SEVEN

"Well," Don Alejandro said half an hour later, "We'd better be heading for home, Diego. We have a lot of work to do."

"I hope those men got clean away," Diego replied, referring to the two who had just escaped from de Soto's jail, apparently let go by Mendoza, pretending to be Zorro.

Victoria walked them outside, but as the men turned to give their farewells, a commotion from across the plaza by the gate into the garrison barracks caught their attention. Alcalde de Soto was actually physically shoving a disheveled Jaime Mendoza out the gate, swearing a blue streak at him nonstop at the top of his voice, ending with "Worthless buffoon! Utter moron!"

Jaime stumbled a few steps from the shove, then stood up straight, breath heaving, staring sightlessly across the plaza with huge eyes in an alarmingly pale face. Diego thought tangentially that his uniform looked odd, then realized the rank and unit insignia had been ripped away – literally.

De Soto wasn't finished. "I won't turn you out naked, god forbid! But you will return that uniform tomorrow or I'll have it from your flesh! You are not worthy of it!"

Jaime slowly turned, and matched his apparently now-former boss's volume. "If I am not worthy of it, then I am no longer bound by it!" He stepped back to de Soto and got right up in his face, aweing everyone who had stopped to watch and listen, including the many lancers popping their heads over the wall or through the gate. "You, Señor, are a disgrace! You are not worthy to be an Alcalde! An Alcalde protects the citizens in his pueblo, he does not prey upon them, ripping them off for every peso he can grab! You are no leader, you are a tyrant! A monster! Even a murderer! You have no honor!"

"How dare you, you worthless piece of scum! I was appointed directly to this post by the crown!"

"Yes, and it was the worst mistake their majesties have ever made! I cannot believe they knew of your true nature when they did so!"

De Soto's face was distinctly purple by then. He took a huge breath for one final bellow of rage. "Get out! Get! Out!"

"Gladly!" And with that final word, Mendoza turned on his heel and marched proudly across the plaza towards the cantina, his head held high. As he approached the three de la Vegas, Victoria broke into applause for the gobsmacking performance, followed quickly by the two men – and then the applause ran all the way around the plaza. Even a few lancers joined in – until the Alcalde whirled around and gave them the evil eye, making every one disappear back inside in an instant.

When Jaime reached them, Don Alejandro stepped forward to shake his hand. "I don't know what started that, but that was absolutely amazing. Well done, amigo!"

"Yes, it was," Diego seconded, also shaking Jaime's hand. "What did happen?"

Jaime gave them a ghost of a smile, just barely keeping on his feet. "Apparently I am not as clever as I thought I was, Señores – at least, not half as clever as the real Zorro, whoever he was."

Diego peered closely, but could detect no digs in Jaime's eyes.

Jaime turned to Victoria. "Señorita, may I have a drink? I desperately need one."

Smiling, Victoria took his arm formally. "Señor, you may have several. On the house."

Back inside the now deserted cantina once more, the four of them sat around the same table, talking and sharing a bottle of brandy – Jaime's request. He was still pale and rattled. "Eighteen years I wore this uniform. Now... nothing." He sighed. "What will I do now?"

Diego opened his mouth to tell the idea that had struck him immediately, but Victoria beat him to it. Putting her hand on his, she smiled. "You will come to work for me. I need some help around here."

Jaime was astounded. "Honestly?"

"Yes! Start today! You'd make a terrific bartender!"

Diego was staring at her, puzzled. She'd never mentioned needing help before that moment. "Or, if you'd like something different," he began as he turned to Jaime, "I was just about to ask you to come out to the hacienda and help me with the horse breeding program I started this summer. I know how good you are with horses."

Jaime was thunderstruck. Don Alejandro gave a shout of laughter. "Two job offers in two minutes! Now that's landing on your feet!"

Jaime looked back and forth between his two prospective employers. "I... don't know which one I would prefer," he began tentatively. "I don't even know how to decide."

"Well, don't for a few days," Don Alejandro put in, sobering but still smiling. "Mi amigo, you need a holiday. Come out to the hacienda and stay as our guest for a while. I don't think I've seen you take more than an afternoon off since you arrived here a decade ago." Jaime shook his head. "Then take it now. You deserve it, for all your years of service."

"But..." Victoria interrupted, an uncharacteristic look of anxiety on her face. "Don't take your holiday just yet, please. I really do need you here, just for a few days, starting tonight. Please?"

Now Diego was concerned. Nothing had changed in the sleepy pueblo in years, and no big events were planned for that evening. "What's going on, Victoria? Why do you need him so suddenly?" He was sitting across from his secret wife, trying to read her mind – and failing.

She looked nervously from one to another, then took a deep breath and let it out raggedly. Clasping her hands on the table before her, she stared down at them and finally quietly admitted, "I have a very bad feeling about Reyes – that drifter who was here before. He doesn't hear 'No'. And he's... just the type to come back around at closing time... and take what he wants."

Now Diego was really concerned, as he never had been before, about the safety of his woman. "Victoria," he said softly, compelling her with his eyes to look at him. "Have you been assaulted before?"

"No!" she rushed to reassure him, then, "but I've come close. So I've learned to trust these... gut feelings."

"Have you asked for help from the garrison?" Don Alejandro asked, as concerned – and surprised – as his son. "That's what they're there for."

Victoria gave the senior de la Vega a sideways glance. "They would do nothing. On orders of the Alcalde."

"What?" Diego and Don Alejandro nearly shouted in tandem.

"It is true," Jaime said sadly, looking at the table. "The Señorita's safety is... not a priority."

"But... why?" That was Diego, looking back and forth between them.

Victoria held up a finger and started counting. "One, I'm a woman, with no husband or other male guardian. Two, I run a drinking establishment. And three, I'm a vocal opponent of the Alcalde. If I were to be attacked, he would simply consider it me getting what was coming to me."

Gobsmacked, Diego could say nothing. How could I not have known all this? "But..." he tried again, turning to Jaime.

Victoria forestalled him, placing a gentle hand on Jaime's arm. "Jaime has been helping me, doing whatever he can – but it has been unofficial... and without the Alcalde's knowledge. And now... I do not trust Corporal Rojas. Oh, he's a good man... but he does not have the cojones to go against the Alcalde."

"And now I can do nothing," Jaime said morosely. "I am sorry – "

"No!" she cried. "You were not at fault for today. But now... now that you no longer bound by this uniform," she plucked at the sleeve, now bare of insignia, "now you can be here all the time. And I will no longer worry."

This was just what Jaime needed to hear. Puppylike, he lifted his head and beamed at Victoria. "Then, Señorita, I would be very happy to take that job. I will protect you every minute. And I think I would like being a bartender," he added.

"Then you can start immediately. We'll get you some new clothes this afternoon." She turned then to Diego across the table. "Ha!" she crowed impishly. "I stole him from you!"

"Very smoothly, too," he approved. "But I'm staying tonight, too. I'm not going back to hacienda leaving you in danger. Together we'll give you twice as much protection from Reyes – and whoever else. You have room upstairs for both of us, don't you?" The private twinkle in his eyes said he might not stay where she publicly put him, though.

"There," Don Alejandro added blandly. "Don't worry, my dear. We will keep you safe."

"Well," Victoria said archly, looking at Diego with a challenge in her eyes. "That's one solution." She began to stand up, then leaned across the table at him for one last dig. "Perhaps you can think of another." And with that, she turned and walked back to the bar, leaving him staring after her ruefully. Don Alejandro was smirking, while Jaime was just confused.

"Diego," his father commented, "if you do not do something soon – "

"What," Diego broke in flatly, challenging. "You will?"

"I might!" Don Alejandro replied. Turning to see Victoria smiling at him from the bar, having heard, he blew her a kiss, making her burst out laughing, then gave Diego the biggest, blandest smile he could manage. Diego just glared and shook his head.

Jaime didn't know what was going on, but he couldn't resist the opportunity. "You would make a handsome couple, Don Alejandro," he said sincerely, then, as Diego turned his glare his way, quickly added with as much innocence as he could muster, "so would you!"

Victoria just laughed harder.