telling me?”
“Nothing. I swear.”
“Then you know something that you don’t even know you know.”
“Come again?”
“You uncovered something when you were at Luke Air Force Base or more likely at Soto Cano. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“But what? As far as I was concerned, I was just spinning my wheels. I never got anywhere, never learned anything.”
“It has to somehow be linked to Honduras and Alex. But how?” Meg said.
“I don’t know, Meg. Anyway, why don’t you tell me more about what happened when you were there? Maybe we can compare notes, find a link.”
“Well, as I told you, Alex and I were in Honduras the morning of the coup. When we woke up there were helicopters and planes flying overhead. First we checked the internet. But all of sudden it went down. We turned the TV on. There was some shaky video footage on CNN and then the TV went blank. The government had shut everything down. We spent the rest of the day watching the planes circle overhead and waiting.
“The next day was Monday, and there were protests on the streets. Like just outside of one of the major malls. Alex and I went over to see what was happening. The National Resistance Front was calling for the reinstatement of the president and burning tires in protest.
“From that day on, Alex and I did our best to cover all points of view. The whole world was outraged that the Honduran congress had removed their president. They called it a coup. Even though the ruling congress thought otherwise. I think they were a little surprised that the world turned against them. After all, they were fighting communism, weren’t they?
“But getting news wasn’t so easy. The government had shut down all radio stations in opposition to the coup and the army was always pushing us away. Still we persevered. We started getting reports of human rights abuses, protesters being beaten and the like.
“Wasn’t it dangerous for you?”
“On some level, maybe. I mean the military was in control of the streets. There was a curfew nearly every night so the streets were dead quiet. And the government even permitted some dissent. Well, what else could they do? The entire world had condemned them for the coup and had their eyes on them. And besides, we were foreign journalists. It was the local journalists that were at risk, or so we thought.
“Anyway, one day we were at a protest in front of one of the international banks and Alex saw a friend. He was a fellow journalist, a Honduran. He beckoned Alex over to him. He told him that he had some information that he wanted Alex to smuggle out of the country. They agreed to meet at a small hotel in the late afternoon, just before curfew. And I never heard from him again,” Meg concluded.
“Poor Alex,” Jack said.
“Yeah,” she said. They were silent for a moment in tribute to the loss of their mutual friend.
“I just wish he hadn’t taken so many risks,” Meg said, interrupting the silence. “Alex would do anything for a story.”
“What I don’t get,” Jack said, “is the connection between Honduras and this gang that seems to be after me.”
“Well, there are any number of links between Honduras and the United States. I mean Honduras is a major route for drug trafficking. Then there’s the military. With Soto Cano there is a strong US military presence. How hard do you think it is to connect the dots? Didn’t you say that you kept in touch with some of your army buddies at Soto Cano? And weren’t you still keeping an eye on the news in Honduras?”
“Yes, but I never told anyone about it.”
“Maybe someone was watching you.”
“No way.”
“Why not? You don’t think everyone in the military is squeaky clean, do you? Did you use a computer on the base?”
“Yeah, sure,” Jack said. He thought for a moment, then said, “Okay, so maybe someone was spying on me. But even if they were, what’s the connection between a military base in the US and drug
“Nothing. I swear.”
“Then you know something that you don’t even know you know.”
“Come again?”
“You uncovered something when you were at Luke Air Force Base or more likely at Soto Cano. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“But what? As far as I was concerned, I was just spinning my wheels. I never got anywhere, never learned anything.”
“It has to somehow be linked to Honduras and Alex. But how?” Meg said.
“I don’t know, Meg. Anyway, why don’t you tell me more about what happened when you were there? Maybe we can compare notes, find a link.”
“Well, as I told you, Alex and I were in Honduras the morning of the coup. When we woke up there were helicopters and planes flying overhead. First we checked the internet. But all of sudden it went down. We turned the TV on. There was some shaky video footage on CNN and then the TV went blank. The government had shut everything down. We spent the rest of the day watching the planes circle overhead and waiting.
“The next day was Monday, and there were protests on the streets. Like just outside of one of the major malls. Alex and I went over to see what was happening. The National Resistance Front was calling for the reinstatement of the president and burning tires in protest.
“From that day on, Alex and I did our best to cover all points of view. The whole world was outraged that the Honduran congress had removed their president. They called it a coup. Even though the ruling congress thought otherwise. I think they were a little surprised that the world turned against them. After all, they were fighting communism, weren’t they?
“But getting news wasn’t so easy. The government had shut down all radio stations in opposition to the coup and the army was always pushing us away. Still we persevered. We started getting reports of human rights abuses, protesters being beaten and the like.
“Wasn’t it dangerous for you?”
“On some level, maybe. I mean the military was in control of the streets. There was a curfew nearly every night so the streets were dead quiet. And the government even permitted some dissent. Well, what else could they do? The entire world had condemned them for the coup and had their eyes on them. And besides, we were foreign journalists. It was the local journalists that were at risk, or so we thought.
“Anyway, one day we were at a protest in front of one of the international banks and Alex saw a friend. He was a fellow journalist, a Honduran. He beckoned Alex over to him. He told him that he had some information that he wanted Alex to smuggle out of the country. They agreed to meet at a small hotel in the late afternoon, just before curfew. And I never heard from him again,” Meg concluded.
“Poor Alex,” Jack said.
“Yeah,” she said. They were silent for a moment in tribute to the loss of their mutual friend.
“I just wish he hadn’t taken so many risks,” Meg said, interrupting the silence. “Alex would do anything for a story.”
“What I don’t get,” Jack said, “is the connection between Honduras and this gang that seems to be after me.”
“Well, there are any number of links between Honduras and the United States. I mean Honduras is a major route for drug trafficking. Then there’s the military. With Soto Cano there is a strong US military presence. How hard do you think it is to connect the dots? Didn’t you say that you kept in touch with some of your army buddies at Soto Cano? And weren’t you still keeping an eye on the news in Honduras?”
“Yes, but I never told anyone about it.”
“Maybe someone was watching you.”
“No way.”
“Why not? You don’t think everyone in the military is squeaky clean, do you? Did you use a computer on the base?”
“Yeah, sure,” Jack said. He thought for a moment, then said, “Okay, so maybe someone was spying on me. But even if they were, what’s the connection between a military base in the US and drug
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