A man emerged from behind the crypt. I started, then calmed at the familiar sight of Father Balto.
JoaquAn asked me to come, he said. I'm supposed to go with you from here.
Go where?
The question had barely left my lips when the cell phone rang. Hello, I answered.
Walk a hundred meters to the statue of the Blessed Virgin. Wait there. Just you and Father Balto.
We have Alex with us.
Not Alex. If I see anyone but you and the priest at that statue, your father gets a bullet. Got it?
He hung up, leaving no room for debate. I switched off the phone and repeated his orders, verbatim, to Alex.
You can't go without me, she said.
He said he'd kill my father if you come.
If I don't come, he'll kill your dad and take you in his place.
How do you know that?
He's a kidnapper and a murderer. Your only hope is if I'm there.
I'd agree with you, if he'd told me to come alone. But I have Father Balto with me. That has to be a show of good faith.
Are you crazy? These people would shoot you in front of God Himself. They kidnap people from churches.
Can I say something? the priest said.
Sure.
I've dealt with JoaquAn before. My only wish is to help you get your father back safely, but I'm not going anywhere if we don't follow JoaquAn's instructions to the letter.
Alex was about to say something when a sudden noise silenced us, a cry from somewhere beyond the statue. I listened more closely. It came again, this time more clearly.
Nick!
It was my father. Just the sound of his voice had my adrenaline pumping. I looked at Alex and said, Cover us. But stay out of sight.
I checked my gun, slung the money over my shoulder, and started toward the statue of the Blessed Virgin, just me and Father Balto.
The gag was back in his mouth, fastened tightly behind his head. A fresh cigarette burn smoldered just below his eye in the soft, sensitive skin near the tear duct. Matthew had refused to play a voluntary role in JoaquAn's scheme. He'd yielded to the command and shouted his son's name only after the pain had become unbearable.
JoaquAn peered out over the top of a huge granite marker. Matthew was even better concealed, kneeling in a half-dug grave behind a pile of fresh dirt. JoaquAn's partner, the one who'd watched Cerdo bleed to death, kept the prisoner in check at gunpoint. Only now did Matthew finally recognize him as one of the executioners who, along with JoaquAn, had taken Will the Canadian for his last walk into the jungle.
The sound of approaching footsteps made Matthew cringe. He knew that his son was coming. Worse, he knew it was an ambush.
JoaquAn cocked his pistol and smiled. Way to go, fisherman. You reeled him in nicely.
Chapter 73
That's far enough. I stopped just a few paces away from the statue of the Blessed Virgin. I recognized the voice as JoaquAn's, yet I resisted the impulse to turn and look behind me, fearing the consequences of any sudden movements.
Look straight ahead, put the money on the ground, and put your hands over your head. Move very slowly.
I did exactly as told, moving almost in slow motion. I slipped the knapsack off my shoulder and lowered it to the ground, then raised my hands.
Count it, Padre.
Father Balto knelt on the grass and opened the knapsack. His hands shook as he fumbled through the stacks of hundred-dollar bills. I watched for a few seconds, then better used the time to get a lay of the land, though my line of sight was shrinking in the waning daylight. With each passing moment another distant row of stone crosses and headstones slipped into the dark onset of night.
It all appears to be here, the priest shouted.
JoaquAn said, Take the bag and step over to the statue.
He took it, then retreated in silence to the statue of the Blessed Virgin.
Turn around, yanqui.
I assumed that was me. I turned my head slowly, then my whole body. I visualized myself reaching for my gun, trying to discern how quickly I could get to it, if needed. Not quickly enough, I feared.
The gray skies were nearly black. All around the perimeter of the darkening cemetery, city lights began to twinkle, marking the end of another day. Deep within this vast urban graveyard it was as if we were falling into a black hole. Distant lights were visible, but my immediate surroundings were fading into the shadows. Slowly my eyes began to adjust, and I could almost make out the pained expression on the familiar face that was staring back at me from twenty meters away. The body was slimmer than I'd remembered, but the countenance was the same.
The man with the gun to his head was definitely my father.
My eyes locked on his battered image. Weeks of captivity seemed to have taken a greater toll than a lifetime at sea.
My gaze shifted toward JoaquAn. You have your money. Now let him go.
Is that what you expect?
That was the deal.
We have a deal, you say? Is that how you think this works? You change it every which way you please, and then finally you announce that we have a deal?
We were negotiating.
There wasn't supposed to be any negotiating. That was the deal.
Your deal with who, Jaime?
He just scoffed and said, This was supposed to be an easy one. What a joke.
It can still be easy. There's a sack full of money right over there. Take it, and give me my father.
He let out a mirthless chuckle. Just let him go, eh?
That's what we agreed.
Sure, I'll let him go. If you come with me.
It was as if he'd punched me in the chest. That's not what we talked about.
I don't care what we talked about.
You're getting the money, no more.
What's the matter, don't you love your father? Hasn't he suffered enough? Be a good son. Come with me. Set your old man free.
Father Balto stirred. JoaquAn, please -
Shut up! I'm talking to the yanqui.
I was out of things to say. I couldn't possibly go with him, but I didn't want to set him off.
Time's up, said JoaquAn.
Stop playing games.
He shoved the pistol against my father's skull. You're right. Forget the swap. Why don't I just kill your old man and take you at gunpoint?
I was a split second away from reaching for my gun.
Wait! Alex shouted, gun drawn. She'd given up her hiding spot and was standing in the open - not exactly what I'd had in mind when I'd asked her to cover us. I braced myself for a three-way gunfight, but JoaquAn showed restraint.
He tightened his grip on my father and said, Get out of here, Alex.
She aimed her gun in his direction, but he was using my father as a human shield.
Give me the prisoner, she said.
Go to hell.
Give him to me, and I'll give you the other one and a half million.
My heart was racing. I couldn't possibly stop her, but this seemed like a dangerous bluff.
Inch by inch she was moving closer to JoaquAn, talking to him all the way. Jaime didn't kill himself.
My God, is she going to point the finger at me?
So he's not dead? said JoaquAn.
Oh, he's dead, all right. He was about to name names. I couldn't let him do that.
I nearly buckled at the knees. Is she still bluffing?
You scammed me, said JoaquAn.
No. You scammed me. Killing the prisoner wasn't part of the deal. Now, hand him over if you want the whole three million.
I could hardly speak, but I forced out the words. Alex, what the heck is going on?
She didn't answer.
JoaquAn said, What's the matter, yanqui? Did she fool you into thinking that Jaime acted alone? Did you really believe that a little insurance dweeb in Miami has guerrilla friends?
I looked at Alex, the former FARC girl. My God, you know him. That's why he agreed to a simultaneous exchange. He knew we wouldn't call the police, because someone on the other side was on his side.
Quiet, Nick.
JoaquAn jerked my dad forward. Everyone, shut up. I'm in control here.
That's right, said Alex, speaking more like the calm negotiator. And you can still be the big winner. All three million. No one to split it with.
My eyes darted back and forth from Alex to my father to JoaquAn. She may have scammed us at the beginning, but when it came to the money, I knew that she was bluffing JoaquAn. Was she trying to make amends?
Whose side are you on, Alex?
Stay out of this, she answered.
I'd like to know that, too, JoaquAn snapped. Whose side are you on?
Do you want the money or don't you?
Does this mean you're not taking your cut? he asked.
I said you could have it all.
But I want to hear you say it to your client. Tell the yanqui that you're not taking your cut.
I was never getting a cut.
What do you call fifty percent?
Every penny of it was Jaime's. She was staring at JoaquAn as she spoke, aiming her gun right at him, but I sensed that she was talking for my benefit. All I wanted was for you and your thugs to leave my family alone. She raised her voice, as if to make sure I heard. That's all I ever wanted, Nick. Just to buy a little peace for what's left of my family in BogotA.
Such a sad story, JoaquAn said with sarcasm.
She adjusted her aim. Someone should have killed you a long time ago.
A long time ago I should have let you bleed to death on the side of the road with a knife in your back.
You don't own me just because you pulled me out of a ditch. And you can't make me come back to you by threatening my family.
But I could make you scam the yanqui.
Even in the dim light I could see the anger on her face. One look at my father confirmed that we were sharing the exact same fear: Alex was about to squeeze off a shot at JoaquAn, but anything less than perfection would kill the hostage, the human shield.
Alex! I shouted, reaching for my gun.
In the same instant my father broke free from JoaquAn's grasp. A shot rang out as he rolled to the ground, but it missed and shattered a clay pot. I dived to the ground and fired repeatedly at JoaquAn. Alex was shooting, too, as she and Father Balto ran for cover behind the big statue. JoaquAn fired back, as did someone else from behind a dirt pile, and the barrage of bullets erupted as if it were a war zone. My father was out of sight, having slid behind a gravestone. JoaquAn fired a few more shots in his direction, but Alex and I pinned him down with gunfire. I crouched low behind my marker, bullets whizzing over my head.
Suddenly all was quiet in the darkness.
I sat crouched behind the headstone, breathless from the exchange of gunfire, my back against cold granite. Darkness had completely overtaken us, no moon or stars in the night's overcast sky, just a dim glow from distant city lights. I listened carefully for any movement about me, but I heard only the sounds of my own erratic breathing.
Brothers, please, shouted a brave Father Balto, but three quick gunshots sent him scampering back into hiding.
That son of a bitch just tried to kill the priest!
My hand shook as I dug the cell phone from my pocket. I dialed the police and tried to speak to a dispatcher in Spanish, but the wireless reception was terrible, and my scattered thoughts produced only fragmented sentences, partly in English.
Las pistolas. Los kidnappers en el Cementerio Central. AVen acA, por favor!
Bullets sailed over my head. In my panic I was making no sense, and my talking was giving away my position to the enemy. The dispatcher hung up on me, and I held little hope that Colombian police would actually come charging into the cemetery at night to stop an ill-described gunfight.
I crouched low to reload my weapon. My first shoot-out, and it was going to be to the death of one of us. But who would fall? And who was on which side? In my mind I quickly replayed the last exchange of gunfire. Alex had fired at JoaquAn. That meant she was in my camp, despite anything she'd said. But someone else with JoaquAn had been firing what sounded like an automatic weapon. That made it two against two, at best. Father Balto was unarmed, but he was with Alex. The only unprotected player was my father. A sick feeling came over me, as I knew what I had to do. Somewhere in the darkness among all those gravestones, my father was hiding, praying for his life.
I had to find him before JoaquAn did.
Chapter 74
Matthew thanked the Lord for darkness. In the confusion of gunfire, slithering across the grass like a snake on his belly, he'd found his way to an overcrowded collection of tall markers that stood one beside the other, almost on top of one another, a veritable forest of towering stone crosses and statues of patron saints.