La Magdalena by William M. Valtos

Author:William M. Valtos
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing

Forty-One

ABRAMAKIAN'S OPINION, WHEN it was finally delivered, surprised me.

I was expecting a verdict less conclusive; perhaps a hit on one or two of the languages, a miss on the others. It would at least have given the skeptic in me the opportunity to argue that somewhere along the line Magdalena had been coached or had the opportunity for independent study. That line of thinking was completely demolished by the unequivocal nature of the professor's opinion.

It still didn't prove her claim of reincarnation. But it was a big step in that direction.

I didn't have much more time to think about it. From my perch near the window, I saw a familiar black vehicle on the roadway, moving in our direction. There must have been hundreds of vehicles like it in Spain, each with the by-now-familiar Guardia Civil logo emblazoned in red on its side. We were a long way from Valencia. To the best of my knowledge, no one had followed us from downtown Barcelona. There was no logical reason for me to assume the passengers of the vehicle were any threat to me. Yet I watched, fascinated, as the vehicle snaked along the winding roadway and came to a stop in the courtyard directly below us. The first man out of the vehicle was in full Guardia uniform, with a white cord that led from his shoulder epaulet to his holstered pistol. He opened the rear door and stood aside to allow a man in a grey suit to step out of the car.

I stared in disbelief at the man as he stretched his shoulders. The man in the grey suit was Coronel Velarde, the neatly groomed officer who interrogated me in Valencia. He stood beside the car for a moment, smoothing out his jacket and adjusting his tie. With my attention focused on him, I hadn't noticed two more uniformed officers get out of the other side of the car. Now there were four of them. A search-and-arrest team. I drew back from the window.

“The Guardia is here,” I said. “They've come for us.”

Magdalena jumped up and came to my side. I held her back from the window so she couldn't be seen.

“How many are there?” she asked.

“Four. Three in uniform; one in plainclothes.”

“What makes you think they came for us?”

“They're not local. They're from Valencia. I recognize the one in plainclothes. He interrogated me after the bombing.”

“Who is this Guardia?” Abramakian asked.

“The civil police.”

“And what do they want with you?”

“To arrest me, probably. They think I'm a terrorist. They think I had something to do with the bombing in Valencia. The one that killed Padre Serrano.” Seeing the look of alarm in Abramakian's eyes, I decided not to mention anything about the kidnapping charge. “I had nothing to do with the bombing,” I explained. “Whoever did it almost killed me, too.” I quickly packed the camcorder and started for the door, “We've got to get going.”

“The back stairs,” Magdalena suggested.

“Wait!” Abramakian asked. “What about me? If they are

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.