Act of Deceit

Chapter 58

U ncle Beto’s hands rested on the mound of his belly as he inspected Donnally’s face. They were sitting at the rough-hewn kitchen table in his adobe bungalow at the western edge of Cancun.

Lalo had just told him that Sherwyn had orchestrated Janie’s kidnapping in order to prevent the release of the recordings.

Donnally felt Beto trying to read his character from his manner and through the loyalty of his nephew.

“ Quien es el oficial de policia que ayuda a Sherwyn? ” Beto asked. Who is the police officer helping Sherwyn?

Donnally answered. “Jago Cruz.”

Beto’s jaw clenched and his face darkened. He slammed the tabletop with this fist. “ Chingaso.” Fucker. “A man with no shame. The only one worse than him is his brother, Gregorio.”

“Not anymore.”

Beto stared up at Donnally. “ Por que? ”

“Sherwyn sent him to San Francisco to kill me,” Donnally said, “but I got him first.”

Beto’s eyes widened, then he smiled. He held up his hand to say that he’d heard enough, and then reached into the breast pocket of his bus driver’s uniform and removed an address book. He opened the worn leather cover, then licked his forefinger and flicked through the pages. He squinted at an entry, frowned, then moved on. Finally he nodded and stood up.

“ Espere aqui,” he said. Wait here.

Donnally rose after Beto left and paced the small room, furious at Sherwyn, and at himself for bringing Janie with him. He felt Lalo’s eyes tracking him, maybe even reading his thoughts.

His phone beeped with an incoming text message. It was from Margaret Perkins: Press conference in a couple of hours. Barton knows you’re in Mexico. He’ll claim you fled the country when the police tried to question you about whether you framed Sherwyn. He’ll demand they issue a warrant for your arrest.

Donnally looked at his watch. Twenty-one hours left.

But then he realized that the press conference was irrelevant and the police were irrelevant and a warrant was irrelevant.

Jago was aiming to kill him, or die trying.

The only relevant thing was whether he could get Janie out of White Sands first.

Donnally stopped pacing and looked out of the kitchen window. A birdcage hung from a porch rafter. The parrot, pressed against the bars, glanced over at Donnally, then down at the dirt floor below. The bird’s unblinking eyes locked on a lizard standing poised to strike an ant crawling into its range.

“I need to know whether Janie is still inside White Sands,” Donnally said, turning back toward Lalo. “And I need to know the layout of the place.”

Lalo stared down for a moment, then rose and stuck out his hand. Donnally reached out with his phone. Lalo waved it away, then rubbed his thumb against his fingers.

“It is not for me,” Lalo said. “I know a boy at White Sands.”

“Tell him not to ask directly, but see if he can find out whether Janie is still there.”

Donnally handed his wallet to Lalo, who took out the pesos, leaving the dollars behind. He returned it and ran out the door.

Turning again toward the parrot, Donnally imagined what the lizard saw, looking up at the caged bird watching him.

The parrot fluttered its wings and then grabbed the bars with its beak and claws and spun itself upside down as if preparing to dive. The lizard darted away.

Donnally reached for his phone and called the West Hollywood telephone number of someone who had connections he didn’t have. His father’s groggy voice answered on the third ring.

“I need your help.”

Donnally described where things stood.

“What can I do?”

“The only way Janie is getting out alive is if we shine a spotlight on White Sands, but the Mexican press won’t touch it. Can you get a U.S. news network down here?”

There was silence on the other end of the line. Finally his father said, “Hold on.”

Donnally heard his father get out of bed, then the sounds of fumbling.

“I know somebody at NBC in New York,” his father said. “Let me give you his number. You’d be better at explaining everything than I would.”

“That won’t work. The press already thinks I’m a lunatic, and Sherwyn’s lawyer is about to go on the attack. Even if they sent someone down here, they’d yank him back as soon as they heard what the lawyer’s got to say about me.”

“I’ll take care of it. I didn’t spend my life becoming a legend for nothing. If they move fast, they might be able to get down there by late this afternoon.”