"Not yet," I volunteered. My God, it finally dawned on me. The guy was
tracking me. He wanted to know what I knew. "You come up with anything
at your end?"
"I've been busy, a string of meetings, but I still think you might want
to check out the phone book." It was the second time he'd made the
suggestion. He was practically ordering me to do it. Why? "You never
know. I'm afraid that's about the best I can do."
"Maybe I will," I said. "I've been a little busy too."
The phone call was feeling stranger and stranger. He was sending me to
see something, probably in hopes it would make me go away. It was
actually more unnerving than if he'd done nothing at all.
"Well, in any case, I hope you have a good visit," he declared
diplomatically. Another pause. "Planning to be here long?"
"I'm not sure yet." Why did he want to know that?
"I see. Whatever happens, I hope you find what you're looking for. Best
of luck."
He hung up, leaving me with the feeling he already knew the answer to
every question he'd asked. The guys at the airport, and now the
embassy--I was the best-known tourist in the country.
Okay, maybe I should just play along and see what happens. In any case,
I'd just lost my appetite for fried eggs with hot sauce, but I had a
definite interest in the phone book.
And there they were. Ninos del Mundo. Complete with an address, way out
the Boulevar R. Aguilar Batres.
Well, why not see where it leads you? Sarah's card said the place was
in the Peten, but who knows?
I got up off the bed and went into the bathroom for a shampoo and
shower. Despite the fact that Barry Morton wanted me to see this Ninos
del Mundo place, whatever it was, I didn't want to show up looking and
smelling like some bedraggled tourist. I'd wear my tailored blue suit,
which, along with the dark blue heels, ought to make me look adequately
businesslike.
The shower was wonderful, purging away the soot of the park, and I was
wrapping my hair in a large beige towel when the phone jangled again. I
tucked in the edge to secure it and walked over. Maybe it was Lou
ringing back.
No such luck. The caller was none other than my brand-new partner Alan
Dupre. I was not thrilled to hear his voice. Was he about to get cold
feet and back out?
"Morgan, listen," he said, not wasting time on niceties, "there's been
a small change of plans. I've--"
"Alan, don't do this to me." You shit. "You agreed--"
"No, why I'm calling is, we've got to go ahead and go up today, storm
or no, God help us. You happy now?"
What? After that neurotic song-and-dance he'd just given me in the
park? I should have been overjoyed, but something about the whole thing
immediately felt synthetic. I paused a long moment, trying to think the
situation through. What was going on?
The answer to that was clear as day. I was being set up. Somebody
wanted me out of town, and they'd just found a way.
Or was I being paranoid again? Had the weather cleared? I reached over
and pushed aside a curtain. Nope, it looked as threatening as ever.
No question. This was definitely a setup.
On the other hand why not use whoever had put him up to this? This told
me for sure I was on the trail of Sarah, and the sooner I got going,
the better. Aside from calling New York and then checking out the local
Ninos del Mundo that Barry Morton wanted me to see so badly, I had no
other pressing plans. . . .
"Alan, I thought you declared no 'effing' way were you going to go
today," I said testing him. "Why the sudden revision in scheduling?"
"Yeah, well, something heavy's come up for tomorrow. I'm afraid it's
gotta be now or forget it for at least a week."
Unrefined bullshit. But somebody knew how badly I wanted to go.
"Look, there's something I need to check out first. I just learned
about a place here in town I want to at least see. It's also called
Ninos del Mundo."
"No shit." He paused. "Okay, we'll talk about it. Get the address and
maybe we can cruise by if there's time. Thing is, we don't have all
that much leeway here."
"One last question." I thought I'd give him a final shot at the truth.
"Just tell me honestly why it has to be today. The real story."
"Like I said everything's changed." He wasn't budging. "So if we're
doing this, I've got to pick you up now and get us on our merry way."
He was too cheerful by half, which definitely told me he was lying.
"All right, but I really need to make at least one phone call first." I
wanted Steve to know where I was. "And if I walk out of here with a
bag, I've got to let the desk know I'm not skipping on the bill."
"Forget the phone call. No time. Do it after we get back. Just be out
front in exactly nineteen minutes. This is not a dry run. The train is
leaving. I'm outta here now."
There was a click and he was gone.