Andean Experience Ch. 03: A Shining Path

"How's that old Mercedes holding up? You come through here a lot with it," the official asked, clearly not too interested in his job at the moment.

Jaguar saw an opportunity.

"It's good, though she's overheating with the long wait here today."

"OK. Let's get you through. How many on board besides yourself?"

"Me and six others."

"All American tourists I suppose?"

"Right," Jaguar lied.

"You all have passports, right? Just hold them up for me," he said, raising his voice and leaning forward. "OK, that's fine," giving them only a fleeting glance. "Now pull that old thing out of here before it breaks down in my lane."

"Thanks."

"See you in a few weeks. One more thing," and they all held their breath. "Time to get a new bus!" he joked, and they were on their way.

Four of the people in the Mercedes exhaled for the first time in what seemed to have been an hour. They had cleared the Bolivian border!

"Told you it would be easy," Jaguar exulted aloud, and for the first time he saw his dangerous passenger break into a smile. "Next stop, the basilica in Copa, then some lunch."

11:45: There was time enough to get to the church by noon if traffic kept moving smoothly. But it was Saturday, and as they drew closer to the city centre, the streets were choked with tourists and people coming back from market. Again, Lorenzo began to fret, sweating heavily as he constantly checked his watch.

"Fuckin' traffic! So goddam slow today!"

"I'll take another route to get away from all these trucks."

Jag had been in Copacabana many times over the years and now was the time that his experience came in handy. He dodged down a little street and soon came out on a boulevard roughly parallel to the original route. Ten minutes later, the Mercedes was back in the city core and the spires of the basilica were in sight. It looked as though they'd be there by noon.

11:55: A police car went rushing by, lights flashing, siren blaring. Lorenzo froze in fear because it seemed to be heading in the same direction as the minibus. Were they in on to his escape plan? Would there be police positioned at the basilica to take him in, or worse, take him down? Lorenzo had an idea.

"When we get to the basilica, drive around it first. I want to see it from all sides."

"Interested in that old church, are you?" Jaguar asked, aware that Lorenzo was probably worried about a police presence there. "Sure, I'll do that. Need to find parking anyway."

11:59: Jaguar was driving slowly past the front of the basilica while Lorenzo slumped down at the window, carefully scanning the steps for cops, either in uniform or disguised as churchgoers. After running from the law for much of his life, he could spot them a mile away. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary, just a few people here and there. Lorenzo was satisfied.

"OK. Just let me out here so I don't have to walk far."

"Right. I'll find a parking spot, then we'll meet you inside."

12:00: Lorenzo stepped out of the bus, looking for his contact, and Jaguar sped away, rather quickly it seemed to his discharged passenger.

Suddenly, shots rang out from somewhere higher up. Jaguar watched in his side mirror as Julio Gutierrez, Shining Path lieutenant, slumped forward, his body raked by a hail of gunfire from snipers positioned in windows above the basilica steps.

12:01: Jaguar managed a grim smile as he slowed to a stop a hundred feet away. He could see a large pool of blood oozing out from the now lifeless body. Gutierrez was as surely dead as Jag's fiancee had been, caught in crossfire years ago. For a moment, vengeance was sweet.

From inside the bus, the passengers craned their necks to look back toward the basilica. Uniformed men, some of them bearing big guns, were rushing out to the spot where Gutierrez' bullet-riddled remains lay sprawled across the broad steps. They shouted for people to stay away, then one officer came forward, a man with more insignia on his uniform than the others.

12:02: The dead terrorist lay face down where he fell. The captain slid his foot beneath the shoulder and firmly lifted it, rolling the body onto it's back.

"Yeah, that's him," he shouted in Spanish. "We got Gutierrez! The bastard is dead."

****

The rest of the day passed as if in a dream. Jaguar was on auto-pilot now. They skipped their supposed tour of the basilica and went to lunch where the three of them-Jag, Marina, and Mike- pretended that they had no idea what had just happened to one of their passengers. After that, he drove his group to the docks, where they all boarded a small boat to transfer them to the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca.

Still working hard to keep his composure, Jaguar took them to the remains of a magnificent stone temple built on the island, a central point for many ancient Andean peoples, including the Inca.

He told them that the Spanish conquistadores learned that it was the centre of annual pilgrimages to honour the Incan god Viracocha, the creator of all things. Jag said that this was the most sacred place to that civilization. He managed to project some enthusiasm, though he felt none.

In the evening, the Mercedes finally pulled up to their hotel for the next two nights. They'd be staying in Copacabana to visit another important ruin tomorrow, Tiwanaku. Jaguar was completely exhausted, scarcely able to function. The incredible tension of the day- the border crossing and the basilica drop-off- had taken their toll.

He immediately sprawled out across the bed. Marina left him in their room and returned a short time later with some food and drink. He was sound asleep and couldn't be wakened.

Jaguar had done what was necessary today. He had helped the authorities bring down wanted terrorist, Julio Olivera Gutierrez, and he had managed to do it without risking the lives of his passengers. His new woman Marina was safe, and, in a way, he had avenged the senseless death of his past love too.

And today, he had spoken for the thousands of innocents killed during the Shining Path's grisly reign of terror.

Surely the weary tour operator deserved a sound sleep tonight.

Readers: Watch for the final chapter, "Missing Person", coming shortly.