Arthur Hailey - Evening News

What he really longed for at this moment was a drink several drinks; in fact, Baudelio wanted to get drunk as soon as possible. While he had continued taking the Antabuse tablets which made it impossible to drink liquor without becoming violently ill—Miguel still insisted on the alcoholic ex-doctor swallowing one tablet in his presence daily—Baudelio intended to stop the Antabuse the instant he and Miguel parted company. As far as Baudelio was concerned, that could not be too soon.

Something else Baudelio wanted was his woman in Lima. He knew she was a slut, had been a prostitute, and was a drunkard like himself, but in the messy detritus of his shattered life, she was all he had and he missed her. His own empty loneliness had been the reason for his illicit use, a week ago, of one of the cellular phones to call his woman from the Hackensack house. Since making that call, against Miguel's orders, Baudelio had worried a lot, dreading that Miguel would find out. But the call had apparently gone undiscovered, for which he was relieved.

Oh, how he needed that drink!

* * *

The chocolate, while not a lasting substitute for food, had helped.

Jessica did not waste mental effort wondering why the sour faced woman had so impetuously left a chocolate bar, apart from noting that she was a person of unpredictable moods. Instead Jessica concealed the chocolate in a pocket of her dress, keeping it out of sight of the armed men aboard.

While traveling upriver, Jessica gave most of the chocolate to Nicky, but ate some herself and insisted that Angus have some too. It was important, she pointed out, keeping her voice low, that they all preserve their strength—which was clearly ebbing after the time in the open truck, then the exhausting march through the jungle and now their several hours in the boat.

As to the length of time the three of them had been unconscious, Jessica realized there was a clue in Angus's growth of beard. She hadn't noticed before, but the unshaved gray hairs on his face were surprisingly long. When she pointed this out, Angus felt his face and estimated it was four or five days since his last shave.

Perhaps that wasn't important now, but Jessica was still absorbing all the information she could, a reason she tried to stay alert during the river journey.

There wasn't much to see, except thickly growing trees and foliage on both banks, and the river itself winding sinuously, hardly ever in a straight line. Several times small canoes were visible in the distance, but none came close.

Throughout the journey Jessica was plagued by constant itching. Earlier, in the hut where she first returned to consciousness seated on the dirt floor, she had been aware of insects crawling on her. Now she realized they were fleas, which had stayed with her and were biting persistently. But short of stripping, there was no way she could remove them. She hoped that wherever she and the others were being taken, there would be ample water so she could wash the fleas away.

Like everyone else, Jessica, Nicky and Angus were soaked in the deluge of rain shortly before landing at Nueva Esperanza. But as their boat made fast against a crude wooden jetty, the rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and at that same moment the spirits of all three sank as they saw the awful, forbidding place ahead.

Beyond a rough and muddy path from the riverbank was a series of dilapidated houses, about two dozen in all, some merely shacks built partly from old packing cases and rusted corrugated iron and supplemented by bamboo stems. Most of the houses were windowless, though two had what appeared to be small storefronts. Thatched roofs showed disrepair, and some had gaping holes. Discarded cans and other garbage littered the surrounding area. A few scrawny chickens ran loose. Off to one side, a dead dog was being pecked by buzzards.

Could there possibly be something better farther on? The dismal answer appeared when a rough, now muddy road leading out of the hamlet came into sight. The road climbed a hill and on either side, beyond the few houses already in view, was nothing but two barricading walls of jungle. At the top of the hill the road disappeared.

Later, Jessica and the others would learn that Nueva Esperanza was basically a fishing village, though Sendero Luminoso used it from time to time for purposes the organization wanted hidden.”

"Vayanse a tierra! Muevanse! Apurense!” Gustavo shouted at the prisoners, at the same time signaling them to move. Dejected, dreading whatever was to come, Jessica and the other two obeyed.

What happened minutes later was even worse than they had feared.

After being escorted by Gustavo and four more armed men up the muddy path, they were herded into a shack which stood farthest from the river. Inside, it took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the semidarkness. When they did, Jessica screamed in anguish.

”Oh, my god, no! You can't shut us in those! Not in cages, like animals! Please! Please no!”

What she had seen set against the far wall were three partitioned cells about eight feet square. Thin but strong bamboo stalks, securely fastened, were a substitute for bars. Additionally, between each cell, wire screening had been nailed so there could be no physical contact between adjoining occupants or anything passed from one enclosure to another. At the front of each cell was a door fitted with a sliding steel bar and, outside, a heavy padlock.

Inside each cell was a low wooden bed and a thin, soiled mattress, alongside the bed a galvanized pail, presumably intended as a toilet. The whole place stank.

While Jessica pleaded and protested, Gustavo seized her. Though she continued struggling, his hands were like steel. Impelling her forward, he ordered, " Vete para adentro !” Then in halting English, "You go in there.”

"In there” was the enclosure farthest from the shack's outer door and, with a forceful shove, Gustavo pushed Jessica to the inside wall. As she fell against it, the cell door closed and she heard the padlock's metallic click. Outside, at the opposite end of the shack, she could hear Angus fighting and arguing too, but he was subdued, thrown in, and the padlock fastened. In the cell next to her own, Jessica heard Nicky sobbing.

Tears of rage, frustration and despair coursed down her cheeks.

A week and a half had passed since the sixty temporary recruits had been turned loose by CBA News to make a study of the region's local newspapers, searching for a headquarters that the Sloane family's kidnappers might have used. However, no progress had been made, nor had there been developments in other areas.

The FBI, while not saying specifically it had reached a dead end, had nothing new to report. The CIA, now rumored to be involved, would make no statement.

What everyone was waiting for, it seemed, was some word from the kidnappers, presumably accompanied by demands. So far it hadn't happened.

The kidnap story was still very much in the news, though on TV newscasts it had ceased to be the lead item, and in newspapers was usually on an inside page.

Despite the apparent waning of the public interest, there was no shortage of speculation. Among the news media there appeared a growing belief that the kidnap victims had somehow been spirited from the country and were overseas. As to precisely where, most hypotheses centered on the Middle Fast.

Only at CBA News were there contrary indications. Because of the special task force identification of a Colombian terrorist, Ulises Rodriguez, as a kidnap gang participant and perhaps the gang's leader, Latin America had become the focus of attention. Unfortunately, no particular country had been determined as the kidnappers' base.

To the surprise of everyone involved, knowledge of the Rodriguez connection remained exclusively with CBA News. It had been expected that the discovery would quickly be duplicated by other networks and newspapers and thus become public information, but while that could still occur at any time, it hadn't yet. There was even some unease at CBA about the News Division's continuing to withhold its knowledge concerning Rodriguez from the FBI.