A/N: Nothing particularly new in this chapter. Just a few fixes. If you've already read Chapter 6, feel free to move on to new material in 7 and 8. Also, thanks for the reviews so far and the interest in the story. It's nice to know people appreciate a new story. Onward!

Chapter 6

"Buenos dias, Sergeant! I don't remember the last time you came into my tavern so late in the morning. Out on patrol all night?" Victoria smiled sympathetically at her friend.

"Oh, si senorita. Something dreadful has happened!" Mendoza panted as he leaned against the bar.

"Yes, I know you missed breakfast, Mendoza. Let me get you a plate."

"No, no, no. You don't understand! It's Don Diego. He's been kidnapped!"

"What?" Victoria whispered. Surely Diego wouldn't let such a thing happen...she called an immediate halt to that line of thought. Such thoughts could only get her into trouble.

"Si! We were out on patrol near the bluffs. I was bravely leading my lancers down the trail when we heard a cry for help," Mendoza began exaggerating as usual. "We went charging around the boulders and there was a whole gang of banditos dragging him away! I immediately took charge and told my lancers to maintain their pursuit while I courageously rode back to the pueblo alone to get reinforcements."

"Then why are you not back out there looking for him?!" Victoria whipped the rag she was carrying on the counter for emphasis.

"I am! I mean, I will! Senorita, please! I'm parched. I only wanted a glass of water."

"And do you think Don Diego has had a glass of water this morning? Hmm?"

"Well, I…"

"Out! Out, Mendoza! And don't you come back here until you've found him! Is that clear?!"

At the sound of the crisp order, Mendoza instantly switched from concerned friend back into soldier mode. He clicked his heels and snapped off a salute. "Si, senorita!" Before he even realized what had happened, he was sprinting across the plaza to hurry his troops along.

Meanwhile, Victoria slipped quietly into the kitchen so no one would see her crying. "Dios, please bring him home safe." She hurriedly wiped her cheeks when Pilar came through the curtain to get a fresh pitcher of lemonade.

"Is there anything else you need me to do in the kitchen senorita?"

"No, thank you Pilar. Take care of the taproom today. I will manage the kitchen."

"Si."

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief as her helper left the room. She so desperately needed to be alone right now. And if she couldn't do anything to help bring Diego home, the least she could do was make sure he was as comfortable as possible when he got there. She started pulling ingredients off the shelf to make a fresh flan.

Diego's favorite.

ZZZ

Diego was drifting restlessly in and out of consciousness when he heard horses approaching the cave entrance.

Paco, Jose, and Luiz were immediately on their feet. The trio drew their swords and double-checked that their pistols were primed before venturing a look outside. Jose had barely taken two steps toward the opening of the cave when Don Alejandro's voice boomed into the small, enclosed space.

"We have the entire area surrounded senores! Release Diego immediately and no one will be harmed!"

Luiz shook in fear, nearly dropping the pistol he held. "I told you! I told you this was a bad idea!" He put his saber in the scabbard at his waist. "Put down your weapons. They'll shoot us on sight if we walk out that entrance armed."

"And just how do we know they actually have us surrounded, hmm? It could be two men for all we know!" Paco tried to reason.

As if anticipating what the banditos were considering, Don Alejandro's voice echoed again. "There are fifteen of us senores! You cannot escape! Let him go!"

Paco grabbed the rope securing Diego's hands and feet and dragged him roughly towards the entrance. Diego moaned uncontrollably against the stick between his teeth as his sore ribs bounced across the ground.

"Perhaps I ought to remove the gag just so they can hear you scream, eh?" Diego's defiant glare only served to enrage him further. He punched Diego a few times in the face, and then in a fury attacked his already bruised ribcage. By the time he finished, Diego was barely clinging to consciousness. Jose pulled him away from the slumped form of the young De La Vega.

"Enough!"

"I will have that ransom!" Paco declared furiously. He grabbed the branch securing Diego's arms and dragged him outside.

"Hold your fire!" Alejandro ordered when he saw the man kneel down behind Diego. None of his vaqueros were a good enough shot to be sure and miss Diego, and the soldiers couldn't be trusted either. Alejandro glanced at Diego and felt his rage start to boil over again. His son was bound and gagged in what had to be a horribly uncomfortable position. His shirt was missing, his torso bloodied and bruised, and his battered body slumped toward the ground at an awkward angle. He felt Felipe place a calming hand on his arm a mere second before he would have broken the line of vaqueros and soldiers to attack Paco. But when he looked at Felipe, instead of seeing fear on the young man's face as he expected, he only saw a grim determination in the set of his jaw and a barely controlled fury in his eyes.

Paco held his pistol at Diego's head and cocked the trigger. "I want the money old man! Give it to us now or he dies!"

With a calmness he didn't know he still possessed after seeing his son so badly mistreated, Alejandro raised his weapon to aim at Paco's head. "If my son dies, senor, you will swiftly follow." Felipe brought his weapon to bear as well and in seconds the rest of the vaqueros and soldiers had followed suit.

"Don't shoot!" Luiz cried as he walked out of the cave with his hands raised.

"You idiot!" Paco shouted at him. "They'll kill us all!"

"I am not willing to die for this caballero!" Luiz exclaimed. "Let him go, Paco."

Paco leveled his gaze on Alejandro's pistol, which was still pointed unwaveringly at him. "I warned you, old man. If you didn't get the money and involved the soldiers you'd find your son dead."

Alejandro watched, mortified, as the scene before him seemed to play out in slow motion. Paco loosened his hold on Diego and straightened his arm in preparation to fire. Too amazed that the bandito would take such a risk with his own life and too afraid his own bullet would kill his son, Alejandro remained still.

A single shot rang out.

Paco's gaze locked onto Felipe, who stood next to Alejandro with a smoking pistol. Paco smirked in surprise that the young man he'd released not a day ago had bested him. That was the bandito's last thought before he released his hold on Diego and dropped to the ground, dead, with a bullet hole seeping blood that soaked into the dirt around his chest.

Jose and Luiz didn't waste any time raising their hands and allowing the soldiers to apprehend them.

Felipe and Alejandro rushed to Diego's side to remove the painful bindings. He groaned as they removed the ropes and then gently rolled him onto his back. When Felipe removed the gag, Diego gasped for air.

"F…Father," he started.

"Hush, hijo, you're safe." He turned to Miguel. "Miguel, hurry to the hacienda and bring a wagon with a mattress."

"Si patron!" Miguel waved at two other vaqueros to help him and they rode off. The rest formed a protective circle around Diego and Alejandro, unwilling to let any more harm come to the family.

"Father," Diego tried again.

Alejandro put a gentle hand to the side of Diego's face that wasn't covered in bruises. "Diego it's all right now. Hush. Save your strength for the trip home."

"I'm so sorry," Diego whispered before he let his head drop back. He felt Felipe's comforting hand on his arm before he fell asleep.