The warden nodded toward Molinas and Arrango and the doctor, and they entered the room after Jaime. The guards remained outside. The green door was locked and bolted.
Inside the room, Molinas and Arrango led Jaime to the chair. They unlocked his handcuffs, then strapped him in, pulling the heavy straps against his arms, while Dr. Anuncion and Warden de la Fuente watched. Through the thick closed door they could barely hear the chanting of the priest.
De la Fuente looked at Jaime and shrugged. "It doesn't matter. God will understand what he is saying."
The giant holding the garrote moved behind Jaime. Warden Gomez de la Fuente asked, "Do you want a cloth over your face?"
"No."
The warden looked at the giant and nodded. The giant lifted the garrote in his hand and reached forward.
The guards outside the door could hear the chanting of the mob in the street.
"You know something?" one of the guards grumbled. "I wish I was out there with them."
Five minutes later, the green door opened.
Dr. Anuncion said, "Bring in the body bag."
Following instructions, Jaime Miro's body was smuggled out through a back door of the prison. The body bag was thrown into the back of an unmarked van. But the moment the vehicle pulled out of the prison grounds, the crowd in the street pressed forward, as though drawn to it by some mystic magnet.
"Jaime...Jaime..."
But the cries were softer now. Men and women wept, and their children looked on in wonder, not understanding what was happening. The van made its way through the crowd and finally turned onto a highway.
"Jesus," the driver said. "That was spooky. The guy must have had something."
"Yeah. And thousands of people knew it, too!"
At two o'clock that afternoon, Warden Gomez de la Fuente and his two assistants, Juanito Molinas and Pedros Arrango, appeared at the office of Prime Minister Martinez.
"I want to congratulate you," the prime minister said. "The execution went perfectly."
The warden spoke. "Mr. Prime Minister, we're not here to receive your congratulations. We're here to resign."
Martinez stared at them, baffled. "I - I don't understand. What - ?"
"It's a matter of humanity, Your Excellency. We just watched a man die. Perhaps he deserved to die. But not like that. It - it was barbaric. I want no more part of this or anything like it, and my colleagues feel the same way."
"Perhaps you should give this more thought. Your pensions - "
"We have to live with our consciences." Warden de la Fuente handed the prime minister three pieces of paper. "Here are our resignations."
Late that night, the van crossed the French border and headed for the village of Bidache, near Bayonne. It pulled up before a neat farmhouse.
"This is the place. Let's get rid of the body before it starts to smell."
The door to the farmhouse was opened by a woman in her middle fifties. "You brought him?"
"Yes, ma'am. Where would you like it - er - him?"
"In the parlor, please."
"Yes, ma'am. I - I wouldn't wait too long to bury him. You know what I mean?"
She watched the two men carry in the body bag and set it on the floor.
"Thank you."
"De nada."
She stood there watching as they drove away.
Another woman walked in from the other room and ran toward the body bag. She hastily unzipped it.
Jaime Miro was lying there smiling up at them. "Do you know something? That garrote could be a real pain in the neck."
"White wine or red?" Megan asked.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
At Barajas Airport in Madrid, former Warden Gomez de la Fuente, his former assistants, Molinas and Arrango, Dr. Anuncion, and the giant who had worn the mask were in the departure lounge.
"I still think you're making a mistake not coming with me to Costa Rica," de la Fuente said. "With your five million dollars, you can buy the whole fucking island."
Molinas shook his head. "Arrango and I are going to Switzerland. I'm tired of the sun. We're going to buy ourselves a few dozen snow bunnies."
"Me too," the giant said.
They turned to Miguel Anuncion.
"What about you, Doctor?"
"I'm going to Bangladesh."
"What?"
"That's right. I'm going to use the money to open a hospital there. You know, I thought about it a long time before I accepted Megan Scott's offer. But I figured that if I can save a lot of innocent lives by letting one terrorist live, it's a good trade-off. Besides, I must tell you, I liked Jaime Miro."
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
It had been a good season in the French countryside, showering farmers with an abundance of crops. I wish that every year could be as wonderful as this, Rubio Arzano thought. It has been a good year in more ways than one.
First, his marriage, and then, a year ago, the birth of the twins. Whoever dreamed a man could be this happy?
It was starting to rain. Rubio turned the tractor around and headed for the barn. He thought about the twins. The boy was going to be big and strapping. But his sister! She was going to be a handful. She's going to give her man a lot of trouble, Rubio grinned to himself. She takes after her mother.
He drove the tractor into the barn and headed for the house, feeling the cool rain against his face. He opened the door and stepped inside.
"You're just in time." Lucia smiled. "Dinner's ready."
The Reverend Mother Prioress Betina awakened with a premonition that something wonderful was about to happen.
Of course, she thought, enough good things have already happened.