A Dangerous Game (45 page)

out."

"So you think Lohaquin is a rebel leader, with a secret army?"
 
He

sounded amused.

"Isn't he?"
 
she asked.
 
She crunched her biscuit.

"These are delicious."

He pointed to the jar.

"Keep on eating.
 
They're very good for the intestines."
 
He leant back

in his chair and stretched out his legs.

Nice, long legs, she thought.
 
/!
 
can tell you now, Jacey/ he said,

'there is no hidden army, and Lohaquin isn't a rain forest Che Guevara.

It's a romantic notion, and Lohaquin hasn't discouraged it because it

gives the poor and disadvantaged of Techtatuan something to hold on to.

But he's not planning an armed rebellion.
 
It would be a disaster for

Guachtal."

"Because Hernandez would fight back?"
 
she predicted.

"There'd be a civil war?"

"Sure, that too," Felix agreed.

"But the real tragedy is it wouldn't make any difference if Lohaquin

won.
 
When the dust settled, there wouldn't be any money left in the

banks, or the treasury.
 
At the first sign of trouble, the rich would

run, and take their money with them.

And that includes Schlemann and Carlos Marquez.
 
Those two have their

asses well covered."

"But what about Raoul?"
 
Jacey protested.

"He wouldn't run."

Felix laughed.

"You've got a soft spot for the idealistic Raoul, have you?
 
No, I

guess Raoul would stay and fight like a hero.
 
And so would Leonardo.

But Carlos controls the purse-strings.
 
He's the older brother."

"So the winners would be losers?"
 
Jacey said.

"Guachtal would be destitute."

"Right."
 
Felix nodded.

"You'd have a country on the poverty line and very soon also deeply in

debt.
 
So no prizes for guessing who'd move in with the tempting

offers.
 
The guys who want to slam roads through the rain forest, and

cut down the trees."

"I thought Lohaquin was opposed to that?"
 
Jacey said.

"How long do you think his resistance would last?"
 
Felix asked.

"Environmental idealism doesn't feed babies.
 
I think we both know what

would happen when the chips were really down."

"If Lohaquin knows all this," Jacey said, 'why bother to hide in the

jungle and pretend to have an army?"

"Actually, the army story grew on its own," Felix said.

"And like I said, the idea gives people something to hold on to.
 
I?ut

violence isn't the only way to change things.
 
It can be done from the

inside."

"Well, Lohaquin will have to come out of the jungle to do that," Jacey

said lightly.

Felix smiled.

"Maybe he will.
 
And maybe you can help."

"You're really Lohaquin, right?"
 
she challenged.

"Wrong," he said.

"Are you willing to help me?"

"What do you want me to do?"
 
she asked cautiously.

"Don't look so worried," he grinned.

"Just tell me what you know about this guy Curtis Telford."

Jacey looked surprised.

"He's American.
 
He's sex-mad.
 
Nicolas seems very anxious to be nice

to him, and Carlos Marquez isn't very happy about it."

"Why not?"

Jacey shrugged.

"Gossip says Carlos suspects Nico las is planning some kind of deal,

and he's not included."

Felix stood up.

"I'll be back in a moment," he said.
 
Jacey helped herself to another

biscuit.
 
When Felix returned he handed her a faded colour

photograph.

"Look at this," he said.

"Is Curtis Telford there?"

Jacey looked at the picture.
 
It showed a group of five men in suits,

obviously friends, social ising in what appeared to be a large garden,

with a huge swimming pool in the background.
 
The men were not looking

at the camera.
 
The problem was, none of them looked like the

golden-haired, golden-skinned Curtis Telford.
 
She scrutinised each man

in turn, rejecting three faces as being the wrong shape and the wrong

age.
 
Of the remaining two, she used her imagination to alter the hair

style and colour, and made her final choice.

"This one she said.

"He's dyed his hair, and had a crew cut, but for my money, this is

Curtis Telford."

Felix nodded.

"That's what I thought."

"That helps you?"
 
she asked.

"A great deal," he said.

"More than you can imagine."

"He's a crook?"
 
she guessed.

Felix laughed.

"That depends on your definition of crook.
 
Some people would call

businessmen crooks.
 
And the people who pave the way for them to make

their deals."
 
He shrugged.

"It's all a matter of definition, isn't it?
 
But there is one other

thing you can do for me, Jacey.
 
Keep me informed.
 
I'd like to know

when Telford goes back to the States."

"How do I tell you?"
 
she asked.

"You don't appear to have a phone."

"You could come out and see me again," he said.

"Paulo would always bring you.
 
It gives him a chance to visit his

family."
 
He paused.

"Would that be a problem for you?"

"I don't think so," she said.

"You sound a little doubtful," he said.

"If you want to, you can send a message through Paulo.
 
Or even

Leonardo."

"It's just that Nicolas has a habit of sending for me at a moment's

notice," she explained.

"I'm not sure how he'd react if I was out here another time."

Felix stood up, and she realised for the first time how fit and strong

he looked.

"Nicolas intimidates you?"
 
His voice was soft.

"No," she said.

"I knew what I was getting into when I started the affair.
 
Nicolas

didn't pressure me into it.
 
It was my choice."
 
She looked up at

Felix.

"It's just that I don't want to get you into any trouble.
 
He can be

very jealous."

The atmosphere changed between them.
 
Felix looked down at her.

"But he's got nothing to be jealous of," he said quietly.

"Has he?"

She had a distinct feeling that he was going to add 'yet'.
 
"No/ she

said.

"But he doesn't need any excuses."

Felix laughed, and the tension eased.

"Don't worry about me," he said.

"I've survived for twenty years.
 
I'll survive for twenty more.
 
I've

still got my American passport, and plenty of friends in the States.

I can handle any trouble Nicolas Schlemann tries to hand out."

"Do you go home often?"
 
she asked.
 
She wanted to know more about this

man.

"This is home," he said.

"But I go back to the States from time to time.
 
I did my schooling

there.
 
My parents wanted me to see what life was all about in the

great big world.
 
They wanted me to be able to make my own choices

about where I'd live, and how."

"And you chose Guachtal?"
 
she said.

"I chose the rain forest," he said.
 
He reached out, and took hold of

her hands.

"It's a beautiful world," he said softly.

"A world of infinite complexity.
 
There are so many secrets to be

discovered.
 
It deserves to be protected.
 
To be cherished.
 
You

believe that too, don't you?"

"Yes," she said.
 
I do."

"That's what I thought," he said.

"I think we're kindred spirits, you and I. We've still got some time

before Paulo comes back.
 
Tell me more about yourself."

She sketched her life history for him, but it was far from the whole

truth.
 
She said nothing about Faisel, and nothing about the work she

had done, and was still doing, for Major Fairhaven.
 
In return he told

her some equally sketchy details about himself.
 
Both his parents had

been killed in a plane crash.
 
He had studied computer science in the

States, and had worked there for a time, but could not stay away from

the rain forest for long.
 
He did not mention any romantic liaisons.

As she bumped home along the rutted track with Paulo, Jacey thought

about Felix Connaught.
 
Clearly he liked her, and trusted her.
 
And if

I've read the signs correctly, she thought, he'd like to be more than