Michael Vey 9, page 19
I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was the same dish I’d mentioned earlier—live grubs ground in with taro root.
“Weird is a matter of perspective,” I said. “I’m sure eating Jell-O pudding would be weird to them.”
“This is kind of like Jell-O,” she said.
“Go with that.”
When the chief had finished eating, he raised his arms and said, “Nigeb supmur layor eht tel!”
Several of the Amacarra stood and left the circle. A moment later they came back carrying drums, which they set down on the ground, then sat behind, wrapping their legs around them.
“Oh, there’s a program,” Taylor said. “I like dinner theater.”
I grinned.
The Amacarra began pounding their drums in a rhythmic beat. The chief said, “This is a dance of victory. We dance it in honor of the twines.”
“I think he means ‘twins,’ ” Ostin said.
Taylor put her finger to her lips. “Shh.”
The dance went on for about twenty minutes. When it was over, the chief made a loud clicking noise, which the tribe members copied. Then he turned to me and asked, “Now that you have rescued your friends, what will you do?”
“We’re going back to the lodge to get our other friend. Then we’ll meet up with the rest of our friends.”
“What is this lodge you speak of?”
“It’s one of those Amazon eco lodges on the river. It’s just a few miles from here.”
His brow furrowed. “The lodge of the makisapa?”
“That’s the one.”
“No, Michael. You must not go to that place.”
His response surprised me. “Why?”
“It is the demon’s place. The demon Chasqui go there all the time. We see them.”
“No, it belongs to our friend’s friend. She says we can trust him.”
“The man with the silver hair? He is tall and comes from the land of the yellow cross.”
“That’s him. The Swede.”
“No, you cannot trust him. He has made an alliance with the Chasqui. He helps them to watch the river and warn them of anyone coming into the jungle.”
I glanced over at Taylor, then back. “One of our friends is with them. He might be in danger. We need to go.”
“The lodge is our concern as well. I will go with you,” the chief said. “And my warriors.”
“Thank you.”
“It is late. You will need more of our water.”
“All you can spare,” I said.
41 Looking for Jaime
Nichelle, Jack, and Cristiano loaded up with Chasqui weapons. Then, after drinking our fill of their power water, we started off. The Makisapa Lodge was three miles from the Amacarra’s village. We were able to make our way quickly along the Amacarra’s trail, guided by their warriors, who knew the area well.
In just a little over an hour, we emerged from the lush jungle at the back side of the lodge, to a spacious, well-kept clearing. Directly behind the lodge there was a beautiful swimming pool, glowing bright blue. The area around it was dark and vacant except for a drunk couple sitting at the closed outdoor café. The only sounds were the jungle’s billion bugs and frogs and the steady hum of the lodge’s electric generator.
Ian immediately began looking around the lodge.
“Do you see any Chasqui?” I asked.
“Not so far.”
“Do you see Jaime?”
“Not yet.” A moment later he said, “There he is. He’s in the back of the main lodge, behind the kitchen. There are slabs of meat hanging around him. It must be where they butcher meat.”
“What’s he doing in a meat locker?” I asked.
“He’s tied to a chair.” He shook his head with anger. “They’ve tortured him.”
“How can you tell?”
“He has rope burns around his neck and waist, he has knife cuts, and he’s been badly beaten.”
“Is he okay?” Taylor asked.
“He’s alive, if that’s what you mean.”
“Where’s the Swedish dude?”
“He’s in his bedroom, sleeping. I’m pretty sure that’s him. There’s only one bedroom behind the main office.”
“How do you know he’s sleeping?” Taylor asked.
“He’s snoring.”
“You can hear him snore?” Cristiano asked.
“No. I can see his lips flap.”
“Let’s rescue Jaime first. What’s the best way?”
“There’s a side kitchen entrance,” Ian said. “There’s no one around.”
Our entire group moved to the side of the main lodge. The door was locked.
“I can kick it in,” Jack said.
“Wait,” Ian said. “There’s someone in the kitchen.”
“A guard?”
“No. It’s just a guest grabbing some bottled water. And pie.”
“I want some pie,” Nichelle said, mostly to herself.
“Let him finish,” I said.
We waited until Ian said, “Okay. He’s leaving. He’s going out the front door.”
“I can open this door,” McKenna said. “That won’t wake anyone.”
“Do it,” I said.
McKenna put her hand against the door’s hardware. Within a minute the metal was glowing bright red. McKenna pushed against the door with her foot, and the bolt bent with the door’s opening. “Entrez, s’il vous plaît.”
“Merci,” I replied, walking in. There were lamps on all over the lodge, leaving it illuminated enough to walk through.
“It’s that door right there,” Ian said. “The room is dark inside.”
“And they left the key in it just for us.” I turned the key and opened the door. There was a switch to the side of the door, which I flipped on, filling the room with light. All of us except for two of the Amacarra warriors went inside the room, the Amacarra standing shoulder to shoulder against the walls.
Jaime was seated in a wooden chair in the middle of the room. His mouth and eyes were covered with duct tape, and around the sides of the tape we could see knife cuts. Patches of his hair were missing from his scalp, and his arms, which were also taped to the chair, had cigarette burns on them. Several of his fingers were bloody, and he was missing several fingernails.
“The chief is right,” Taylor said. “They are demons.”
“Demons and monsters,” Jack said.
“I’ll take the tape off,” Taylor said.
“Take it off his eyes first,” I said. “So he doesn’t scream out.”
“I wish Abi was here,” she said.
“We all wish Abi was here,” McKenna said.
“They’re going to pay for this,” Jack said. “Every last one of them.”
“They already did,” I said. “Back at the village.”
When Taylor touched the tape over Jaime’s eyes, he began violently shaking his head and body, making it difficult to remove the tape.
“Jaime, it’s me. Taylor.”
He continued jerking wildly.
“I’ll help you,” Jack said. “Jaime, it’s Jack. Sorry, but I’ve got to hold you still.”
Jack put him in a headlock while Taylor pulled the tape off his eyes. As soon as it was off, they both stepped back. Jaime grimaced and blinked his eyes. Then he looked up at us frightfully. His expression of fear turned to one of disbelief.
I crouched down next to him. “It’s us. You’re safe now.”
Taylor struggled trying to get the tape off his mouth, until Jack stepped in, grabbed it, and ripped it off. Jaime let out a short gasp.
“Sorry, brother.”
Jaime took in a deep breath. Then another. Then he said, “The Chasqui… run this place.”
“We know,” I said. “The Amacarra told us.”
It was as if Jaime had just noticed all the Amacarra who were standing around the room. “What are they doing here?”
“Our paths merged,” Taylor said.
“Thankfully,” I said.
Jack took a Chasqui knife from his belt and cut Jaime’s arms loose. Jaime stretched them out, then rubbed where his burns were.
McKenna said, “I’m going to see if they have any bandages or medicine for your wounds.”
“Look for honey,” Ostin said. “That works better on partial thickness burns.”
“Come help me look,” she said.
Jack got on his knees and cut Jaime’s legs free.
“Thank you,” Jaime said.
“Who did this to you?” Jack asked.
“The Chasqui soldiers. And Lars. Jacinta’s friend.” He said the word as if it hurt his mouth.
“I’m going to break him in two,” Jack said.
“Jaime, why did they do this to you?” I asked.
“They wanted to know where you were going and where the others were.”
I looked intensely into his eyes. “Did you tell them?”
His face twisted in anguish. Then he slowly bowed his head in shame. “I tried not to, Michael. I really tried. I’m so sorry. The pain was too much.”
“We’re not blaming you,” I said. “I just need to know what you told them.”
“I told them you were trying to save your friends.”
“I’m sure they already guessed that. But it didn’t do them any good. Did you tell them we knew about the bats?”
He nodded slowly. “I told them that the others had gone to blow up the road.”
“Did you tell the Chasqui where Johnson’s group was?”
“It was fortunate that I did not know where they were. I lied to the Chasqui. I told them the trap was just outside Arequipa. They said they would kill me if I lied. I thought you were them, coming back to kill me.”
“You’re very brave,” I said.
“No. I am a coward.”
I looked at his abused body—the cuts, bruises, and burns—and shook my head. “No, you are brave.”
McKenna and Ostin returned carrying a small first aid kit, bottles of water, and a jar of honey. Ostin spread the honey over Jaime’s burns with a butter knife. Then McKenna wrapped gauze over the burns.
“Here’s some ibuprofen for pain,” she said.
Jaime popped the pills into his mouth, then downed them with the water, which he drank until it was gone.
“Thank you so much,” he said. He turned to me. “Jacinta’s friend is not who she thinks he is.”
“We know. We’re about to pay him a visit. Would you like to join us?”
“Yes,” he said, standing. His legs were wobbly, and he had to grab the chair’s arms to steady himself. “My legs are still weak, but I would like to join you.”
“We’ll wait until you get your balance back.”
“It’s back enough,” he said, standing up tall.
Jack took Jaime’s arm to help steady him. “I’m here for you, brother. After what you’ve been through, I’m surprised you can stand at all.”
Jaime looked at the bruises and cuts on Jack’s face. “You’ve been beaten too.”
“I took some licks, but not any more than my father used to give me.”
“I am sorry for that,” Jaime said.
“Ian, which way to the Swede?” I asked.
“We go through the kitchen, then left down the hall, all the way to the end.”
On the way through the kitchen, I stopped and opened the freezer at the top of the refrigerator. There was, as I’d hoped, an ice pack. “Here,” I said, handing it to Jaime. “This will help.”
“Gracias.” He pressed it to his shoulder.
I shut the freezer, then opened the refrigerator and took something out, then turned to Nichelle. “Here’s your pie.”
She grinned. “You kill me.”
“I know.” As we walked down the hallway, I asked Ian, “Are you sure it’s him?”
“I am now,” Ian said. “It’s the same man we saw at the dock. He even has a Swedish flag above his headboard.”
I tried his door. It was locked.
“I can melt it,” McKenna said.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Jack said. He walked up and fiercely kicked the door open, splintering the wood on the doorframe and smashing the door into the opposite wall. Lars lived in a studio apartment, and from the light of the hallway, I could see him spring up in his bed.
“Va’ fan?! Va’ fan?!”
“Hey, amigo,” I said. “We heard about your hospitality, so we decided to come back after all.”
Lars looked over at Jaime, who was fiercely glaring at him. “I can explain,” Lars said.
“How could you possibly explain what you’ve done to him? Get out of bed.”
He started pulling the sheets down, then suddenly lunged over to the closest nightstand.
I pulsed, slamming him against the bed’s headboard. He dropped back to the mattress.
“He’s got a gun in there,” Ian said.
“I figured.” I walked over to the nightstand and opened the drawer. There was a 9mm Glock handgun. There was also Jaime’s satellite phone. I picked them both up, then handed the gun to Cristiano, who was closest to me. I said to Lars, “You weren’t thinking of using that, were you?”
Lars just looked at me with wide eyes. “No.”
“Liar. Stand up.”
He stood. “I have my rights. I want to call my lawyer.”
I snickered. “Where do you think you are? You don’t have any rights.”
“You should know that I—”
I shocked him. “Don’t talk.”
He pursed his lips.
“The only thing I want to hear from your lying little mouth are honest answers to my questions.” I turned back. “Jaime, Taylor, come here.”
Jaime walked over, glaring at Lars. Taylor looked at me. “Yes?”
“I’m going to interrogate our friend here. I need you to translate the truth to me.”
“I’d be happy to.” She took Lars’s arms. “Ready.”
“There are wounds all over Jaime’s body,” I said. “What do you know about this?”
“I don’t know—”
I shocked him, and he screamed out. “I barely shocked you,” I said. “For living in the jungle, you’re not very tough.”
He looked at me like he was going to burst into tears.
“And you’re not even a decent liar. I didn’t even need Taylor in order to see that one. So let’s try that again. What do you know about his wounds?”
“The Chasqui wanted to know what he was doing here—what you were doing in the jungle, so they tortured him.”
I looked at Taylor. She nodded.
“That was better. Which of these injuries did you do?”
“I didn’t do any of them.”
I looked at Taylor. She shook her head.
“Wrong answer.” I shocked him harder. This time he fell.
“Get up,” I said.
“Please, sir…” It sounded weird, since he was at least twenty years older than me.
I said, “Get up.”
“I think he wants more,” Jack said.
Lars struggled to his feet.
“Now answer my question. Which of these injuries did you do?”
“The Chasqui did them.” I was about to shock him again, when he threw his hands up. “But I did those burns on his arm. The Chasqui made me.”
“Where are the Chasqui now?”
“They went to find you.”
“Yes, we know. And now they’re dead. What about the ones who went to find our other friends?”
“They were supposed to be back.”
“What were they going to do when they got back?”
“Nothing.”
“Jaime, would you do us the honor?”
“Thank you.” He slammed his fist into Lars’s face, knocking him to the ground.
I crouched down next to him. “You’re not a real fast learner, are you?”
He looked up at me with blood running from his nose.
“Jaime already told us what they were going to do. I just wanted to hear it from your evil mouth.”
Lars swallowed. “They were going to kill him if he was lying to them…. But they were going to kill him anyway.”
“When do you expect your friends back?”
“They’re not my friends.”
“Answer my question.”
“They didn’t say when. I promise. I assumed as soon as they found the others.”
“Okay, I believe you. Get your shoes.”
“Where are we going?”
“Outside.”
“How come?”
“I want to show you something.”
Lars shuffled his way out of his room wearing nothing but his shoes, white briefs, and an ABBA T-shirt. That’s when he saw the line of Amacarra warriors standing in the hallway.
“What… what are they doing here?”
“Same thing we are. They’re the ones who told us that you were with the Chasqui.”
“How did they know that?”
“It’s their jungle.” I stopped walking. “Does Jacinta know you’re with the Chasqui?”
He swallowed. “No. She hates the Chasqui. They killed her family. We wouldn’t have been friends if she knew.”
“Why would she want to see you?”
“We drank good wine together. She said I was the only civilization she had in the jungle.”
I shook my head. “You really did have her fooled.”
I led him out the front door of the main lodge. “Where do you keep the key to your boat?”
He swallowed. “It’s inside my office. In the right top drawer of my desk on a key ring. The key ring has the Swedish coat of arms.”
Ostin said, “That will have two lions and a whole bunch of crowns.”
“Jack, go grab them.”
“On it.”
“The door’s locked,” Lars said.
“That won’t be a problem,” Jack shouted as he ran back to the lodge.
Lars looked at me expectantly as we waited for Jack to return. A few minutes later Jack came back with an entire ring of keys. “One of these should do it.”
“I’ll need those other keys,” Lars said.
“No you won’t,” I said. “Cristiano, let me see Lars’s gun.”
Lars began shaking even harder. “Don’t shoot me, please. I beg you.”
I examined the gun. “I’m not going to shoot you,” I said. “What do you think I am? A Chasqui?”
