we’ll meet up in the future and laugh about all this.’ I gave her a friendly peck on the cheek and let go of her. This time, there was no mistaking the sweet smell of her perfume. I drew in a deep breath through my nose in the hope of committing her fragrance to memory.

  ‘That had better be a promise,’ she said. A toothy smile developed and she winked.

  The door opened and Carlos walked in, placing his empty cup on the tray. He didn’t seem to be up for moving.

  ‘Time for bed,’ she said and then mouthed ‘good luck’.

  The minute she had wiggled out of the room and closed the door, I felt empty inside. There would be no one to hold my hand if some injury befell me during my escape, no magic cloak to protect me. It would be just me, DEA agent Kurt Rawlings, relying on the hand of fate and the throw of the dice.

  Stepping over to the nightstand, I picked up the picture of my family and stared at it long and hard. My eyes lifted to the ceiling and I began to cry in a snuffle at first and then with more abandon. Placing the photo down, I dove onto the bed, burying my head in the pillow to hide my shame at having broken down and I sobbed my heart out.

  ***

  I thought I was dreaming when I heard a scream and slamming doors. Outside I could hear vehicle engines and footsteps running with men shouting. I sat up, groggy and confused. The muted television and bedside lamp were still on. The time on the screen was 7:30 a.m. There was only two and half hours to go until my escape. The bedroom door crashed open. Carlos threw some clothing on the bottom of the bed. Two more guards entered, one carrying shackles. I prayed the scream hadn’t been Leandra and we had been rumbled.

  ‘What’s happening?’

  ‘You’re being moved. Lie back.’

  I did as I was ordered, and they removed my ankle tracker.

  ‘Dress.’

  There was urgency about their movements and nervousness in their eyes.

  ‘Quickly.’ Carlos threw the pants at me.

  The pants were lightweight and camouflaged, as was the jacket. With the pants on, he threw me a pale green T-shirt.

  One of the guards threw open the closet door, obscuring the camera.

  ‘You have boots?’ Carlos asked.

  My heartbeat went into overdrive at the sight of the guard dragging clothing out of the closet and I prayed the other guard wouldn’t do the same and open the robe next to him, to discover the uniform.

  ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘Bottom shelf.’

  The guard threw the boots onto the bed.

  ‘Get them on,’ Carlos ordered.

  The closet door was still open, covering the camera. I guessed if they knew I was about to escape, the punishment would be death. It crossed my mind that Leandra could have betrayed my plans. After I had slipped my boots on and tied my laces, I lunged at Carlos. Removing his Taser from his belt as we crashed to the floor and spinning around, I fired the Taser at the nearest guard charging toward me. He danced like a puppet on strings, his arms flailing, and he dropped to the floor. I should have paid more attention to Carlos. An arm gripped around the neck from behind in a sleeper hold. Carlos’s legs entwined in mine, immobilizing me in a vice-like grip. I thrashed about, but there was no way out. Then the butt of a rifle smashed into my temple.

  It was all a daze after that, until I heard Leandra’s voice.

  ‘Kurt, can you hear me? Kurt, wake up.’

  I flicked open one eye, but the other wasn’t up for opening. ‘Where are we?’

  ‘They’ve dumped us on the back of a pickup truck.’

  Managing to sit upright, I was surprised to see her in the same type of beige and green camouflaged fatigues that I was wearing. Both of us were shackled. My head thumped as I glanced around to see our vehicle parked outside the villa. A large body of guards lined up on the lawn, standing at attention. Commanders marched up and down, screaming at them. Perez scuttled by the pickup, staring ahead, clutching his laptop, flanked by two bodyguards. They disappeared into the maze.

  Stony Face appeared and dropped the tailboard of the pickup. ‘You, out,’ he said, pointing a handgun at me.

  ‘Don’t you hurt him,’ said Leandra.

  ‘Don’t worry. He’ll be back this time. I just need a word.’

  I shuffled to the edge. He dragged me off the back and then hustled me ten feet away.

  ‘You’re going on a journey. You have a job to do for
me and I promise, if you don’t carry out my orders, or you escape, I will track you down like an animal and make you suffer a thousand deaths.’

  ‘I’m not doing anything for you, you piece of shit.’

  ‘Not me, you’re doing it for Leandra, but the promise holds.’

  ‘What is it I’m supposed to do for her?’

  ‘Have you ever had jungle, or first aid training?’

  ‘No jungle training, but first aid, yes, why?’

  ‘Because I’m giving you two survival backpacks for your journey.’

  ‘Why don’t you take off our shackles and send us on our way if you’re that concerned?’

  ‘That’s my business. There’s a vial of morphine in each for any serious injury and a medical kit. Don’t drink anything other than bottled water without boiling it first. In the one of the pockets there’s some purifying tablets. Use them.’

  ‘So where are we going?’

  ‘You’ll find out. Oh, and at the bottom of your backpack there’s a GPS transmitter. Don’t tell anyone about the transmitter, not even Leandra. Only use it if Leandra is in extreme danger and stay put. It’ll scramble a message to my receiver. Your backpack has a red tag on the straps. Don’t mix them up. Remember, I need you to stick to her like glue – understood? ‘

  ‘Understood. What’s happening here?’

  ‘Cobra. We’re going to be under attack from some of their units as payback for your little film causing them problems. Now get back in the truck. And remember, if anything happens to her, I’ll hold you responsible.’

  The conversation puzzled me. Why not give his men a GPS transmitter? But then maybe they had them. Thinking about it, I reckoned Leandra must be worth more than her weight in coca leaves for them to lose her.

  Back at the truck, he helped me climb onto the back, and tossed in the two backpacks. Carlos jumped in the back with us. Stony banged on the side of the truck’s panel and we set off.

  ‘No more heroics,’ said Carlos. ‘Or six hundred RPM will cut you both in half.’

  I heard him, but didn’t acknowledge him. I didn’t doubt for one minute how many rounds per minute his FX-5 automatic assault rifle was capable of, but I doubted his cartridge could hold six hundred rounds. Still, it was fast enough to do what he said, cut us in half. I set my eyes to watch Stony fade into the distance.