Page 31 of Prisoner of War
Minnie hid her smile as Calli’s face turned bright pink right up to her hair line. “You understand I didn’t pose for that picture, right?”
Carmen smiled a slow, knowing smile. “Honey, I know. But I saw the body language. Don’t pretend you don’t have an intimate relationship with him. He pulled you into that meeting the other day in the dining room. He doesn’t do anything withoutreason. I know he talks to you about stuff that no one else gets to hear. He has to. There is no one else who can do that for him.”
Minnie blinked, taken aback. Even while Carmen had been flouncing around, trying to irritate the shit out of Nick, she had obviously been watching the people in this house, figuring them out.
So what had happened the other day that had allowed her to tone down thesulky college girl routine and actually sound...intelligent?
Calli was staring at Carmen steadily. “All right,” she said at last. “Try me.”
Carmen smiled. Then Calli’s own mouth curved up into a return smile.
Carmen brushed crumbs off her thighs. “Who the hell is this asshole Zalaya?” she demanded.
* * * * *
“You didn’t tell me!” Calli’s voice was strident. “You didn’t tell any of us.”
Nick pushed his hands into his pockets and leaned his butt against the front of his desk. “You didn’t need to know.”
“Didn’t need to know that some guy over there has a brothel going in the palace to service all thesupremoInsurrectos? That this Zalaya has his own private bordello attached to his office? The woman out there in the hospital tent says it’s like some sort of Fiesta de la Luna timesten. There’s orgies that would make the Romans blush. Women are being coerced into participating. Men, too.”
Nick seemed calm in the face of Calli’s outrage, but Minnie had been around him long enough to know that he thrust his hands into his pockets when he was frustrated...or cornered. Her father was sitting in the chair by the door watching Nick, too. It was as if he were waiting for a signalof some sort.
Nick sighed. “Zalaya’s bordello earns him the gratitude and loyalty of all the superior officers. What he’s really doing, though, is sitting at the center of the most efficient intelligence operation ever devised and controlled by a single man. Virtually no information is escaping the borders. Just what we learn from the small handful who have crossed the strait.” He shook his head.“It isn’t Serrano we have to defeat to take back Vistaria. It’s Zalaya and his web of intrigue. Only, he has cast such a wide net we’re uncertain who we can trust.”
“Even in this house?” Calli asked, appalled.
“Especially in this house. Which is why no one speaks of him and his activities. I gave that order myself.”
“I still don’t understand,” Minnie confessed. “Who is he exactly? We’ve heardthe names of all of Serrano’s officers before. All except this Zalaya. Where did he come from? Why haven’t we heard about him from general gossip?”
“Zalaya was in the loyalist army up until two years ago,” Nick said. “He was discharged. Dishonorably. That’s what is known about him. What we’re almost certain of is that Zalaya is now Serrano’s right-hand man. Less certain is just how long he hasbeen Serrano’s best buddy, but we do know that Serrano can’t run his operation without him. Zalaya is a shadow man—he doesn’t take credit or applause as the other officers do, which is why you haven’t heard of him until now. He likes power and knows how to get it. In other words,” Nick finished, “he is my equivalent, but over there.”
Josh stood up. “Serranois your equivalent,” he said sharply.
Nick shook his head. “No.”
It was clearly the latest round in an already ongoing discussion, for her father blew out his breath. “I can’t say anything in front of your generals, Nicolás, but it’s all family here—or close enough to make no difference. So hear me. You’re the leader of Vistaria whether you like it or not. Every attempt you’ve made to pass the torch has failed. There is no one elseand you know it.”
Nick rubbed his eyes. “I can’t be the leader,” he said, his voice low.
Carmen nodded. “Nick’s right. If he is thede factopresident of Vistaria, then why is the President of the United States ducking a direct conversation with him?”
“Who says he’s ducking a conversation?” Josh shot back.
“Have you spoken with him yet, Nick?” Carmen asked.
“No.”
Carmen smiled. “Have youtried?”
“Sort of. I was told—indirectly, of course—that they’re waiting to see what Mexico does with us.” Nick’s tone was dry.
Carmen looked at Josh. “If Nick was the recognized leader of a nation, the U.S. President could not refuse to speak to him if he requested it.”
Josh spread his hands. “Then elect him, appoint him. Do what it takes. You, Carmen and Nick’s boardroom of officers out thereare the people who have that power.”
“You don’t understand, Josh,” Nick spoke in the same tired voice. “I’m not legitimate.”
