Sidney Sheldon - The sands of time

"Do you mind if I try one?"

He looked at her in surprise. "You wish to try a cigarette?"

"Just to see what it's like," Lucia said quickly.

"Oh. Of course."

He held the pack toward her. She took out a cigarette, put it between her lips, and he lit the end of it. Lucia inhaled deeply, and as the smoke filled her lungs she felt wonderful.

Rubio was watching her, puzzled.

She coughed. "So that's what a cigarette tastes like."

"Do you like it?"

"Not really, but—"

Lucia took another deep, satisfying puff. God, how she had missed this. But she knew she had to be careful. She did not want to make him suspicious. So she put out the cigarette she held clumsily in her fingers. She had been in the convent for only a few months, and yet Rubio was right. It did seem strange to be out in the world again. She wondered how Megan and Graciela were doing. And what had happened to Sister

Teresa? Had she been captured by the soldiers?

Lucia's eyes were beginning to sting. It had been a long,

tension-filled night. "I think I may take a little nap."

"Don't worry. I will watch over you, Sister."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. Within moments she was asleep.

Rubio Arzano looked down at her and thought: I have never seen a woman like this one. She was spiritual, having dedicated her life to God, and yet at the same time there was an earthiness about her. And she had behaved this night as bravely as any man. You are a very special woman, Rubio

Arzano thought as he watched her sleep. Little sister of

Jesus.

Colonel Fal Sostelo was on his tenth cigarette. I can't put it off any longer, he decided. Bad news is best gotten out of the way quickly. He took several deep breaths to calm himself and then dialed a number. When he had Ramón Acoña on the telephone, he said,"Colonel, we raided a terrorist camp last night, where I was informed Jaime Miró was, and I thought you should know about it."

There was a dangerous silence.

"Did you catch him?"

"No."

"You undertook this operation without consulting me?"

"There was no time to—"

"But there was time to let Miró escape." Acoña's voice was filled with fury. "What led you to undertake this magnificently executed operation?"

Colonel Sostelo swallowed. "We caught one of the nuns from the convent. She led us to Miró and his men. We killed one of them in the attack."

"But the others all escaped?"

"Yes, Colonel."

"Where is the nun now? Or did you let her get away, too?"

His tone was scathing.

"No, Colonel," Sostelo said quickly. "She is here at the camp. We have been questioning her and—"

"Don't. I'll question her myself. I'll be there in one hour. See if you can manage to hang on to her until I get there." He slammed down the receiver.

Exactly one hour later, Colonel Ramón Acoña arrived at the camp where they were holding Sister Teresa. With him were a dozen of his men from the GOE.

"Bring the nun to me," Colonel Acoña ordered.

Sister Teresa was brought to the headquarters tent where

Acoña was waiting for her. He stood up politely when she entered the tent and smiled.

"I am Colonel Acoña."

At last! "I knew you would come. God told me."

He nodded pleasantly."Did He? Good. Please sit down,

Sister."

Sister Teresa was too nervous to sit. "You must help me."

"We're going to help each other," the colonel assured her.

"You escaped from the Cistercian convent at Ávila, is that correct?"

"Yes. It was terrible. All those men. They did godless things and—" Her voice faltered.

And stupid things. We let you and the others escape. "How did you get here, Sister?"

"God brought me here. He's testing me as He once tested—"

"Along with God, did some men also bring you here,

Sister?" Colonel Acoña asked patiently.

"Yes. They kidnapped me. I had to escape from them."

"You told Colonel Sostelo where he could find those men."

"Yes. The evil ones. Raoul is behind it all, you see. He sent me a letter and said—"

"Sister, the man we're looking for in particular is Jaime

Miró. Have you seen him?"

She shivered. "Yes. Oh, yes. He—"

The colonel leaned forward. "Excellent. Now, you must tell me where I can find him."

"He and the others are on their way to Иze."

He frowned, puzzled. "To Иze? To France?"

Her words were a wild babble. "Yes. Monique deserted

Raoul, and he sent the men to kidnap me because of the baby so—"

He tried to control his growing impatience. "Miró and his men are headed north. Иze is to the east."

"You must not let them take me back to Raoul. I don't want to see him ever again. You can understand that. I couldn't face him—"

Colonel Acoña said curtly, "I don't give a damn about this

Raoul. I want to know where I can find Jaime Miró."

"I told you. He is in Иze waiting for me. He wants to—"

"You're lying. I think you're trying to protect Miró. Now,

I don't want to hurt you, so I'm going to ask you once more.

Where is Jaime Miró?"

Sister Teresa stared at him helplessly. "I don't know."

she whispered. She looked around wildly. "I don't know."

"A moment ago you said he was in Иze." His voice was like a whiplash.

"Yes. God told me."

Colonel Acoña had had enough. The woman was either demented or a brilliant actress. Either way, she sickened him with all her talk of God.

He turned to Patricko Arrieta, his aide. "The Sister's memory needs prodding. Take her to the quartermaster's tent.

Perhaps you and your men can help her remember where Jaime

Miró is."

"Yes, Colonel."

Patricio Arrieta and the men with him had been part of the group that had attacked the convent at Ávila. They felt responsible for letting the four nuns escape. Well, we can make up for that now, Arrieta thought.

He turned to Sister Teresa. "Come along with me, Sister."

"Yes." Dear blessed Jesus, thank You. She babbled on. "Are we leaving now? You won't let them take me to Иze, will you?"

"No," Arrieta assured her. "You're not going to Иze."

The colonel is right, he thought. She is playing games with us. Well, we'll show her some new games. I wonder if she'll lie quietly, or if she'll scream?

When they reached the quartermaster's tent, Arrieta said,

"Sister, we're going to give you one last chance. Where is

Jaime Miró?"

Haven't they asked me that before? Or was that someone else? Was it here or—it's all terribly confusing. "He kidnapped me for Raoul because Monique deserted him and he thought—"

"Bueno. If that's the way you want it," Arrieta said.

"We'll see if we can't refresh your memory for you."

"Yes. Please. Everything is so puzzling."

Half a dozen of Acoña's men had entered the tent, along with some of Sostelo's uniformed soldiers.

Sister Teresa looked up. She blinked dazedly. "Are these men going to take me to the convent now?"

"They're going to do better than that," Arrieta grinned.

"They're going to take you to heaven, Sister."

The men moved closer to her, surrounding her.

"That's a pretty dress you're wearing," a soldier said.

"Are you sure you're a nun, darling?"

"Oh, yes," she said. Raoul had called her darling. Was this Raoul? "You see, we had to change clothes to escape from the soldiers." But these were soldiers. Everything was muddled.

One of the men pushed Teresa down on the cot. "You're no beauty, but let's see what you look like underneath all those clothes."

"What are you doing?"

He reached down and ripped off the top of her dress while another man tore at her skirt.

"That's not a bad body for an old lady, is it, fellows?"