Bluey had turned toward the door, but now he stopped. “Anaconda Pure?” he asked. “I am not familiar with that.”
“Ah, well, this is rumor,” Florio said. “One hears of large amounts of the finest merchandise being moved, but perhaps it is only rumor. Still, the last couple of years, one hears the name often. If the rumors are true, then surely the merchandise is shipped through the Guajira, but none of it stops here.”
“Where does it originate?” Bluey asked.
Florio spread his hands. “There are not even rumors about that,” he said.
They all shook hands, and the stone-faced bodyguard let them out of the suite.
“A very courtly fellow,” Cat said as they walked back to their own room.
“If he had thought we had that much money on us, he would have had our throats cut on the spot,” Bluey replied.
Cat gulped. “You gave me a start, there, when you were talking about two hundred kilos at thirteen thousand a kilo. I didn’t bring that much money.”
“Ah, that was all bluff,” Bluey said. “Florio never dealt more than ten kilos in his life. I blew him right out of his socks with talk of two hundred. I knew he wouldn’t even pretend to have access to that much; he’s strictly a small-timer. I just wanted to ask him about girls.”
“I was glad you told him we’d need forty-eight hours to get money, too,” Cat said.
“Well, you want to distance yourself from that much money, otherwise you might meet one of Florio’s blokes in a dark alley. Say, how much did you bring with you, anyway?”
“Two million dollars,” Cat said.
Bluey stopped and stared at him. “What?”
“Plus the hundred thousand pocket money you suggested,” Cat said.
“Jesus H. Christ!” Bluey whispered hoarsely. “Where is it?”
“In the room,” Cat said, surprised at his reaction, “in that aluminum case of mine. You did say to bring a lot of money, Bluey.”
“I meant two or three hundred thousand,” Bluey said, walking faster. “Jesus, now I’m not going to be able to relax for a minute.”
He opened the door to their room. “Good God, it’s just sitting there!” he said, pointing at the case.
“Well, it has a combination lock,” Cat said. “I thought it would probably be safer just sitting out than if I hid it under the mattress.”
Bluey sat down on the bed and mopped his brow. He jumped at a soft knock on the door.
Cat, who was nearer the door, opened it. The bodyguard from Florio’s suite stepped in and walked over to Bluey.
“Señor, you are interested in a girl?” he asked. “I hear you say this, yes?”
“Not a whore,” Bluey replied.
The man’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I think you are looking for a girl... particular,” he said.
“Oh?” Bluey said, feigning indifference. “How do you mean?”
“I think you look for a girl you know. Just this one girl.”
Bluey said nothing.
“I know a man who has such a girl,” the man said.
Cat’s heart leapt.
“What girl?” Bluey asked, shooting Cat a cautionary glance.
“An Anglo girl. A beautiful one. I see her, myself.”
“Where is she?”
“Here, perhaps three kilometers from the town. In a very rich house.”
“What is this girl’s name?” Cat asked, taking care to keep his voice steady.
“Her name is Kathy, señor. This is Anglo, no?”
“Perhaps. What does she look like?”
“She is very beautiful, señor. Tall, like this.” He held a hand to his eyebrows. “Her hair is gold, but not at the bottom.” He placed a finger at the part in his own hair. “Here it is darker.”
“How old is she?”
The man shrugged. “She is young. Her skin is very smooth.”
Ignoring Bluey’s wary expression, Cat removed a photograph from his wallet, a year-old picture of Jinx in tennis clothes. It was the most recent one he had. “Is this the girl?” he asked, handing the snapshot to the man.
He regarded it for a moment, then nodded. “I think this is so,” he said. “The hair is gold, but I think it is this girl.”
Bluey stood up. “Will you take us there? There’s money in it for you.”
The man held up a hand. “Not now,” he said. “Too early. But there is party tonight. I can get you invitation. For one thousand dollars American?”
“I’ll give you five hundred when we get inside the party,” Bluey said, “and five hundred if the girl is what I want.”
The man nodded. “I come for you eleven o’clock tonight. You must wear suit, tie.”
Bluey nodded his agreement, and the man left. Bluey turned to Cat. “You’re rushing this,” he said. “I don’t like it. It’s too good to be true.”
“No, it’s not,” Cat replied.
“What do you mean?”
“There’s something I haven’t told you,” Cat said. “Jinx is a nickname. When she was small she was always breaking things. Her name is Katharine, after her mother.”
12
Stoneface, as Cat had come to think of him, arrived on time, at eleven that evening. In front of the hotel, the man called for his car. “You drive your car,” he said. “When you are in the house, you give me five hundred, okay?”
Bluey nodded. “Okay.”
“When you see girl, you give me five hundred more.”
“If I want the girl,” Bluey said. “If it is the girl in the picture.”
The man nodded and held up a finger. “I leave when you see this girl,” he said. “I don’t help you take this girl.”
Bluey agreed.
“These hombres, they are quick,” he said, making trigger motions with his index finger. “It is dangerous, comprende?”
“Comprende,” Bluey said. The cars arrived.
They drove east for ten minutes or so. Neither Cat nor Bluey said anything. The houses thinned out, and they came to a large iron gate. A policeman stood guard. Stoneface stopped, exchanged words with the policeman, gestured at the car behind him, and both cars were waved through. The house was a couple of hundred yards from the street, behind an unruly growth of stunted trees. A wide area in front was filled with a jumble of vehicles, including a number of Cadillacs and Mercedeses. Bluey turned the Bronco around and parked it facing the gate, a little away from the rest of the cars. The house was a large, apparently old, stucco structure, in good repair. Lights flashed from the windows, and music with a heavy beat could be heard from inside. They met Stoneface at the steps.
“Now,” he said, rubbing his fingers together.
Bluey gave him five hundred dollars, and they walked into the house together.
A wall of noise and heat met them. There was music of more than one kind being played, and Cat was temporarily blinded by flashing strobe lights. He held up a hand to protect his eyes and tried to become accustomed to the light and sound. A large room ahead of them was filled with people dancing with abandon to rock music. Another room to their left had a live band playing something South American just as noisily. Bluey grabbed a couple of glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and gave one to Cat. “Take it,” he said. “We’ll look odd without a drink.” He turned to Stoneface. “Where’s the girl?” he shouted over the din.
Stoneface made a circular motion with his hand. “We must look,” he shouted back. He led the way into the room before them, skirting the dancers. Another waiter approached, this time with a tray bearing a crystal bowl containing a white powder. Stoneface took a tiny spoon from the tray, dipped it into the powder, and sucked it into his nose. He grinned widely at Bluey and Cat, exposing a set of badly stained teeth. He held up a thumb and motioned for them to help themselves.