This time tomorrow if all went well, I could be back in New York in my own bed.

  I rechecked my weapons, the stiletto-sharp blade that looked like a bracelet, the welded closed bottles of acid that I would use for freeing the girls, the flamethrower, and all the other accoutrements of my charming trade.

  I rummaged around in the hidden compartment at the bottom of my suitcase and drew out the tiny handgun that fit into the frame. I put it in my bag to have it ready in case I did meet anyone at my nocturnal foray.

  There was even the chance though I discontinued it, that my pilot would be an unwilling accomplice. If it should turn out that way then my handgun should make him more than willing.

  I sauntered out of my room very casually, just in case anyone unforeseen was lurking about, and made my way to the kitchen. I asked Luz for a banana on the pretense that I was hungry. I peeled it slowly and ate it very deliberately. In between bites I explained to her in a low voice how I wanted her to prepare the padding for the girls’ legs. It would be better to have everything ready at the time that I came in. Since it would be precisely then that I would be such a race to get done.

  She nodded her head sagely to show that she understood. I tried to explain the working of the acid and the containers that it would have to be fitted to; I could to see that it was beyond her comprehension but I wanted her to know as much as possible about it so that she would not be unduly startled when I came in and set to work.

  I told her to explain to the little girls that there was nothing to be frightened about. That everything would go well, that they would soon be reunited with their parents and all of the ugliness they had been through could be forgotten.

  It was a lot to be said between mouthfuls and I got out as quickly as I could and went back to my room.

  There was only one other thing that could be done before nightfall but it was too dangerous and I didn’t want to risk it. That was the unsealing of the bottles of acid and then refitting them to the instruments that would turn them into metal cutters. I had decided that I didn’t want to walk through the hacienda’s halls with those lethal weapons in my hands.

  When I got towards the girls’ room, if I went stumbling through the darkness with the acid at the ready and happened to hit the wall with an elbow or something I could rip up not only said wall but also said elbow and other parts of said precious body and that was one risk that this girl was never willing to take.

  Somehow the hours managed to eradicate themselves from the day. Soon, glancing up at my window, I saw Tony and the others coming from the edge of the field and coming toward the edge of the pool and the house. That meant it would only be a matter of a few hours before we would all sit down to dinner. That and a few hours more I clicked off on my fingertips, and it would nighttime and I would be ready to act.

  I laughed inwardly. When I had mentioned to Tony the other afternoon that this was the kind of life that I could fall into forever, he had reminded me that my outside date was two weeks, and now I realized that I had had two days of it when I decided that I had to call it quits and bring the whole thing to a crashing halt.

  Well, nobody ever said that I was famous for my patience!

  I had hung a black jersey turtleneck and close-fitting black pants behind the door of my bathroom. That would be my getting away outfit, the most practical thing for the evening’s work. The color and closeness of the fabric would make me close to invisible in the black night. The turtleneck had a huge neck that actually became a hood. I could put all of my thick long hair in it and be even less conspicuous that way. Flat-heeled rubber-soled black shoes completed the outfit. I stuffed a black sweater into my shoulder bag just in case the night or the flight should turn unexpectedly cold.

  I didn’t want anything hampering my movements tonight.

  There was just too much at stake in human lives and everything else in this venture, and I was determined to carry it off to perfection.

  I applied fresh makeup and got into the simple but not too low-cut dress I had decided to wear for dinner. I was going to play but not overplay the part of the injured party and I was hoping that if I stayed silent but not belligerently so, I would arouse nothing more dangerous than apathy from these mobsters.

  But even if I had to indulge in another night’s sex with them I was prepared to do so. As a matter of fact, the most helpful thing would have been to be able to tuck each of them privately into his own bed, and then drag out my cigarettes. I didn’t know if it was going to work that way but if it did I shrugged, I would just do it.

  The dinner passed rather quietly, the men spoke in low and guarded tones, throwing me glances from time to time, but nobody spoke to me directly and of course it goes without saying no mention of the previous night was made at all.

  In fact, they were so unconcerned about me I was almost beginning to feel neglected.

  But when dinner was over it turned out to be “be kind to Cherry week.” Tony flashed me a sudden smiled and said, “The boys want to play a little poker tonight, my dear, and I’m sure that you would find it extremely boring as I must confess I do, so why don’t the two of us have a little private tete-a-tete?”

  “Nothing would please me more,” I replied, and it wasn’t exactly a lie. If I spent the evening with Tony and then put him into a cigarette-induced sleep the others, leaderless, might be much easier to deal with. I gave him a big smile as I got up from the table and followed him out into his room.

  It was one that I hadn’t been in before. Tony was much too impeccable to have any common mass screwings within the confines of his private bedroom, and with all the places I had hit during the last two evenings activities, his domain had not been one of them.

  I was pleased to see it now though, the antique Spanish furniture, the massive chests, the canopy bed, and the artwork on the walls all bespoke the finest taste and feel for good living. What a shame that it had all been expended on this disgusting crud, I thought. For all his polish and fine new nuances, Tony was still nothing more than an animal. An enslaver of people, a despoiler of children—a dope pusher.

  He invited me to join him on a small settee that faced the window wall. From it we could see a high full moon rising gradually to the center of an onyx black sky.

  “It seems almost romantic,” I said hesitantly, really trying to hit him with the guilt bit, now.

  He took the hint. “I’m sorry if we gave you a hard time last night,” he apologized. “But I promise I’m going to more than make it up to you.”

  “Thanks,” I said, “That’s very sweet of you.”

  I couldn’t have cared less about what he said or did now. This bum was beyond redemption and no matter what he did, my moment was almost at hand.

  I felt almost a giddiness when I realized this; that’s how excited I was that I was going to be able to blow away all the bits and pieces of the empire that he had so carefully constructed.

  He put his arm around me and with his hand started caressing my shoulder and then my breast.

  I stiffened slightly.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he promised. “I’m going to be very, very gentle.”

  I was playing for time now. “Please go slowly,” I begged him. “Please, I’m, I’m still a little unready.”

  “Of course, of course,” he said soothingly and began to massage me at a slower and slower pace.

  I calculated that we had been in there for about half an hour and that meant that the card game was only starting to warm up. There would no use in knocking Tony out, unless I had some way of handling the four others simultaneously. Since I couldn’t think of any. thing I had to play for time, as irritating as it was with me so anxious to get the whole thing over with.

  I turned toward Tony as if I were about to respond to him. But after a moment I made myself get stiff again and then I said. “I’m so sorry Tony,” I stammered. “I guess I’m still a little bit nervous. Do you mind if I have a cigarette?”

  He spread his hands. “Why not?” he said. “Go right ahead.” I reached into my evening bag and got out both the phony cigarettes and the lighter. I had to light up very carefully so as not to activate the flame-throwing mechanism. I inhaled deeply and put my head down on his shoulder so that the exhalation would be very close to his nostrils.

  “Hmm, that feels much better.” I said, snuggling my body against his. I took a few more long drags and even longer exhalations. There was something mixed in with the tobacco which had to connect with the nitrogen that I was exhaling in order for it to do its stuff.

  “Why don’t we lie down?” Tony asked. “I’m sure we’d both be more comfortable.”

  He was probably getting tired. The stuff was beginning to work! I slid quickly off the settee and went to the bed, propping up the pillows and leaning down against them. Tony lay down and I started fumbling with his bow tie and the buttons of his shirt carefully blowing smoke all over the place at the same time.

  I watched his face; within seconds his eyes were closed.

  He was asleep.

  I didn’t want to take any chances. I puffed quickly on the cigarettes and just as quickly blew right into his nostrils. It was enough to put him out for at least 12 hours.

  Since I was in his bedroom with him the other men would not be expecting to see either one of us. Now, I could manipulate time for my own purposes.

  I didn’t feel like smoking anymore so I propped the cigarette on Tony’s chest and let the smoke work naturally into his nostrils. It didn’t matter to me if he ever woke up again or not.

  Suddenly I heard heavy footsteps on the tile floor outside the room and I heard Nicky’s voice call out, “Deal me out this hand, fellas, I’ll be back in a while.”

  I knew he wouldn’t be audacious enough or stupid enough to come knocking on his boss’ door when his boss had a broad inside but I had no idea of what Nicky was up to.

  His room was right outside, opposite Tony’s and when I heard the bathroom water flush I knew why he had taken himself out of the game.

  It was already dark outside and I figured I might as well push my luck a little further. I stationed myself at the door of Tony’s room and as soon as I heard the door of Nicky’s reopen I quickly reopened it.

  “Hi!” I said to him gaily, “what are you doing?”

  He looked startled to see me.

  “Oh,” I explained, “I guess Tony got sleepier sooner than he expected to.” I giggled and put a look on my face that told him that I had been the cause of Tony’s exhaustion.

  “What are you doing now?” I asked him. “Nothing,” he admitted.

  “Want me to come in for a little while?” I asked, indicating his room with my eyes.

  He broke out in a grin, “Sure, why not?” he answered. I was afraid that you were still mad at me.”

  “Hell, what for?” I asked. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “I’m glad you realize that, doll,” Nicky said.

  “Let’s have some fun,” I said, as I rummaged in my bag for another cigarette. I placed it between my lips and quickly lit it.

  “Hey, that’s a great idea,” Nicky said, and started getting out of his shirt. I walked over to him deliberately, put my arm against his body, my hand around his bare neck and in my best Lauren Bacall style I blew smoke right into his face. Then I kissed him so that he wouldn’t get suspicious.

  With my free hand I helped him do or rather undo his buckle and zipper. All the while I kept blowing smoke as close to him as I dared until, pants halfway down his legs, he staggered back and fell across his bed.

  “Nighty, night, Nicky,” I said softly. Storing up as much smoke as I could stand in my mouth, and blowing it quickly out into his, I did the same as I had done with Tony, giving him an adequate supply that would keep him out until at least the following day.

  That left only the two in the living room to contend with.

  I glanced at my watch. It was barely nine o’clock. Luz had promised that her fly-boy nephew would be stationed t the plane by ten. I really wanted to get those kids out of here as quickly as I could. I wondered if it would be worth the risk to start on that while the two mobsters at the card table were still awake and active.

  Besides, Nicky had said to deal him out for one hand, suppose they got suspicious and came to look for him?

  But the sooner they were out of the way the better. I stopped to think. It didn’t take long. I decided to tackle them one at a time.

  I went quietly back into Tony’s room, reopening the door silently. Then I opened it with more noise and called down the hall. “Hey, could one of you come here for a minute? We need some help.”

  It didn’t take a second before one of the swarthy stalwarts was at the door demanding “Hey, what’s the matter?”

  I let him get into the room before me and with the heel of my shoe got him at the base of his skull before he knew what was happening. He fell to the ground with a dull thud. I had lit another cigarette and after exhaling on him personally a few times I put it against him to let it to its own work.

  If the sound of his falling body reached the living room it didn’t matter. I was all prepared. I waited a few moments and when the other Mafioso didn’t come in I knew he hadn’t heard anything. I put my shoe back on and went out into the living room.

  The remaining guy looked up at me curiously. “What’s happening?” he asked.

  “Oh nothing,” I said offhandedly. “Tony wanted one of you guys for something or other and he told me to scoot. He said I should entertain however was left because what he had to do might take a little time.” I smiled at him invitingly.

  He sat there impassive for a moment. I sort of suspected that he held a winning hand and would be awfully disappointed if it wasn’t played out so that he could collect the sizable pot that was on the table. I walked over to him and from over his shoulders said, “Let me see what you’re holding. Do you have something good there?”

  “Sure as shit do,” he answered proudly. He held the cards up for me to see, but at that very moment the knuckles on the fingers of both my hands started sliding across his throat and joining each other right at the base. It knocked all the air out of him. He started to flail around in the chair choking and gasping for breath.

  But I wouldn’t let him have any. Instead I pulled him back out of the chair and down to the floor with my knees. I pummeled him about the face and throat. He started bleeding and slipped into unconsciousness. I gave him a quick glance as I was leaving the room. He was starting to turn a pale shade of blue but I wasn’t going to hang around to see how blue.

  I sped back to my room and got the acid bottles and their fittings and hurried to the other end of the hacienda to where Luz and the girls were waiting for me.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The hardest part proved to be getting the metal seals off the bottle-caps. Once I had managed to pry them loose it was easy to fit each one to a holder that directed the deadly spray. Luz had quickly put the padded protection on each of the girls while I was preparing the bottles.

  “Tell them not to be afraid,” I instructed her. “This isn’t going to hurt them a bit, the only thing is it might smell a little funny.”

  That was no exaggeration. This stuff stank putridly. But it didn’t take long before I was running a thin stream through the nozzle and striking back and forth on the metal bracelet that held the first little girl so cruelly. I had to keep repeating the line in the same place, over and over again.

  At first all that happened was that the metal began to discolor, then gradually I could feel that it was weakening and that it would soon split apart. It must have taken close to half an hour before we heard the sound that meant that the metal had been split.

  Luz and I looked at each other triumphantly. Very carefully I drew the metal ring off the little girl’s leg. As I did Luz kept moving the padding so that the corroded part would not touch the child’s skin.

  At last we had it off.

  We moved quickly to the other little girl. Now that I knew what it was all about I was able to do it much faster. And within minutes the second child was also free. Luz ran to my room to get my things. The girls and I met her back of the house. We sped past the swimming pool and through the darkened grounds of the estate to where the Rover was parked. I piled them all into it and turned the ignition n.

  It made more noise than I would have liked and the sudden sound seemed to explode in the quiet night. But there was nobody conscious enough to hear the sound and we were plodding along the dirt path and toward the village.

  When we got there, Luz pointed out the hovel where the little girls lived. We all jumped out and she knocked three times on the door as Luz had told me was the prearranged signal.

  The door opened quietly. You could almost hear the heartbeats of the woman who drew it open. But when she saw her daughters, her emotions could no longer be held in check. Embracing them both, crying and laughing alternatively, she drew them to her and inside the house.

  I turned to Luz. “This is the time that we say goodbye,” I told her. I had seldom felt so sad at parting from another human being. She had been a tower of strength and a beautiful soul of the sort I seldom encountered in my work. I’m not the least bit sentimental but I felt an unexpected tug inside when I said goodbye to her. I was a little embarrassed by my own emotions so I stooped to kiss her on the cheek and then turned quickly back to getting the Rover in motion once more. Luz stood in the roadway for a moment and then as I was turning the key she came and put her hand on the vehicle. “Let me help more,” she asked.

  I shook my head, “No, Luz,” I said, “It’s too dangerous, you stay here with the people and see that they are alright. Don’t let anyone be frightened by the fire. I’m sure it won’t reach here.”

  She still stood there. So I said a little more firmly. “After I’ve set the fire, I’ll come back on my way to the airplane, okay?”

 

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