Retribution Road, Jon Coon [top business books of all time .txt] 📗

gently then pointed to the toilet. He understood and flushed the note. Then, holding hands, she led him back to bed and tucked him in. She lingered by the bed for a moment, still holding his hand, smiled at him a smile that kept her teeth hidden, and then left him alone.

He wondered what had just happened. Why had she risked so much just to give him her name?

He lay in bed gazing up at the single window, with moonlight gently filling the room. He was thinking about how she felt snuggled against him and wondered what was happening? She reentered the room with a small medicine cup and two pills. She offered them to him but shook her head negatively. “These will help you sleep,” she said loud enough for the microphone, but then took the pills and put them in his pillowcase. She looked at him again and asked, “Do you need anything else?” She nodded and pointed toward the bathroom. Before he could answer, she handed him another note.

He held it up to the light and read silently: “I have a plan, but you must be strong.” He looked at her with great surprise. She put her finger on his lips. Then she pointed to the commode, but then took the note and flushed it for him. She double-checked to make certain it was gone, then returned to his bedside. She squeezed his hand and smiled, her decayed teeth slightly exposed in what was otherwise quite an attractive face.

Angelica. If ever he’d ever needed an angel’s help, now was the time.

Tom’s cell phone rang just before dawn. He looked at the number and all he saw was “Unavailable.” Maria was in the shower. He got up and answered, then stepped into the bathroom doorway.

“Hello.”

“Hola, amigo,” a friendly voice began. “No Spanish this morning, Captain? Well, that’s all right, amigo. It’s time for you to be going home anyway. Back to your rancho and your lovely daughter and her niña.”

Tom quickly put the phone on speaker and record. He waved at Maria to join him. She turned off the water and stepped from the shower wrapped in a towel.

“All right. When do we leave?” Tom asked.

“Two days, I think. The weather will be good, and we will have your plane ready.”

“And our destination?”

“Not so soon, amigo. I’ll let you know that in plenty of time.”

“In time for what?”

“Time to land before you run out of petrol—that would be good, don’t you think?” He laughed.

Tom was silent.

“What about my friend? Will he be flying back with me?”

“No, we think it will be best if he continues to enjoy the pleasures of our beautiful country until your job is done. Then you can take him home.”

“I’m going to want someone on the right seat. It’s a long flight and sometimes I get sleepy.”

“Oh, I have someone in mind, don’t worry about that. He flies too, so you will have nothing to worry about.”

“I see.”

“Good. Just one more thing. No phones. We’ll be monitoring your radio, so you won’t be needing your phone. Comprende?”

“I understand.”

“Bueno, we’ll send a car for you at seven on Thursday. That will give you time to eat and be ready. We’ll talk again before you leave. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.”

There was a sinister laugh, and the phone went silent.

Tom double-checked his phone to make certain it was off before speaking. “Was that him? El Patrón?”

“I think so. The connection wasn’t that good, so it’s hard to be certain, but I think so.”

“Good. I’ll run this through the NSA’s voice recognition software. Perhaps we’ll get lucky.”

“Be careful, Tom. Remember how dangerous he is. Dangerous and powerful.”

“Two days. That’s all we’ve got to find Paul and those girls.” He paced the floor like a caged cat, ran his hands through his thinning white hair, then said again, “Two days.”

Chapter 19

ANGELICA BROUGHT PAUL’S BREAKFAST OF fruit and eggs, and when she crossed the room to his bed, she seemed to be walking oddly. She put down the tray, reached beneath her scrubs, and gave him two extra bananas. When she raised the scrub top to pull them from her waistband, he saw dark bruises over her abdomen. When she handed them to him, he saw more bruises on her arms. “Eat,” she said. “And try to walk as much as you can. Your stitches look good, and you need the exercise. I’ll bring you some shoes.”

She looked carefully around the room, made certain the door was closed, and handed him another note. It read, “You must be strong. We may have to walk far and even swim. It will be hard. But we must go.”

Paul held his hand up to his ear like he was holding a phone and then turned both palms up and mouthed, “Do you have a phone?”

She shook her head no.

He took her arm and with his other hand lifted the bottom of her scrubs. Her abdomen was purple and yellow. He pointed to her stomach, but she shook her head and pulled away. Paul reached out to her, and when she turned back, there were tears in her eyes. She let him hold her for only a moment before pushing him back. He had expected soft. She was solid like a lean animal. She shook her head sadly and again said, “Eat,” then wiped her eyes and pointed to the note and then the bathroom. He nodded that he understood. She gave him a half-smile, left the room, and locked the door.

Angelica walked the hall of the several-hundred-year-old building. Only small parts of which had been renovated … sort of. Electrical wiring hung from the sagging timber ceiling and rusting iron gates blocked halls and most doors.

Most windows were vacant holes and some rooms were dank enough to have green moss flourishing on the damp stone floors. During the rainy season, only a few of the newly petitioned rooms were actually livable, and only one floor had