‘They will be very discreet, I assure you.’ De Quesada smiled again, then stood. ‘So,’ he said, extending his right hand, ‘we have a deal?’
Callas shook it. ‘We have a deal.’
‘Thank you.’
The screens went black, then Suarez returned, looking off to one side at a monitor and seeming as astounded by what he had just seen as those in the lobby. But Nina was more interested in the one TV still showing what was happening outside. ‘Eddie, look!’
The soldiers were staring up at the big screen beneath the cameraman’s vantage point. The protesters were doing the same, everyone’s attention captured by the broadcast. The camera zoomed in on the troops. Confusion was clear on their upturned faces . . . quickly turning to shock and outrage.
Eddie watched as the new emotions rippled through Callas’s forces. ‘This should be interesting . . . ’
Callas, standing with a group of his commanders amongst the military vehicles, struggled to conceal his dismay as Suarez returned to the giant screen. Part of him knew that the game was over; the incriminating recording had just been broadcast to the entire country, and more worryingly to his forces outside the television station. While he was using carefully chosen corrupt men to ensure that narcotics traffic across the Orinoco followed his rules, he knew that the vast majority of Venezuela’s soldiers despised the drug lords.
But another part refused to give up. He had come so close! And Suarez was inside the building. He could still be captured, some fairy tale about the recording being faked with computer graphics and a vocal impersonator concocted. ‘Well?’ he snapped. ‘What are you waiting for? We’ll take the building – I want Suarez to pay for these lies!’
A young captain faced him. ‘General, was that – real?’
‘Of course it wasn’t real!’ But Callas could see that doubt had taken root. He decided that sheer volume was the best way to overcome it. ‘You idiots! This is exactly what Suarez wants, for you to think I’m in league with drug lords.’
‘But that was the Clubhouse, I recognised it.’ Other men nearby voiced agreement.
‘Never mind that.’ He jabbed an angry finger at the studios. ‘I want Suarez captured, now!’ Nobody moved.
Other soldiers closed in, faces dark, betrayed. Another officer spoke. ‘We want an explanation, general. Did you really make a deal with some Colombian so he could sell drugs to our children?’
‘Get back,’ Callas warned. The advance continued, more troops surrounding him. ‘I’m warning you, do as I say!’
‘Get him,’ growled the captain.
Several men lunged at Callas. He grabbed for his sidearm, but they pinned his arms behind his back. ‘You bastards!’ he snarled. ‘Suarez will wreck the entire country – I’m its only hope! Everything I do is for the good of Venezuela!’
The captain stood before him, lips tight. ‘Let’s find out who is telling the truth.’ He nodded to the men holding the general. ‘Bring him.’
Stikes observed the scene below through binoculars as the Hind continued its orbit. ‘Looks as though we’re out of pocket on this job, boys,’ he said coldly as he watched Callas being frogmarched through the crowd. ‘Gurov, get us out of here.’
The gunship changed course, sweeping away into the darkness over the city.
‘It’s Callas!’ Nina said as the cameraman zoomed in on the man being forced towards the building. ‘They’ve arrested him!’
‘We’ll see,’ said Eddie, more wary. ‘It might be a trap.’ But the gunfire had stopped, and the soldiers were retreating to leave a space outside the entrance. The two sides genuinely seemed in a state of uneasy truce.
Suarez hurried into the lobby, followed by the man in the yellow tie, now powering up a professional video camera. The President ordered that the barricades be moved from the doors.
‘You sure that’s a good idea?’ Macy asked him.
‘I want to see him face to face,’ came the reply. ‘And the people have to see that I am still in charge.’ Then he addressed the little group of foreign visitors in English. ‘I have not said thank you – you saved my life. You saved my country. Thank you.’ He added something in Spanish, then strode to the doors as the blockade was cleared.
‘What did he say?’ asked Kit.
‘That we’re heroes of the socialist revolution, and we’ll all get medals,’ Macy told him. She grimaced. ‘That’s not something I’m gonna be wearing around Miami.’
‘I can see it wouldn’t be too popular,’ said Nina, amused.
Eddie huffed. ‘Can’t we just get money?’
The station personnel opened the doors. There was a moment of tension as Suarez was revealed to the world outside, standing in plain view of any potential assassin, but it passed. People began to cheer. Suarez waved his hands for silence as he stepped into the open. The cameraman bustled after him to record the scene.
The soldiers brought the struggling Callas to a stop in front of the President. Nina and Eddie watched as the two men faced each other. Suarez spoke first. ‘Salbatore. I never thought it would be you who turned against me.’
‘That’s because you’re blind, Tito,’ Callas spat. ‘You’re living in a fantasy world.’ Sarcasm twisted his lips. ‘All your glorious revolution will do is make
