Keeping Safe
.
Chapter 32
"RUN!" Lee warned Amanda and Pepita, as he attempted to ward off the bearded hat man, who had now pulled out a switchblade.
Amanda and Pepita immediately took off in a full run as they heard a sound of someone being hit.
POW!
Curiosity made Amanda and Pepita take a look back in time to see Lee's head reeling backward as the cartel man caught him by surprise with a quick roundhouse kick at his jaw.
"Noooo! Señor Lee!" a terrified Pepita yelled out, about to turn back.
But Amanda continued to yank Pepita forward, fear reverberating in every part of her body.
"Pepita! Don't look back! KEEP RUNNING!" she ordered, feeling helpless.
"But the señor-" Pepita fretted.
"Señor, nothing, Pepita! He can take care of himself!" Amanda asserted, trying to convince herself that keeping Pepita safe was her number one priority.
Amanda and Pepita continued to run, dodging and weaving through the crowds as best they could. Amanda gave out a series of apologies to the villagers or shoppers she accidentally ran into.
"Excuse me!"
"Oof!"
"Coming through!"
"Sorry!"
At one point Pepita turned and looked behind her, "Señ-or-a!" she heaved out at one point, "The bad man (huff), he is now (puff)...behind us!"
Dread filled Amanda as she halfway turned and, sure enough, the bearded hat man was pursuing them again.
What had happened to Lee?
"This way!" Amanda stated, turning anywhere to get away.
However, in all her confusion, she had led them into a dead end alleyway.
"No, oh no!' Amanda yelled out, as she desperately pushed on the wall, but of course, it didn't give.
She then pushed Pepita behind her and faced forward to bravely confront their fate.
The bearded hat man sneered as he entered the alleyway and saw there was no escape for the woman and child.
I've got them now! he malevolently thought, as he confidently proceeded forward.
Suddenly he felt something painful strike the back of his legs.
THWHACK!
Lee was suddenly there, along with a large 2 by 4 board in his hands, which he had borrowed from one of the selling booths.
The hit to the man's legs had knocked him to his knees as he yelped in pain. Then Lee bashed the wooden plank right on his head, knocking him unconscious.
Amanda and Pepita went over to Lee and the fallen body.
"Oh my gosh! Is he dead?" Amanda asked looking downward.
Lee peered closer.
"No, but he is gonna have one hel-…..." he glanced over at Pepita, "...uh, one HECK of a headache when he wakes up!"
Pepita eyes widened at the unconscious body, "Perhaps, Señor, you should hit him with board again to make sure he wakes up much, much later!"
"No, Pepita, that won't be necessary!" A horrified Amanda responded back as she turned and whispered, "Lee, sometimes I think we are a bad influence on her!"
"If by bad influence, you mean that we are keeping her safe and alive, then I'm all in!" Lee sardonically stated, tossing the board aside, "anyway, we need to scram before any more of the cartel members arrive, which I'm sure will be very soon!
"Then let's go!" Amanda encouraged.
Pepita was now leading Lee and Amanda down a different street.
Amanda was getting impatient, "How much further is it to the Embassy?"
"Not far, just one more street over!" Pepita promised, proceeding on.
The next street they turned into was much longer and wider than the other ones. There were fewer shops, and the buildings were sturdier, with more trees and flowers planted in front of them, implying that this was a more modern, upscale area.
Yet the block seemed eerily quiet of residents.
They were halfway down this broad street when Pepita suddenly came to a halt. They had stopped in front of a non-descript stone building. The infrequent number of tiny windows gave the building the appearance of a protective fort.
A small carved wooden sign hung near the front door which read "Welcome". Underneath that was the Spanish translation of "Bienvenido". Beside the sign was a doorbell.
"Is this it?" Amanda questioned, "Are we here? At the American Embassy?"
"Yes, this is it," Pepita acknowledged.
"It's so...simple..." Amanda quietly observed, "I mean, not that that's a bad thing! I guess I expected to see something like...oh, I don't know...guards, iron gates, or at least an American flag flying on a pole."
Lee explained, "That's because this is a small satellite office, so don't expect them to design a sign with huge flashing lights around the word 'Embassy'. Besides, with the Cartel taking over, it's a dangerous time to be an American here."
Amanda understood, "Then it's best we get in there as fast as possible."
Nodding, Lee's index finger pushed the doorbell.
Buzz!
They anxiously waited for a response from someone inside.
Nothing.
Lee tried again.
Buzz!
They soon heard footsteps.
"WHO IS IT?" a young male voice with an accent asked.
Lee shouted back, "WE ARE AMERICANS! WE ARE IN DANGER!"
The next thing they heard was a huge board being lifted from the other side. The door opened slightly and through the tiny slit they observed half the face of a young man; the other part of his face was blocked by the door.
And Amanda gasped when she recognized the greeter.
#
"Paco!" Amanda exclaimed in obvious pleasure, "Is that really you?! It's me, Señora Amanda!"
The door opened wider, and sure enough, it was none other than Informant, #2, busboy Paco Ramirez, who had previously been arrested before Amanda had a chance to warn him away.
"¡Dios Buena! Señora! You have arrived!" the young man happily stated, "Come in, come in! Quickly now!" he gestured while stepping aside.
After they entered, he locked the door, taking pains to make sure the board was secured across it.
Paco returned her big smile with one of his own, "Señora, it is so good to see you again! And as you can see, I am very safe, thanks to you and your friends!"
She nodded, "I had been so worried about you! The last thing I heard was that you had been arrested!"
He nodded, "Ah, yes, I was arrested, that is true, but I was only locked up a day when someone, a... William Mel-rose, made arrangements for me to be released!" Paco then proudly boasted, "I am now under protection of the US government!"
Lee stated, I'm glad to hear that, Señor Ramirez! My name is-"
"You are Lee Stet-son, are you not?" Rafael asked, "Mr. Mel-rose say you may come for me. You are a friend, so please call me Paco. I have prayed to the heavens above you would make your way here, for this is the only American Embassy, outside of Mexico City. And now my prayers have been answered!"
Amanda looked around and took note of the quietness as well as the emptied desks.
"Paco, are we the only people here? Where is everyone?" she asked.
Paco looked sad, "They have abandon the Embassy, I'm afraid," he explained "they have been warned by Cartel that trouble will be here soon. I stay behind only to wait for you. I was about to take my leave as well."
"What kind of trouble are we talking about?" Lee asked Paco.
"Before you arrive, a man has come here," Paco explained, "He has threats to everyone. Say more of his men with weapons will arrive soon to seek revenge of some Americans, so he order workers to leave immediately. They have no choice."
Lee looked at Amanda, "So it looks as if Hector's henchmen are headed this way."
"Then perhaps we should leave, too," Amanda suggested.
"Yes, we should go," agreed Paco, "I have already put together some papers that will make it easier for the two of you to leave the country."
Amanda placed her hands possessively on Pepita's shoulders, "Do you have any legal papers that will allow this little girl to come with us as well?"
Paco looked down with surprise as if this was the first time he noticed Pepita, "Why, what have we here?" he inquired, as he stooped down to her level, "And what is your name, Ninita?"
"Pepita!" she confidently announced.
"Ahhh, so it's Pepita, you say! Such a lovely name! I hope, Pepita, you are not too scared!"
"No, I am not scare!" Pepita insisted as she stood taller, "I am almost grown up! I already know how to drive a big red truck!"
Paco looked impressed, "A big red truck, you say? Buena! You are indeed big!" he stood up again and asked Lee and Amanda, "You wish to take Pepita back to America?"
Lee corrected him, "we definitely want to take her back to America!"
Pepita gave him a grateful look.
"Of course, of course," Paco stated, as he went over to a desk piled high with folders. After shuffling some folders around, he finally found what he was looking for and stuffed more papers into his backpack, "I have necessary forms for girl. Now, we must leave here quickly!"
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Everyone jumped when there was a sudden knock on the door. Lee gestured to Paco to answer the door as he followed him, with his gun out.
"WHO IS IT?" Paco demanded through the door.
A little boy's voice yelled out, "IT IS ME, DIEGO!"
Paco's face looked relieved, "Do not worry," he told them, "it is a boy from one of the nearby villages."
Unbolting the door, Paco opened the door slightly, allowing the little boy to slip in before securing it again.
Diego, as it turned out, was the little boy who had been toting the wagon of oranges with his 3 dogs and allowed Lee, Amanda, and Pepita to enter the town with him.
He looked very agitated as he spoke to Paco in very fast Spanish.
"What is he saying?" Amanda quietly asked Pepita.
Pepita interpreted for her, "The boy say he know you and the Señor must be Americans by the way you walk, so he think perhaps you will go to American Embassy. Later when he see blue car filled with bad Cartel people coming this way, he know trouble is coming, so he come to tell us."
After the explanation, Diego, the village boy, went over to speak with Pepita.
"Hola de nuevo, chica," he shyly greeted her.
"Gracias por tu ayuda," Pepita softly responded, thanking him for his warning.
"De Nada."
Then from his pocket, Diego hesitatingly produced a perfectly round orange fruit and held it out to her.
"Esto es para ti," he nervously stated, as he presented the near-perfect fruit to her.
Pepita blushed as she accepted the fruit, "Gracias."
It was a charming scene, but Lee knew they needed to get back to leaving before the Cartel people arrived.
"Paco, is there a side door we can leave by?" Lee asked the former waiter.
"Yes, of course!" Paco stated as he ushered them into the next room, "Come! Come!"
The four of them, along with the boy, Diego, exited by a side door which led to a narrow alleyway. It wasn't long before Lee and Amanda spotted the blue car Diego the boy was referring to.
Everyone halted.
Lee gestured the other way, "Go THIS way! Quickly!"
Scrambling the other way, they were well on their way out, when a voice shouted from behind them.
"STOP! I ORDER YOU TO STOP!"
They turned slowly to see a brown-haired man with a mustache, pointing a gun at them. Although he was too far away, the odds were he probably had a tattoo on his left hand like the other Cartel members.
Everyone stopped in their tracks.
"YOU! AMERICAN MAN!" he stated to Lee, "DROP YOUR GUN OR I SHOOT THE LADY AMERICAN!" he threatened, his gun aimed at Amanda as he walked closer to them.
Lee had no choice but to drop his gun.
The mustached man kept his eyes on him, "Now, kick it over here."
Lee did as he was told and watched with loathing as the Cartel man pocketed the gun, "Now, HANDS UP!"
All five of them put their hands up.
"Let the children and the woman go," Lee bargained, his hands still up, "then you and I will talk."
"NO ONE LEAVES!" the mustached man growled.
Lee then asked, "So who are you and what do you want with us then?"
Keeping the gun trained on them, the man stated, "Name's Fautos and you will all come with me...or should I say, US..."
From behind him, they could see three other men getting out of the blue car.
The situation was getting worse.
Until-
WhoooP!
An orange fruit had been hurled in the direction of Fautos' face, momentarily distracting him as he gave a surprised yelp.
"Go! GO!" Lee ordered everyone.
Pepita had thrown the fruit, allowing time for them to escape. And that's what they did as everyone took off.
They could hear running footsteps behind them.
BANG!
BANG!
Shots were fired as they ran and ducked. One of the bullets hit the stucco wall next to them. Another shot whizzed right by Amanda's shoulder.
They also heard other running footsteps, with Fautos commanding his men, "PEDRO! MANNY! LUIS! ¡ELLOS ESTÁN AQUÍ! CONSEGUIRLOS!""
They needed to run faster, for soon the other men would be firing as well.
BANG!
Another shot rang out.
Amanda heard a loud pained sound near her. She turned in the direction of the noise and gasped when she realized someone in her group had been hit.
"Nooooooo!" she screamed in utter terror.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion as the victim collapsed and fell to the ground.
Please review