By edRogers
[Reviewed here on the novel’s publication day, October 6, 2018: “Coming soon to a Barnes & Noble store near you?”]
Charlie was trying to talk Margot into staying home. “We eat fish every Friday. Let’s cook something here for a change and go for fish tomorrow night.”
“No, Charlie. I’m going out for dinner; you can stay home if you want. And what I mean by home is your home on the mountain.”
“Don’t get all pissed off! If it means that much to you, I’ll change clothes and we’ll go eat fish.” He walked into Margot’s bedroom, where he kept a few clothes just for such an occasion.
Ten minutes later they drove out through the gate. “It’s going to be a dark night,” Charlie observed, “there’s no moon.”
Margot couldn’t help but laugh. “Charlie, are you trying to make small talk?”
“Well, it is going to be a dark night.”
“Yes, it is. You can stop now – I’m not mad at you.”
“Good, because I wanted to tell you what Juan did today.”
“Okay, what did Juan do today?”
“He got a camera planted in the warehouse.”
Margot thought for a second before replying. “How will a camera help if there are no drugs while it’s taking pictures?”
“I have a remote that turns the camera on and off. When we know drugs are coming in, I’ll turn the camera on, but not before.”
“How will you know?”
“Juan says that the truck from San Jose comes once a week to pick up the pallets for shipment and that’s when the drugs show up.”
“Sounds like you have it all worked out.”
“There are a million things that can go wrong. The man Juan hired to plant the camera may have just taken the money and thrown the camera in the ocean. The remote may not be close enough to turn it on. Someone may find the damn camera before we can do anything. Who knows what’s going to happen?”
“Let’s pretend everything is going to work out fine and have a good time tonight. After all, there is nothing you can do about tomorrow anyway.”
Margot parked across the street from the restaurant and they walked up the stairs. She was laughing at a joke Charlie had told her.
Rufino lay in the dark close to where they had parked. He was crouched down behind the three-foot-high concrete wall that ran between the beach and the business area. He had a good view of the front entrance to the restaurant. As Charlie and Margot walked into the dining room, he moved from his hiding place and made his way through the shadows to their jeep.
The jeep was unlocked. He cracked the door and reached his hand up from the bottom to press the button that turned the overhead light off, and then he opened the door and secured a piece of tape over the button. From his bag he took an eight-inch bar of C-4 and laid it on the seat. And then he took out a roll of six-foot electrical wire and the electric firing cap.
In his mind, his plan seemed much easier to carry out than in reality. He lay contorted half under the dashboard trying to find the back of the ignition. At last, he took hold of two wires coming from the ignition. He planned to hold the small flashlight in his mouth while he worked, but his head was behind the steering column and he was forced to bare the wires from the ignition by feel and attach the two ends of his six-foot wire without ever seeing any of the wires.
Having finished that, he attached the wire from the firing cap to the other end of the six-foot wires and pushed the cap into the C-4. He eased out of the jeep and placed the C-4 under the seat, and then he picked up the floor mat and laid it on top of the wire leading to the dashboard. When everything was out of sight, he closed the door and slipped back across the road to wait for the fireworks.
He waited for a good hour and a half before he saw them approach the jeep, and he held his breath as they got in. At the last second, he fell flat behind the cement wall.
He heard the jeep start, but there was no explosion. He peeked over the wall as they drove down the street.
Margot had opened the door and gotten into the driver’s seat. “Why didn’t the light come on when I opened the door?”
Charlie, feeling the flush of too much wine, suggested, “It’s the light bulb or a fuse; I’ll take a look at it in the morning.”
“Please do, Charlie. I don’t lock my jeep because I don’t keep anything in it that a person would want to steal. That way, although I know people have looked in my car, I have never had a broken window. But at night I like to have a light in case someone is waiting inside for me.”
“I promise, I’ll take care of it first thing in the morning. It’s too dark to do anything tonight.”
“Okay, thank you.”
As she came around a curve, the tires slipped enough for her to realize that she was speeding, and she slowed down. “What do you and Juan have planned for tomorrow?”
“Nothing, the weekend is free – unless the truck comes to pick up the pallets. Monday, the three of us need to go to Customs and see about getting a meeting with Julio Morales.”
“In that case, I want to invite Tommy and Howard over for lunch and drinks, and I want you to be there. They’re working hard trying to help us and you seem to be spending all your time with Juan.”
“I spend time with Juan because there’s work he and I can do. Tommy is on a computer and Howard is playing footsie with the Environmental Ministry. I can’t help either one of them.”
“Sometimes all it takes is a pat on the back and a thank you. You can do that much, can’t you?”
“Yes, and I do owe them my life, if that was what you were going to bring up next.”
“I had hoped I wouldn’t have to go that far. They have been fighting this war for a lot more years than you. They need to feel respected.”
“I know, I know. You’re right. Invite them over and I’ll play nice, I promise.”
She pushed the buttons on the keypad and the gate opened. She parked and they got out. “Are you spending the night here or going home?”
Charlie took her in his arms and kissed her long and deep. His hands moved over her body and he felt a tremble within her. He smiled and said, “I thought I would stay here, if that’s okay with you.”
Rufino was beside himself. What the hell had gone wrong? It was simple! All he had to do was hook the explosive up to the ignition. Once the ignition key engaged, boom! It had to be Tai. Mr. Tai had given him a bad firing cap. That was the only answer. There was still the chance it might blow up, but if it didn’t he would have to shoot them both, and that would expose him – something he had hoped to avoid.
He walked unhappily toward his hotel. Everything had seemed so easy that morning.
Roberto was at the bar next to Rufino’s hotel. For once he had drinking money, and the wife had told him to enjoy himself. He was watching the man coming down the street, and he had the sensation he had seen him before. The man sat down at the table to Roberto’s right and ordered a beer.
It was his third beer and Roberto was feeling friendly. He leaned toward the man and said, “Excuse me, but I think we have met before.”
Rufino took one look at the guy and knew at once he was from Nicaragua. “No, you’re wrong. We’ve never met.” He was mad as hell and in no mood for a conversation with a drunken Nicaraguan. Rufino’s beer came and he moved over a couple of tables.
He heard the chair at the table beside him scrape the floor. He turned his head and there was Roberto, who grinned and drunkenly said, “I know where I have seen you. It was this morning at Mr. Tai’s warehouse. You walked in right in front of me.”
For some reason, Roberto thought Rufino would be proud he had remembered. Instead, Rufino slammed his beer bottle into Roberto’s face. The bottle didn’t shatter, but it broke Roberto’s nose and took out a couple teeth.
Rufino had reacted out of rage from the way his night had gone and Roberto had paid the price of that rage. Rufino got up and put a hundred-dollar bill in Roberto’s shirt pocket. “I’m sorry you slipped and fell, amigo. I’m sure the money will make you feel better.”
Rufino went to bed and Roberto went to the clinic. When asked what had happened, he said he had fallen. It was Roberto’s weekend to work but he had to call in sick. Monday, when he showed up at work, his boss took one look at him and fired him.
| Copyright © 2018 by Ed Rogers |
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