On the following afternoon I was stretched out on a blanket on the side yard in my underwear shorts when I heard another car come up that last pitch. It sounded like more car than the little doctor had. Connie brought Dominguez and another man around the corner of the cabin and out to my blanket.
“See him?” she said. “Disgusting. He said weak men have to have meat. I drove that foul jeep to Indio. I bought four steaks. He ate two for lunch.”
“How do you feel, amigo?” Paul asked.
“Perforated.”
“Permit me to introduce Senor Ramon Talavera.” Talavera was a slim dark-haired man, with a Spanish pallor, a dark and clerical suit. I hesitated and then held my hand out to him. His hesitation was longer than mine, and then he bent and took it.
Paul turned to Connie. “If you don’t mind, chica.” She plumped herself down on the corner of the blanket, affixed her stretch-pants legs Buddha style and said defiantly, “I sure as hell do mind. What do you think I am? The criada around here?”
Paul looked inquiringly at Talavera. The pale man gave a little nod of agreement. Paul got two fat unsplit chunks from the woodpile, and they used them like stools. Connie handed cigarettes around.
Paul said, “It could be a mistake, but from what Connie said to me, I thought it would be wise to bring Ramon here to talk to you.”
I looked at the pale man and said, “You have my sympathy in the loss of your sister and your friends.”
“Thank you very much, sir.”
“I think I know what you want to know, Mr. Talavera. Tomberlin wanted to stop Mineros’ activities. He knew that, because of past history, he could make Mineros lose his head if he could bring him face to face with Carlos Menterez. If Mineros killed Carlos and was caught, it solved the problem. If Carlos killed Mineros, it solved the problem. Tomberlin had two people planted down there. Miguel Alconedo, on Menterez’s staff, and Almah Hichin, his mistress. I imagine he got word to them to try to take care of Mineros. Tomberlin used the collection of gold figures as a smoke screen. He is a very devious man. Almah Hichin talked Taggart into helping Miguel kill those four people. Then Tomberlin began to worry I think, about the reliability of Almah and Miguel. He sent people down-Fertacci and the beach girl-to deliver an order to Miguel to kill the Hichin woman and escape in the boat. They booby-trapped the boat. Tomberlin’s orders were given through Claude Boody.”
“Who is dead,” Talavera said gently. “We got word that one of the men who killed them was on the way up from Mexico to sell things to Tomberlin. We approached Tomberlin. He did not know anything about anything, but he promised to cooperate. When he was contacted, he let us know at once. We tricked the man out of the gold, but we missed him. When he made contact to sell the last piece, I had the honor of being selected to go and deal with him.” He looked into my eyes. “I understand he was your friend?”
“He was. He didn’t know there would be a woman aboard. He had been sold an entirely false story about the whole thing. Almah Hichin was a sly woman. She made me believe she was telling me the whole truth by only telling me a part of it, in great detail.”
“Your friend, Taggart, tried to tell me these things, but it was too late by then. A sister can be the most special person one can have, Senor McGee.”
“He tried a bad gamble and it went wrong. There’s been too much blood since then. It happened a long time ago, Talavera, and I have lost interest in it.”
“Thank you. These other things you say, are they guesses?”
I held my hand out. “Boody burned my hand to be certain I was unconscious. But I wasn’t. I listened to Boody talk to Fertacci about these things. I was able to fill in the blanks. I took a chance and knocked their heads together. I think Boody’s heart gave out. The girl got a gun and started shooting at me. She missed with three shots from close range. I tried to knock her down with Boody’s gun without killing her. But it threw high and to the right. So I disabled Fertacci and set the scene and let myself out. Neither Fertacci nor Boody nor the girl had the slightest idea who I could be. The girl remembered seeing me at Puerto Altamura. It made them very nervous. And I think that having Chip Fertacci in custody is going to make Tomberlin very nervous.”
“Bail was set at fifty thousand,” Paul said, “and he was released today. I have a strong feeling that young man is going to disappear.”
Talavera got up quickly and walked away. He went about fifty feet and stood with his hands locked behind him, staring at Toro Peak.
“The poor twisted son of a bitch,” Paul said softly. “He thought you would want to try to kill him. If it’s any consolation to you, McGee, you took a perfectly legal authorized official bullet in the back. I have my little sources. The gentleman who plugged you broke his cover by doing so. He was assigned to infiltrate Doctor Girdon Face’s organization. He had the idea that Face was using Tomberlin’s dirty pictures to extract contributions for the cause. When he found there was a fire aboard, and saw you running with sacks, he thought the fire was a coverup, and you were taking off with the files and record. It upset him because he was on the verge of getting a search warrant. Even though I… do a little work on the side for the same organization, I am glad that stuff got burned. It shouldn’t sit in government file cabinets.”
“Pablo,” I said, “now that we know where Tomberlin stands, I get confused by this relationship with Dr. Face.”
He gave a latin shrug. “Why should you be confused? Reasonable conservatism is a healthy thing. But that kind of poisonous divisionist hate-mongering Face has been preaching is one of the standard Communist techniques. If you create a radical right, their vicious nonsense pushes more people toward the radical left. Then-when fear pushes people into violence, or silence, the comrades enter and flourish. My friend, any way that they can make Americans hate Americans helps the cause. They would like to make Rockwell stronger too. That is the heart of contemporary propaganda, amigo, to strengthen ignorant terrible men who believe themselves to be perfect patriots.
“Now Tomberlin’s other activities begin to seem most curious too. Suppose there are three groups of Cuban exiles eager to hurt the Castro regime. Two are plausible, sane and orderly. One is reckless and wild and dangerous. Tomberlin strengthens the dangerous element, thus dividing the cause. Perhaps he is under orders. Perhaps he is merely a dilettante. The effect is the same.”
Ramon Talavera came back to the group.
He sat down and studied his knuckles and said, “I can promise one thing. I can make them understand that Rafael’s program was so effective, it had to be stopped by them, one way or another. When they understand that, they will take heart. It will all be organized again, stronger than before. I promise that.”
“Count me in,” Connie said. “Count me in this time.”
Talavera smiled at her. “Of course. I will squeeze money out of you, Senora.” The smile was gone abruptly. “And there is that one small thing left unfinished, Mr. McGee. I would have thought, when you had the chance… ”
“I had no taste for it. Not after that girl.”
“Of course. But I have made a personal vow. I shall not please myself by doing it myself. It was no pleasure, actually… that other time.”
“It never is,” Paul said gently.
“That man did not beg. I wanted him to beg. He merely fought. I think this might be a good time. While that man is still in the hospital. There is some sort of rupture of the diaphragm which they wish to mend. He has special nurses, of course. If one became busy on other matters, I believe a replacement could be arranged.”