Chapter 81 – Hostage
Doctor Hernández tried to help Diego, but the bandit pushed him out of the way to grab the fallen man by the back collar of his nightgown, pulling him up roughly, almost chocking him with the tight collar cord, that dented his throat.
"Vamos, señor, take me to the safe. You have a ransom to pay if you ever want to see your father alive again!"
"Where is he?" Diego said, gagging, relieved when the pressure on his neck eased a bit as the bandit pushed him forward, towards the bedroom door. He tried to keep his balance on his bare feet, but he failed miserably, staggering all the way.
"Tied to a tree, waiting to find out if he will be allowed to live or not, depending on how you behave."
"This man is sick and injured! Can't you see that?" Doctor Hernández said, getting in the way one more time to help Diego. "Let him go back to bed. He can't walk, he suffers from ver—"
"Get out of the way!" Tomás cried, aiming his gun at the doctor's face.
"Do as he says, Doctor. I'll be alright," Diego said, holding onto the door frame and then the walls of the corridor to keep walking more or less in a straight line, with very short, tentative steps. "Where are we going?"
"To the safe. Guide me to it, wherever it is. I want 15,000 pesos for the life of your father and 5,000 for yours, or I may accidentally pull the trigger. It will be a shame, but… Your choice."
"What warranty do I have on your word that you won't kill us if I comply? You had no problem pulling the trigger yesterday," Diego said, stopping for a moment to speak, and also to collect his thoughts. In his current condition, he felt helpless and frustrated to the core, unable to fight or to protect anybody, including Victoria. These criminals didn't make light threats, and he doubted that following their instructions would be enough to be safe from harm.
"I let you live, didn't I? I only hit the side of your head. You should consider yourself lucky!" Tomás said, laughing rather insanely. Then he pushed Diego forward, impatient. "Come on, walk faster, dammit!"
"He can't!" Doctor Hernández said, following them down the corridor.
"Shut up! I'm not claiming any money for you, so don't push your luck!" Tomás said, turning to wave his gun at the doctor again. "Stay a few steps away from me, if you must follow us. And don't try anything or your patient here will get another one, this time for real!"
That would have been a good chance to turn, whack that man and take his gun, but I can't do that today, Diego thought, dismayed. Maldita sea! I'm useless now. Totally useless, and at his mercy. Damn!
ZZZ
"Ah, here you are!" Manuel said at the stables, stopping in front of Zeus. When he leaned over the pen's wooden barrier, the grey stallion recoiled to the back, wary of him. Manuel carried with him a long rope, which he prepared to pass it over the stallion's head, but when he came into the stable Zeus reared, using his hooves as weapons, and the professional jockey got out of the way quickly with a reflex, scared of him. Some of his men laughed at his cowardly reaction, and that turned him red-faced, due to the mix of embarrassment and anger. "Maldito caballo! I'll show you who's the boss!"
Manuel used the rope as a whip and lashed out at the horse viciously. Zeus backed off as far as he could go in his pen, visibly frightened, but that abusive man carried on hitting him until he heard a clatter of hooves approaching, over the stables' floor, behind him.
"Whoa! Careful!" said one of his men, getting out of the way of the incoming, enraged horse.
When Manuel turned to look behind, it was too late. A bay horse got hold of his left arm, biting him furiously, dragging him out of Zeus's pen.
"Aaaargh! What the hell! Let go of me!" he cried, hitting that horse with the rope as well, but the stallion dragged him along a short distance, and then, with a powerful shake of his head, sent him flying a couple of meters. Manuel fell to the ground, and when he tried to stand up, the horse kicked his arse and sent him flying again, rendering him unconscious when he crashed head-on against the stable's wooden wall.
Zeus got out of his pen and neighed happily then, shaking his head up and down, welcoming his friend Apollo back. Manuel's men got out of the way when the pair ran out of the stables as fast as they could go, and then, they tended for his injured boss.
Soon, the rest of the stolen horses arrived at the hacienda as well, and they joined Zeus and Apollo outside. When Manuel's men finally got out with the intention of catching them again, the group left the hacienda at once, taking refuge in a nearby woodland.
ZZZ
Victoria was at the library, sitting on one of the armchairs, anxiously fretting while a man covering his face with a bandana aimed a gun at her, with the memory of the near-rape too fresh on her mind to remain calm.
"Diego!" she cried when he came into the room wearing only his nightgown and that bloodstained bandage on his head, almost dragged along by one of the bandits, walking barefoot and rather unsteadily.
"Stay where you are!" cried the man guarding her when she tried to stand up.
"Do as he says. Don't worry, dear, everything is going to be fine," Diego said. His soothing words and tone made Tomás chuckle.
"Only if you give me the money," he said, letting go of Diego, who collapsed on the floor one more time, unable to support himself.
"Diego!" Victoria cried again, this time standing, but only managing a single step forward before the bandit at her side grabbed her black raven hair, forcibly pulling her back on her seat.
"What did I say, woman? Don't move!" he shouted as she cried in pain.
"Leave her alone!" Diego cried from the floor, livid, but also feeling hopeless.
"You are in no position to give orders, señor," Tomás said, curving his lips with a smirk, enjoying the moment too much. Then, he kicked him, hitting his side. "Vamos, levántate, pendejo! Get up!"
Diego tried to do so, resenting his already bruised side, that was covered in arnica ointment after the beating he got the day before at the tavern. He went as far as getting on his hands and knees, but everything around him spun too fast to leave the security of the floor. He closed his eyes, but they kept rolling wildly, even if pressed against his firmly shut eyelids. When he opened them again, he looked at Victoria with a big apology on his dilated, dark pupils, trying to focus on her image as she spun around out of control in front of him. Whatever might happen to her that day, he could not prevent it. And only yesterday he had promised her he would never let anybody hurt her again! How mistaken he was.
"I can't," he said slowly, dragging his words, still looking at her, really meaning: I'm sorry, Victoria, because I can't protect you.
Today, thanks to the horrible experience the day before, she looked frightened, so fragile and vulnerable, when other times, in similar circumstances, she had coped much better in a hostage situation. But during those previous times, even if Diego was present in the room with her, tied down at her side, she still kept the hope Zorro would come to rescue her, with blind faith. Not anymore, because she knew better now. Zorro would not rescue her this time, and she looked terrified. He wanted to hold her in his arms and calm her down, but he couldn't do that even if that bastard allowed him to approach her.
"Where is the safe?" Tomás said, pulling him up again as if he was a dead weight, and a body exempt of the physiological need of breathing, as this time, the collar cord was pressing so tight against his Adam's apple, Diego could hardly manage to get some air in. "Where?"
"Behind… that picture," Diego managed to say while chocking, turning red with the congestion, trying to pass his shaky fingers under the cord, or at least, undo the knot to relieve the pressure on his neck's blood vessels.
Tomás let go of Diego and he fell to the floor one more time, gasping for air. The bandit whacked the picture out of the way, startling Victoria, nearly hitting her with it as it flew a short distance away from the wall, before its wooden frame burst at one corner when it hit the floor.
"How do you open it?"
"I'll open it for you. This safe is a bit… temperamental," Diego said, making a last, superb effort to stand up, using the furniture to pull himself up with the help of doctor Hernández, hoping he would be able to use the loaded guns his father kept at the safe, as a last resort.
"Do you think I was born yesterday?" Tomás said, pushing Diego to one of the armchairs, where he flumped, spent, and he also pushed the doctor onto the adjacent chair, where he remained seated, unsure what to do. "I'm sure you have some weapons in there too, guarding the money. Don't try my patience, please, De la Vega. Tell me how to open it. And make it quick!"
ZZZ
Felipe could not believe his eyes, glued to the spy hole as the scene at the library unfolded.
He was about to go through the secret entrance on the fireplace with the coca powder for Diego when he heard the bandits coming into the library with Victoria. He didn't know what to do, and for a moment he looked around, considering if he should grab some of Zorro's weapons and take them to him somehow. However, when the bandits dragged Diego along and he saw the sorry state he was in, he decided against this crazy option. Zorro could not use his weapons effectively that day. Not at all. But maybe he could try to do the job himself. After all, Diego had trained him well.
When he saw that bandit taking all the money in the safe, he had enough. He grabbed a pistol, a sword and a dagger, and headed for the back entrance to the cave, outside, without a shadow of a plan but willing to give it a try to protect his family.
ZZZ
Tomás followed Diego's instructions to open the safe.
"Is this what you wanted?" he said, taking the two loaded pistols that lay on top of the money bags, showing them to Diego. "You did not seriously think you could use this to kill me, did you? How pathetic... I bet they've been there for ages and they won't even fire now!"
He lifted the pistol then, aiming at Diego's head one more time.
"No!" Victoria cried, at the edge of her seat, about to stand up again, risking another hair tug.
"No?" Tomás said, turning to look at her with a heinous smile. "Maybe you wish to be the target then."
"Leave her alone!" Diego cried when Tomás aimed at her instead.
"This is too much fun, really. You two are so entertaining," Tomás said, laughing crazily again, and the other two bandits in the room laughed with him. "I'm very tempted to keep hurting both of you, taking turns, just for kicks. Who should go first?"
"Take the money and leave, please. Leave us alone. There is more in there than what you asked for. Take it all, but leave us in peace. Por favor."
Diego didn't want to beg, but under the circumstances, he couldn't do anything else. And he hated it.
Tomás left the guns on a table and inspected the contents of the safe. De la Vega was right: there were more than 20,000 pesos in there. He had asked for more money than his boss had intended initially, willing to keep the difference for himself, but now he could get more than 30,000 pesos. These people were loaded!
"Who keeps so much money at home? Why didn't you take it to the bank?"
"There is no bank in Los Angeles, as I'm sure you already know. My father sold a few prized bulls last week, and he still hasn't had the chance to take it to the bank. Luckily for you, or that safe would be nearly empty."
"No, no, De la Vega… luckily for you," Tomás said, placing the money bags under his belt, grabbing the pistol again. "So, where were we? Ah, yes, trying to find out if these pistols will work or not…"
ZZZ
"We had a hostage situation at the hacienda before, you know?" Mendoza said while looking at the main building, protected by the external low wall. When they arrived at the hacienda, they had spotted all the horses at the entrance, and were surveying the situation. "But Zorro helped us that time."
"He won't this time," Pablo said.
"I know, I know… All right, let me think."
They could see one bandit guarding the main entrance, that would be easy to reduce, but then, a small group of men headed their way from the stables, carrying an injured man.
"Let's go back, quick!" Mendoza said. They scurried for cover along the wall, hunched, to the opposite side, where they would not be spotted so easily. Mendoza was so absorbed looking at the men, considering how to implement his "plan" to whack them, he couldn't help but jump with a gasp when he felt a soft tapping on his shoulder.
"Felipe! Madre de Dios! You gave me a fright! Please, don't do that ever again, or I may die of a heart attack," Mendoza said, with a hand over his racing ticker, breathing heavily.
Felipe tried to explain the situation, but they couldn't understand his signs fully. At least they understood he had spotted three men inside.
"So, there are three bandits inside, in the library, keeping Don Diego, Doña Victoria and the doctor hostage," Mendoza said, and Felipe nodded quickly. "Plus the ones that just arrived."
"Doña Victoria?" Pablo said.
"Well, they are married, aren't they?"
"Yes, but… blimey, I never thought of calling señorita Victoria a doña."
"Well, I shouldn't yet, as it is not official, but—"
Mendoza got interrupted when a bullet wheezed past his helmet.
"Soldiers! There are soldiers outside!" cried the bandit guarding the entrance, who had spotted the sergeant's helmet showing over the fence.
"Madre de Dios! That was close," Mendoza said, crouching further down behind the wall.
"What do we do now?" Pablo said, holding onto his gun, with his sore back to the wall.
"You two spread out, and start shooting from different angles. Keep changing positions, so they believe they are surrendered."
"And what are you going to do?"
"I'm going in," Mendoza replied, standing to fire his gun at the bandit. He didn't hit him, but at least he moved to take cover. Then, the sergeant handed the empty gun to Felipe. "Keep this, I won't need it. Keep firing and re-loading!"
"Sergeant!" Pablo cried when Mendoza jumped over the wall to get inside, trying to stop him. Then he shook his head, watching him go. "He's gone crazy!"
Felipe fired his gun to give Mendoza more time to reach the patio, wondering if he had made a mistake that morning, giving the cowardly soldier a different, potentiated drug instead of the placebo.
ZZZZZ