CHAPTER 50

THE FARTHER WE GET FROM THE VILLAGE, THE SAFER we feel, and the mood of our little group lightens. Max and Culebra talk softly between themselves. Adelita strides with quiet confidence beside me, her eyes on Luis’ back. I have a feeling if he tried to make a break for it, she would be on him before any of us.

I glance at my watch. It’s almost three a.m. We’ve been walking for four hours. I don’t recognize the terrain around us, but when I last came this way, I was following a scent, not noting the landscape.

“Max? How much farther?”

He stops and we gather together. “Should be close. Anna, you and I will go ahead. We saw the location of the security cameras so we know how to avoid them. Culebra, you stay with Luis and Adelita until we know it’s safe. I don’t want to walk into a trap. If Maria got out, no telling who might be waiting for us.”

Culebra yanks Luis to a tree and secures the handcuffs around the trunk with a piece of rope. He pulls it so tight, Luis’ cheek rubs against the trunk. He yelps as his already bruised and battered face presses into the rough bark.

Adelita and Culebra smile at each other.

Max and I start out, Max scoping the tops of the trees with a flashlight, searching for the hidden cameras. I spot the first without needing a flashlight. I point it out to Max. From its location, it’s easy for us to determine the location of the others. We quickly move forward, keeping low to the ground, until we get to the clearing.

But at that point we have to stop. There is no way to cross the clearing without being picked up by the cameras.

No way for Max, that is.

I take a look around.

The cameras are positioned to catch movement on the ground in the front of the cabin. Only one door, no windows. The place looks as if it’s about to fall down, leaning precariously to one side. Designed to look unsafe, to discourage anyone from coming too close. There is a small gap up at the apex of the roof, caused by the uneven settling of the cabin’s foundation.

I gauge the distance. If I can get up onto that roof without detection, I will be able to see if Maria or her daughter are inside keeping watch.

When I glance at Max, I see he’s been following my roving eyes with his own. I point to the roof and he nods. Then I move into position so I’m out of the line of sight of the door.

I realize when faced with a challenge like this that I’ve yet to figure out all that I’m—that vampire—is capable of. It takes a situation like this to test the boundaries. I’ve scurried up walls and the sides of buildings and leapt from roofs. But I’ve yet to leap onto a building. I call forth vampire with a little thrill of anticipation. This will either be a spectacular success or a bone-jarring failure.

I gather myself to leap, muscles tense, tendons tight, feet flexed. When I launch myself into the air, there’s a moment of exhilaration. A feeling of escaping gravity, of leaving the confines of the Earth. I hold my arms to my sides and look toward the spot I’m aiming for. When I’m above the roof, I straighten, head up, feet down, and float to a landing just above the gap.

It’s magic. I feel like Superman. I’m so excited, I forget for a moment why I’m here. Even Max, when I look for him in the bushes, has a look of astonishment on his face. He smiles when he catches my eyes and gives me a thumbs-up. He mouths, You can fucking fly.

I have to force myself to push the excitement down and think about what I need to do next.

I lean over and peek into the cabin. The table has been levered down to expose the stairway. But no one is in sight. I listen carefully for noise from inside. I can’t hear anything, but that may be due to the thickness of the cave walls, not the absence of humans. From this vantage point, I can’t tell if the door at the bottom is open or not.

Only one thing to do. I gesture to Max to stay put and lower myself carefully into the cabin. There’s not much room to maneuver and no way to escape being seen if anyone’s standing at the bottom of the steps. I lay on my stomach and creep to the open trapdoor.

When I look over the side, the stairwell is empty.

The entrance to Ramon’s secret hideaway stands open.

CHAPTER 51

FROM MY VANTAGE POINT AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRWAY, I can’t tell if the control is still broken and if the door was forced back or if it’s been removed. I can see into the great room but can’t hear the mechanical whir of the generator. I don’t sense any human presence, either. There are no heartbeats, no familiar smells associated with females, no deodorant, perfume, pheromones.

The place feels deserted.

Before I call Max and tell him to bring Culebra and Adelita here, I’d better make sure.

Once I make it to the bottom of the stairs, it’s obvious how the door was opened. It’s been removed, bolt by bolt, and lies on its side just inside the entryway.

Could Maria have done it? I heft one corner. I doubt it. The thing must weigh two hundred pounds.

I make my way quietly across the great room and check out the hallway and bedrooms. Empty. All Gabriella’s things are gone as are Maria’s. Only Ramon’s clothes occupy a half-empty closet.

So much for standing vigil.

With the generator turned off, the air in the cave is still, stuffy. The faint smell of pine that gave the place its open-meadow freshness is gone.

When I check out the kitchen and dining area, the pieces of towel I used to bind Maria lay in a heap next to the chair she was tied to. The broken cell phone is where I tossed it on the counter. Other than that, the only thing out of place is the slightly rancid smell of food from a refrigerator whose power has been turned off.

And the missing artwork that adorned the walls.

Maria took the valuables.

How long has she been gone? More importantly, who helped her with that door?

I run back up the stairs and call to Max. No need for caution now. He disappears for a few minutes and returns with Culebra, Adelita and Luis.

Luis is as dumbstruck by Ramon’s elegant hideaway as Max, Culebra and I were when we first saw it. Adelita just stares. I’m sure she’s never been inside a home like this, let alone a narco’s secret safe house.

Max sniffs. “We need to get that generator turned back on.”

“Any idea where the controls would be?” I ask.

Max heads for the kitchen and begins opening cupboards and cabinets. Culebra shoves Luis onto a chair and hands Adelita his rifle.

“If he moves, shoot him,” he tells her.

Only she and I know she has no idea how to fire that rifle. Culebra doesn’t. Luis certainly doesn’t. The way she scowls at him, the rifle pointed at his chest, Luis hunches his shoulders and sits still. After what she’s done to him, with what he knows she wants to do to him, he’s not taking any chances.

Neither am I. I stand beside her and keep watch.

Culebra joins Max in his search. Finally, in a corner of a pantry, Max spies a metal panel. He pulls the latch and points to what looks like a computerized circuit board.

“Jesus, Max. Do you know how to work that thing?”

He grins. “How hard could it be?”

Culebra puts out a hand and grabs Max’s before he comes in contact with the circuits. “Wait. Ramon may have booby-trapped the place.”

Max jerks his hand back. “Like a self-destruct function?”

Culebra nods. “He was a clever bastard.”

Max takes a step back. “Well, we’re not going to be here that long, anyway. We’re getting air from the open stairway. That will have to do.”

Luis has not said a word since entering the cave. Now he straightens in the chair and says, “What happens now? Do you call your DEA buddies to come get us? Do you think I will tell the American police any more than I tell the Federales? I will tell them nothing. Pablo’s lawyers will have me out in an hour if we cross the border. You have no authority. You are kidnapping a Mexican citizen. My government does not look favorably on such a thing.”