CHAPTER 12
ESCAPE
It had been a week since I had met with General Moya, yet the promised escape opportunity hadn’t materialized. It also seemed strange that no one had interrogated me since I had been there other than the general. Then I realized there was no policia. All this was just General Moya’s trick to get me to give him Tex’s money. But why hadn’t we escaped, then? I wondered who he was—was he part of the Ecuador military or was he one of those rebel leaders who seemed to roam the countryside with impunity? I guessed there had been some kind of a snag in his plans. If he wasn’t part of the government, he might be worried about me going to the authorities rather than straight to the airport. I wouldn’t do that, but he wasn’t stupid enough to rely on my word. Perhaps he was planning his own escape once I was freed.
As I sat against the wall, I heard a noise at my door. It was very early in the morning—too early for breakfast. But someone had inserted a key or something in the lock but was having trouble getting the door to open. Finally, it opened. Much to my surprise and shock, Monty stepped inside. He motioned for me to come with him. I jumped up and followed him out the door. He was about to turn down the hall when I grabbed his arm and said, “No, this way.”
“What?”
“Trust me. I know the way out of here.”
Monty frowned, then shrugged and followed me. I went to the door to the courtyard and opened it slowly. Looking left then right, we saw that it was deserted so we raced across it to the door where I had been taken to meet General Moya. The door was unlocked. A plain white envelope was laying on the table as promised. I grabbed it as we moved quickly toward our escape route. The door in the back of the room led to another corridor. We turned left as I had been shown, passed a kitchen, and then arrived outside to an area where trash and garbage were stored for pickup. The smell nearly gagged us but we pressed on to a gate leading outside the prison walls. It was open.
Once outside we traveled several blocks through the streets of the old city until we came to a main thoroughfare. I opened the envelope and found our passports, our airline tickets, a sheet of paper with wiring instructions to General Moya’s bank account in the Cayman Islands, and some local currency. I didn’t know how much money it was but, I assumed it was enough to pay a cab driver to take us to the airport. Fortuitously, a cab came by and we hailed it. Monty told the cab driver we wanted to go to the airport and flashed the local currency. He nodded and we got in the cab.
“Okay, what’s going on?” Monty asked.
I told him about General Moya and the deal I had struck.
“What about my guns?” he said. “I don’t care about the damn luggage but those guns costs me a mint.”
As we passed our hotel on the way to the airport we briefly considered stopping for our luggage and Monty's guns, but then decided we didn't have time.
“You can add your guns to your expense report. I’m sure Tex will be happy to reimburse you for their loss.”
“Do you think we’ll have any trouble at the airport?” he asked. "We'll be sitting ducks waiting for a plane."
The airport did worry me. I knew Rebekah would have filed a missing person’s report by now and that airport security and local police would be looking for us. When we got to the airport, I went straight to the ticket counter to book the next flight out while Monty kept watch. Luckily our plane to Miami was boarding in less than thirty minutes so we wouldn't have to hang around too long. In the meantime, I asked if there was a phone I could use. She pointed down the hall.
I thanked her and said to Monty, “I’m going to call Rebekah. I’ll be right back.”
Monty nodded and took a seat. After finding a pay phone, I gave the long distance operator my calling card number and she placed the call. The phone rang and Rebekah answered.
“Rebekah?”
“Stan! Is that you?”
“Yes, honey. It’s me.”
“Are you all right? I’ve been so worried. Oh, my God! I can’t believe it’s you.”
“It’s me. Believe it.”
“Oh, God! I am so relieved. Where are you?”
“At the airport in Quito. We’re waiting for our plane.”
“What happened to you?”
After briefly explaining what had happened and assuring Rebekah that I’d soon be home, I hung up and rejoined Monty. At 7:25 a.m., the flight attendant came and got us. We boarded the plane and waited as the other passengers came aboard and took their seats.
“I’ll feel a lot better when we get off the ground,” Monty said. "We'll be damn lucky to leave this country alive. For a while there back in my cell I figured it was all over for us."
“I know. I'm sorry I got you in this mess,” I replied. "I guess I never fully appreciated the risk we were taking."
“Do you really think they’ll let Tex go?”
“Yes, the money is much more important to them than killing Tex.”
“Do you think he’ll be pissed off if you give the general his money?”
“Maybe, but I doubt it. I assume his life is worth more than any amount of money. Anyway, I’ll let Toni decide. That way if he is pissed off, he can’t say I acted without authority.”
“Good idea. You can't trust anyone nowadays.”
The plane jerked as it moved away from the gate. A great sense of relief came over me as we taxied out to the runway. We got in line for our takeoff and I looked at Monty and smiled. Suddenly the big engines came to life and we started to move faster and faster down the runway, then suddenly the pilot cut the engines and aborted the takeoff. Panic jabbed me like a switchblade in the back. I looked at Monty who was shaking his head.
“Oh, God!” I said, as the plane taxied off the runway and came to a stop.”
Excited chatter erupted amongst the passengers. I couldn’t understand it but it was obvious everyone was upset over the delay. The pilot's voice came over the loudspeaker but again I couldn’t understand what he was saying. Monty translated.
“Senoras and Senores, we are sorry for the delay in your flight but the tower has advised us there are unauthorized passengers on the plane. Once they are removed, we will get back in line and be taking off momentarily. Our sincerest apologies for the delay.”
Everyone started looking around obviously wondering who were the unauthorized passengers. My heart was beating like I’d just finished the White Rock Marathon. Monty had his face plastered against the window trying to see who was coming out to the plane.
“Are they after us?” I asked.
“Who else would they be after?” Monty moaned.
“Shit, now what are we going to do?”
Monty sat back in his chair, took a deep breath, and replied, “There’s nothing we can do. Not a goddamned thing!”
A crewman came out of the cockpit and opened the front hatch. A portable stairway was lowered into place. Monty pointed to a Jeep full of soldiers who were surrounding the plane. The soldiers began boarding and one of them headed our way. He was looking at a photograph he was carrying in his hand and then at each passenger as he went by. When he got to me he stopped, yelled something to the other soldiers, and then put his hand firmly on my shoulder. I was so scared I could scarcely breathe.