Prism - By Rachel Moschell Page 0,23

“What are you going to do, che?”

“I’ll call you back.” Alejo flipped the phone shut and jammed it into his pocket. He and Gabriel stared at each other for a moment, and then Alejo whirled around and began to pace. Fallen eucalyptus leaves perfumed the air as his sandals crushed them into the ground.

“We have to move the crusade up,” he told Gabriel, still pacing.

“I agree. We have to do it before the trip to Thailand.”

Alejo slammed a fist into the trunk of the banana plant, swearing loudly. Ruben! To think that after all this time, Salazar still remembered, was still gloating. And why shouldn’t he? No one cared, no one was going to make him pay.

Where was justice? Apparently, hiding her eyes.

No, God is justice, and his eyes are always on the earth, to reward the righteous and punish the wicked. And right now, I’m his hands. God help me if I just sit here and watch without doing something.

Gabriel was trying to calm him down. “Listen, che, I’ve got all the equipment we need at Boris’ house. I can hike into town and find a new spot. I don’t need a lot of time to do calculations.”

Alejo narrowed his eyes at Gabriel, feeling possessed. He tried to concentrate, running through the same arguments he had had with himself on too many occasions.

Are you really thinking of killing the guy? Murder is a sin.

Yeah…but so is allowing the innocent to be hurt or killed.

Are there other options?

Let the national authorities punish him according to the law...

That really hadn’t gone so well in the past. Salazar and anyone with the power to do anything were constantly scratching each others’ backs. A total indifference to his activities had only made Salazar more bold in breaking the law, knowing no one would care.

“No.” Alejo stopped in his tracks and held up one hand. “In Cochabamba the sniper could easily get away. It can’t work here in Coroico.” Gabriel seemed crushed. “Coroico is too small,” Alejo continued, “too nosy. Everyone sees everything, and the population here is too small for us to avoid suspicion in the investigation. But I have an idea. Tell me honestly if you can do this.”

He explained his idea to Gabriel, whose lips twitched into a smile, then broadened into a genuine grin as he received the challenge to put his considerable talents into action—now. Gabriel let out a low whistle and looked at Alejo.

“Sounds great, but there’s always the possibility of more people being onsite besides just the speaker. The staff, for sure, would be collateral.”

“Of course,” Alejo said. “Let them be collateral. They know, I’m sure of it. They’re with him almost 24/7.”

“Oh, this is going to be fun!” Gabriel’s eyes were shining again, and he pounded Alejo on the shoulder before turning back towards the clearing. “I’ll get some stuff from Boris’ place. Then, I’m going to mail a package.”

Gabriel marched happily back towards the Khan and the other guys, probably to share the good news that they would get to be part of the operation as a bonus to the weekend.

Alejo slowly slid down against the trunk of the sleek banana plant and buried his face into his arms.

8

scarlet

THIS WOULD NEVER, EVER HAPPEN back in Ohio.

Noah stood on the edge of a jagged black boulder, wet from bare feet to shoulder with icy spray from a nearby sixty-foot waterfall. Two sapphire butterflies slowly flapped their powdery wings as they rested on Noah’s right bicep, inhaling droplets of water from his exposed skin with their thin black tube mouths. A dozen more butterflies soared through the spray near him, dodging clouds of crystalline mist tossed off the roaring waterfall. They formed a living rainbow of jade, coral, buttercup yellow, and scarlet, flitting in circles around Noah’s body, landing on Tobin’s and Tobias’ legs.

Lázaro from Kory Tours, who was working even late Sunday afternoon, waited for them down below next to a basket full of fresh picked mangos and oranges for a snack before they headed back to Coroico.

It was May, nearly winter in Bolivia, but here the earth was still full of butterflies and tangled flowers. If Noah were home in Ohio, he would probably be sprawled on the couch in sweats, watching American Idol reruns and eating Doritos.

Thank you God for letting me be here.

Bolivia is beautiful.

This waterfall was the third Noah and the guys had visited this afternoon with Lázaro in the hired Kory Tours pick-up truck. Noah now stood next to the foaming