Nor was Hector the jealous type. He knew his place. He fully accepted that Mercedes’ current number one lover was the British diplomat, Redford Dunfield. This slightly surprised him because Dunfield seemed to be more than a little effeminate. Perhaps he had hidden skills or more subtle ways of satisfying Mercedes, he thought with a smile. No matter. Mercedes de Milan was approaching old age with ill grace and fear and this had made her sexually insatiable. She was deathly afraid that no one would want her when her looks faded. When Dunfield or a predecessor was not available to serve her, Rojas was. She also tipped well after each session and, as a result, he’d accumulated a significant amount of money.
One of his duties was to ensure that all was safe and secure in the de Milan compound. Hector knew that the two lovers who occupied the cottage were in danger from the skinny woman’s husband, Gilberto Salazar. On occasion Rojas had walked by the cottage and seen them naked through a window. Juana Salazar did not arouse him although he conceded that she would do in a pinch. She was just too thin for his tastes.
Regardless, she and her American lover were Mercedes’ guests and were to be protected. Hector liked to wander the compound at odd times just to see what might be afoot. By staggering his patrols, he hoped to confuse anyone who might want to break in and harm the lovers. It also kept his other guards on their toes.
This night was cloudy and there were few shadows. In a couple of hours, false dawn would rise. He was reacting to information from an informer in Salazar’s legion that there would be an attempt on the lives of the two guests. The darkness smelled of danger and that excited him. He moved around the compound’s perimeter with surprising grace and silence. He liked to think of himself as a large predator cat like the pictures of lions and leopards he’d seen in books in Mercedes’ extensive library.
Hearing something, he paused. The compound was close enough to the city to pick up numerous background noises. There was a pattern to these sounds, even when punctuated by the odd shout or scream, or the occasional gunshot. What he was listening for was the sound of footfalls, or bushes and leaves being brushed against by something that shouldn’t be there. He knew enough to identify and ignore the sounds of dogs or cats or even rodents. They did not concern him.
He heard something once more and froze. He heard it again and decided it wasn’t an animal, at least not a four-legged one. He moved stealthily towards the sound, keeping it between him and the cottage. As he generally did, he had a large hammer in his hand and he handled it like a twig. One side was flat for pounding, while the other was wedge-shaped and good for crushing. He had a knife and a pistol in his belt, but his usual weapon of choice was the hammer. A gun made too much noise, and a knife was messy and often did not kill or even disable immediately. Even slicing a man’s throat did not necessarily bring immediate death. The victim could flop and make noises for some time and be bleeding all over the place.
However, even a glancing blow from the hammer would shatter bones and cause shock, while a direct blow was usually fatal, at least when he swung it with blinding speed.
Rojas smelled blood. He moved cautiously and found the body of one of his guards. He swore softly. The boy had only been fifteen and now he was dead. He had volunteered to be a guard to prove his manhood and earn a little extra money and now he was dead. His head had been bashed in and his throat had been skillfully sliced open.
Rojas smiled tightly and moved closer to the lovers’ cottage. The two men he’d sensed and now could see were concentrating on their approach to the cottage and paying no attention to what was happening behind them. Fools, he thought. As he stalked them he noted that each had a revolver in his waistband. Dangerous fools, he amended. He could call the alarm and others would come to his aid, but that would take a few precious minutes during which he could be shot. No, he would solve this himself and there would be no gunfire.
The two intruders were so preoccupied that he got within a few feet of them before he launched his bulk at them with fearful speed. He struck the first with the hammer and the man’s skull shattered with a sickening sound, like a melon dropping on cement. He whirled and struck at the second man who was only beginning to turn with a look of puzzlement on his face. The hammer struck him between the eyes, killing him instantly.
Rojas breathed deeply and looked around. He had disturbed no one. He threw the bodies over his shoulder, walked to the stable and dumped them into a cart. After covering the corpses with a blanket and some straw he walked to the main house and entered through the servant’s entrance. He was pleased to see that the Englishman was not present. That made things so much simpler.
He entered Mercedes’ bedroom and awakened her. She was used to the touch of his hand and did not startle. As usual, she had been sleeping naked and made no effort to more fully cover what he had seen so many times before. Nor was she shocked by what he told her. An attack on the lovers had been expected.
“What will you do with the bodies?”
“At dawn, when the curfew is over, I will take them a few miles out of town and dump them in a field. It will be a while before anyone notices them, if ever, and by then they will be unrecognizable. Not even their mothers will know them.”
Mercedes shuddered at the thought of the intruders being eaten by birds and animals and insects and bloated by the sun, but it had to be done. Other things had to be done as well. She could not allow Gilberto Salazar or his men to enter her property and murder people. He had crossed a line.
She handed him a corner of the light blanket that only partly covered her. He grinned and gently pulled it off her. Her beauty might be fading, but she was still highly desirable.
She smiled and held out her hand. He grasped it and she pulled him down to her. She had never had sex with a man who had just killed on her behalf and it thoroughly excited her. “You have done so very well, Hector Rojas, that I think you deserve a very great reward.”
* * *
Jesus, thought Kendrick. He was too stunned to return to bed where Juana slept peacefully. He hadn’t been able to sleep and had gone to a window simply to look around. Even though he loved Juana and loved being with her, he was getting bored and needed to get near where the story and the action were. Thus, he’d seen the two men approaching. He’d been about to awaken Juana and make a run for the main house when a massive bulk had surged over the intruders like a wave, knocking them down with wickedly fast swings of a hammer. He recognized Rojas by his bulk. He’d seen the man around many times. Kendrick had kept on cordial terms with him and was now very thankful he had.
Kendrick also understood what would happen to the bodies. They would disappear and never be found. He would have to find a way of thanking Rojas. He had a feeling that both Rojas and Mercedes would deny that anything like what he’d seen had ever happened and he was fine with that. Still, he had to let them know of his appreciation. Rojas had just saved his and Juana’s life.
He walked softly back to bed, although he wondered if he would ever be able to get to sleep again. Next, he wondered if they should move to a more secure location. But to where, he wondered. If he could get the two of them back to the American lines, perhaps they’d be safe there. But maybe they’d be safe nowhere with Gilberto Salazar still in the picture. How could the man be so jealous of him when he’d thrown Juana at him? The man was mad, that was why. After hating and discarding Juana, he was now obsessed with no one else possessing her.
Perhaps they should move to the main house. There wouldn’t be as much privacy, but they would be safer. No, he had to find a better, safer place for them. He could not leave Havana until the war was over. The story of a lifetime, maybe several lifetimes, was unfolding before his eyes. Word had come that the relief force had sailed from Charleston and the people of the city of Havana were tense and confused. Either Cuba was going to be free of Spain or the United States was going to suffer an ignominious defeat. Either way, he would be in Havana.