Family Ties - Chapter 6

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 SIX

“I don’t have time to figure out if I can trust you,” China says, looking at Johnny. “Jane and Miguel Angel are missing and that is the priority right now.”

Johnny had half-risen from his chair when China had walked into the room. Arnold had gotten up to hug his mother and when she was finally able to escape from his embrace, she had addressed
Johnny.

“I don’t know how to prove to you that I am on your side,” Johnny says.

“Well, the fact that you are in violation of your orders with the CIA is a good start,” China says.

She indicates that Arnold should sit down again on the sofa next to Annie.

But Arnold is getting suspicious. He looks at Annie and Jeremy. “Not even a hug or a hello from you two? What’s going on?”

“I found China this morning hiding under her bed in her room,” Jeremy says lightly. “And mom and I have already been planning with her how to rescue Jane.”

“And Miguel Angel,” Annie adds.

“When were you going to tell me about all of this,” demands Arnold, not liking to be left out of things.

“I told them to say nothing for a couple of hours,” China says.

“I needed to come up with some way to test Johnny’s commitment to the family rather than to his job.”

“And did you?” Johnny asks.

“Now it doesn’t matter,” China says, “I can’t afford not to trust you. We need your help.”

“What can I do?” Johnny says.

“You can go back to the CIA and give them a message from me,” China says. “They need to get Jane and Miguel Angel out of there tonight or there’s no deal.”

“Ok, give me the message and I will get it to the right people within the hour,” Johnny says. “Are you going to tell us what lock the arrowheads fit into?”

“One arrowhead,” China corrects him, “and no, I’m not.”

She writes a long note on a piece of paper and hands it to Johnny. “At least not yet,” she adds.

The voice on the other end of the call is distorted by a scrambling device. All Juan Carlos can tell is that it is a male voice. It is demanding and insistent. Juan Carlos is aware that these are people you cannot take lightly.

“We have your son,” the voice says. “We want the codes.”

“We don’t have….”

“China has the codes,” the voice interrupts him.

“Don’t speak again. You will bring China to the house in Bella Vista Norte tonight. No police. No CIA….”

“CIA?” Juan Carlos says.

“…just you and China. We will release the girl immediately as a sign of good faith. When we finish with your son, we will release him and China. Not a moment sooner.”

“How can I trust you?” Juan Carlos says, but all he hears is a click and silence on the other end of the phone.

The four-hour drive to Bella Vista Norte at night is hazardous but necessary. The two cars chase each other through the night trying to get there on time. The two families had conferred on the phone,

gotten into their respective cars, and met at the outskirts of Asuncion to make the final race to the jungle.

The problem is China. She is not with them. She had insisted that she would meet them there and that she would be on time but there are things she needs to do first. They have to trust her.

Lujan explains how she had set things in motion for a rescue attempt that very night by the police and local government authorities. Arnold had explained about the note that China had given to Johnny hours before and that the CIA was also in motion.

But now it is not only unnecessary but dangerous. No CIA, the voice had demanded, no police. But that is exactly what they had done and now it is a race against time to get there before the CIA and the police moved in.

Otherwise, who knows what will happen.

Jane and Miguel Angel are on the move. Slowly at first. Carefully. Staying to the shadows but moving. Finally, they are able to slip into the tunnel at the back of the cavern and immediately realize why it

had not been guarded. They almost fall into a dark hole in the floor of the cave. Jane had seen it at the last second.

They study the hole carefully, looking for a way across or around it but find nothing. It is too dark to see much as it is, so it is mostly feeling their way around without making too much noise. Miguel Angel tried to go around one way and Jane the other, but they are back almost at once with no success. Miguel Angel decides to see if there are handholds on the wall that they can use to either climb upwards or around the hole to the other side. Nothing.

Jane feels for handholds along the wall of the hole reaching down as far as she can without falling in. There are a few possibilities to get started with but then what? How far down does it go? Are there other handholds further down? They simply don’t know.

Jane drops a stone down the well to see how far it goes but she hears nothing. No splash, no rock striking rock. Nothing.

They hear some movement back in the cavern and then a startled voice as they realize that they have escaped. There is a rush of wings as the bats, disturbed from their slumber, take flight. Miguel grabs Jane and they press their bodies against the rock, protecting their faces. They are practically in the entrance to the cave and the bats fly past them, some colliding into them. As they pass, Jane and Miguel Angel quickly look up to see which way they had gone. But it is impossible to follow them. They had flown straight up the narrow shaft they are in. There is no escape following the bats.

They only have moments before they will be discovered. An idea is nagging at the back of Jane’s mind, but she can’t place it. No splash. No sound of rock striking rock. Sand? Is the bottom of the well made of sand? It is worth the chance. But they still don’t know how deep it is.

Jane whispers her idea to Miguel Angel, and he quickly agrees. They swing their feet over the edge and grop for a good foothold. It takes time and time is not what they have. But moving too quickly can also be disastrous. Finally, they climb down below the edge of the well and are still moving downwards.

Suddenly, Miguel Angel whispers, “Stop,” and they both hang there on the wall without moving, sweating profusely, holding their breath as their captives come into the alcove and look into the well. Hopefully, they can see nothing but darkness.

“Go and get one of the lanterns,” one of them says.

“Are you crazy,” the other one laughs. “You think they jumped into this hole? If they did, they’re dead.”

“Well, if that’s the case, we need to retrieve the bodies. Apparently, we need his DNA.”

“Maybe they snuck into one of the other tunnels on the other side of the cavern,” the other one says. “Let’s check them first.”

They both turn to go back into the cavern and their voices fade temporarily.

Jane cannot hold on any longer and her fingers start to slip. “Miguel,” she cries out. He grabs her wrist just as she lets go but cannot hold her weight. They tumble down into the well together.

Copyright © 2023-2025 by Bert A. Amsing and vanKregten Publishers. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from Bert A. Amsing and/or vanKregten Publishers.

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