The afternoon sun was beating down on Diego's shoulders. His shirt was clinging to his chest and he was drenched with sweat. His eyes stung slightly from the drops of sweat that had fallen from his forehead. He had volunteered himself to help with the rebuilding of homes and other buildings that had been damaged in the earthquake. Not only was he helping to restore or rebuild the damaged structures with tools alongside of the other men who had volunteered their time and labor, he had been voted into the role of being the person in charge of supervising everyone's work and advising on the best way to secure the structures. Being a scholar had been the driving force behind the men choosing him to be in charge.

"Let's take a break and have some dinner," he called out to the men.

The sounds of labor quickly stopped around him as the hungry volunteers began to make their way over to Victoria's tavern or their own homes. Diego followed behind the line of men who were joking about filling their stomachs with Victoria's cooking. He was definitely parched and his stomach let out a low growl. As he approached the door of the tavern he removed his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his face and arms.

The tavern was filled with customers. None of them were being overly obnoxious,but he could tell that several of the customers had been drinking a bit too much with their dinner as usual. The men he had been working with throughout the day were busy greeting others or finding a seat. After some quick observation of the room and discovering that no one was paying attention to him except for Victoria, Diego quietly slipped into the area where Victoria prepared the food. He concealed himself behind the curtain that particular spot from the dining area.

He stood there listening as men placed their orders. It wouldn't be much longer until he was able to have a few moments of alone time with Victoria before returning to the dining area. Diego peered into the pots of prepared food and inhaled deeply. The smell of the food was absolutely heavenly. The curtain shifted suddenly as Victoria passed through it. She quickly turned to face him and he folded his arms around her. As she buried her face into his shoulder, she breathed in his masculine odor of salty sweat and bergamot mixed with rosemary. They quietly clung to each other for a few fleeting seconds as they were desperately seeking each other's company without being discovered.

Knowing that they could not stay hidden for much longer before someone would demand an explanation of why they had not received their order, Victoria lifted her head from Diego's chest and whispered, "I need to fill the orders before someone begins to look for me."

Diego sighed as he felt a touch of anguish from the mundane burden of keeping their relationship a secret from everyone outside of his household. As Victoria began to step backwards he took her hands in his.

"Victoria, te quiero con toda mi alma," he confessed before gently brushing her knuckles with his lips.

Diego quietly observed the dining area as he pulled back a small portion of the curtain. With no one looking in his direction he eased his way through the curtain and chose a seat at the end of an empty table near the stairs. He had forgotten to let Victoria know what to bring him when he made the quick exit. He continued to silently observe everyone around the room. He was pleasantly surprised when his father walked into the tavern. Diego waved to get his father's attention as his father joked with a jovial group of men near the entrance.

"Ah, Diego my boy, have you eaten yet?" his father asked as he joined him.

"As a matter of fact I just sat down," he answered.

His father lightly drummed on the table with his hands as he waited for Victoria to emerge from the other side of the curtain to take his order.

"Did you make much progress today?"he asked Diego.

Diego nodded as he answered, "We rebuilt the sections of damaged floor and finished a lot of the framing."

His short conversation with his father was interrupted when he suddenly heard Victoria clearing her throat behind him. She immediately placed a bow of food in front of each of them.

"I brought my favorite customers a complimentary bowl of pozole," Victoria informed them with a smile.

He couldn't wait to taste the smoky meat and hominany that was surrounded by an oregano flavored broth. He deeply breathed in the scent of the food in front of him as Victoria placed a silver mug of Pulque curado on the table.

"Disfrute de su comida!" she called out to him as she continued on to another table to take another order.

Diego practically inhaled the soup. He had been very hungry and definitely enjoyed it.

Just as he began to open his mouth to continue conversing with his father he heard the all too irritating voice of DeSoto. Diego looked towards the door of the tavern.

"Diego de la Vega!" his adversary called out across the room as he began to strut towards him.

He definitely had a bad feeling about what was about to transpire. A demure petite female wearing well worn clothing was following closely behind him with a very young boy who seemed to be afraid. DeSoto smiled as he reached Diego"s side.

"It seems as if our infallible Diego has been a very naughty boy." he crowed.

DeSoto reached his hand out and smacked their table. His father jumped slightly as it had startled him.

"It seems that he has a three year old son who he has turned his back on," DeSoto informed the crowd.

"I most certainly do not!" Diego responded to the accusation.

The female in question spoke loudly as she announced, "This most certainly is your son."

He was flabbergasted at the outright lie that he had just gotten caught up in.

"I have never seen you before this very moment," he responded.

She shook her head as if indicating he was wrong in front of the invested crowd.

"You sir took advantage of me and coerced me into an indescretion which left me with a child," she lied once again.

DeSoto made a noise that indicated disapproval.

"Are you saying that he forced you into an act where you conceived his child?" the alcalde asked her.

She nodded her head.

"Yes, he forced me to do that," she continued to lie in front of everyone in the tavern.

"Diego de la Vego, I am arresting you on charges of rape and lewd conduct with this woman!" DeSoto shouted as his voice reverberated around the room.

Several gasps could be heard around the room. Suddenly he was yanked up from his seat by soldiers who had abandoned their meals to arrest him.

"I am innocent, and I have never seen the woman before today!" Diego yelled in outrage.

He did not resist being arrested, as that would have been something that Zorro would have done. Diego would instead be expected to simply allow the soldiers to drag him to the jail.

"I know you are, stay strong my son," his father called out.

He wondered if Victoria would believe the lies or if she would know that he would not have done something so despicable. He had finally been able to have her love him back. It would absolutely break his heart if she no longer wanted to be with him. The soldiers prodded him towards the door as DeSoto gleefully laughed at the situation. He began to attempt to plot in his head on how he was going to get himself out of his current situation as he was escorted to the jail.

Diego stumbled intentionally as they opened the door to guide him into the building. Keeping up appearances of being a less agile person went a long way in helping him keep his identity as Zorro a secret. The soldiers who had been keeping hold of him suddenly jerked him up right before forcefully dragging him through the doorway.

"¡Sigue caminando!" he heard a soldier ordering him to move along.

The soldiers on each side of him continued onwards, almost pulling him along as they walked him to the cell. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain as his legs were kicked out from under him. His body fell forward as he fell face first into the jail cell. The door of the cell slammed shut.

"Usted señor es un animal asqueroso por forzar a una mujer," a soldier growled at him through barred teeth.

They of course had believed the lies about him and thought badly of him.

He began to pace back and forth as he urged his mind to come up with a plan for how to rescue himself from this mess. As the soldiers began to retreat back to finish their meals that they had abandoned in the tavern to arrest him he heard a soldier taunting him,

"I highly doubt that even Zorro would come to rescue you after finding out what you did to that poor woman."

They had absolutely no idea that Zorro was already in the process of planning an escape for him as he himself was the man behind the mask. The door slammed as he was left alone, trapped behind the bars that separated him from the ability to prove his innocence.

He was trapped as he waited for the initial feeling of distress to settle. There was no need for paranoia as he knew he could trust himself to find a solution somehow. Diego glanced around the cell as he searched for a possible way of escape. DeSot finally had him in a stranglehold. His head was pounding as if someone were driving nails into it. He made the sign of the cross and bowed his head. He began to pray to Mary for intervention. He was a man of faith and trusted the power of prayer.

He sat down on the lumpy mattress of the worn down bed provided in the cell. He needed to conserve his energy until he managed to figure out a way to release himself. If he could find a way to convince the person in charge of guarding him to open the door, perhaps he could smash the chamber pot on the guard"s head and quickly escape. He could hear the signs of life around the pueblo from the voices of men and women that were just on the other side of the wall from where he was trapped along with the sounds of laughter and even the neighing and snorts of horses. He hoped that Toronado would overlook his absence as his father and felipe would look after him until Zorro returned. Yes, Zorro definitely needed to be able to investigate and prove his innocence.

As he continued to catch glimpses of the fading light through the windows while waiting on a guard to return to check on him, he felt more and more fatigued. He needed to stay alert and not inadvertently fall asleep. Diego made the decision to get into the floor and exercise to wake up his muscles. He began exerting his pent up energy by working on his core strength with sit ups while listening for the sounds of someone who might be walking towards his cell. The person coming to check on him would not be expecting to see Diego de la Vega exercising. When he grew bored with the sit ups he flipped himself over and began to work on his upper body strength with push ups.

He suddenly launched himself upright into a standing position as he heard the main door of the building opening. He stood by the bars ready and prepared to play mind games with the person who might come through the green door that was just beyond his reach. Someone was definitely heading his way as he certainly heard voices by the door.

When the door opened he saw that it wasn't an average soldier. No, the soldier approaching him was Mendoza who was escorting Victoria to visit with him. Mendoza stood before him with a sad expression on his face.

"Diego, you are one of my dearest friends," the concerned soldier admitted.

He looked at the soldier's troubled face and then over to Victoria's equally worried face. He could definitely see concern in her eyes, not disdain or disgust. Thankfully she seemed to be there to support him.

"Diego, I have to ask, did you do what that lady is claiming that you did?" Mendoza asked.

He admittedly shook his head no as he knew that he had never come across that woman or had done something so inconceivable with anyone.

"I swear that I do not know who that woman is and that I have not fathered any children with anyone," Diego addressed his response to both Victoria and the sergeant.

Victoria turned to Mendoza and asked, "Would you allow me to have some alone time with Diego?"

The soldier scratched his chin as if he were struggling with how to answer her.

"I'm not so sure if that would be a good idea," he replied to Victoria's question.

Victoria laughed gently as she responded, "It's not as if I could break him out of jail with my bare hands."

Mendoza nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"I suppose that you have a point," the gullible soldier admitted.

He grasped Diego's hands through the bars and attempted to console him with a quick squeeze and somber smile before exiting the cell area and closing the door behind him.

"I thought that he might never leave," Victoria nervously joked.

She began to slowly lift up her skirt. Diego was finding himself rather confused as she stood before him with her tantalizing legs on display. He watched in awe as he noticed that she had begun to untie something black from her body that had been concealed by her skirt. When she had freed it from herself she passed the black bundle to him through the bars that separated them. It was Zorro's hat, his clothing and his smallest weapons bundled up into his cape. He now had something with him that would allow him to pick the lock on his cell and free himself. The woman that he loved and trusted with his life had brought Zorro to him. Victoria continued to fumble her hands around under her skirt as she removed his sword which was sheathed at her hip. She quickly passed it through the bars. Diego swiftly hid everything under the lumpy mattress of the small bed in his cell.

"Mi amor, eres tan brillante y valiente," he praised her daring efforts.

He returned to stand at the bars and reached out to hold Victoria's hands. She sighed as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

"I know that my handsome and mostly well mannered Diego would never have done what he has been accused of," she assured him as she gazed into his troubled blue eyes.

He found himself letting out a sigh of relief as he heard her admit that she believed in him.

"I have been doing some eavesdropping while at the tavern and have discovered some information for you," she informed him as she lovingly squeezed his hands.

Diego was eager to find out what she had learned and begin to form a plan to clear his name. Victoria began to tell him all about the discussion that she had heard between DeSoto and the woman.

"I will miss you terribly, but you will probably want to travel to Santa Monica where she says that she is from," she hesitantly informed him.

He could easily travel there in about a day's time to find out if anyone knew of her.

"Her name is Triana Ladron," she continued passing along the details that she had overheard while serving her customers.

He definitely did not know anyone by that name.

"Thank you for spying for me while I have been held captive in this cell," he softly spoke as he didn't want his voice to be overheard.

Victoria looked behind herself at the closed door.

She faced him again as she regretfully announced, "I hate to leave you, but I must get back to the tavern before someone discovers that Sargent Mendoza left me alone in here with you.

"Toronado will be waiting for you in the stable tonight," she added.

Diego placed his head against the bars in frustration as he could not hug her before she left. She had risked so much to help him prepare to escape. Victoria leaned her body against the cell and deeply kissed him through the bars.

"Helping your father and Fellipe get Zorro's things for you was a risk that I had to take," she confessed.

He could only watch as Victoria opened the door and exited the area where he was being held behind the cold and unforgiving bars.

Diego did his best to eat the light evening meal that was brought to him after Victoria had left. He didn't have much of an appetite. When he could tell from the windows that darkness had fallen across the pueblo he attempted to make himself appear as if he were sleeping with his back against the wall. He had hidden his hat behind his back so that he could lie on the terrible mattress and formulate his plan. The guards all assumed that he must be feeling sorry for himself as he remained quiet and faked being asleep when they came to retrieve the tray and dishware from his cell. Apparently DeSoto didn't think of him as important enough to personally visit him there. He continued to wait until he could no longer hear any noises coming from the pueblo except for the sounds made by the creatures of the night as the majority of the inhabitants had probably fallen asleep.

He began to carefully remove his belongings from under the mattress and placed them on the top. The next part of his plan that he executed was to remove his clothing and dress himself in Zorro's black outfit to prepare for blending in with the night. He then continued to affix himself with his weapons. Once again he completely stood still and listened silently for any signs of the soldiers or DeSoto. After not hearing any concerning noise he folded his regular and placed it in between his left arm and his torso. It was time for him to pick the lock. The lock easily turned and he freed himself from the cell. With a swish of his cape he opened the door exiting the area with the cell and snuck past the sleeping guards. He made his way outside of the building flawlessly and undetected.

Diego, who had transitioned into Zorro and was now free paused for a moment to unsheathe his sword and carved a large Z into the dirt path leading to the jail. There would be no mistaking why they could no longer find Diego in his cell. Zorro had come to the rescue of him after all. He quietly walked to where Victoria had hidden Toronado in the stable with her horse. His horse greeted him by nuzzling his face.

"It's great to see you my friend, " he told his ever faithful horse.

He leapt into the saddle and whispered, "Walk on."

Together they quietly left the pueblo without a sound. The only sound that could be heard was a random soldier on guard duty talking in his sleep. Once he was free from the area where others might wake if they heard him escaping, he urged Toronado into a faster gait as he headed to the hacienda to speak with his father and Felipe before traveling to investigate the background of the woman who had been slandering him. It was going to be a very long and tiring night as he would have to begin his journey before anyone had the opportunity to discover that he was missing.