Vistaria Has Fallen (The Vistaria Affair/Vistaria Has Fallen #1)(55)

Nick had driven her to Pascuallita. On the northern edges of the town, Duardo and Minnie stood waiting, Minnie’s bags at their feet. The phone call Nick had made just before they’d left his house had been to Duardo, she realized, setting up this meeting.

Duardo wore civilian clothes. His jacket was folded and tucked under his arm. From the way he carried it, Calli knew he had a gun inside the folds.

Without word or greeting, he threw Minnie’s bags into the back of the Jeep with Calli’s. He hoisted Minnie up into the back, too, and Nick showed Calli how to unfold the two small jump seats there. She climbed into the back with Minnie, while Duardo settled behind the wheel of the Jeep and Nick moved over to the passenger seat. Their unspoken coordination made it look like they were reading each other’s minds.

The sensation was eerie. Calli knew she watched two men well-trained in military arts going about their grim business. Because they were so well grounded in their work, no communication was needed.

Duardo pushed the Jeep into gear and took off, wheels spinning. Calli grabbed at the rails surrounding the back of the Jeep. Minnie gripped her other hand and held on as the Jeep roared and rocketed downhill towards the coast. They turned onto sealed road after ten minutes. Eight minutes later, Calli saw striped boom gates that marked the entrance to the army base. Duardo’s base.

Duardo pulled up right next to the boom gates, the red and white timber almost brushing Nick’s shirt sleeve. There came a shout from the gate house. A soldier wearing fatigues and a machine gun slung over his shoulder ran over to lean on the boom gate and lift it.

Nick got out of the Jeep and moved up to Calli’s side.

“Minnie, come to the front,” Duardo said.

Nick glanced around, checking for observers. With an acute disappointment, she realized that there would be no kiss goodbye, no soft words that would linger and comfort her, later.

“Go,” she said. “There’s no need to say anything.”

His hand, hidden by his body, rested over hers on the edge of the Jeep. “I would have it otherwise. I would have asked for more time.”

She took a breath and swallowed, pushing back the childish wail building in her. “Really?”

His eyes locked onto hers, holding her gaze. “Really.”

“Se?or,” Duardo said quietly. A warning.

Nick dropped his hand from hers. “Duardo is a good driver. He knows the road to the city well. He will get you back to the city. Stay there. If the fighting continues, then you must leave the country as soon as you can. Promise me you will do this, if it comes.”

“I promise.”

He nodded and turned away. The soldier with the machine gun escorted him down the access road. Another Jeep, this one painted in camouflage greens, waited with two soldiers in the front. The little back door hung open and waiting for Nick. The engine ticked.

He didn’t look back.

Calli took another deep, controlled breath to fill the corners of her lungs and clenched her jaw.

“Do up your seatbelt,” Duardo said to Minnie. She buckled her belt immediately. Duardo glanced at Calli. “You must hold tight, yes?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice thick with unshed tears.

He nodded and dropped the Jeep into gear and drove off, accelerating hard.

The wind whipped her hair into her eyes and gave a legitimate reason for her tears.

*

Duardo pulled up at the apartment as the sun slid low on the horizon. They climbed from the Jeep stiffly. Everything sounded muffled, for the wind and the roar of the Jeep engine had desensitized Calli’s hearing. Duardo was not content to sit behind slower traffic for longer than necessary. He slipped between the vehicle he was overtaking and oncoming cars with only inches to spare. He was familiar with the road and knew exactly how much he could risk.

Once, he had braked hard and stayed behind a wagon pulled by a 50s vintage Oldsmobile, even though the road ahead seemed clear. He shook his head. “Too much traffic. More than usual. The news has scared them.”

A few seconds later she saw why he had not tried to pass the wagon. The road turned into a sharp left turn, moving further down the valley, even though the terrain continued to slope along the cliff side, deceiving the eye. As soon as they had made the turn, he dropped the Jeep into a lower gear and passed the truck with a snarl of the engine.

That had been one of the few times he had spoken and the only time he had shared his thoughts.

Now he carried Minnie’s luggage into the apartment. Minnie stayed at the Jeep. Inside, Beryl struggled to her feet from the sofa, her eyes widening when she saw Duardo. He nodded at her and went back to the Jeep.

Calli followed him. “You’re going back to Pascuallita?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not fit yet,” Minnie said. Her tone told Calli her argument would not sway him.

He shrugged. “I will be needed, anyway.”

“I know.” She sighed.

He pulled Minnie to him, his hand in her hair and Calli looked away, moved and embarrassed by the tenderness on his face as he looked down at her. She walked until she could no longer hear the words in their whispers. When the Jeep engine started up again, she turned back.

Minnie stood with her arms wrapped around her, as if she were cold, watching as Duardo turned the Jeep around. He waved and drove away and as he turned the bend down the road, he waved again.