Page 75 of V-Day
18.
“AT MAXIMUM SPEED, WE CANbe on the main island in just over two hours,” Adán said, easing himself down onto the deck of the launch. He took his cane back from Minnie. “This thing does thirty knots with the throttle cranked and these engines, only it uses up the juice at that speed.”
“I don’t care about gas,” Minnie said, as Adán lifted her down to the polished desk. “This is a one-way trip. The house is compromised. When Zapatero doesn’t report back, Serrano could send another team to do the job and another one after that. The safest place we can be, now, is standing right behind the Loyalist army.”
Téra and Rubén hurried along the jetty at a decent clip, Rubén’s crutches swinging energetically.
“Did Zapatero have anything to say?” Adán asked, as Téra jumped down to the deck and turned to help Rey down.
“He’s a pragmatic bastard,” Rey said. “I suggested he walk to Acapulco, get himself lost there and wait out the war. If the women driving the Escalades to Acapulco don’t run him off the road, he’ll live a long, unproductive life.” His tone was sour.
“Did you let Zapatero know the war would be over in a few hours?” Minnie asked.
“Oh dear, I forgot,” Rey said, his tone flat.
Adán grinned. He worked his way over to the wheel and hooked his cane on the lip of the dashboard. He put his finger on the green button and looked over his shoulder. “Better grab a seat,” he told them. “This will be a hairy ride.” He pressed the button and the big engine burbled into life.
*
CALLI GROANED AS SERRANO GROUNDthe bones in her wrist together. Any more pressure and he would snap her wrist or pull her shoulder out of joint. Her shoulder was on fire.
It made the cold touch of the gun against her temple seem insignificant.
“You have some use, yet,” Serrano breathed in her ear. Sour breath fanned her cheek. She wrinkled her nose. “We will take a walk, you and I. You will talk to Peña and tell him and his men to return to Freonegro pass.”
Calli’s heart leapt. “They’ve left the pass? They’re coming to the city…” she breathed.
The gun tapped her temple. “Silence.”
Calli rolled her eyes to the right. She could just see Serrano from the edge of her vision. “I can talk to Duardo. It won’t change his mind.”
“You’re leverage enough even for him. Peña runs on sentiment. It’s what kept him a junior officer for so many years. He couldn’t shrug off being a nice person. He’ll stop if he sees where my pistol is resting right now.”
“Peña isn’t the one you should worry about,” Nick said. He was leaning against the door into the bedroom. Behind him, Maria Roldán sorted through a closet, holding up shirts and pants against her figure, for she wore nothing but a bra and panties. There were dark bruises around her wrists and ankles and more on her torso, yet she was smiling as she worked.
“You!” Serrano grated. He hauled Calli around so she was facing Nick and shielding Serrano.
Nick straightened, his arms dropping to his sides. “I didn’t stop when you told me to, Serrano. When you took Calli, you did exactly the right thing to make sure I wouldneverstop. Not even now.”
“I have a gun against her head, you fool!” Serrano shouted.
“I’m not stopping,” Nick repeated. He took a step forward.
Serrano backed up, dragging Calli with him. “You fucking Escobedoes! You are a blight on the face of the earth. Look at you! I only ever wanted Vistaria out of the hands of your family—what is so unreasonable about that?”
“We don’t have time for that conversation,” Nick assured him. He took another step forward, which brought him to the corner of the control desk. Serrano hedged backward a pace, too.
“A military junta—who really believed it?” Serrano said. “You keep a mask of mercy and democracy in place, but this country has always been a monarchy, with you Escobedoes siphoning up everything the peons created. Royalty by any other name! I want Vistaria to be amoderncountry! Afaircountry!”
Nick shook his head. “That’s where you miscalculated, Serrano. Vistaria is too small to compete with the might of America or even Mexico. We have to do things our own way, which the Escobedoes have always understood. It can be a democracy, yes, but that democracy must have a single voice directing it—someone who understands how this country works and can guide it without mis-steps, for we are too small to survive mistakes.” He took another step. “You don’t know how it works. You don’t understand Vistaria at all and you have made far, far too many mistakes.”
Serrano shivered. The gun wavered.
Calli kept her gaze on Nick, her heart thudding.
He took another step. “Calli.”
She rammed her hand up, her palm flat, knocking Serrano’s elbow up into the air. The gun flew up out of his useless fingers, for she had impacted the nerve center in his elbow. She heard the gun clatter against a wall. She was already moving. She pushed her feet against the back of the control desk, walked up the metal, then flipped herself in the air so the pressure was removed from her wrist and shoulder.
