Just Cause: Revised & Expanded Edition (25 page)

The Bug inched forward as Jack tried to look in every direction at once. One of the logs cracked and splintered, causing the left front wheel to slide to one side. Glimmer raised his arms in preparation to focus his telekinesis, but Jack managed to save it. The falling rain somehow increased in intensity to a roar as the front wheels dropped off the bridge onto the muddy road.

Water coursed down through the washout as Sally watched in concern. “I think this washout is going to get worse fast.”

Jack nodded, white-knuckled, as the Bug’s rear wheels spun against the edge of the bridge without climbing up onto it.

“Shit!” He turned around in his seat to see where he was stuck.

“You’re going to have to get a bit of a running start,” said Doublecharge. “It’s like jumping a curb.”

“Says the woman who can fly,” said Jack. “
All things being equal, I’d rather be in Philadelphia
.”

“
Die Hard
,” said Sally. “We watched that last week. Jack, you’d better hurry up. I can see more mud washing away.”

Jack carefully backed up the Bug until the front wheels sat just over the bridge’s edge. He took his hands off the wheel for a moment and flexed all his fingers. Then he took a deep breath, hit the throttle, and popped the clutch. The Bug’s rear tires spun in the mud for a moment then bumped up onto the bridge. Wood cracked and duct tape split. Jack floored it in pure panic. The Bug skittered across the bridge and slid to a stop in the mud beyond. Their makeshift bridge collapsed into the trench and washed down the side of the mountain by the torrent of muddy water.

Jack pushed his soaked hair back from his forehead, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes. “That’s the longest four feet I’ve ever driven. I’m done for the day. Can anyone else drive a stick?”

“We’re surprised you made it at all,
norte americano
,” said a voice from the trees. Several men stepped out onto the road, both in front of and behind the team. All wore threadbare fatigues and carried automatic rifles. Several also carried plastic coolers. The brightly-colored plastic was incongruous amid the greens and browns of the jungle. “Hands up.” The speaker was a heavyset man with a thick mustache and a white scar on his chin.

Sally glanced quickly at Doublecharge to see what she should do. Doublecharge raised her hands cautiously, as did Glimmer. Sally lifted her own as well, but shifted her perceptions into high gear in preparation for fight or flight.

Jack stuck his hands in the air. “Easy, pal. You’re getting no trouble from us. We’ll pay whatever toll you want if you’ll let us go on our way.”

“You’re a long way from the tourist spots,” the scar-faced man said. “No
policía
this far out. We’ll take what we want as we please. Paco, Eduardo… get the bags.”

Two other men slung their rifles and dragged the heroes’ bags over to the bandits’ leader, who waved the tip of his rifle at Jack. “Out of the car,
señor
. Let’s have a look at the four of you.” He handed his rifle to another man, drew a pistol, and advanced on him.

Sally quivered like a racehorse before the starting pistol. Running would be treacherous on the slick mud, but it would hamper the bandits’ movement just as much as it would hers. The leader examined each of them close enough that they could smell the stink of his breath. “Nice and healthy, yes? No alcohol, no tobacco. Good clean living. I love
americanos
. You take such good care of your bodies.”

Several of the men burst out in laughter at this. The others looked confused until one of them translated in rapid-fire Spanish.

“I’ll tell you what,” said the leader. “I’m in a great mood today. I’ll let three of you go, and I’ll even let you take the car. The fourth one… stays with us.”

“Take me,” said Jack.

“Shut up, Jack,” said Doublecharge. “No deal. We all leave together.”

“What? You let your woman speak for you,
señor
? I’m shocked!”

“Not as shocked as you’re going to be.” A tiny spark snapped in one of Doublecharge’s eyes.

The leader smiled at her with a mouthful of rotten teeth. “I’ll take this one. She looks like she’ll provide a bountiful harvest.”

“No!” Jack leaped toward the leader. Several guns thundered and Jack spun about in midair as the bullets impacted all over him. He tumbled to the ground and lay still. Sally and Glimmer threw themselves to the ground, as did Doublecharge and the bandit leader.

“Goddammit, don’t shoot while I’m out here, you assholes!” The leader shook his fist at his men. “Somebody check that
pendejo
and see if we can salvage anything.”

Sally began to get an icky, cold feeling in the small of her back as she saw two men come forward with large coolers and knives. Salvage? What did that mean? Suddenly it came to her. In the Consular Sheets, she’d read a short little blurb about people being kidnapped for their organs. The State Department had discounted the tales as rumors.

Something flashed past her, fast enough only to be a blur to everyone else. Her brain protested that such a thing had to be a figment of her panicked imagination.

A feathered, winged snake with a razor-sharp blade for a tail whipped past the two men who approached Jack. It caught each one across the throat with its tail and left a spray of bright arterial blood in its wake. Everyone froze for a moment as the two men swayed before they toppled, and then all hell broke loose.

Doublecharge hit the leader with such a hard jolt of electricity that he flew backward through the air, knocked right out of his boots, and bounced down the slope until he fetched up against a tree with his fatigues and skin blackened and smoldering. Glimmer grunted with the effort of concentration and three men dropped to the ground, either unconscious or dead from his psionic attack. Jack uncurled from his fetal position to reveal a short, ugly pistol in his hand. He fired the entire clip into the largest grouping of opponents, unconcerned about their return fire.

Sally wavered, uncertain what to do. A man who aimed his gun at Doublecharge galvanized her into action. In a flash, Sally moved next to him, dropped his clip from the weapon and popped out the unfired bullet. He pulled on the trigger, but got only an empty click. Before she could do anything else, the feathered serpent looped around his head and stuck its tail straight through the back of his neck. Blood spattered Sally and she recoiled in shock.

As suddenly as the fight had begun, it was over. Silence reigned across the mountainside except for patter of rain on leaves and a few muffled gurgles from men as they bled to death.

Jack got to his feet, his clothing shredded from the gunfire. “Everyone okay?”

Sally’s stomach clenched and she barely remembered to hold her braids back as she vomited up her lunch.

Doublecharge was by her side in a moment, her hands cool on Sally’s head. “You all right, Sally?”

Sally wiped her mouth with a hand that shook like a leaf in a gale. Glimmer handed her a water bottle. She spilled half of it.

“You’ve never been in lethal combat before, have you?” Stacey asked.

Sally shook her head, glad it was still raining so they couldn’t see her tears.

“Listen, Sally…” Jack slipped a new clip into his pistol, and tucked it back into his belt. “These guys were bad. Real bad. They would have killed us all without a second thought and stolen our body parts to sell on the black market. It was either us or them. Me, I’m glad it was them.”

She nodded and risked a tiny sip of water into her queasy stomach. The winged snake had curled around a low tree branch and regarded them with curious, bird-like eyes. “What is that thing?” Glimmer asked.

“I think it’s called a
Quetzalcoatl
,” said Jack. “It shouldn’t be here. They’re mythical.” The snake stuck a forked tongue out at Jack and flicked it back and forth.

Sally got the distinct idea that it was laughing at them. “Do you think it understands us?
Hola, señor serpiente. ¿Usted me entiende?
”

The snake bobbed its head up and down in an unmistakable
yes
.

“This is all very interesting.” Doublecharge looked around. “But it’s not getting us to Porto San José any faster. If the snake wants to talk things over, it can do it on the road. I’ve had about all the surprises I want for one day, and I want to get out of this goddamned rain.” She shook her bedraggled locks for emphasis.

The snake dropped from its branch to the ground. With a flash and a smell of ozone, rain flashed into steam and instead of a winged snake, they saw a slight boy, maybe sixteen years old, huddled naked in a fresh crater in the hillside.

Jack’s pistol appeared in his hands so fast that even Sally didn’t see him draw. “Hold it right there.”

The boy raised one hand to comply but left the other to cover himself and stayed hunched over. “Please,
señor
, no be afraid. I no speak when I am
el Quetzalcoatl
.” His accent was thick but decipherable.

“Who are you?” Doublecharge asked. Lightning crackled around her fist.

“Diego. You American superheroes,
sí
?”

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Jack’s eyes narrowed.

“You shot lots, not hurt. She shot lightning. She very fast.” He pointed to each of them in turn.

“You were watching us?” Glimmer asked

“
Sí
. I follow
los bandidos de riñónes y de ojos
.”

“The what?” Sally didn’t recognize the words he’d used.

“Stealers of kidneys and eyes,” said Jack.

“Very bad men. Deserve to die.”

“No argument from me there,” said Doublecharge.

“You here for compound?”

“A compound, Diego?” Jack asked.

“You destroy it? Bad place.” The boy’s voice was hopeful, but his face fell as he looked at the four of them. “Only four of you. Not enough”

Doublecharge and Jack exchanged glances. “Diego, where do you live?” asked Stacey.

“Porto San José, with
mi madre
.”

“Want a lift back to town? You can ride on the running board.”

“I fly back, but then I no speak to you.” He looked down at himself. “
Lo siento
. My clothes lost when I become
Quetzalcoatl
.”

“We’ll see what we can round up for you,” said Doublecharge. “Sally, you’re the only one small enough to have anything that might fit him. Think you could find him a pair of pants?”

Sally nodded. Diego was an attractive boy, with smooth brown skin, shoulder-length black hair, and straight teeth. Although he wasn’t bulked-up like Jason, she could see the play of every muscle under his skin. He smiled up at her from his crouched position. “
Gracias, señorita
.”

“
De nada
.” She blushed.

They left the bodies where they had fallen. Jack said the jungle would take care of them with its own quick efficiency.

In a few minutes, they had stowed the luggage back onto the Bug and were on their way. Diego stood on the passenger-side running board and held onto the door for balance. He wore only a pair of Sally’s cutoff jeans around his narrow hips. Although he mostly spoke to Doublecharge, he often glanced back at Sally in a way that made her feel embarrassed. This Guatemalan boy had a raw sexuality about him that had her hormones all in a twist. Maybe it was because he was foreign. Maybe it was just her body’s reaction to the high stress of the combat.

“Tell me about this compound, Diego,” Doublecharge said.

“It there long time. Tribes afraid. Many people gone. Whole villages in mountains gone. Maybe people there.”

“Who’s in charge of it?” Glimmer asked.

“I no know English word.
Un extranjero
.”

“A foreigner,” said Sally.

“American? A black man?” Jack asked over his shoulder.

“No. White man, yellow hair.” Diego reached out and stroked Sally’s hair for a second. She was so surprised she didn’t recoil from the sudden familiarity from this boy she barely knew. Sally figured the man had to be Heinrich Kaiser.

“How did you learn what you know?” Doublecharge asked.

“Compound soldiers buy supplies in Porto José. Sometimes they get drunk. I listen.
Mi madre
has a bar.”

“How long have you been able to turn into a
quest
…
quelt
…?” Sally floundered over the unfamiliar word.

“
Quetzalcoatl
is new to me. I get very sick, almost die.”

“Have you seen a black American man in town? He’d be about my age and very smart, maybe buying electronic and mechanical parts?” Jack asked.

“
Sí
, I see him. He here very long time. Many crates come to him at port. He no drink.
Mi madre
says never trust man who won’t take drink.”

“Your mother sounds like a wise woman.” Jack chuckled. “Do you know of a place we can stay while we’re in the port?”

“Sí. Rooms above the bar. Very clean. Very nice.”

“We’ll pay cash for them.”

“
Bueno
.” Diego grinned as his hair flapped in the breeze.

“One last question, Diego,” said Jack as the Bug cleared the edge of the trees. The lights of Porto San José twinkled in the near distance. “Do you by any chance know a man named Luís de la Barros?”

Diego’s smile vanished. “
El traficante
. He stays at port hotel. Many guns. You buying?”

“
Sí
,” said Jack.

“Who’s that?” Sally whispered to Glimmer.

Our CIA contact
, said a voice inside her head which made her jump. He turned his head to look at her.
Don’t ask too many questions. Diego is telling the truth as far as he knows it, but I sense something deceitful about him, something hidden deep in his mind
.

“There it is,” called Diego as he pointed toward the ramshackle town crouched on the seaside. “Porto San José!”

“I’m sure we’ll find what we’re looking for there,” said Stacey.

“I’m sure we’ll hate what we find,” countered Jack under his breath.