Vistaria Has Fallen (The Vistaria Affair/Vistaria Has Fallen #1)(24)

Then she saw the white lily lying on the untouched pillow beside hers and her blood turned to ice water.

It hadn’t been there when she had gone to bed.





Chapter Six


“Another party?” Calli said, wrinkling her nose.

“No, this one’s a real party,” Minnie explained, sliding onto the tabletop next to Calli’s coffee and breakfast plate. “Not like that stuffy thing for the General. Duardo says proper Vistarian parties are nothing like American parties—”

“How would he know what an American party is like?”

“They have TV here.” Minnie rolled her eyes. “Half the shows they get here are American. Anyway, it’s today. Sunday.”

“Tonight?”

“No, today. Soon.”

“Now?” Calli rubbed her temple. “Hell, they’ve just finished with Fiesta. Isn’t that enough?”

“Are you always this grumpy on Sundays?” Minnie asked, crossing her arms and tilting her head to one side.

“When I’m short on sleep I am,” Calli muttered.

“You slept in late yesterday and you came home disgustingly early on Friday night. Last night you went to bed early again. It’s now nearly nine. That’s gotta be enough sleep for anyone.”

“It would, if I actually slept.” She thought again of the white lily in the vase on her bedside table. She hadn’t been able to throw it away, even though its presence made her uneasy. That discomfort had robbed her of sleep last night. When she did doze, lurid dreams of men stealing into the house woke her.

“If you’re not sleeping, don’t bother trying. Come to the party instead.”

Calli wrinkled her nose again. “I haven’t got the energy,” she confessed. “All that dressing up—”

“You can wear jeans,” Minnie said. “Come on, Calli. Please.”

“Why do I have to go?”

“Because I won’t go without you and I want to see Duardo. He’s going back home tonight.”

“He doesn’t live in the city?”

“God, no. He lives up in Pascuallita. That’s where he’s posted, at the base there.”

All the way from Pascuallita... She recalled Nick’s words when he had been shaking Duardo’s hand.

“Okay,” Calli said, understanding.

“Cool. They’re picking us up at ten,” Minnie said, sliding off the table and heading for her room. “I’m going to get dressed.”

“No, wait—” Calli began.

The bedroom door had already closed.

With a sigh, she got up from the table and went to change.

*

Forty-eight minutes later, they heard a horn sound outside the house. Minnie and Calli went outside, to find Duardo standing on the back of a beat-up, rusty and faded truck with an enormous engine cowling.

“Hell, it looks like Ford’s first model,” Calli muttered.

“Good morning, ladies!” Duardo waved them over. He wore jeans and a white shirt, which contrasted well with his tanned skin.

Minnie ran over to the back of the truck. Calli followed. The high walls of timber planking provided back support for seven more people sitting on the floor of the truck. Calli recognized one of the women, Elvira, from the General’s party. Elvira looked much younger now in her pretty printed floral skirt and white cotton sweater, with her hair down. Calli nodded to her. “Hola,” she murmured. She knew all but two of the soldiers, too.

Duardo bent and held out his hand. “Put your foot there and I will lift you up,” he told Minnie, pointing to the edge of the platform.

Minnie looked down at her tight, mid-thigh length denim skirt. “I’m not hitching my leg up there.” She shook her head.

The others in the truck laughed. Her expression was clear enough even if they didn’t follow the English.

Duardo grinned. “No problem.” He turned and spoke quickly. Two more men got to their feet and moved to the edge of the truck, while Duardo jumped to the ground. He grasped Minnie’s waist in both hands. “Lift your arms,” he instructed.

She lifted her arms. The men took an arm each. Then, with no visible effort, Duardo lifted her up into the air, high enough for her to take a decorous step up onto the platform.

Duardo motioned Calli toward him.

“No, thank you,” she said. “I can manage this.” She stepped up to the truck bed and waved the two men away. They moved back, grinning. She could sense Duardo hovering behind her. Long legs and stretch jeans gave her an advantage, though. She tucked her knee to her chest and planted her sandaled foot on the wooden flooring. It wasn’t even much of a stretch, after years of flexibility training for karate. Pausing for a moment to balance herself with a hand on either side, she flexed her leg, pouring power into it. Straightening the leg, she raised herself up onto the floor. She ended up standing on the edge.

Duardo clapped. The men gave little whistles of appreciation, laughing and making comments. “Bravo!” she heard. These men, all soldiers, would understand the physical agility and strength she had just displayed. Smiling, she gave a little curtsey and sat in the vacant space they made for her, between Minnie and a man in a black AC/DC tee-shirt. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She smiled back.