Family Ties - Chapter 3
Family Ties by Nina Lavoie
Intermediate Level English. All in the present for transposition exercises.
China is back. No, she isn't dead. Not yet. But the Stroessner Fortune is still in play and powerful forces are trying to get it back. The problem was Miguel Angel. His DNA and the codes were both needed to unlock the treasure. And the arrowhead.
When Jane and Miguel Angel are kidnapped, things kick into high gear. China comes out of hiding and a raid is planned for the Stroessner cabin in the jungle near the border with Brazil. From tunnels and caves underground to a bottomless well, things heat up in this final chapter of the adventures of Jane Bertoni and her family in Paraguay.
Family Ties is the third in a series of three books (Family Secrets, Family Matters, and Family Ties) about the Bertoni Family and their adventures in Paraguay.
CHAPTER THREE
Jane is slowly coming awake to the shaking of the van on the dirt road leading into the jungle. How does she know that? Yes, it feels like they are on a dirt road. It is uneven and bumpy, but the jungle?
It is the smell. Humid, warm, wet. And there is the splashing of the tires as they hit potholes full of water. Late afternoon rain. Her mind is working, analyzing, thinking.
She should be scared, shouldn’t she? But she isn’t. She is mad.
The hood is still over her head. Her hands are bound and there is a gag in her mouth so she can’t speak. She hears low murmurs of sound from their captives. She has no way of knowing where Miguel Angel is, but she assumes he is lying next to her on the old mattress thrown on the floor of the van. Yes, she is mad.
She is pretty certain who these goons are. It is the white supremacy group that Benegas was a part of before he left for Argentina. They are going to the house in Bella Vista North that belongs to Miguel Angel’s family. Johnny already told them everything, but these guys don’t know that. Who else can it be?
Which means that they are dumber than a bag of bricks.
Don’t they realize that Moises is dead, and Miguel doesn’t have the codes? She shakes with frustration. It is all so useless. But it is still dangerous. They are after Miguel Angel, and she is just collateral damage. Maybe leverage. She is in more danger than he is.
The van slows down, made a couple more turns and then stops.
The van door opens, and she is hauled out and slung over somebody’s shoulder like a side of beef. They stomp into a house or shelter of some sort, and she is roughly thrown down on a bed.
Her hood is removed, and she blinks a few times to get used to the dim, afternoon light. Miguel Angel is beside her on the bed, his eyes blazing with anger, the gag still in their mouths.
Miguel Angel grunts through his gag to get their attention, wanting to breathe easier. Finally, one of them takes the gags out of their mouths but keeps it hanging around their necks in case they are needed again. “Don’t talk,” one of them says, pointing a finger at each one in turn. “Otherwise, they go back in.”
Apparently, they don’t seem to mind that Miguel Angel and Jane can see their faces and possibly identify them. That isn’t good. It means….
Jane tries to keep her mind off that line of thought. They have to escape, pure and simple.
“Are you alright?” Miguel mouths the words without saying them out loud. Jane nods. Their captors had left the room and closed the door, but they are taking no chances with the gags being put back in. Miguel Angel looks around the room, searching for anything that can help them escape. There is nothing.
“Benegas,” Jane mouths the word and Miguel Angel realizes everything that Jane had already surmised. That is the only good news they have. Johnny and the police will raid this place as soon as they discover that they had gone missing. It is only logical.
Still, this group had escaped twice before so maybe they had a right to feel so confident.
Jeremy and Annie rush towards China to hug her. They are so relieved. China doesn’t smile. “I’m so sorry but this is all very dangerous.”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” Annie says. “We’re just glad you’re alright.”
“I need to worry about it right now,” China says. “Please sit down on the bed.” She turns around and pulls on a rope and the bed eases back to the floor as if it was on hydraulics.
“Cool,” Jeremy says.
“Yes, way cool,” China says and ruffles his hair. “Too smart for your own britches.”
“I found you, grandma,” Jeremy says delightedly.
“Sit down for a moment,” China says, indicating the bed. “We need to talk. I can’t let certain people know that I’m here. At least, not yet.”
“Who are you talking about,” Annie says. “Arnold and Jane or the Montoya’s?”
“Neither one,” China says, irritated. “It’s that Johnny character that I don’t trust.”
“He’s been helping us,” Jeremy says. “I showed him the tunnel and he found out about Benegas eavesdropping on us from the attic and he brought Alicia to our house last night.”
“Yes, I know,” China says.
“How could you know,” Annie says. “Were you able to hear our conversation in the living room?”
China looks a bit sheepish. “Yes, I was listening.”
“So, there are even more bugs in this house,” Annie says, exasperated. “We should just burn the whole place down.”
“You’re not serious, mom?” Jeremy says with wide eyes.
Annie looks exasperated. “No, no. I’m just saying. I don’t know what I’m saying.”
“I apologize,” China says. “I will remove all of the listening devices once we get this whole thing sorted.”
“Why don’t you trust Johnny,” Annie says.
“Well, he isn’t family for one thing,” China says. “And he had a bunch of his people go through my things in Chicago for another. I know it was him. I caught him on camera before he shut everything down.”
“Yes, it was,” Annie says. “Arnold gave him permission to check out your rooms to find out if you were really a spy.”
“Are you a spy, grandma?” Jeremy asks.
China just looks at him. “You have no idea,” she says with a smile.
“Cool,” Jeremy says. He is happy to have his grandmother back but even happier that she is a real, honest-to-goodness secret agent.
“But I still don’t trust Johnny, or his people,” China says. “I had important information written down and, if he found it, the whole family is in danger.”
“What are you talking about?” Annie asks. “Are you talking about the Stroessner Fortune. We already know about that. Miguel Angel is the last living male heir. But he doesn’t have the codes, so it doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter,” China says. But then she would say no more.
“What should we do, grandma?” Jeremy asks.
China looks down at her hands for a long moment then she lifts her head and speaks. “We don’t have a lot of time. A couple of days at most. We need to find out if we can trust Johnny Quintos.”
“These men are from the government,” Maria says. “I checked their credentials and reminded them of the dangers of lying to a lawyer who can literally destroy their lives even if they work for the government.” She glares at the two men sitting in her living room.
Alicia doesn’t say anything.
“They want to talk to you about Johnny Quintos,” Maria says. “Apparently, he isn’t who he says he is.”
“What do you mean?” Alicia asks. She is starting to like Johnny. A lot.
“First of all, he isn’t a teacher,” one of them says. “My apologies, my name is Ricardo and my partner’s name is Ignacio.”
“What do you mean he isn’t a teacher?” It is Maria who spoke.
“Well, he is, and he isn’t,” Ignacio, the other one, explains. “He is a teacher, and he works for the school, but he is more than a teacher.”
“He’s an American CIA agent,” Ricardo says.
“Goodness,” Maria says.
Alicia is quiet. This is news for her as well.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Ricardo says. “Seems like you aren’t very surprised.”
“Why tell me?” Alicia says. “Go talk to the school.”
“Well, you’re his girlfriend, so we wanted to talk to you.” Ignacio throws a photo down on the coffee table between them.
Maria turns to look at her daughter. “Alicia, what’s going on? You can’t be dating your teacher. It’s not right.”
Alicia turns on her mom. “It’s my life, mom.” But then stops herself from getting too angry. She needs more information. “Look, it was only one kiss. I hardly know the guy. It was exciting to be dating my teacher, that’s all.”
“What do you know about him?” Ignacio asks.
“He works for an international security firm, and he is helping the Bertoni family sort out some things. Their grandma went missing and then was reported dead. He was working with the police to try to find her.”
“Anything else?”
“No, that’s it.” Has she said too much?
“That international security firm is called the CIA and whatever he’s doing for the Bertoni and Montoya family,” Ricardo pauses, “is illegal in this country. The CIA is not welcome here.”
“What do you want me to do?” she asks quietly.
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