Page 35 of Casualties of War
Adán frowned. “People go missing in wartimes.”
“More than usual,” Calli said. “Chloe has been running numbers and they support my gut feeling that the numbershave increased just in the last couple of weeks.” She glanced out the window, as if she might see Vistaria from here if she stared hard enough. “Somethingis going on over there and I can’t spare Daniel to dig it up. He has enough to do.”
Adán knew the name. Daniel was Olivia’s new husband, the man who had helped her escape the Whitesands Hotel. “I can look at them and see if there is anything,”he said. Relief touched him. The biggest hurdle, the one he had thought might be too much of a barrier to overcome, had been dismantled. They would let him stay. They would let him help. Calli was not dismissing him because his face was known everywhere.
Chloe crossed her arms again. “In between, you can help me with communications. Broadcast messages.”
“Not if you need me to type with morethan two fingers,” he replied.
“Phone calls,” she replied. “We can phone anywhere these days.”
Minnie snorted and pressed her hand against her mouth.
Adán glanced at her, startled.
Minnie shook her head. “I’m just imagining Duardo’s mother taking a call from Adán Caballero and the look on her face when she recognizes the voice.”
Adán grinned. “Hey, at least one person will know I’m contributing.”
“Lots of people will know,” Calli assured him. “Although, you have to understand, Adán, being famous is a drawback in a war.”
“So I’ve learned,” he said, his tone sober. “That is why I’m not keeping my expectations high. If I must hide behind a computer screen to be useful, then I will.”
“Thank you,” Calli said.
Chloe jerked her head. “Come with me,” she told Adán.
Calli turned to Minnie,as Adán got to his feet. “Will the boat be ready for tonight?” she asked her cousin.
“Boat?” Adán asked. The jetty outside had no vessels except his and the fishing smack that was now a patrol boat, which had escorted him here.
Minnie looked up at him, then answered Calli; “They’re filling the last tank this afternoon.”
“Not this morning? It has to leave by sunset at the latest.”
Minnie frowned.“There was an accident. Menendez slipped on the deck. He broke his leg.”
“Theotherleg?” Chloe asked, turning back. “He was already on crutches!”
“That’s why he slipped. Oil and water…” Minnie shrugged. “That’s why I was late for the meeting,” she told Calli, with a note of apology in her voice. “I was settling him in the ER in Acapulco.”
Calli chewed at her bottom lip, looking like the youngwoman she was. “You’ll need another pilot, then.”
Adán sat down, his heart beating harder.
“I was going to take it across myself,” Minnie said. “I’ve done the crossing a couple of times. I know the charts and how to read a compass.”
“No, Minnie, I absolutely forbid it,” Calli said, her tone flat.
Minnie scowled. “Why? Because I’m pregnant? Why should that make any difference?”
“It makes allthe difference in the world.” Calli swallowed. “We’ll find someone else.”
“I’ll take it over,” Adán said.
Everyone looked at him, startled.
He shrugged and laughed silently at the gesture. “I know boats,” he said. “And the sea. I know the Big Rock. I know how to read a compass, too.”
Calli’s gaze slid toward the window, which looked down upon the bay and the jetty where his boat waited. “Theguns over there aren’t fake, Adán.” She was back to looking like a much older woman.
“Neither am I. All appearances to the contrary,” he added.
Her smile was grim. She nodded.
