Chapter 3

Diego didn't see his father until that evening and by then the entire pueblo knew of Doña Victoria's abduction.

The pueblo's lancers had searched the area and come up with nothing.

Diego and his father were conferring with Francisco and Sergeant Mendoza when a ranch hand appeared with a note.

"What's this?" Alejandro took the note offered to him and opened it. He scanned it quickly and then grasped the ranch hand's arm. "Who gave you this?"

Diego snatched the note from his father and read it aloud.

"If you wish to see the lovely Señora again, Alejandro de la Vega

ONLY is to bring ten thousand pesos to the San Pedro harbor.

There you will be given more instructions.

If anyone comes with him, the Señora will meet a swift

and watery end."

"The note was sitting in the stalls, Patron!" The ranch hand exclaimed, afraid of the suspicious looks Diego, Alejandro, and the alcalde leveled at him.

"I will assemble the lancers," said Francisco.

"I'm going." Diego declared.

"Wait!" Alejandro stopped the men in their tracks. "The note says I am to bring the money."

"Why you, father?" Diego asked, perplexed. "Victoria is my wife."

"I don't know, son. But I will deliver the money as the note demands."

Diego began to protest and Francisco sent Mendoza out of the hacienda to question the ranch hand. Alejandro nodded gratefully at the alcalde.

"I won't let you go out there alone." Diego said, crossing his arms.

"Diego – I don't want anything to happen to Victoria. You must stay here."

"I will. Zorro will not."

"I agree," Francisco nodded at his brother by marriage. "I don't like the idea of you going by yourself. This person, or people, obviously went to a lot of trouble here."

"The missing horses were simply a distraction to get me out of the hacienda," Diego added.

"I agree." Alejandro sighed. "I wish I had never gone to Santa Barbara. I would have been here. I could have gone searching for the horses and you would have been here with Victoria."

"Father, this is not the time for regret; we have to get her back."

Alejandro nodded. "I will go to town and withdraw the funds from the bank."

"I want a few vaqueros to ride as escort," Diego raised his hand as his father and Francisco began to protest. He turned to Francisco first. "Armed lancers would draw too much attention." To his father he said simply, "and if this person has done this to our family to get back at you for some reason, you are going to have an escort for as long as possible. I will go at once to San Pedro and be waiting for you when you arrive."

"Then I am going with you," Francisco's gaze was unwavering as he stared at Diego.

"Francisco –"

"Those monsters have my sister. I will not sit in the pueblo on my hands and wait for her to be released."

Diego moved toward the fireplace. "Then be ready to ride."

Francisco blinked at the fireplace as it swung open and Diego disappeared behind it. In the months the new alcalde had known about Diego's secret life, he had never once asked the caballero where he kept Zorro's things. It appeared that asking was now no longer necessary.

"Gawk later." Alejandro clasped the younger man on the shoulder as he walked out the door.

Alejandro withdrew the required sum from the bank, while Zorro and Francisco made straight for the harbor. They rode hard, carefully keeping off the main road that led to the coast. If there were any lookouts placed along the route, they would not see the alcalde and the masked man.

It would be difficult to keep out of sight once they reached the harbor. It was still light, and Zorro would find it much harder to creep around the port without the cover of darkness. With luck, there would not be many ships at port, but it was likely that they would not be so fortunate. With the revolutionary activities spreading throughout the colonies, and Spain sending fewer and fewer ships to reinforce its garrisons, trade had steadily grown and ships not of Spanish origin continued to land.

Zorro and Francisco had spoken very little in their haste to get to the port. Once there, they waited on the outskirts and discussed a plan of action.

"Where could they be holding her?" Francisco asked.

"Anywhere," Zorro answered, hawk-like eyes scanning the people bustling through the streets, the buildings, even the ships waiting out at sea. "We don't know anything about her abductors. They could be wealthy men –"

"If they were wealthy, they would not want money to release Victoria."

"Or asking for the money was simply a way to get my father to come alone," Zorro added, keeping his mind open for any possibility.

They searched around for any sign of Victoria and her kidnappers but it was as if she had vanished. At the specified time, Zorro and Francisco waited and watched from hiding as Alejandro stood on the docks with saddlebags filled with the demanded ransom.

Small fishing boats came and went as Alejandro waited. People brushed by him, intent on completing their tasks.

One fisherman tied his small boat and stopped before Alejandro. "Señor de la Vega?"

"Yes?" Alejandro glanced down at the weathered old man.

"I was asked to give you this note." The man held out a wrinkled piece of paper and shuffled away before Alejandro had finished reading it and could turn around to question him.

Alejandro stared at the fishing boat and sighed. Glancing around, he tucked the note into his jacket pocket and climbed into the boat.

All of a sudden, three men hurried into the boat and took up the oars, quickly dropping them into the water and moving swiftly away from the docks.

Alejandro stared at each one of them; he tried to stand but the rocking of the boat prevented much balance. "What is going on here? Where are you taking me?"

One particularly smelly man glanced up. "To your death, Señor de la Vega!"

Zorro and Francisco cast worried glances at one another and hurried down to the docks. Zorro had brought a woven blanket, which he now threw over his shoulders as they emerged from their hiding place. They could ill afford someone drawing attention to the masked mans appearance.

They quickly commandeered a boat of their own and began rowing as quickly as they could in the direction the men had taken

Alejandro.

What seemed like hours later, Alejandro's fishing boat pulled alongside a much larger, seafaring vessel. He was pushed toward the overhanging rope ladder and divested of the saddlebags he carried over his shoulder.

"You won't be needing these no longer!" one toothless man chuckled.

Alejandro said nothing as he climbed the ladder, panting with each additional step. When he pulled himself over the edge and drew himself to his full height, his eyes widened.

Before him stood an old enemy. One he thought long ago imprisoned. The murderer of his beloved brother.

"Cordoba." Alejandro spat, his eyes narrowing.

"Sí Alejandro," the man lifted a pistol toward his enemy's heart.

"How did you –" Alejandro asked, but stopped himself as Cordoba laughed.

"I have some very influential friends."

Alejandro didn't pause to consider where this murderer could have made a friend influential enough to free him from a life sentence. Instead, he asked, "If you wanted me, why did you take Victoria?"

"Oh, my plans go far deeper than my desire to see you dead."

"My stallions? Breeding rights?" Alejandro asked, truly perplexed as to why this man would have gone to such an elaborate scheme to get him alone.

Cordoba laughed. "No, Alejandro, although they did fetch an amazingly high price – even without papers."

Alejandro swallowed his ire. Those horses were the last of the bloodline that his grandfather had brought across the sea from Spain. They had been gifts from the King. He would have to get them back. But he was here to free his daughter. She was more important right now. "Release Victoria. You have me."

"Oh no, my – associate has a use for her."

Alejandro's eyes flashed and he glanced around the ship, hoping his son and Francisco had made it on board. "What? Why? I don't understand."

"You aren't meant to." Cordoba smirked and squeezed the trigger. "Give my regards to your brother."

The pistol fired and Alejandro flinched as he saw his life flash before his eyes. A black cape obscured his vision, and then a uniformed man collided with him, throwing him to the ground and knocking the breath from his lungs.

Alejandro lay momentarily dazed beneath Francisco but the younger man pushed himself quickly to his feet and drew his blade as Cordoba's men advanced on their position.

Zorro saluted Cordoba before the criminal drew his own blade and went quickly on the offensive.

Alejandro growled and grasped for a recently discarded sword. Pushing his way through the men Francisco battled, he reached Zorro's side just as his son easily sidestepped an oncoming attack. "Find Victoria. Cordoba is mine!"

Zorro glanced warily at his father and reluctantly agreed with a curt nod of the head. Glancing back to see how Francisco fared, Zorro was pleased to see the younger man holding his own.

With a steely, determined gaze, he ran toward the lower decks of the ship, praying that he would find his wife before some harm came to her.

Amidst the sound of clashing swords and gunfire echoing outside, Paco slipped into the cabin and smiled lustfully at Victoria.

"I told you my husband would come." Victoria got to her feet and glared at the bandit.

"Fortunately, he doesn't know where you are. And when he finds you, he won't want what's left!" Paco lifted his knife and advanced on Victoria. "But first, I'm going to have a little fun."

Victoria screamed and kicked at the man but he soon had her pinned to the floor beneath him, his knife at her neck.

She bit his hand and he spit out a muttered curse before striking her so hard across the cheek, she was knocked unconscious.

"Stupid woman," Paco growled. "Now at least I won't have to listen to your screaming."

He pushed her dressing gown aside and licked his lips as the soft swell of her breasts, barely covered by the shift, caught his eye.

Paco reached out to squeeze one and groaned at the softness. "Oh, so sweet." Paco pushed her legs apart and shoved the shift to Victoria's waist just as she opened her eyes and screamed.

TBC

JKL88 – She's not on her way to Spain – yet. Cordoba doesn't yet have Alejandro…. I do have a fic that I'd started a few months ago with Diego and Victoria taking a wedding trip to Spain. One day I'll finish it. Of course, not all goes as planned in that story either. :)

Classic Cowboy – How good of you to pick up on that…. :)

Trollie – At least I'm not the only person you're calling evil. Smithcrafter truly deserves the title!

Smithcrafter – Heh. After that reaction, I'm truly tempted to re-write the end of this . . . Good to know I tossed in something you weren't expecting.