Vistaria Has Fallen (The Vistaria Affair/Vistaria Has Fallen #1)(33)

Nick looked down at her. “I’m going to drop and Duardo will too.” He unhooked one leg and pushed with his boot against the branch to release the other. Only he didn’t drop like a stone. He rolled. Duardo’s body sank toward the ground. Calli hauled on him, bringing him to the ground close by her, again gripping the band of his jeans and hanging on grimly.

Pietro did the same as Nick, letting himself fall off the branch in a controlled motion and now the two of them hung in the air, a human chain. The third man, Jose, slipped off the tree and Nick dangled closer to her. Duardo had reached the ground. She pulled him up and thrust her leg in front of him so he would not roll. That left her hands free. She reached up and caught Nick’s leg and hauled him sideways, toward the high ground. A fourth man slipped off the tree. Nick stepped beside her.

He gave a shout. The chain of men on the trunk moved back to the base of the tree, toward the cliff and the broken tiles. As they moved, Nick reeled Pietro in so he could stand. Then Jose.

Finally, a chain of men stood along the cliff, up onto the tree base. The men on the tree climbed off and lay down on their stomachs on the edges. They reached down with their hands.

Nick hooked his own leg around the same root Calli used as an anchor. He bent down and with another flex of muscles, picked Duardo up in a fireman’s lift. He looked up above him. “Listo?”

“Sí.”

With both hands beneath his torso, Nick lifted Duardo straight up into the air. Many hands reached for him, lifted him up and over the edge. A little cheer sounded above them.

Nick looked behind Calli. “Minnie, your turn. Calli, you must lift her over here.”

Calli looked at Minnie’s tear-streaked face. “No problem,” she said cheerfully. “She’s always been a squirt.”

Minnie gave a big sniff.

“Minnie, you don’t have room to do anything but push off with your hands and fall into Calli’s arms. She’ll catch you.”

Minnie looked at Calli. “Drop me and I’ll never talk to you again.”

“Deal.”

Minnie took a deep breath and launched, arms outspread, straight at Calli. Her weight slammed into Calli. Calli toppled backward. Nick’s arm was there, against her back, holding her up.

Minnie gave a shudder and a hysterical little laugh. Nick patted her cheek. “Not yet, Miss Minerva. Hold on for a few more minutes.”

Minnie took another deep breath and nodded.

Nick threaded his fingers together, to form a step. “Kick your shoes off. Step on my hands, then my shoulder. The men will lift you up. Okay?”

She nodded and sniffed again, wiping her forearm across her cheek, which only smeared the dirt and tears more. Calli propped her up while she pulled off her shoes. She stepped onto Nick’s hands. He boosted her so she could use his shoulder. She stepped up. The men lifted her over the edge as if she weighed nothing. Another small cheer sounded.

“Your turn,” Nick said in Calli’s ear.

“What about you?”

“I’ll be right behind you.”

She kicked off her shoes, casting them aside with regret. She had enjoyed the few minutes she had been wearing them before the explosion. It was unlikely she’d experience anything like that again.

She stepped onto Nick’s hands. He boosted her as if she weighed the same miniscule amount as Minnie. She barely put any weight on his shoulder. Many hands caught at her arms and drew her up. The motion shot pain through her shoulders. It was over before she could protest. She lay once more on the debris and sand scattered across the tiles.

She wanted to stay there, to rest and recover. The same many hands hauled her up, made her sit and move out of the way. They raised her to her feet and led her to a battered yet still whole chair where she sat, grateful to be still for a moment.

She watched as Nick was hauled up. Pietro, Jose and the last of the human chain clambered up. Pietro’s AC/DC tee-shirt hung torn and dirty now. His face was smeared with ash, yet he smiled brightly.

Many more people moved about the remains of the courtyard, including men in uniform. She remembered the valley was a popular residence for army officers. The explosion would have brought them running.

A senior-looking officer, a man with gray hair and a buffet table’s worth of medals across his chest, walked up to Nick. As Nick brushed himself off, the officer saluted.

Nick spoke. It sounded like a question.

The officer pursed his lips, then shook his head.

Nick looked down at the ground and sighed. After a moment he straightened again. “Okay,” he said and spoke more Spanish. Short sentences. Emphatic.

Orders.

The officer saluted again. He turned on his heel and strode away. He called out to others, who came running to his side as he walked, some wearing uniforms, some not. He issued orders, too. They scurried off to do his bidding.

Nick stopped in front of Calli, picked up her hand and pulled her from her comfortable seat, while all around them the courtyard burst with activity. Lights came on everywhere. In the distance came the “thwock-thwock” of helicopters.

“Come here,” Nick said.

She let him lead her to the dark far corner of the yard, the left side where, beyond the jagged remains of the courtyard wall, the truck in which they had traveled was parked. It seemed like a long time had passed since she climbed from the truck.

Nick turned her to face him, letting her rest against an intact section of the house. The cut below his eye had stopped bleeding, although his face was dirty and scratched. “You look like hell,” she said.