Mark pointed to the cave. “What’s in there?”
“Storage for food and supplies. Your people are not allowed in there either. Tell them to stay out.”
“I’m not the leader of this group. Ted Pettigrew is. You should be talking to him about all this instead of me.”
“You speak Spanish and you’re an intelligent man whom I believe thinks logically instead of impetuously. I will talk to you. Then you can tell the others.”
“All right. What’s going on? Exactly what are we doing here?”
“What are you doing here? Is that a joke? You have been kidnapped. Is that not obvious?”
“Is this about money? The American government won’t negotiate, you know.”
Rolando smiled. “Please don’t worry yourself about the American government, Dr. Linebarger. I know what I’m doing.”
“I saw the ruins of Piedras Negras last night as we marched through the jungle. As long as you’re holding us captive here, may I take some of our group to see the site?” Mark had lain awake, trying to think of any way to separate the captives from the rebels. If a small contingency of guards accompanied several of us, maybe we could overpower them. But it was a long shot. What would we do if we were successful? We’re still stuck in the jungle miles and miles from any other human beings, with no food, no water, and no way to communicate with the outside world.
It was immaterial; the rebel flatly refused. “You are no longer on an archaeological trip. You are prisoners. No sightseeing. You will be our guests for a week, maybe more, depending on what happens. No one knows where you are or how you got here. Don’t think of escaping. It’s foolish. Going into the jungle without weapons and transportation would be insane. You must explain that to the others. No heroics. You will all obey orders or you will be killed. It’s that simple.”
“Perhaps some of us can help with the ransom. These people have families…”
“You’re too kind,” Rolando replied sarcastically. “Please leave the details to me. I’m capable of extracting ransom for hostages. I’ve done it before.”
Back in the cave-cum-bunkhouse, Mark gathered the people. He told them what Rolando had said. Even though the rebel chose to communicate through him, Mark emphasized that Ted remained their leader.
“Ted will make the final decision on everything we do. Although he and I can’t control your actions, I strongly urge you not to do anything rash. We know this man will kill without compunction. That’s not to say we can’t use our brains and come up with ideas. I’m just asking that we discuss things before anyone gets himself – or the rest of us – killed. We have to be a team – none of us expected to be in this place, and together we can survive.”
His voice dropped to a whisper. “Gather around closely.”
Everyone knew what was coming next. Someone was missing and two people already knew who it was. Gavin and Hailey had gotten to know Paul Silver best. He’d been on the bus when it arrived in Frontera Corozal last night, but he hadn’t been seen since.
“We don’t know what happened to Paul,” Ted explained softly. “You’ll recall he’s the Pemex consultant, a guy from New York living in Villahermosa. We know that he wasn’t on either boat last night. I don’t think Rolando left any of his men back at the town, although I’m not sure. I’m wondering if they could have separated Paul for some reason.”
“I hope they didn’t kill him,” Mary Spence blurted out.
Her husband, Doc, the surgeon from Dallas, patted her hand. “Let’s stay positive, dear. We have enough to be concerned about without worrying about things that might not have even happened.”
Doc asked if the luggage was all accounted for. “When we left the parking lot, we all had to carry our bags down to the boat ramp. Are there any extra suitcases around here somewhere? Did anybody bring Paul’s?”
No extra luggage had been brought on the longboats. Wherever Paul was, his bags were missing too. Was that a good sign or not? No one knew what to make of it. Gavin wondered if he might have escaped, but everyone thought that was impossible with the rebels watching their every move. And how could he have both escaped and taken his suitcases?
But then again, if he didn’t escape, where were his bags? They discussed if Rolando could have separated Paul and his suitcases from the rest of them? That scenario didn’t fly. Why, where and when could that have happened? Focused on their own dire situations, none of them had paid that much attention, but everyone agreed they’d have noticed if Paul had been forcibly taken away. Especially if he’d also been carrying his luggage.
The consensus was that somehow he’d managed to get away. Gavin said, “No one really knows anything about him. Think about it. All you really know about me is what I told you the other night during introductions. I could have made everything up. So could he. Who knows what this guy Paul Silver really is? Maybe he works for the CIA. That would be helpful.”
“Yeah, helpful if you’re using his story as part of your next book,” Alison shot back in a scornful tone. “We’re all going to die here. If you haven’t figured that out by now, you’re all a bunch of idiots.” She began to cry.
Bart whispered calmly, “Let’s take it easy, folks. Who knows how long we’re going to be together. This isn’t the time or place for accusations or ridicule. Like Ted said, we have to be a team in order to beat these guys. On our own, we can’t make it. But if we stay strong and united, we can make it through this. We’re not all going to die here, Alison. I’m not going to accept that. I’m choosing to think that whatever Paul Silver is, he managed to do one thing none of the rest of us did. Somehow he’s gotten away, and it appears these guys don’t even know he’s gone. That could work really well for us.”
Several people nodded in agreement.
Ted urged the others to keep quiet about Paul, even among themselves. “We have no idea if these guys speak English; they may understand everything we say. We also don’t know if Paul can help us or not. If he really works for the state oil company, it’s possible he can get help from the Mexican government. But how would he know where we are right now? We just need to be calm and wait. If it’s your thing, a little praying wouldn’t hurt either.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The first day in camp passed slowly for the hostages. They wandered around and explored the place, a cleared circle about three hundred feet in diameter. In the center of the clearing there was a fire pit. Four shacks sat around the perimeter. One was the off-limits building they dubbed the “office.” It was guarded twenty-four seven. A stovepipe stuck out of the roof of another, the cook shack. Food was prepared and served there, but they ate outside. The other buildings housed Rolando and his men. The leader had a small hut to himself, and his men slept in the other one. A generator sputtered behind the office, and extension cords ran to the kitchen.
Everyone steered clear of Rolando. First there had been the callous murder of the bus driver, then the death of David Tremont in the river. That scene had been horribly played out in the beam of a spotlight aimed at the doomed man by Rolando himself. They were shocked and physically sickened at what this maniac was capable of. They were also afraid. He was ruthless, capable of anything, and no one wanted to attract attention.
They were grateful to have the things from their luggage. A few played cards; others read books. Each of them used one diversion or another to escape from the reality of imprisonment, even if for only an hour here or there. At midday they were guided to a line and served a lunch of some kind of meat, a tuber vegetable and some rice. Despite having no idea what it was, but ravenous after twenty-four hours without food, they ate everything on their plates.
That afternoon Gavin Michaels pulled out a briar pipe and stuck it in his mouth. Soon the smell of tobacco wafted through the camp; most of the captives were pleased with the aroma. To some it brought back memories of childhood, grandfathers and the good old days. Alison predictably complained, saying she wasn’t going to be subjected to second-hand smoke. She st
ormed off into the cave, where she sat alone. She didn’t like that either, but she pouted, refusing to come back outside. That would be admitting she’d made a mistake.
Win walked in to check on her. They hadn’t spoken since her tantrum earlier, the one where she’d let everyone know he was the sole reason she was going to die in this godforsaken place and she should never have come with him.
“Alison, we need to talk.”
“So talk, then,” she shouted. “What do you have to say? You’re sorry? Yeah, I’ll bet you are. You’re an asshole for making me come here! When Paul rescues us –”
“God, Alison! Shut up! We can’t talk about that!”
She was sullen. Here she was in a dank cave, angry that a man she now detested had called her down for shouting Paul’s name. And he was right. That made it even worse.
“Get out. I don’t want to talk to you. If I ever get home, I never want to lay eyes on you again.”
“Alison, I hate that all this happened. But there was no way I could have known –”
She fired back sarcastically, “Do you think, just maybe, if I’d been in Waco working at the store right now, I would have been kidnapped by a sadistic murderer and taken to the jungle? Do you think, Win? Of course not. People are safe in America. Why am I here, not there? One reason. You. That’s why. Get out.”
He walked out, disappointed by her petulant attitude. Now he knew how she was when it came down to things that mattered.
Hailey listened to Alison’s outburst – with the shouting, no one could miss her side of it – and she felt sorry for this poor guy. He’d merely invited his girlfriend on a trip to the jungle, as simple as that. It had gone horribly wrong. It had turned into a terrifying, unbelievable situation none of them would have wished on another person. But it was what it was. Acting like a child wasn’t going to help anything. She’d talk to Alison later, to try to help her understand she needed to calm down and go with the flow.
Around four it rained buckets for thirty minutes. Everyone scurried inside when it started, then emerged again when the sun came out. The storm had done nothing but make the humidity soar and the insects attack with a vengeance.
After the rainstorm, things got really steamy. Everyone sat in the shade, thankful for every bit of breeze. The suntan lotion and insect repellent came out, and everyone slathered it on. They shed as many clothes as possible – the men wore only shorts and shoes. The females stripped to their bras and panties, even the sixty-something Mary Spence. It was too hot to care – they were all in the same boat anyway. Seeing someone naked didn’t matter much when you were concerned about dying.
Rolando observed the two young women from the window in the office shack. They were dramatically different – the whiny blond one was beautiful like a movie star, lean and with a great figure. She cried a lot – he would give her something to moan about, for sure!
He lingered over the other one, the brunette named Hailey. She was gorgeous too, with longer legs and smaller breasts than Alison. Hailey was assertive – she had a fire in her belly. She would be a handful to deal with, but he was ready for the challenge. It had been a while and he was looking forward to it. He felt himself stirring as he thought about what he would have her do to him.
He wished there had been more women in this group. He would have liked the diversity. There actually was one more female – the older one – but Rolando would enjoy these two young beauties. That would be plenty. He didn’t need to take the older one with her husband here too. That would just be wrong, he thought sarcastically.
He watched them a bit longer and then made his choice for tonight.
The hostages went through the evening buffet line, if it could be called that, where two grubby cooks slopped the same food on their plates they’d had for lunch. Hailey wondered idly if the plates had been washed, then smiled. That was the least of their worries. If they died here, it wouldn’t be from food poisoning.
Mark asked Rolando what the meat was.
“Javelina. You like it?”
“It’s okay. Some of the people were asking, that’s all.”
He told the others that they were eating a piglike mammal called a javelina. The meat understandably resembled pork. Even if everyone might not like it, they all ate it because they were hungry. They were also determined to stay strong and ready, just in case of an opportunity.
The kidnappers had rigged a makeshift shower by hanging a hose from a tree branch. The hose ran into a large barrel filled with rainwater. It wasn’t great and the flow was weak, but it beat nothing. Since there were no walls, most people waited until dusk to clean up. As darkness fell, they walked one by one to the shower. Some turned their backs to the others, some didn’t. Most of the captives averted their eyes, showing respect for the others, especially the two beautiful young women. The guards merely stared lasciviously and grinned.
By eight p.m. the sun had slipped behind the tall trees that encircled the camp. The captives sat together around the campfire as their guards stood nearby. One counted the hostages. These head counts occurred randomly throughout the day; Rolando obviously didn’t want to have anyone go missing. Most of them were afraid to leave anyway; unarmed, they’d rather face the known perils here than the things lurking in the jungle.
One of the guards approached and pointed at Alison. “You. Come with me,” he said in broken English. Six other guards took up positions around the hostages.
She didn’t move. “Why? Where do you want me to go?”
“Come,” he harshly insisted.
“No. You can’t –”
Suddenly he grabbed her hair, lifting her bodily off the ground. She screamed. Win jumped up to help her and a guard stuck a pistol in his face.
“Sit!”
He had no choice. He sat down.
The man let go of Alison’s hair and said angrily, “Come. Now.”
She began to cry softly. “Please don’t. I don’t want to go. Please.”
Hailey looked at the man. “Take me. I’ll go.”
“She’ll go!” Alison pointed at Hailey. “Tell him in Spanish,” Alison sobbed. “Tell him you’ll go so he won’t take me.”
Amazed that this girl would so easily throw her into peril, Hailey looked at Mark. “Tell him I’ll go.”
The guard started pulling Alison up by her arm, and Mark said in Spanish, “Take the other one.”
He shook his head and pointed at Alison. “Este. Ahora, este va.” Now, this one goes.
Ten people watched helplessly as the guard dragged a sobbing Alison to Rolando’s hut. He took her inside, came back out, pulled up a chair and guarded the door.
“I can’t let him do anything to her. It’s my fault she’s here.” Win wanted to step in – to rescue the girl he’d brought to Mexico – but there was no way it could happen with six armed guards nearby.
Ted shook his head. “As bad as it is, you can’t forfeit your own life. It’s not your fault this happened. We can only hope this isn’t as bad…” He stopped. No one had to be reminded about Rolando’s savage murder of the bus driver.
At first they could hear deep sobs coming from inside Rolando’s shack. Then there was conversation so quiet no one could make it out. For the last ten minutes there had been silence.
After what seemed like an hour to the hostages, Alison came out of the hut. She walked unsteadily back to the campfire and sat down next to Hailey.
Win said, “I’m so sorry…”
She began to cry uncontrollably. Win started to move toward her, and she held up her hand. “Don’t come near me. Don’t ever come near me again.”
Hailey put her arm around the girl. She wasn’t very good at this emotional stuff, but it seemed like the thing to do, even though the selfish girl had been completely willing to sacrifice Hailey. Alison laid her head on Hailey’s shoulder as she heaved sobs of anguish. Finally she whispered, “I need another shower. Will you come with me? I don’t want … I can’t bear the thought of one of those
awful men watching me. I don’t know … if I can ever be with a man again.”
They walked to the shower and Alison stripped naked. She turned on the hose and asked Hailey to block the view of her fellow hostages, even though it was so dark no one could see anything anyway. As the girl showered, Hailey kept an eye out both for rebel guards and the creatures of the night. She was glad to see neither.
“You need to tell the others something,” Alison said in a whisper as they walked back to their sleeping quarters.
“Rolando … Rolando speaks English. Perfect English.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The next morning Mark and Ted were up and out of the bunkhouse by sunrise. They were drinking coffee when Rolando came out.
“I hear we don’t need to speak Spanish any longer,” Ted said tersely as the rebel leader sat down. “I hope you’re proud of yourself for what you did to that girl last night…”
“What I do is not your affair, Señor Pettigrew,” Rolando answered in English. “I need no advice from you. I will use you and the others as I wish in order to achieve what I have to do.”
Mark said, “And what is that?”
“Ah, the same questions every morning, Dr. Linebarger! You will have to wait a bit longer for the answer, I’m afraid. I’m not ready to reveal my hand just yet.”
“Where did you learn English?” Ted asked.
“Aren’t you both the inquisitive ones.” He laughed without humor. “Keep your people under control, gentlemen, and you may all make it out of this situation alive. Whether you live or die is only partially my decision. Your actions, and the actions of other people who do not yet know of your peril, will also determine if one or more of you dies. It matters little to me; I have a goal and you are merely part of the pathway to achieving it.”
He walked to the office shack. Soon the men could hear crackling, then bits and pieces of words in Spanish. Rolando was using the shortwave radio.
The Crypt Trilogy Bundle Page 33
