Sands of Time

Lucia’s eyes were beginning to sting. It had been a long, tensionfilled night. "I think I may take a little nap."

"Don’t worry. I will watch over you, Sister."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. Within moments she was asleep.

Rubio Arzano looked down at her and thought: I have never seen a woman like this one. She was spiritual, having dedicated her life to God, and yet at the same time there was an earthiness about her. And she had behaved this night as bravely as any man. You are a very special woman, Rubio Arzano thought as he watched her sleep. Little sister of Jesus.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Colonel Fal Sostelo was on his tenth cigarette. I can’t put it off any longer, he decided. Bad news is best gotten out of the way quickly. He took several deep breaths to calm himself and then dialed a number. When he had Ramon Acoca on the telephone, he said, "Colonel, we raided a terrorist camp last night, where I was informed Jaime Miro was, and I thought you should know about it."

There was a dangerous silence.

"Did you catch him?"

"No."

"You undertook this operation without consulting me?"

"There was no time to – "

"But there was time to let Miro escape." Acoca’s voice was filled with fury. "What led you to undertake this magnificently executed operation?"

Colonel Sostelo swallowed. "We caught one of the nuns from the convent. She led us to Miro and his men. We killed one of them in the attack."

"But the others all escaped?"

"Yes, Colonel."

"Where is the nun now? Or did you let her get away, too?" His tone was scathing.

"No, Colonel," Sostelo said quickly. "She is here at the camp. We have been questioning her and – "

"Don’t. I’ll question her myself. I’ll be there in one hour. See if you can manage to hang on to her until I get there." He slammed down the receiver.

Exactly one hour later, Colonel Ramon Acoca arrived at the camp where they were holding Sister Teresa. With him were a dozen of his men from the GOE.

"Bring the nun to me," Colonel Acoca ordered.

Sister Teresa was brought to the headquarters tent where Acoca was waiting for her. He stood up politely when she entered the tent and smiled.

"I am Colonel Acoca."

At last! "I knew you would come. God told me."

He nodded pleasantly. "Did He? Good. Please sit down, Sister."

Sister Teresa was too nervous to sit. "You must help me."

"We’re going to help each other," the colonel assured her. "You escaped from the Cistercian convent at avila, is that correct?"

"Yes. It was terrible. All those men. They did godless things and – " Her voice faltered.

And stupid things. We let you and the others escape. "How did you get here, Sister?"

"God brought me here. He’s testing me as He once tested – "

"Along with God, did some men also bring you here, Sister?" Colonel Acoca asked patiently.

"Yes. They kidnapped me. I had to escape from them."

"You told Colonel Sostelo where he could find those men."

"Yes. The evil ones. Raoul is behind it all, you see. He sent me a letter and said – "

"Sister, the man we’re looking for in particular is Jaime Miro. Have you seen him?"

She shivered. "Yes. Oh, yes. He – "

The colonel leaned forward. "Excellent. Now, you must tell me where I can find him."

"He and the others are on their way to eze."

He frowned, puzzled. "To eze? To France?"

Her words were a wild babble. "Yes. Monique deserted Raoul, and he sent the men to kidnap me because of the baby so – "

He tried to control his growing impatience. "Miro and his men are headed north. eze is to the east."

"You must not let them take me back to Raoul. I don’t want to see him ever again. You can understand that. I couldn’t face him – "

Colonel Acoca said curtly, "I don’t give a damn about this Raoul. I want to know where I can find Jaime Miro."

"I told you. He is in eze waiting for me. He wants to – "

"You’re lying. I think you’re trying to protect Miro. Now, I don’t want to hurt you, so I’m going to ask you once more. Where is Jaime Miro?"

Sister Teresa stared at him helplessly. "I don’t know," she whispered. She looked around wildly. "I don’t know."

"A moment ago you said he was in eze." His voice was like a whiplash.

"Yes. God told me."

Colonel Acoca had had enough. The woman was either demented or a brilliant actress. Either way, she sickened him with all her talk of God.

He turned to Patricio Arrieta, his aide. "The Sister’s memory needs prodding. Take her to the quartermaster’s tent. Perhaps you and your men can help her remember where Jaime Miro is."

"Yes, Colonel."

Patricio Arrieta and the men with him had been part of the group that had attacked the convent at avila. They felt responsible for letting the four nuns escape. Well we can make up for that now, Arrieta thought.

He turned to Sister Teresa. "Come along with me, Sister."

"Yes." Dear blessed Jesus, thank You. She babbled on. "Are we leaving now? You won’t let them take me to eze, will you?"

"No," Arrieta assured her. "You’re not going to eze."

The colonel is right, he thought. She is playing games with us. Well we’ll show her some new games. I wonder if she’ll lie quietly, or if she’ll scream?

When they reached the quartermaster’s tent, Arrieta said, "Sister, we’re going to give you one last chance. Where is Jaime Miro?"