I was betting Vega didn’t know the embassy security detail would probably arrest me and send me back to Los Angeles as soon as they found out I had violated my bail. And I was betting he would want to avoid a visit to the embassy as much as I did.
He said, “You must be insane.”
“That’s definitely possible. But we’re still going.”
“I have men positioned all throughout this part of the country. You will not survive the walk down to the road.”
“In that case, neither will you.”
“But even if we get there, why would your people believe a witness with a gun to his head?”
“You’ll give them details. Inside information. Things you couldn’t know unless you were in on the crime.”
“I cannot do that.”
“You’d better.”
“It is impossible. I do not know any details. We were not involved in the attack on Mrs. Montes. Also, if you force me to go there, I will surely be assassinated by the junta. Is that what you want?”
I said, “I’ll shoot you here and now if you don’t do exactly as I say. Do you believe me?”
Vega nodded. “I am certain you will shoot me.”
“Then stand up and let’s go.”
“Mr. Cutter, you must understand that this is all for nothing. I cannot clear your name. I know nothing of this home invasion, except what I learned from the television in my hotel room in California. I only know one of two things has happened. Either Fidel attempted to betray our cause for money or else the junta was behind what happened.”
“There’s a third possibility. You and Castro set me up. You sent him and Delarosa in to kill the congressman, and you played me for the patsy.”
“It is not true. I swear it. The proof is that Fidel is dead, and I am back here in the jungle, hiding from the junta again as if all our progress over the last ten years had never happened. I tell you, they are the ones behind this. They would do anything to keep the URNG from getting more political power.”
“That would be a lot easier to believe if you hadn’t left me there to face the police alone. You know I had no connection with Alejandra Delarosa. You can verify my reasons for investigating the Montes’s finances, and you can verify that I had no reason to attack the congressman or his wife. But you left town as soon as news of the attack came out. And there I was, swinging in the breeze.”
“I am sorry, but I had no choice. If I had remained there, I would probably be dead. Listen. Here is how it happened. Fidel said a couple of men approached him, claiming that they represented Congressman Montes. They told him the congressman wanted to make a private deal with us. They said the congressman had recognized his mistake and decided to shift his support to the URNG, but he needed to meet with us first to get certain assurances.
“Of course I knew it was nonsense. Nothing had happened to explain such a complete shift in the congressman’s position. I refused the meeting. But the men had filled Fidel’s head with visions of himself as a great hero. Fidel argued with me. He became quite angry. And I think he went ahead without my permission. I think he walked into the Montes’s house expecting a warm welcome, and received a bullet instead.”
Vega shook his head. “You cannot seriously believe that silly female shot him? After all his years in combat? Ridiculous. One of the junta’s men shot Fidel, and they left him there to discredit the URNG once and for all. And if I had not left town immediately, they would have found a way to kill me too, and make it look like I was resisting arrest or some such thing.”
I said, “I need you to prove it.”
“I tell you it is impossible.”
“You’re lying. Get up. We’re going to the embassy.”
“Wait. Let me think. Possibly there is another way…”
“Hurry up, Vega.”
“I have an idea. Your theory is that Fidel and Alejandra Delarosa attacked the Montes’s on my orders, yes?”
“Yes.”
“What if I could prove to you Alejandra Delarosa was never part of the URNG? Would you then believe me when I say the home invasion was not our doing?”
“If you can prove that, why did you hire me in the first place?”
“Of course you are right. I cannot prove it legally, which is what I wanted you to do. No judge would accept the proof I have to offer, but you, as a good man, you will understand it and believe.”
He seemed confident of that, so I considered the situation.
If Vega could convince me that Delarosa had never worked for the URNG, then my theory fell apart. I’d have to come up with another explanation for the Montes’s home invasion. It might mean she simply wanted the Montes’s money. After all, kidnapping had worked for her before. Or maybe she was still jealous of Doña Elena’s relationship with her old lover, Arturo Toledo, and wanted revenge. Even after so much time, it wasn’t unprecedented for jealous rage to lead to such a crime.
Or maybe Delarosa was working for the junta. Maybe she had been working for them all along. It would explain why she had forced Doña Elena to make those famous videos claiming responsibility for the URNG. Ransom notes would have been safer, but the videos of Doña Elena begging for her life had done more than anything to turn American public opinion against the URNG and engender sympathy for the old men of the junta. If that was true, it might also explain why Alejandra Delarosa had settled for two hundred thousand dollars. Maybe money was never the point. And if she had been working for the junta all along, it would explain how she had managed to elude capture for seven years.
I said, “What is this proof you’re talking about?”
Vega said, “It is not a what; it is a who. And you must hear what he has to say with your own ears.”
“All right,” I said. “Let’s go.”
37
The man who had restrained my wrists earlier still had several twist ties in his pocket. I covered Vega with Ernesto’s gun as he bound the other men’s wrists and ankles. I made sure the ties were tight, and then I listened as Vega used a handheld radio to call for the van to return to pick him up. When he was done, I took the radio and put it in my pocket.
The walk down the mountain to the road was uneventful. Vega seemed comfortable. I assumed that meant he either expected his people to take me out at some point along the way, or he really was confident that I would be satisfied with the evidence he planned to offer.
When we reached the road, the van wasn’t there yet. I directed Vega to a spot about fifty yards downhill along the road, where we would be concealed from anyone who emerged behind us from the path up to the shed.
A few minutes later, I heard the whine of the van climbing the road in first gear. It passed us, went to the same place where it had stopped earlier, and parked. I warned Vega to be silent and placed the muzzle of the gun against his skull. I watched the van, wondering how many men might be inside. After a moment the driver emerged. He lit a cigarette and walked a few feet away to stand looking down on the city.
I gave Vega the radio. I put my mouth against his ear and whispered. “Call and tell him you’re running late. Tell him to be ready with the doors open when you get here.”
Vega called. The man heard his radio and hurried back to the van. He got inside and responded. Vega said exactly what I told him. The man got out of the van and opened the side door. I could see inside the van. It was empty.
“Let’s go,” I said. “Walk in front of me. Don’t say anything. If he speaks to you, just wave and smile. If you speak at all without permission, I’ll kill you.”