“Mom,” I wailed, “no one my age wears nylons. They’re for old ladies.”
“Yeah, old ladies like twenty-five and thirty.”
“All right, I get it, Mom. But this is different. I can’t stop goading this guy, needling him, digging at him, trying to get a rise out of him. What if I push him too far and he snaps?”
She sobered immediately. “You’re right, Carruthers. I shouldn’t treat it lightly.” She pursed her lips, deep in thought. “Let me ask you a question. Is it possible that some of what is happening is happening under the influence of the pouch?”
“Yes, I think so. At least sometimes.” I came out of the bathroom and joined her in the bedroom. “Why?”
“I don’t know, the thought just occurred to me. If it is, that would make a difference in my mind. El Cobra is a very dangerous man, Carruthers, but he is also a very vain one. And while you often infuriate him, I think he has some respect for you, too. You’ve met Eileen. Do you think she’s a doormat?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“That’s just it. She’s a spitfire—hot-tempered, tongue like a branding iron, full of passion and courage. I’ve seen her tear into him like a terrier taking on a Great Dane. And he takes it.” She looked at me directly. A frown creased her forehead. “When you talked to him yesterday about you and Rick giving yourself up, it occurred to me that sometimes he treats you with more deference than he does his own men.”
In a way that made me feel better, but in another way, it was troubling. “You talk like the pouch has . . . what? Intelligence?”
She cocked her head. “Was it you who thought up the bobble-head doll? I don’t think so. Yet that was so absolutely perfect for him and his inflated ego. And when you and Cody ran and hid in the attic, did you decide that invisibility was the perfect solution? No. You just wanted not to be found. What is intelligence if not the ability to make choices that determine outcomes?”
“Hmm.” I flopped backward on the bed, my mind spinning with possibilities. She sat down beside me. “Just be careful, Carruthers. Don’t push him too far. He is quickly coming to the end of his patience, and I fear that if he really loses his temper, it could be very ugly.” She sighed. “On the other hand, stand your ground. It gives you an advantage with him. Do whatever you have to do to get us out of here.”
“I will, Mom. I will.” I sat up, then got up. “Which reminds me—I need to go swimming today.”
“Swimming?”
“Yeah. The sooner the better.” I leaned in and dropped my voice. “I’ve got to contact Clay and talk about what happens today and when. So back me up, will you?”
“El Cobra’s not going to let you do that.”
“We’ll see.” I retrieved the pouch from beneath my pillow. “We’ll see.”
Her eyebrows creased, and her eyes were suddenly troubled. She came to me and touched my shoulder briefly. “Just remember. They didn’t name him El Cobra for nothing.”
Chapter 74
Rick and I volunteered to do the dishes after breakfast, but Armando was in an expansive mood and made his men do it. He and Eileen left us with two guards and went out to confer with the other men. Mom, Cody, Rick, and I sat around for almost two hours with our heads together, the two guards watching us in obvious boredom.
The phone rang shortly before noon, and El Cobra came running. From what we gathered from our side of the conversation, Dad and Grandpère were down off the mountain. Everything had gone smoothly at the mine. The Canadians were pleased and had left for Salt Lake. El Cobra’s men were on their way to Bullfrog and would deliver the hostages to the houseboat in about an hour and a half.
That put El Cobra in a good mood. Things were finally working according to his plan. And having all of the chickens in the coop would put him fully back in control again.
I decided it was time to act. “Armando?”
Eileen, who was near the door, whirled. “His name is not Armando. Not to you. It is El Cobra.”
“And my name is not chiquita. Not to him. It is Danni.”
He laughed. “What is it you want, chiquita?”
“I’m going for a swim this morning.”
“No swimming. The water is too cold.”
“That’s the point,” I shot right back. “This boat is an oven. I need some space.”
“No one is going swimming,” he snapped.
I pointed out the window. “I’m only going to that rock slide. I’ll be in sight the whole time. And if it makes you feel better, I’ll wear a life jacket.” Which I planned to do anyway. It was critical for what I had planned.
Rick stood up. “I’m going with you.”
Cody also got to his feet. “Me too.”
Mom chimed in. “Let’s make it a family swim.”
“Silence!” he roared. “Do you take me for an idiot? No one goes swimming today. No one.”
I started for the bedroom. “All right, no family swim,” I said. “But I am going for a swim.”
“Then one of my men is going with you.”
I stopped at the door and turned around. I pulled the pouch in front of my chest as if it were a shield. “Are you really going to fight me on this?” I asked wearily.
The boat’s generator, which provided constant background noise, sputtered. The overhead lights flickered. I looked up at them. “Are you?”
He glared at me, his chest heaving. “No more than half an hour,” he conceded.
“No, Armando!” Eileen cried. “Don’t let her go. She’s up to something.”
He shook his finger at her. He never said a word, but her eyes dropped and she turned away.
“Half an hour,” I agreed. “If it makes you feel safer, put a man with a rifle on the roof to watch me. He can shoot me if it looks like I’m having too much fun.” I went over to a chest and grabbed a life jacket, then went back in the bedroom, shut the door, and locked it.
When I returned a few minutes later in my new swimming suit, every eye in the room turned to look. The suit was pale lavender with a dark purple floral pattern. The moment I had seen it, I knew it would set off my dark hair and tan skin. And I knew Rick would like it. Of course, the bright orange life jacket didn’t add much class, but since that held my radio wrapped in a plastic bread sack in place under my arm, I had to live with it. I also had the pouch over my shoulder, under the jacket. Come to think of it, maybe the overall effect wasn’t quite as stunning as I thought.
However, I immediately saw that El Cobra’s men didn’t agree with that assessment. The two of them stared at me openly, unashamedly. El Cobra was at the kitchen table with Eileen, looking at some papers. When he looked up, his eyes widened, and he actually gawked at me. It was embarrassing. I wasn’t used to being looked at like that.
Eileen watched her husband for about five seconds, then slugged him hard on the arm. “Eres un cerdo,” she spat. “You are a pig! She is a little girl.” Then she leaped up and stomped out of the room.
Pretending that I hadn’t noticed, I headed for the door, the pouch over my shoulder. Rick followed me out. As soon as we were outside, he said under his breath, “Do you have the radio?”
I nodded and patted the pouch. “I pinched a bread sack from the garbage this morning.”
“Hey! Niñito,” El Cobra’s voice barked from behind us. “Get away from her.”
Rick turned, keeping me shielded from view. My heart was suddenly hammering, and my hands trembled. But I managed to appear calm as Rick stepped away and headed back for the door.
“I’m not a little boy,” Rick said as he passed El Cobra, who raised one hand as if he was going to cuff him across the back of his head. Rick never even glanced at him.
Before Armando could come any closer, I ran lightly down the gangplank and onto the beach. It was close to noon, and the sand was hot. I hopped back and forth down to the water, then sighed with relief when I stepped into the lake.
“Hey, chiquita,” Armando called. “Surely you do not want to get your
pouch wet. Bring it to me, and I’ll keep it safe for you.” He cackled loudly.
I neither answered nor turned to look at him. Wading out quickly, gasping as the cold hit me, I dove forward and broke into a strong breaststroke.
He shouted something else, but I was making too much noise to hear.
The rock slide was rougher than it looked from a distance. Clambering about like a crab, fully aware that El Cobra was watching me through binoculars—the thought made my flesh crawl—I finally found a slab big enough to let me stretch out. Turning my back to him, I removed the life jacket and the pouch and laid them beside me. I took a minute to shake the water from my hair, then stretched out on my stomach.
I waited a full three minutes before I turned my head enough to see the houseboat. El Cobra was still there, but he was not looking through the binoculars anymore. He and Eileen were having a battle royal, judging from the sound of their voices drifting across the water. I suspected I knew what it was about and briefly wondered if I could use it somehow to my advantage.
The instant that thought came, I thrust it away. I would not—could not—play up to this guy, no matter what leverage it gave me. The thought of having him touch me, or even be close to me, made me shudder.
I turned away from the boat. Then, moving slowly and deliberately, I went to work. I took out the bread sack and unwrapped the radio. I checked the volume control to make sure it was on low, then hit the transmit button.
“Clay Pigeon, this Danny Boy. Do you copy?” Clay pigeons were Frisbee-like plastic saucers that machines hurled up in the air that people used for target practice. Clay had probably shot more than his share of them.
There was a soft crackle, then almost immediately Clay’s voice came on. “Ah, Danni,” he said with real pleasure in his voice. “Clay Pigeon. Nice touch. How are you doing?”
“Everything here is as expected. Oh, except there are two guys in ranger uniforms in the boat guarding the entrance to the canyon.”
“Not anymore,” he said, sounding pleased with himself. “We took them totally by surprise about half an hour ago. We now have two of our men in identical uniforms in their boat.”
“What if El Cobra checks in with them by radio?”
There was a soft sound of exasperation. “Come on, Danni. Give us a little credit. A gun to the head buys a lot of cooperation, even from bad guys.”
“Sorry. How many men do you have?”
“Five on the cliffs, including one sniper and four mountaineers. Six more coming in the rubber boats, two of those with scuba gear. Then there’s me and two other agents with your father and grandfather. So counting our two substitute rangers, that’s eighteen in all. Are those good enough odds for you?”
I felt an enormous weight lift from my shoulders. “That’s wonderful. Thank you, Clay. Will you have Dad and Grandpère by then?”
He laughed softly. “Hold on.”
Another voice came on the line.
“Hello, Danni.”
“Dad!” Tears sprang to my eyes. “Is that you?”
“It is. And Grandpère’s right here beside me.”
“You’re free? But how?”
“Clay’s team was waiting for us at the parking lot. Our two guards never even saw them coming. Both of them are in the boat with us, maintaining radio contact with the houseboat.”
Clay came back on. “I’m glad you called in, Danni. We’re moving the timeline up, but weren’t sure how to let you know.”
“Wonderful. How soon?”
“Hold on.”
A moment later another familiar voice came on. “Monique?”
Monique? It was Grandpère’s voice, but why had he called me Monique? I brushed it aside. “Oh, Grandpère, it’s so good to hear your voice again.”
“And yours too, Danni. How’s your mother?”
“Fine. Cody too. They’ve been treated well.”
“Wonderful. We’re anxious to see you all.”
“Me too, Grandpère. More than you can know.”
“Monique?”
“Yes?” I answered hesitantly.
“Remember Tuesday night, as we were coming home from the mine? You and me and Mack were talking about what we might do with the money from the sale. Do you remember that?”
“Uh . . . yeah.” What was Grandpère talking about?
“Then, just as we were almost home, you had this wonderful feeling come over you. Remember?”
Wonderful feeling? It was an awful, terrible feeling.
“Well, I just wanted you to know I have that same feeling right now. We’re so anxious to see you again, and so happy, even if everything isn’t working out as planned.”
I stared at the phone in horror. Goose bumps popped out on my arms and chills ran up my back. Something was wrong. He was trying to warn me. At that instant, the feelings of that night came sweeping back—a feeling of danger, of evil, of something being terrible wrong. I clicked the radio again.
“I understand, Grandpère. I’m having those same feelings too. I’m so excited to see you again. I love you.”
“I love you too, Danni,” he said softly. “Be wise. We’ll be there in about an hour.”
I immediately sat up and grabbed the pouch. As I started to replace the radio in the plastic sack, the feeling came that doing so would be a mistake. They were going to search me when I got back. I knew it! I dropped the radio and the bag in a gap between the fallen rocks. Wincing as the cold, wet fabric of the pouch touched my warm skin, I hurriedly put it over my shoulder, then strapped on the life jacket.
I stared across the water at the houseboat. Everything seemed normal. Armando and Eileen were no longer in sight. One guard was pacing on top of the houseboat. Another guard was standing in front of the tent. Both were smoking cigarettes and looked very alert. There was no one else in sight.
That should have been reassuring, but alternating waves of dread and fear were washing over me, wrenching my gut and making my whole body tremble. Scrambling across the rocks, I reached the water and waded out into the water. Then I dove and started swimming as fast as I could toward the houseboat.
As I pulled myself through the water, Grandpère’s words echoed over and over in my mind. Be wise. I didn’t have any trouble translating what he really meant. The difference between intelligence and stupidity is that there is a limit to intelligence. Rick’s voice chimed in. Just because we learn from our mistakes, doesn’t mean they weren’t mistakes. I have this feeling that when you and I step onto that boat, you’re going to be so hell-bent on delivering your family that you’ll make another mistake. And this time, maybe everything won’t work out exactly as you have planned.
I pushed myself harder and harder; I had never felt so alone, so inadequate, so forlorn, so . . . so stupid. And I realized I was crying bitterly as I cut through the water.
As I approached the beach, I heard Grandpère’s voice again. But this was more than just remembering what he had said. I actually heard his voice in my mind.
You are Angelique Chevalier. You are Monique and Pierre LaRoche. You are the young King David. You are Aron Ralston.
As my feet touched bottom and I stood up and pushed forward toward the shore, his words concluded in slow cadence, each word emphasized with great solemnity.
You are Carruthers Monique McAllister. You are the keeper of the pouch. And you are not alone.
Chapter 75
The first thing I noticed was that the guard contingent had doubled. The one on the roof was now two. The one by the tent had moved closer to the cliffs, and a fourth guard was standing at the front door. All four had their weapons up and ready. All four were on full alert.
With a sense of gnawing uneasiness, I went up the gangplank and onto the boat. As I approached the door, the guard stepped back, his eyes never leaving me. The front door led directly into the main living area of the houseboat. It was airy and spacious. All of the drapes were drawn back, so the room was flooded with sunlight. I stopped short as I enter
ed the room.
The first thing that caught my eye was Mom and Cody sitting at the dining table, against the window. Mom’s cheeks were stained wet, and her eyes were red and swollen. Cody sat beside her, rigid as a steel pole. At the end of the bench, Rick sat with his face turned away from me. I was surprised when he didn’t look up.
Eileen was seated at the table too. El Cobra stood behind her, one hand on her shoulder, the other one holding a pistol. Both of their faces were hard as flint. The sharp sound of me drawing in air was the only sound in the room.
“Come in, chiquita,” El Cobra said, his voice tight and strained.
“What’s going on here?” I said, but it came out sounding pretty feeble.
And then I saw it. On the table directly in front of Eileen was Rick’s handheld radio. It was designed to easily fit in the palm, but at that moment, it looked as big as a wheelbarrow. Armando came around the table. He picked up the radio, tossing it lightly up and down in his hand. “Did you really think I would be so blind as to not see the radios you had hidden?”
I didn’t answer. I was too stunned. The pouch had betrayed me again. The radios had not been invisible. El Cobra had simply left them for this very purpose, to trap us. Had he found them in time to listen to everything I’d said out on the rock? Of course he had. That was why he hadn’t fought any harder to stop me from going swimming.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! But why didn’t Le Gardien warn me?
Eileen stirred. “Tell her to put some clothes on.”
We all jumped as he swung around, raging at her. “Don’t tell me what to do, woman!” he screamed. “Who cares what she’s wearing?”
She shrank back, as stunned as we were. I glanced at Rick and openly gasped. Rick dabbed at his nose with a crumpled napkin that was spotted with blood. Across his left cheekbone was a bright red, nasty-looking welt about three inches long. I whirled back to El Cobra. “What did you do to him?” I cried.
“Search her,” El Cobra barked at Eileen. “And be thorough about it.”