driver, an elderly man, chided the
The drive along the empty road didn’t take long. They passed the airport, Eddie keeping a wary eye open for military patrols, and entered the city. The driver pulled up outside the hospital. ‘Eddie,’ said Osterhagen as the Englishman climbed from the truck, ‘I am going to stay with Ralf.’
‘You sure? They might still be looking for us. Two gringos in the hospital . . . they could make the connection.’
Osterhagen looked at the wounded man. Becker had drifted in and out of consciousness through the entire trek, but never been lucid enough to do more than mumble in German. ‘He will need someone to tell him what has been going on. Besides . . . ’ He regarded the hat he was holding. ‘He is my friend. I should be with him.’
Eddie put a hand on the older man’s shoulder. ‘I can’t argue with that. Just be careful, okay?’
‘I will. And you be careful too.’ They lifted Becker from the truck. ‘What about you and Macy? What are you going to do?’
‘Rescue Nina and Kit. And kill Stikes and Callas. Not necessarily in that order.’
Osterhagen’s face suggested that he thought the latter objective a dangerous step too far, but he said nothing. He and Eddie carried Becker into the hospital. Macy gave a modified version of her story to a nurse to account for Becker’s wound, the ‘crash’ now happening while fleeing armed robbers. The story seemed to be accepted, and Becker was taken away for treatment.
Osterhagen shook Eddie’s hand. ‘Thank you. For keeping us alive.’
‘Shame I couldn’t do it for everyone,’ Eddie replied glumly. ‘But look after Ralf. And yourself. Hopefully see you both again soon.’
‘Thank you,’ the German repeated, before following his friend.
‘So how
The pickup driver had waited for them, keen to learn Becker’s condition in the hope of adding a happy ending to his tale of Samaritanism. ‘We need to get to this Clubhouse place,’ said Eddie. ‘I doubt this bloke’ll take us all the way to Caracas, but ask him how we can get there – if there’s a bus or something.’
Macy did so, learning that there was an overnight bus between Puerto Ayacucho and the capital, with still enough time for them to catch it. ‘Ew, I hate using buses,’ she added after reporting this to Eddie. ‘There’s always some really gross guy trying to check me out.’
‘You want to walk three hundred miles?’
‘Depends how gross the guy is.’
‘Can’t be as gross as those bugs. Ask if he’ll give us a lift to the bus station. Oh, and if there are any payphones there.’
‘Yes, and yes,’ she said after posing both questions. ‘Who are you planning on calling? Someone in the government we can warn about Callas?’
‘I would if I knew who to call, but I don’t – and I don’t know who we can trust, either. If Callas is planning a coup, he’ll need more than just the military on his side. He’d have to have people in the militia too. They’re the biggest threat to him.’
‘Except for you.’
Macy had meant it as a joke, but the smile Eddie gave her had a very hard edge. ‘Yeah. Except for me.’
They got back into the pickup and set off. ‘So who
His smile this time was somewhat warmer. ‘An old friend.’
19
Nina jerked awake, a fierce cramp burning in her arm. For a nightmarish moment she thought the antivenom had worn off, letting the Gormar’s toxin continue its work, but as she scrambled to sit up she realised it was only the result of her uncomfortable sleeping position on the hard floor.
She rolled her shoulder to ease the stiffness. The wallowing nausea had subsided, leaving just a hangover queasiness. Examining her wrist, she saw that the swollen sting had gone down, though it was still an angry red.
‘Nina? Are you all right?’
She looked round to see Kit sitting against the wall of his cell. ‘I’m . . . not great,’ she admitted. ‘But better than I was.’ A glance told her that the guard had been replaced by another man. ‘How long was I asleep?’
Kit checked his watch. ‘Quite a while. It’s after eleven in the morning.’
She had been out for something like fourteen hours while her body did its best to expunge the poison from her system. ‘Jesus. How long have you been awake?’
‘About an hour. I didn’t want to wake you.’
Another look at the guard. This one apparently understood English, his eyes flicking between them as he followed their conversation. ‘We’ve got a new watchman – did I miss anything else?’
‘No, he was there when I woke up. I’ve been spending the time wondering how on earth I ended up in this situation. It seems destiny works in strange ways.’
Nina made a sarcastic sound. ‘You think being tortured with scorpions was our
