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she could swallow it. What would it do to her stomach? Tears watered her eyes.
    “Swallow, then suck on the tomato,” Minnie advised, passing her a napkin.
    Calli swallowed, then reached for the margarita.
    “No, the tomato. Trust me,” Minnie said, grabbing the glass from her. “That’ll make it worse.”
    She grabbed a slice of the tomato and stuffed it into her mouth and was astonished at the instant relief it brought. “Ohmigod!” she said, when at last she could draw breath. “Do Vistarians have cast iron stomachs? Metal linings in their mouths? I think my lips have gone numb....” She prodded them experimentally.
    Minnie smiled and took the remainder of the tortilla from her. “Excuse fingers,” she said and unrolled it. Along the row of spicy meat and vegetables inside she dabbed big dollops of sour cream and a line of the green salsa. Then she rolled up the tortilla again and handed it to Calli. “Try that.”
    “Is it safe?”
    Minnie merely sipped her drink with a smile.
    Calli took a bite. This time the cream and the salsa, which had almost a fruity flavor, dulled the fire of the meat and vegetables enough to allow her to enjoy the flavor and chew before swallowing. But she still reached for some tomato anyway.
    “Why are you doing this, Calli?” Minnie asked as she unrolled a tortilla of her own and added the fillings. “Robert’s already wasted the first half of your life for you. Why let him destroy the rest of it by hanging onto a grudge that stops you from enjoying yourself?”
    Calli carefully avoided answering. She took another bite of her tortilla, beginning to enjoy the sharp flavor of the spices. She’d had Mexican food before, but these spices had a slightly different flavor. Fresh or green, or something. After mulling over the differences for a while, she took another sip of her drink, then said to Minnie, “Tell me about the Red Leopard.”
    Minnie pursed her lips, then sighed. “Okay. Serves me right.” She ran her hands through her short hair, ruffling it and patting it into order again. “I don’t know who he is,” she admitted.
    “You said—” Calli began.
    “I said,” Minnie overrode her, “That I don’t know who he is. I don’t. But I do know all about him.”
    “Give. Why does Duardo admire him? Why does that mean Duardo couldn’t possibly be a rebel?” She shook her head. “ The Red Leopard ,” she quoted. “Isn’t it just a tad ridiculous? The name? Honestly, who outside the movies goes around with a name like that?”
    “He doesn’t call himself that. He doesn’t call himself anything at all. All the soldiers that like him do. Because that’s what he’s like.”
    “He’s in the army?”
    “Don’t think so. I think that’s part of why they like him. He’s no man’s servant and master of none. He’s got no official position anywhere but he has influence. Power. He gets things done. He is everywhere at once. Watching them, keeping them on their toes. He’s very, very sharp, doesn’t miss anything.”
    “It still sounds like a fairytale,” Calli muttered.
    “Yeah, it does a bit, but Duardo didn’t think so. He said he has seen him a few times and wanted to see him again. That’s why he hurried to the police station, but by the time he’d got there, el leopardo had gone—poof! He’d prowled in and slinked out before Duardo got there.”
    Calli almost knocked her drink over as Minnie spoke and now she gripped Minnie’s arm. “He was there last night?” She rubbed her temple, trying to recall the muttered Spanish she’d heard just before she’d whirled to confront the man with the red hair . “What did you just call him?” she said to Minnie.
    “ E l leopardo?”
    “Yes. That’s ‘the leopard’, but red...” She dived for her newly purchased dictionary.
    “ Rojo ,” Minnie supplied. “ El leopardo rojo .”
    Calli laughed. “ Rojo... Roger. That’s what they said last night and I thought they’d called him