Black Pomegranate Page 15

  The twins bowed from the waist.

  “I’m Pablo,” said the one wearing black.

  “And I’m Pietro,” said his brother in the red suit.

  “Miguel, the young man at the helm of the boat, is Catarina’s brother,” I continued. “We’re on our way to meet President Perez, her father. The little ruse that just went down was necessary so we could lose the men who’ve been following us.”

  “Well, since you’ve now slipped away from your reticent retinue, have these men take us to shore some place where Heidi and I can catch a ride back to Cancun,” the dean demanded. “Then, the two of you can go anywhere you want.”

  “Sorry, Señor, but you cannot return to Cancun,” Pietro informed him. “The other people who were on the boat think you’ve drowned. If you and your lady friend show up back at the Royal Mayan, the men who’ve been trailing Catarina and Alfredo will know they are also alive.”

  “The only way to get the men to stop following us is to make them believe we’re dead,” I elaborated. “I suspect the captain of the dive boat knew exactly what was going to happen. That’s why he took us to a remote location, instead of to reefs where there would be numerous dive boats and many divers in the water. Isn’t that right?”

  Pablo and Pietro nodded with sheepish smiles. My guess had been right on target.

  “The captain will hang around the area for the rest of the day, having the other divers look for our bodies. At nightfall, he’ll declare us dead, abandon the search, and return to port.”

  “Then the Mexican authorities will believe we’re dead, also?” Heidi questioned.

  “No. The captain won’t report the incident. He knows we’re still alive and well. The men who’ve been following us won’t say anything, either. If they did, they would have to admit why they’re really in Mexico, and that might cause trouble for our government. As far as those men are concerned, their assignment is over and they can go home. End of story.” I turned to Pablo. “Did you pack our bags and check us out of the Royal Mayan?”

  “Of course,” Pablo confirmed. “Your suitcases are in the hold.”

  “What about our things?” Martin wanted to know.

  Pietro shrugged. “I’m sorry, Señor. We did not know you would be joining us. It is not safe to go back to get them. In a day or so, I can arrange to have your possessions shipped to your next of kin.”

  “Ohmigod, if my mother …” Dean Martin began.

  “Don’t worry, Señor. We will pack your suitcases carefully and ship them to her. But we will not say you are dead.”

  “I will be, if she opens the suitcases and sees what’s inside,” Martin moaned.

  “I’m afraid you’ll have to do without your bedroom toys for a while,” I taunted. “But maybe Pablo or Pietro can round up some rope and a pair of handcuffs for you.”

  “That’ll do, Alfredo,” Catarina chastised. “Say no more.” She’d taken a liking to Heidi and Luther and was a little miffed because I was embarrassing them.

  Heidi took Cat’s comment quite differently. “Yes, thank you, that’ll do quite nicely. We can always improvise, can’t we, Luther?”

  Martin hemmed and hawed, then changed the subject. “You knew what was going to happen today, didn’t you, Hobson?” he accused.

  I winked at Cat and lied. “Yes. I was absolutely certain of it.”

  Twenty-Three

  Unexpected Visitors

  MIGUEL STEERED the trawler around a rocky jetty, revealing a secluded cove and a crescent-shaped beach lined with coconut palms. A dilapidated pier, long abandoned by its original owners, divided the beach more-or-less equally in half.

  When Miguel eased up to the pier and shut down the diesel engine, Pablo jumped from the boat to the dock. Pietro uncoiled heavy hemp mooring lines attached to the bow and stern and tossed them to his twin, who looped the rope over wooden pilings to secure the vessel.

  There wasn’t another human in sight. A cadre of boat-billed herons waded along the shore line. Several curious gulls overflew to survey our group. Apparently convinced that we posed no imminent danger, they approached the dock a safe distance away from us, flared, and dropped to a two-point landing. High above, a pair of magnificent frigate birds with six-foot wingspans floated motionlessly on thermals paralleling the water’s edge. I could see a helicopter at an even greater altitude, but it was too far away to hear the thrumming whoosh of its rotors or the whining roar of its engine. The only sound was the gentle lapping of waves against the sand and the trawler creaking against the pilings.

  “What a waste. A beautiful beach, and it’s completely deserted,” Heidi remarked. “It reminds me of the story of the tree falling in the forest. Is a beach still beautiful if there’s nobody to see it?”

  “That’s not a waste, that’s a blessing,” Martin cynically corrected her. “Enjoy the tranquility while you can. Come back here in a couple of years, and this area will be as crowded with tourists as Cancun.”

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  When Miguel smiled it was easy to tell he and Cat were siblings. The corners of their mouths turned up asymmetrically, displaying snow-white teeth. “We’re a few miles south of Tulum. In the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve. It’s the largest ecological reserve in Mexico.” Miguel explained.

  “What’s a Sian Ka’an?”

  “In the Mayan language, Sian Ka’an means where the sky is born.”

  “Is this where your father is staying?”

  Miguel shook his head. “Oh, no. He’s a long ways from here. This is where we will change to another mode of transportation.”

  “What’s going to happen to the fishing boat?”

  He shrugged nonchalantly. “Some men will come and take it back to Cancun. It has been arranged.”

  Pablo and Pietro appeared peeved because Miguel was dawdling and engaging in conversation with me while they were laboriously lugging our suitcases and a number of boxes from the hold and stacking them on deck. One of the brothers muttered something that sounded like adolescente; I suspected they were referring to Miguel.

  Feeling a little guilty myself about letting Pablo and Pietro do all the work, I started to offer my help, but just then Cat called us into the galley for lunch. The helicopter I’d spotted earlier had descended and was flying a hundred feet above the beach. I waved as it passed by, but the people inside either didn’t notice or didn’t care to wave back.

  “Is that how we’re going to get to where President Perez is staying?” I asked. I’d never been in a helicopter before, but always thought flying in one would be great fun.

  “No,” Pablo answered. “Perhaps those are tourists on a sightseeing trip,” he shrugged. His words were innocuous enough, but the anxious expression on his face sent chills up my spine. I sensed that Pablo felt something was wrong, that no one else should be there in the cove that day, but he said nothing that might trigger a panic alarm in anyone’s head.

  We sat down inside the galley and started our meal. Cat had somehow managed to put together a spread of fresh fruit salad and soft tacos. A few minutes later, the whirlybird landed on the end of the dock. Pablo and Pietro noticeably tensed up.

  “I think we’re going to have some company,” Martin announced unnecessarily, opening a beer.

  “We have plenty of food for everyone,” Catarina chirped cheerfully.

  “And lots of cold cerveza,” Heidi added.

  Two men hopped out of the craft and ambled down the dock toward the trawler. Even at a distance, I recognized them. One was a wiry redhead; the other looked as if he’d spent half of his life pumping iron. Red and Muscles. In their hands were automatic weapons—Uzis, perhaps.

  “I think we’re in for a bit of trouble,” I announced, also unnecessarily.

  “You on the boat! Come out on deck with your hands in the air!” Muscles called gruffly.

  I looked to the Santos twins for advice. “What should we do?”

  Pablo’s countenance darkened. “We’d better do as t
hey say. If we refuse their demands, they may come on board and kill us.”

  We stepped outside the cabin, all except for Catarina and Heidi.

  “Where are the other two? The women?” one of the men yelled. “Tell them to come out, too.”

  Heidi exited first, carrying a six-pack of beer. Catarina held a platter of soft tacos. “Is anyone hungry?” she asked, most unnecessarily of all.

  The men ran up the gangplank, the barrels of their guns pointed in our direction. Apparently they were satisfied we were unarmed and posed no threat.

  “Okay. You can go back inside the cabin. But don’t make any fast moves and keep your hands where we can see ’em.”

  “Who are you? What do you want from us? Are you hijackers? Or pirates? ” Heidi asked, all in one breath.

  “We’ll ask the questions, lady,” Muscles snapped. “Shut up and sit down.”

  Heidi numbly did as she was told. Red held his gun on us while Muscles left to search the boat.

  “There’s nothing here,” he announced when he came back. “Not below deck, and not in their suitcases, either.”

  “The money?” Red asked.

  Muscles shook his head. “No sign of it.”

  Muscles must not have made a very thorough search. I slanted a glance to the deck and saw the black valise holding the two million dollars sitting next to one of my suitcases. On the other hand, I thought, perhaps he had discovered the money and didn’t want Red to know. That much cash, all in unmarked hundreds, can inspire greed.

  “We don’t have any money. Well, we do, but it’s in traveler’s checks. If it’s money you want, I can get it for you. A lot of money,” I promised.

  “I’ll bet you can,” Muscles smirked. “But we’re not after your money.”

  “Then, what are you looking for?” I asked. “Take what you want and go. Take the boat. Just let us get off first.”

  “What do you think we’re looking for?” he sneered malevolently. “Drugs? Automatic rifles? Rocket launchers? Explosives? Nuclear weapons? What do you have that we might be interested in?”

  “We don’t have any of those things,” I protested. “We’re tourists, that’s all. We’ve been sightseeing and scuba diving. See, there’s our gear on the deck.”

  “Don’t hand us that crap, Hobson. You’re anything but a tourist. You know it and we know it.”

  Ohmigod. They know my name. But then, of course they know my name, I realized. They’d been following Cat and me for the last three or four days, at least. I wondered how much longer.

  “You were in Timberline Village, weren’t you?” I accused. “Bugging my apartment.”

  “I thought you didn’t know what this was all about, Hobson. You just gave yourself away. That’s the trouble with you amateurs.”

  If we were amateurs, then they must be professionals. The trouble with that analogy was that I didn’t know what their profession was. Thieves? Murderers? Spies? Soldiers of fortune? They had the knowledge. They had the upper hand. They had the guns. They had us as prisoners. I might as well concede defeat and sacrifice myself to save everyone else.

  “Okay, you win. If it’s me you want, take me with you. But don’t harm the others. They’re innocent. Please. Let them go,” I bargained.

  Red shook his head. “You know we can’t do that. You’re all in this together.”

  I tried to appear puzzled. In fact, I was. I still had no idea what he thought we were all in together. “What do you mean?”

  “We’ve seen every one of you in Timberline, talking to each other at one time or another.”

  “Of course you have. That’s where we live,” Heidi admitted. “Four of us do, anyway. But Luther and I have no idea what’s going on here. Please believe me,” she begged. “Tell the men, Hobson.”

  Red ignored her interruption. “Hobson, you moved millions of dollars from one country to another. Twice, at least. You smuggled two million dollars in cash into Mexico and disposed of it somehow. We want to know who has the money now and what you got for it in return.”

  Heidi gasped. “Hobson—you didn’t do those things, did you? You couldn’t have. Not you.” She might just as well have called me an incompetent flake.

  Dean Martin had turned deathly pale. I could see the wheels turning inside his little prune-shaped head. For the first time in my boring life, things were looking up for me, he seemed to be thinking. And now, this.

  Muscles joined in the accusations. “You knew we were on to you, Hobson, so you went to great lengths to slip away from us. But when you tried to sneak off the second time, we outsmarted you. We were watching. From our helicopter. That underwater sled trick was clever, but not clever enough. The water’s so clear we could see every move you made. All we had to do was follow you here.”

  Apparently, they didn’t know ten other men had also been tailing us. These guys weren’t as smart as they thought they were, I decided. Maybe I could bluff our way out.

  “You’re right on all counts,” I confessed. “But what makes you think we didn’t know you were following us in the helicopter? Any minute now, the rest of our party is going to show up here, and then you’ll be the ones answering questions with a gun barrel shoved up your nose. I suggest you just put your weapons down, climb in your helicopter, and take off, before it’s too late,” I threatened with unwarranted braggadocio.

  “Haw. That’s rich,” Red laughed sarcastically. “I’m really worried. Don’t try to shit me, Hobson. There isn’t another human being within ten miles of here. We checked the roads and beaches before we landed.”

  At that moment, an enormous explosion rocked the boat and a gigantic fireball turned everything orange.

  “What the hell …” Muscles ejaculated, running for the cabin door. “Holy shit! Our helicopter just blew up!” he cried out to his partner.

  Red followed Muscles out the door, all attempts at guarding us abandoned. Pablo, Pietro, and I were but a short distance behind them. Where the helicopter had been standing, only a pile of burning rubble remained.

  Red and Muscles were being held by two men each, men who had been lying in wait just outside the cabin door when the helicopter exploded. The Uzis were lying on the deck. I picked one up and released a few bursts over the water, just to see what it was like. I discovered that I relished the feeling of power the weapon provided. Firing the gun was an almost erotic release from the tension that had built up while we were being held captive.

  Pablo checked his watch. “It’s about time you got here,” he said to the newcomers. “We’ve been ready to leave for nearly half an hour.”

  Twenty-Four

  The Blue Hole

  ONE OF THE MEN who’d captured Muscles and Red was offended by Pablo’s mild rebuke and felt the need to set the matter straight.

  “Señor Santos, I must beg to differ with you. Our submarine arrived here precisely on schedule. Before surfacing, Captain Gonzales prudently raised the periscope to take a look around. He observed a helicopter sitting on the end of the pier and sent the four of us out the air lock to investigate. When we saw you were being held at gunpoint, we blew up the helicopter as a diversionary tactic. As we expected, these two ran out of the cabin to see what happened. We were waiting for them with open arms.”

  “Your quick thinking undoubtedly saved our lives,” I complimented, to ease the man’s fractured feelings. “A job well done.”

  “What shall we do with the prisoners, Señor Alfredo?” Pablo asked.

  I’d apparently gained Pablo’s respect when I stood up to Red and Muscles in the galley and offered myself as a sacrificial lamb, and now Pablo was asking me for my advice. Flattered, I decided to adopt a take-charge persona, though that was considerably against my normal nature.

  I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “Before I make my decision, I’d like to know what the others think. Luther, do you have any suggestions?”

  “I say let’s shoot them and feed them to the fishes,” Martin blurted out. “That’s what they would have
done to us, sooner or later.”

  I always knew Dean Martin was a bloodthirsty little devil. “That’s definitely one option,” I nodded, waving the Uzi around and trying to look as menacing as possible. Muscles and Red shrugged resignedly, as if they fully expected to be executed on the spot. They had failed their mission and, under the rules of their game, deserved whatever punishment we meted out. Those were the fortunes of war.

  I turned to Heidi. “How do you vote on that, Hazelhorst?”

  She hemmed and hawed. It appeared that Heidi was evaluating Muscles’ physique and was reluctant to destroy such an exemplar of masculinity. “I don’t know. We’re not murderers, even if they are. Can’t we just turn the men loose when we leave and let them live on coconuts until someone comes by to rescue them?”

  “I don’t think that’s workable. These two might have reinforcements stationed nearby. I wouldn’t want to take a chance on having them come after us again. Maybe Luther’s right. Maybe we should kill them here and now.” I raised the Uzi and grimaced as Luther and Red winced.

  Then, I pretended to have an epiphany, and turned the weapon aside. “On the other hand, they might prove to be useful to us. Perhaps we could trade them for ransom money.

  “Besides, I don’t want to kill these two … yet. I’m going to have to interrogate them to find out how much they know—or, how much they think they know. If they don’t cooperate, we can always waste them later.” I was playing my Rambo role to the nines.

  I turned to the man who had spoken up to Pablo. “Is there enough space in the submarine for everyone?”

  He nodded. “Si. There are five of us in the crew, including Captain Gonzales. Seven of you. And these two. The submarine’s small, so it might be a little tight, but we can all fit in.”

  “Okay,” I said decisively, lowering the gun. “It’s settled. Tie these gorillas up and we’ll take them along.”