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he began distractedly. "No they won't expect an assault in daylight. I just
don't think we've got the time to wait. We'll go soon."
Rubenstein was still watching the camp. He wondered how soon was soon enough.
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Chapter 40
Natalia walked from her room and along the railing overlooking the first
floor of the house. She stopped, staring at nothing, thinking of
Rourke. Santiago had been easy to read. She smiled to herself. The Communist
Cuban general had used Varakov's warning of the impending natural disaster,
the coming of Rourke and Sissy Wiznewski all of it as an excuse to see some
sort of plot. For that reason when he had sent his men to arrest Colonel
Miklov and Miklov went for a gun, she had disarmed Miklov and turned him over
to Santiago. This action had pleased Santiago; she had pleased Santiago. That
she despised him mentally shrank from his touch, from his stare was nothing
of which the Cuban was aware. He thought, she knew, that somehow he thrilled
her. And so she smiled at the thought she was free, still armed and able to
move. Sissy Wiznewski was in Santiago's office trying to convince him of the
reality of the massive quake. Rourke and Miklov were imprisoned in the
basement that had been converted to accommodate prisoners Santiago personally
wished to interrogate and to torture.
She smoothed her hands against her thighs, then reached down to the floor
beside her booted feet for the large black purse. She opened it, then looked
inside. Her own COP .357 Magnum four-shot derringer pistol, the two stainless
steel .45 automatics Rourke habitually carried, her lipstick, and a change of
underwear these items filled the bag.
Shrugging her shoulders, she turned from the railing and started down the
stairs, smiling at the steward as he seemed to glide past Santiago's office
doors. She stopped at the doors, the bag over her left shoulder, then knocked
with her right hand. "It is Natalia, Diego," she said as sweetly as she could.
She heard an answering voice from inside, then opened the right-hand door and
walked inside. Santiago stood, smiling. Sissy Wiznewski was already standing,
the look on her face that of a schoolgirl who had just failed her most
important final examination.
"This is all rubbish," Santiago pronounced with an air of authority. "This
business of earthquakes is nothing more than a plot to cause us to evacuate
Florida so Varakov's troops can invade here. You were wise to abandon your KGB
friends and join us, my dear."
Smiling, she walked across the room, glancing at the seismic chart on the
conference table, then at the frightened eyes of Sissy Wiznewski. "Yes," she
murmured, reaching down and kissing Santiago's cheek as he sat down again.
As she drew her mouth away, she moved her left hand upward, the COP pistol in
it, pressing the muzzle against Santiago's left temple. "But, my General, it
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is true and you will now do exactly as I say or the top of your head will
soon decorate the ceiling above where you sit. For a small gun, I still have
one of the most powerful .357 Magnum loadings in it the 125-grain Jacketed
Hollow Point. Do you know guns? A pity if you don't, but tests conducted for
American police departments indicated this was perhaps the most effective .357
Magnum loading available. Want to see?"
Santiago turned his head slightly and she looked into his eyes, smiling. "You
tricked me," he said.
"That, darling, should be obvious to even you," she cooed. "Now, you will
call out to have Colonel Miklov sent up immediately. The guards will wait
outside the door for him. After Colonel Miklov arrives, I will free Rourke.
Already, though, you will have issued orders to your commanders initiating the
truce. And you will issue orders for the radio signal to be given that the
U.S. II and Soviet planes may land, as well as issue orders to your line
commanders to begin evacuating civilians. Including the concentration camp
near the airport. Everyone. And, my dear Diego, if you are very good, you too
can leave after everyone else has."
She looked at Sissy Wiznewski and asked matter-of-factly, "How soon?"
"The the general said there had been some small earthquakes reported for the
last five days around the area. I'd say it's a matter of hours, if that."
Natalia smiled at the girl, then turned back to General Santiago. "For your
own sake, Diego, I sincerely hope there is enough time left."
She pressed the muzzle of the COP pistol tight against his head. "Make your
first call, darling."
Chapter 41
"What the hell is going on down there?" Tolliver snapped, dropping to the
ground behind a palm trunk, Rubenstein dropping down beside him, the
Schmeisser in his right hand.
"It looks like they're getting out of the camp but why? What's going on?"
Rubenstein riveted his eyes to the camp. The guards were running from their
posts; the officers were running too. Rubenstein looked overhead. Planes of
every description imaginable were filling the sky from the west. "Those are
American planes!"
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"Commies use ones they found on the ground a lot."
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