Sidney Sheldon - The sands of time

Ricardo nodded at Megan and Amparo and Felix. He looked around. "Where are the others?"

"Haven't you seen the newspapers?"

"Newspapers? No. We've been in the mountains."

"I have bad news," Jaime said. "Rubio is in a prison hospital."

Ricardo stared at him. "How—?"

"He was stabbed in a bar fight. The police picked him up."

"Mierda!" Ricardo was silent a moment, then sighed. "We'll just have to get him out, won't we?"

"That's my plan," Jaime agreed.

"Where's Sister Lucia?" Graciela asked. "And Sister

Teresa?"

It was Megan who answered. "Sister Lucia has been arrested. She was—she was wanted for murder. Sister Teresa is dead."

Graciela crossed herself. "Oh, my Lord."

In the arena a clown was walking a tightrope, carrying a poodle under each arm and two Siamese cats in his capacious pockets. As the dogs tried to reach the cats, the wire swayed wildly and the clown pretended to be fighting to keep his balance. The audience was roaring. It was difficult to hear anything over the noise of the crowd. Megan and Graciela had so much to tell each other. Almost simultaneously, they began to talk in the sign language of the convent. The others looked on in astonishment.

Ricardo and I are going to marry…

That's wonderful…

What has been happening to you?

Megan started to reply and realized there were no signs to convey the things she wanted to say. It would have to wait.

"Let's move," Jaime said. "There's a van outside waiting to take us to Mendavia. We'll drop the sisters off there and be on our way."

They started up the aisle, Jaime holding Amparo's arm.

When they were outside in the parking lot, Ricardo said,

"Jaime, Graciela and I are getting married."

A grin lit up Jaime's face. "That's wonderful!

Congratulations." He turned to Graciela. "You couldn't have picked a better man."

Megan put her arms around Graciela. "I'm very happy for you both." And she thought: Was it easy for her to make the decision to leave the convent? Am I wondering about Graciela?

Or am I wondering about myself?

Colonel Acoña was receiving an excited report from an aide.

"They were seen at the circus less than an hour ago. By the time we could bring up reinforcements, they had gone.

They left in a blue and white van. You were right, Colonel.

They are headed for Mendavia."

So it's finally over, Acoña thought. The chase had been an exciting one, and he had to admit that Jaime Miró had been a worthy opponent. The OPUS MUNDO will have even bigger plans for me now.

Through a pair of high-powered Zeiss binoculars, Acoña watched the blue and white van appear over the crest of a hill and head for the convent below. Heavily armed troops were hidden among the trees along both sides of the road and around the convent itself. There was no way anyone could escape.

As the van approached the entrance to the convent and braked to a stop, Colonel Acoña barked into his walkie-talkie, "Close in! Now!"

The maneuver was executed perfectly. Two squads of soldiers armed with automatic weapons swung into position,

blocking the road and surrounding the van. Acoña stood watching the scene for an instant, savoring his moment of glory. Then he slowly approached the van, gun in hand.

"You're surrounded," he called out. "You haven't got a chance. Come out with your hands up. One at a time. If you try to resist, you'll all die."

There was a long moment of silence, and then the van door slowly opened and three men and three women emerged,

trembling, their hands raised high above their heads.

They were strangers.

High on a hill above the convent, Jaime and the others observed Acoña and his men move in on the van. They saw the terrified passengers get out, hands raised, and watched the scene played out in pantomime.

Jaime could almost hear the dialogue: Who are you?

We work at a hotel outside Logroño. What are you doing here?

A man gave us five thousand pesetas to deliver this van to the convent. What man?

I don't know. I never saw him before. Is this his picture?

Yes. That's him.

"Let's get out of here," Jaime said.

They were in a white station wagon, heading back to

Logroño. Megan was looking at Jaime in wonder.

"How did you know?"

"That Colonel Acoña would be waiting for us at the convent? He told me."

"What?"

"The fox has to think like the hunter, Megan. I put myself in Acoña's place. Where would he set a trap for me? He did exactly what I would have done."

"And if he had not shown up?"

"Then it would have been safe to take you into the convent."

"What happens now?" Felix asked.

It was the question uppermost in all their minds.

"Spain isn't safe for any of us for a while," Jaime decided. "We'll head directly for San Sebastian and into

France." He looked at Megan. "There are Cistercian convents there."

It was more than Amparo could bear.

"Why don't you give yourself up? If you keep on this way,

there will be more blood spilled and more lives taken—"

"You've lost the right to speak," Jaime said curtly. "Just be grateful you're still alive." He turned to Megan. "There are ten mountain passes across the Pyrenees leading from San

Sebastian to France. We'll cross there."

"It's too dangerous," Felix objected. "Acoña's going to be looking for us in San Sebastian. He'll be expecting us to cross the border into France."

"If it's that dangerous—" Graciela began.

"Don't worry," Jaime assured her. "San Sebastian is Basque country."

The station wagon was approaching the outskirts of Logroño again.

"All the roads to San Sebastian will be watched," Felix warned. "How do you plan for us to get there?"

Jaime had already decided. "We'll take the train."

"The soldiers will be searching the trains," Ricardo objected.

Jaime gave Amparo a thoughtful look. "No. I don't think so. Our friend here is going to help us. Do you know how to reach Colonel Acoña?"

She hesitated. "Yes."

"Good. You're going to call him."

They stopped at one of the telephone booths along the highway. Jaime followed Amparo into the booth and closed the door. He was holding a pistol to her side.

"You know what to say?"

"Yes."

He watched her dial a number, and when a voice answered,

she said, "This is Amparo Jirуn. Colonel Acoña is expecting my call… Thank you." She looked up at Jaime. "They're putting me through." The gun was pressing against her. "Do you have to—?"

"Just do as you were told." His voice was ice.

A moment later, Jaime heard Acoña's voice come over the phone. "Where are you?"

The gun pressed against her harder. "I—I'm—we're just leaving Logroño."

"Do you know where our friends are going?"

"Yes."

Jaime's face was inches from hers, his eyes hard.

"They've decided to reverse themselves to throw you off.

They're on their way to Barcelona. He's driving a white Seat.

He'll be taking the main highway."

Jaime nodded at her. "I—I have to go now. The car is here." Jaime pressed down the receiver. "Very good. Let's go.

We'll give him half an hour to call off his men here."

Thirty minutes later they were at the railroad station.

There were three classes of trains from Logroño to San

Sebastian: The TALGO was the luxury train; the second-class train was the TER; and the worst and cheapest trains,

uncomfortable and dirty, were misnamed the expresos— they stopped at every little station from Logroño to San

Sebastian.

Jaime said, "We'll take the expreso. By now all of Acoña's men will be busy stopping every white Seat on the road to