"The ex-CIA man?"
"Right."
There was a long pause, and Roddy had begun to wonder if Burke Hill was still on the line. Then he heard a deeply concerned voice say, "This training, as you called it, was taking place near Tequila?"
"Right. In a barranca, a canyon, north of the town."
"And you saw it, yourself?"
"No more than a couple of hours ago."
"Is there any chance of your coming to Mexico City?"
"I can fly in this afternoon," Roddy said with relief. I'll bring along a man from Minsk, Belarus, who knows all about this major and how he got the weapons."
"Call me back and let me know what time you'll get here," Hill instructed.
When he returned to the sitting room, Roddy found Elena had just brought in a pot of coffee and some cakes.
"Did you two get acquainted?" he asked.
Elena shook her head. "Not really. I've been back in the kitchen."
"Okay," he said, frowning, "let me tell you about that barranca."
"Wait!" She held up her hand as she brought a cup of coffee to him, then sat beside him on the sofa. "I must tell you something first. But before I do, you must understand that it has nothing to do with how I feel about you, or with the offer I made last night. I hope what I have to confess won't change anything between us."
"Confess?" Roddy said, unsure if this was more of the new Elena he was just coming to know.
"I have to give you a little background. I think I mentioned that my father was involved in a meeting each year of an organization that included Americans and Europeans. He had a very old and dear friend he always went with, Eugenio Santin, a top executive in the Bank of Mexico. We are unrelated, but Santin treated me as though I were a niece. About a week ago, he called and said he had an important favor to ask. Someone connected with the organization needed a person to make the acquaintance of a Colonel Warren Rodman." She gave him an apologetic smile.
Roddy had grown increasingly concerned as she talked. Now he stared at her in disbelief. "And that's when you called General Wackenhut?"
"Yes." She folded her hands nervously. "It sounded like something interesting, a change of pace. I'd been bored to death for a good while. So I invited you over." When she looked back at him, her eyes had softened with the hint of a tear. "I know you must think I'm terrible, but I had no idea it would turn out the way it did."
Roddy shook his head. He wasn't hearing what Elena was attempting to say, only that she had enticed him into her confidence for… he suddenly remembered something Murray Bender had told him. "What was the name of the organization your father and Santin were involved in?"
"Father told me about it shortly before he died. It's called the Council of Lyon. He said they were concerned with maintaining relations—"
"Damn it, Elena, what have you done to me?" Roddy groaned, feeling as though she had just slipped a dagger between his ribs. "What did Santin want to know about me?"
"He said an American affiliated with the Council had asked him to help someone who was here on a project. This man was involved in some kind of business arrangement taking place at Rafael Madero's cabin. The man called me. He wanted to find out if you showed any interest in the barranca and what was going on there."
"Did the man give you his name?"
"It was Gruber."
Gruber, a.k.a. Nikolai Romashchuk. Roddy caught the flash of concern on Yuri Shumakov's face. They were speaking in English for his benefit. What a stupid fool he'd been, Roddy thought. He had let his ego convince him that Elena's actions had been dictated by her heart, not her perfidious head. He leaned back on the sofa, putting a hand over his face, rubbing his forehead. It felt like one of his old post-traumatic syndrome headaches was about to break loose.
"I'm sorry," she said contritely. "I hate myself for what I did. I'll tell them—"
"You've told them too damned much already. Do you know what we saw at that barranca this morning? Your Mr. Gruber was teaching some guys how to fire mortar shells out of the back of a truck. Shells filled with nerve gas. When we flew over, they shot at us with automatic weapons. One shot blasted through the fuselage just barely missing our heads."
He told her quickly who Gruber really was and why Yuri had come to Mexico.
Elena gasped in horror, jumping to her feet. "You must get out of here! Now!"
"Why?"
"A little while before you got here, Gruber called to see if I had heard from you. When I told him you were coming over, he said he wanted to talk to you, but not to tell you about it. Just be sure you stayed until they arrived."
"Who is they?"
"I don't know. But they could be here at any time."
Shumakov gave Roddy a worried look. "Does Romashchuk know what kind of car you drive?"
"Obviously Adam Stern told him everything about me."
"Take my car," Elena said quickly. Her purse lay on a table nearby and she pulled out a key ring with a Mercedes emblem on it. "If you should pass them, they won't know it's you. When you find someplace to hide, call and let me know you're safe. I'll worry about getting the car back later."
Roddy hesitated. He was still furious at what Elena had done. He wasn't interested in any help from her now. But Yuri took the keys and handed them to him.
"I think it is a good idea, Roddy. We had better go."
Elena reached out her hand, but Roddy turned away. "I'm going to cancel my business meeting," she said. "I'm staying here until you call and say you're safe."
Out front, they quickly transferred their bags from the Toyota to Elena's shiny red Mercedes. Roddy started the car and swung onto the driveway that led out to the large black wrought iron gate that provided the only break in the high wall surrounding the compound. When he reached the gate, which stood open, he turned in the direction of Avenida Lopez Mateos, a main artery to the south. As he entered the street, a Jeep Cherokee approached slowly, headed toward them.
"It's Romashchuk," Yuri muttered in a hoarse whisper, as though the people in the other vehicle might hear him.
Roddy swung his head around and locked eyes with the Major. He jammed his foot on the accelerator, and the Mercedes surged forward. Looking in the rearview mirror, he saw the Jeep circle around in the street, barely missing Elena's wall.
"They've turned around!" Yuri shouted as the van-like vehicle picked up speed behind them.
"I doubt they can keep up with this car on the open road," Roddy said. The only trouble was that there were no "open roads" around here.
He had to slow down at the intersection with Lopez Mateos or risk colliding with the oncoming traffic. But he quickly darted into a small gap between cars, causing Yuri to flinch at the memory of the youth he had smashed into the day before. It was still early afternoon, but the traffic flow was enough to preclude any effort to take on the Jeep in an all-out run for the roses. The best Roddy could do was attempt to gain a little distance by weaving in and out among the cars and trucks ahead. He picked up some nasty looks from truck drivers who took him for a macho maniac as he barely squeezed by without scraping fenders.
"They're gaining on us," Yuri said.
Then Roddy suddenly realized they were only a couple of blocks away from a major intersection. Unless he was extremely lucky, they would be forced to stop for a traffic light. And if Major Romashchuk was the diabolical bastard Yuri described, he might just ignore the oncoming traffic, swing into the other lane and overtake them.