By edRogers
[Reviewed here on the novel’s publication day, October 6, 2018: “Coming soon to a Barnes & Noble store near you?”]
Charlie sat quietly as Margot drove out of town. On the mainland, she headed southwest into the mountains. She drove a 1998 Toyota Land Cruiser, which she called a jeep, as did most Costa Ricans. She drove it like it was a rental. She told Charlie she had bought it three years before from a man who had rebuilt it from the ground up.
Her house was five miles out on a dead-end road, inside a high wall with barb wire on top and a locked gate. Through the gate was a clearing to park and steps leading down to the house, which sat on a flat area of ground cut into the side of the mountain. It looked like a prison to Charlie, but so did most of the houses in Costa Rica.
He couldn’t take his eyes off Margot. She had brown hair, cut short, but not pageboy short. He guessed her age at mid to late thirties, maybe early forties. She was slim, tall, and presented a commanding figure. But beyond that, there was a beauty about her that he couldn’t put his finger on. It was like when he came into the restaurant and she jumped out at him like there was no one else in the building. She was wearing shorts and her long, sun-browned legs worked the pedals with the ease of a race car driver. Charlie was horny as all get out.
Margot could feel his eyes on her every move and, while she liked the feeling, she wasn’t sure what to do about it. She hadn’t brought him to the house to have sex – or had she? She had to admit she was very attracted to him and looked forward to a good roll in the hay, but tonight she had to be professional; both of their lives could depend on what happened next. She stopped on a small hill above the front door and got out. “We’re here. Come on inside.”
He got out and looked around. “This place is like a fortress.”
She opened the door and smiled at him. “I have made a few enemies over the years and I like to feel safe.”
Charlie walked into a very beautifully laid out living room. Two large ceiling fans moved the air around. A big couch filled the middle of the room. It was off-brown and had two recliners to match. A flat-screen TV hung above the fireplace. On the far wall was a wet bar and to the left of it was the kitchen. To his right, a hallway led to the bedroom and bath.
He heard Margot lock the door behind them. He turned and met her lips. Her warm tongue explored his mouth and he became dizzy. This had never happened to him before.
She took him by the hand and led him down the hall. He felt in a daze. She could have led him off a cliff and he would have followed.
Her bedroom was a larger room with an oversized bathtub. The king-sized bed filled most of the room. She pushed him down on the bed and walked to the bathroom. “I’ll be right back – get out of your clothes.”
He didn’t have to be told twice. He removed his clothes and had no more than lain on the bed when she came out of the bathroom, with the light shining behind her. It was all he could do to keep from jumping up and pulling her into bed.
She came slowly up from the bottom of the bed. She slid her hands across his body and left a trail of electric shocks behind her. As she came to his erection she took him into her mouth and did things he had never felt before.
They didn’t make love, they fucked. It was hard, wild, and even crazy at times. The second time, he thought he would die. Charlie fell back and fought for air, but his lungs would not fill up. He was still lying like that when she came out of the bathroom fully dressed.
“Get up. Now that we have that out of the way, we need to get down to business.” She turned and walked toward the living room.
“What the shit?” He said to the empty room. He wondered if he had pissed her off somehow. He got his clothes on and walked slowly toward the front of the house.
Margot was standing at the bar making a drink. He asked, “Are you pissed at me about something?”
Margot had known that neither she nor Charlie would be thinking about anything but sex until they got it over with. So his question was not a surprise to her. “Don’t be silly, Charlie. I loved every minute of it. But we have to talk, and now we can do it without wondering what it would be like to fuck each other.” She watched his face as he took that in.
“Okay, I guess I understand. What is so important?”
Margot was worried. This was the moment when things could go very well, or turn to shit. “I want you to buy into that boat. I want you to work on it and get evidence that Mr. Tai and his fleet of finning boats are a cover for running drugs.”
Charlie looked at her like she was crazy. “I don’t have the money! I thought you understood that.”
“I’ll give you the money. I have a lawyer in Puntarenas. He’ll draw up the papers for the deal between you and your two friends so they can’t cheat you, or me. I’ll want you to sign a note for the twenty thousand dollars. A third of the boat will be your collateral for the money. That way, if something happens to you, or you take off – I still have the boat.”
Charlie walked over and poured himself a rum. He moved to the couch and sat down. “What do you mean if something happens to me?”
She leaned over the back of the couch and kissed him on top of his head. “This is not going to be easy. It will be very dangerous at times. If you get caught they will kill you. But when it is over, you will have the story of a lifetime.”
Charlie got up and poured another rum. “Are we in this thing alone? I mean, if things go bad, is there anyone we can call for help?”
“There are people in the government that I have worked with before, but I don’t want anyone but you and me to know about this. Even the people I trust – I don’t trust them with your life.”
He began shaking his head, and she felt she might be losing him.
“In other words,” he said, “we are alone, against a Taiwanese mafia killer – what could go wrong?”
She walked around and took a seat on the coffee table in front of him. “Charlie, I have been trying most of my life to take these bastards down. It can’t be done the normal way. too many people are being bought off. But their weak spot is the drugs. If we can prove Tai is using his boats to run cocaine and heroin, the Americans will put the pressure on the Costa Rican government to put a stop to the operation.”
Charlie drank down his rum, still not convinced. “I would have to get pictures and become a part of the drug running along with the finning – is that what you’re asking me to do?”
“I’m sorry Charlie, but yes, it is. There’s no other way to stop them.” Margot moved to the couch, put her arms around him and held him close. Neither one spoke for some time. Charlie would have been happy to have never spoken about shark finning again.
Charlie pulled back from Margot and said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Oh, thank you, Charlie! Thank you!” She leaned forward to kiss him, but he pushed her back.
He stood up. “Could you take me back to my hotel now? And give me the address of your lawyer.”
“I’m sorry, Charlie. The sex had nothing to do with this. That was because I wanted you.”
“I’m not mad, I just need to be alone to think about what I’m doing, because after tomorrow I can’t turn back can I?”
“No, you can’t.” She gave him her lawyer’s card, and they headed toward the door.
| Copyright © 2018 by Ed Rogers |
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