Chapter 20:

Padre

Nicolettas eyes flickered. Slowly, she opened them, expecting to see Sands lying next to her. But he wasn't there, yawning she sat up, and got a huge shock. Sands was not next to her, in fact, she wasn't even in the motel any longer.

The room was large and square shaped. It was beautiful, the walls were a beautiful shade of cream and there were beautiful mahogany chairs placed on the terracotta tiles. She was lying on a huge, cream, four-poster bed. Silk sheets were laid on top of her and feather pillows were under her head. She was dressed in a blue silk nightie which fell to her thighs and she was surrounded by white net curtains. At the foot of the bed was a gap in the curtains that she could see through. Hesitantly, she climbed out of the bed and sat on the end to see the rest of the room. There was a large mahogany wardrobe, covered in ornate patterns, and a changing screen beautifully decorated with pictures of flowers and animals. To the left of the wardrobe was a door which probably headed to a bathroom and after that was the next wall. This wall was completely taken up by a huge glass door, with white silk curtains pulled to the side, and a balcony. Nicoletta got off the bed and walked over to the open door. Birds were singing outside and the sky was a beautiful clear blue. Stepping out on to the balcony she looked down and froze.

The scene was beautiful, all plants and grass and trees, such a lush green. Brightly coloured flowers were growing in tidy clumps, and Nicoletta could see a sparkling stream making its way through the garden. It came from a waterfall with a pond where golden fish were swimming. However this wasn't what attracted Nicolettas attention, it was the twenty men who were placed around the garden. All dressed in black suits with sunglasses, and carrying guns. The men who had been trying to kidnap her!

Hearing the door creak open Nicoletta span, and got the shock of her life.

Two men had entered the room; one was Sands, who was dressed in brown trousers and jacket with a white shirt and his customary cowboy hat. The other man Nicoletta only recognised in a photo Sands had once shown her, Carlos Bartulo.

By this point Nicoletta was sure she must be in some kind of bizarre dream, this couldn't be happening. Quickly she walked over to Sands, grabbing his arm she asked him, "Sands, what the hell is going on? What happened? Have we been kidnapped?"

Sands, however, just grinned evilly at her and shoved her backwards. Nickie stared at him, the whole world was coming apart, this wasn't right.

"Something's very wrong here." She whispered, staring from Sands to Bartulo and back to Sands.

Bartulo smiled, a smile which could have made people run away screaming, "I think the only wrong here, is you." He said softly, his English layered with a rich Spanish accent, "Let me explain, please sit." He gestured to one of the chairs. Nicoletta hesitated and then slowly sat down, keeping her eyes on the two men as they took their seats.

Bartulo leaned forward and fixed Nicoletta with a piercing stare. Speaking in the same soft and dangerous voice, he began to explain.

"For reasons I will go into later, I wanted you here. So, I began sending my men after you. Unfortunately, you and Sands make are rather dynamic team. My men failed. So, I chose to make a bargain with Agent Sands for something we both wanted. His government would rather I stopped my drug trading in the U.S. In exchange for me stopping that, they gave me you. Last night Agent Sands drugged you, and he and my men brought you here. Now, you will stay here with me. Agent Sands will return to the U.S. and you will not even be mentioned."

Nicoletta stared at him, she felt as though her heart had been smashed into tiny pieces and scattered to the wind. There was an ache in her chest but the rest of her body felt numb. Sands had betrayed her; the person she had trusted, made love to, told the greatest secret of her life, saved when he was dying, been saved by, the person who she had liked more than anyone else in her life, the person who she loved, had betrayed her. Bartulo was talking to her and, with an effort; Nicoletta brought herself back to the present.

"…suppose you want to know why I want you here?"

Nicoletta gazed blankly at him, nothing could be any worse than this, she didn't care. She had lost the person she loved, nothing mattered now. Dumbly, she nodded.

Bartulo smiled an evil smile, a smile used by demons and el Diablo. Leaning further forward, he whispered something so evil and horrible, that it would haunt Nicoletta forever. Only in her darkest nightmares would she hear that voice, repeating those words to her over and over again, till she screamed to stop herself from hearing them.

It was too much to take in, Nicoletta felt the blackness swirl around her as her vision was distorted and she lost all her senses. But, in the darkness, she could still hear that voice whispering the words to her as she sobbed in fear and terror. As she hit the ground, just before she lost total consciousness, she heard it once more. It was screamed by a million demons, all laughing at her pain and anguish.

"I'm your father."