Betrayed (47 page)

Glancing back, Cesar jerked his head to the left. “The coffee
fincas
of
los militares
are beyond there. Verapaz is not far ahead. We will leave the bike before the checkpoint and pass around it on foot. Then it is only a short distance to the bus stop.”

True to his claim, Cesar braked a short time later under the fronds of a banana patch. They slid with silent caution from the bike, then slipped forward through the banana stalks.

Cesar’s circuitous route had clearly taken them across the undeveloped cloud forest the center occupied at the end of the plateau, down around the rim to avoid populated areas, then back through a belt of crops and fruit trees, because directly ahead was the dirt track that divided the plateau lengthwise. Just ten meters to their left was the military checkpoint marking the outskirts of Verapaz where the nature trail departed to climb up the ridge into the biosphere. Vicki shrunk back into the banana stalks as an army Jeep pulled up to
la garita
, wishing her Mayan attire wasn’t so brightly colored.

But the Jeep carried only a driver, and as two guards emerged from the guard shack, he didn’t signal them to raise the barrier but stepped down. Now Vicki could see that what she’d thought was a uniform had been an illusion of khaki clothing.

As the driver took off a floppy brimmed hat to run a hand through his hair, Vicki clutched Cesar’s arm, all thoughts of reaching the bus stop leaving her.

“It’s Michael,” she whispered in his ear. “Señor Camden.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

This was a break Vicki hadn’t even dared envision. “If I can speak to him, tell him what’s happened in the biosphere, he can call
los antinarcóticos
, even the American DEA. Oh, Cesar, this is an answer to all my prayers!”

Cesar didn’t seem to share her delight. “Are you sure he can be trusted?”

“Of course,” Vicki hissed indignantly. “He’s been decorated by the American
antinarcóticos
. He’s a colleague of their drug czar.”

“So is Coronel Alpiro.”

Vicki waved that aside. “I have to speak to him alone. If I could just get his attention, or if there were some way to draw off the guards—”

“That I can do.” Cesar started to move.

Vicki grabbed at him. “Wait; what if they shoot at you? After yesterday, they’re bound to have ammunition now.”

“That is a risk that must be assumed.”

Another sharp reminder that Vicki was not the only one with much at stake. In a rush of affection and gratitude for this man who’d once been her playmate and had shown himself more of a friend than she deserved, she squeezed his hand. “Thank you,
mi amigo. Que Dios te acompañe
.” “May God go with you.”

A smile glimmered in Cesar’s eyes. Then he loped through the banana palms along the edge of the road. The two guards were talking to Michael, and only Vicki saw Cesar slip across the road, using the Jeep as cover. But she wasn’t the only one to hear a loud rustle from the underbrush behind the guard shack. Then Cesar scuttled onto the nature track a dozen meters beyond the metal barrier.

“
¡Alto!
” The two guards immediately opened fire and gave chase.

Cesar dived into the brush on the opposite side of the track.

Please, God, don’t let him be hurt
, Vicki prayed as she moved out onto the road. Michael had turned to watch the chase. Picking up a pebble, Vicki tossed it so it landed against his pant leg. He glanced at Vicki hurrying toward the checkpoint. Then, as Vicki came abreast with the Jeep, he went still, his eyes widening with disbelief and recognition. Michael’s reflexes were superb. In two steps, he had Vicki by the arm and was drawing her into the guard shack and out of sight.

“Please don’t let the guards see me,” Vicki whispered urgently as he tugged the door shut.

Michael snatched a hand radio from his belt and barked, “Have you found the fugitive?”

Vicki couldn’t follow the spatter of static, but Michael responded curtly, “Continue in pursuit. I will remain at
la garita
until you return.”

Then Cesar had made his escape. Vicki let out her breath in relief.

Sliding the hand radio back onto his belt, Michael stepped back to take in Vicki’s costume. “Now, what are you doing here and dressed like that? I’ve been hoping you’d change your mind from last night. But are you aware Alpiro’s got the entire garrison searching for you?”

Vicki didn’t dispel his assumption. Instead, she demanded, “What did he give as the reason?”

“Well, the official story is that the gringa from the center is lost in the sierras, maybe even hurt. And since
el cuartel
announced themselves last night to be good neighbors, Alpiro is spearheading a search so the locals won’t have to worry about it—or butt in where they aren’t wanted. I’m assuming you have a different version?”

Michael’s last question was dry, but unperturbed, and Vicki found herself shaking with relief to see him. The embassy attaché’s lean, confident figure and unruffled tone represented law and order, sanctuary, the juggernaut power of Vicki’s own government behind her.

 “You won’t believe the real story,” she said unsteadily. “Or at least I hope you will because I’m counting on you to call in the cavalry. Alpiro and some guy named Hernandez have been running an opium-trafficking operation in the biosphere all the time Alpiro’s been pretending to cooperate with your UPN training program. This Hernandez has a whole gang out there in the mountains.”

“Raul Hernandez?” Michael’s expression was no longer so unperturbed.

“I don’t know his full name. You know him?”

“Alpiro has a cousin named Raul Hernandez who was an army commander in these parts during the war. But I haven’t heard of him being involved in anything illegal. Where did you hear this?”

“I saw it myself in the biosphere today. I saw the poppy fields and their encampment and the opium they were getting ready to ship. And I saw this Hernandez. He’s an old military buddy of Alpiro’s, and he even looks like him, so he’s probably this cousin. Not only that, but I’m pretty sure he massacred that village a couple months ago and burned the church last night.

"He’s definitely the one who killed my parents and wiped out the village they were living in—in fact, the same village that was massacred in the biosphere. I saw pictures of it with Hernandez in them. Worse, there were Americans involved in the massacre. All the time the embassy wrote my parents’ death off as a random robbery, but they’d been deliberately murdered—just like Holly!”

This time the handsome features did lose their composure, the steel-gray eyes going blank with shock before Michael demanded sharply,  “Are you telling me you’re Jeff and Victoria Craig’s daughter? And Andrews would be . . . ?”

“That was our adopted name. Then you’ve heard of my parents?”

“I’m with the embassy. It’s my business to know of Americans who’ve been killed here. Especially unsolved murders. There aren’t that many on the books, whatever you may think.” Michael’s eyes never left Vicki’s face. “So why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were in this together.”

In all that had happened, Vicki had actually forgotten that Michael alone still had not heard this earth-shattering fact. “I didn’t know it myself until I came to Guatemala. And when I found out . . . well, it didn’t seem relevant to Holly’s investigation.”

“Relevant? That wasn’t something for you to decide in an investigation like this. Now tell me everything and quickly before we’re interrupted. For one, where have you been? It’s been a good two hours since Alpiro called out the troops.” Michael’s hands were now hard on Vicki’s upper arms, his eyes blazing with impatience, as though restraining himself from shaking her.

“Ouch!” Vicki protested, and he relaxed his grip but didn’t release her.

“Bill Taylor and Joe Eriksson are both in on this too. Bill was in that village with Hernandez twenty years ago. He was one of the Americans. He was CIA, and Hernandez was one of his informants. He must be still working with Hernandez in the drug trade. And Joe—you were right in suspecting him. He’s working for Bill. Not just at the center but whatever they’re doing out there. I think they’re planning to use Bill’s plane to fly out the opium shipment, because I saw people mowing down the poppy fields and packing up the opium. I . . . I still can’t believe it. I thought Bill and Joe were my friends. Bill seemed like such a nice old man.”

Vicki was appalled to discover that tears were sliding down her face. She couldn’t even wipe at them because of Michael’s grip, which had tightened again painfully.

“What is it? Did they hurt you?” He released her and produced a handkerchief.

Vicki used it gratefully. “No, no, I’m not hurt. They just locked me up. At Bill’s house—that’s where I saw the pictures. I only got away because Cesar, the vet from the center, found me and let me out. He’s the one who distracted the guards right now so I could talk to you. I just hope their crazy shooting didn’t hit him.”

“I’m sure it didn’t, or we’d have heard by now. Did Joe or Bill mention me in any of this?” As Vicki gave him a blank look, he added flatly, “They know what I do. They weren’t worried I’d stop them?”

 “Yes! That’s why they locked me up. They said they couldn’t let me get to you before they finished what they were doing. Which I guess meant that last shipment of opium. If they can get away from here with it, I suppose there’ll be no way to prove what they’ve done.”

“We’ll see about that.” At Michael’s tone, Vicki looked at him. For a moment his expression was as cold and hard and dangerous as Joe’s had been earlier.

“What is it about you, Vicki, that you manage to keep stumbling over intel an entire investigation team couldn’t dig up?” He smiled briefly, a hand going out to brush back a wisp of Vicki’s hair coming loose from the bandanna. “Are you okay now?”

When Vicki nodded, Michael took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair, then straightened. “Okay, here’s the game plan. I’ve got a chopper on standby at the base. No—” He raised a hand as Vicki opened her mouth to protest. “—they’re not Alpiro’s men; they’re under my direct command, and I’d trust them with my life. They can be in the air in ten minutes. The road out there’s wide enough for them to land.”

Michael slid the radio from his belt as he explained. He’d just finished issuing orders when Vicki, still keeping a lookout through the window, spotted the two guards returning. At her apprehensive start, Michael laid a calming hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay.”

Opening the door, he called, “Did you find any sign of the fugitive? . . . No matter, I’ve already alerted the patrols in the biosphere to keep watch for him.”

Following the guards’ glance, Michael added with a nod toward Vicki, “As you can see, the señorita from the center has been found unharmed. You may return to your normal duties. I’ve already called off the search and requested a helicopter. When it arrives, I will escort her to the capital for a medical checkup. I’ll send someone to return the vehicle to
el cuartel
.”

It had taken considerably less than ten minutes to get that helicopter in the air because he’d just finished speaking when Vicki heard the
throp-throp
of rotors heading their direction from the army base. Moments later it hovered over the widest area available, created by the junction of the plateau road and biosphere service road. The wind of its settling stirred up a dust storm that rattled
la garita
and sent its guards scuttling for cover.

The Vietnam-era Huey helicopter looked so similar to the one that had accosted the DHC-2 that Vicki shrank back. Especially as the side panel slid open, and she glimpsed not only a crouched olive uniform but the ugly, gray shape of a bolted-down stationary machine gun.

Michael gave Vicki an encouraging smile and took her by the hand. Hunched over against the continued wind blast of the rotors, they ran together toward the helicopter. She caught a helmeted face watching them through the windshield. Then helping hands pulled her aboard. The helicopter was already lifting as the side panel slammed shut.