Clint Faraday Mysteries collection A Muddled Murders Collector's Edition (93 page)

“
There
are two left to find. I cannot say I have any wish that they ever
are.

“
I will
now request that Renaldo leave us to speak of matters that it is
far the better he knows nothing about.”

Renaldo nodded, said he was glad to have met
Clint and said he would go somewhere to meet the people. He found
he liked Bocas and no one would know who he was. Clint suggested
The Toro Loco to meet gringos or The Reef or The Pirate to meet a
mixed crowd or La Iguana to meet the surfers. He said he preferred
to meet the real people, so would go to a few local places.

He left, hailing a taxi in front of the
entrance to Clint’s property. Clint got himself and Jaime another
Balboa, then sat to hear the rest of it.

“
As you
can see by the least observance, I have no need of money. I will go
so far as to say that I have something better because it will not
lose value and is easily converted into money of whatever
description. It is gold. Literally metric tons of it, along with
like amounts of silver and even a good bit of platinum. I also have
jewels of inestimable value.

“
Be that
as it may, the facts are that I am against the branch of the Cano
family concerned here and have great wealth that is quite literally
beyond estimation at this juncture. I am desirous on no publicity.
I live very quietly. I wish for it to remain so.

“
The
Canos are in a position, because of the accidental discovery of
that cache of money at the time my own chest was discovered
following the discovery of the Cano hoard with money added to it
fifty years ago, to cause me publicity. I know you are not oriented
toward money. You have earned much in the little time you are here
and have given almost all of it to causes I agree with fully – but
my experience with the situation and politics here urge me to warn
you that you must never relax vigilance in protecting what you have
accomplished so that it falls not into the hands of others. That
WILL happen at your demise. I have great experience in that fact
and tell you there is no way I’ve been able to find that will
guarantee any of your good works will remain, except in name, what
you have established.

“
Perhaps
you will find a way. You are quite inventive.

“
I also
know that Marko Boccini is Manny Mathews, but assure you that fact
will not, because of me, go beyond those who now are aware of it. I
think I would like to meet him. We think much alike. He wants to be
away from his past. I wish to be away from my family’s past. We
both also wish to keep the material things we have. C’est la
vie.

“
Mr.
Faraday, I wish to employ you to lessen the impact of those
disgusting bits of refuse on my life. I am aware you do not care
for money. I will fund whatever project you wish to fund in hopes
it will survive both of us.” He stopped and looked
expectant.

“
I’ll do
what I can,” Clint promised. “Call me Clint. I think I can respect
you and even call you a friend.”

“
And I am
Jaime. My friends, among whom I hope you are included, call me
Jim.”

They talked awhile. Clint got a lot of
information he would pass on to Manolo. He made no bones about
that. He said it would help to keep his name out of anything to
cooperate with a certain few people.

“
I will
not ask if the man called Manolo is your contact. He is very clever
and, with resources that told me who Mathews is, I have been unable
to definitively show one way or another.”

“
He has a
sense of right and wrong. To try to appeal to him for personal
reasons is a waste of time. He’ll work on the side of the law when
scum like the Canos are involved, but has his own thing about many
other ... undertakings. I can say, definitely, that he will bust
his ass to see innocent people don’t get hurt by this crap or by
the crap anyone else causes. He is, like you and me, protective of
the Indigenos. I like their culture and I like most of them I
know.”

“
The
irony of that is that they are the people least in need of
protection a good percent of the time. They are quite able and
practical, even if others don’t understand, as you say, where
they’re coming from.”

“
It’s
simple,” Clint answered. “It’s also basic and beyond most other
philosophies today. They have no ownership in the sense we do, so
money and possessions are really a foreign concept to them. The
result is the greed for accumulation isn’t there. That alone puts
them beyond the understanding of most.

“
I have
seen instances where one man, who was treated very badly by most
others on Isla San Cristóbal, was the first to come to the aid of
all of them during the innundation. They fixed up a big solid
unused building on his finca there and slaughtered a cow and a pig
to feed them.

“
He
didn’t owe them the time of day, yet he feels it’s his duty as an
Indigeno to help at any time it’s needed. After the crisis was over
he was still treated much the same by them. It’s their way of life.
They are a totally open society and don’t condemn anyone for being
different. They may gossip a bit and giggle about it, but it isn’t
any of their business what anyone else does, particularly in sexual
matters. The one rule is that you do NOT, under ANY circumstances,
dare to involve children.

“
They
don’t consider you children after twelve or thirteen years old.
That’s the part a lot of people don’t understand – but most people
don’t do heavy work to help their own family starting at seven or
eight years of age.

“
Okay. We
understand a few of each other’s ideas. I’m going into Bocas to
meet Manny. Want to come along?”

“
Decidedly!”

They went out front, met Ben and Judi coming
back from Bocas. Clint introduced Jaime simply as Jim. Judi said
she was going to some friends’ place for dinner and left. Ben would
tag along with Clint and Jim. They went to Gary’s Mexican
restaurante and had some excellent food, then headed into town to
meet Manny at The Pirate. Renaldo was there and Clint introduced
Ben, who said he was gorgeous. Jim had found that Ben was gay
almost immediately and was a little curious and amused. He looked
expectantly at Renaldo, who seemed a bit embarrassed, then asked
Ben where he should go to meet people more their own age. Ben said
there were a couple of places and they left. Jim shook his head and
giggled.

“
I
thought I knew my son, but there are areas we have seldom
discussed. This is obviously one of them. I knew not how he might
react to someone like Ben.

“
He’s
rather a good person, isn’t he?”

“
Ben? The
best. He makes no secret of his lifestyle, but no one cares
here.”

He grinned again. “Do you think he will
seduce Renaldo?”

Clint shrugged. “Why would I care? They’re
both adults.”

“
Strange
as it is to me, I have to agree. Who cares? It’s their
lives.”

Clint waved to Manny, who came to the rear
deck in his boat. He had his wife with him. Clint introduced
everyone. Manny got along very well with Jim. Clint excused himself
and went outside to call Manolo. He told him about the deal and
gave him a lot of information. Manolo said he had met Jaime once.
He seemed to be Okay. There wasn’t a tiny hint of anything that
would concern the agencies Manolo worked with about him. He had
buildings full of art and jewels, but it was, every piece, so far
as they could tell, perfectly above-board. He inherited so much and
was into so many companies that it wasn’t even possible to know
what he was worth.

“
He’s
worth a fortune as a person – and I’m not impressed by the money
and all that kind of crap,” Clint replied. “What do you want from
me? This isn’t gratis.”

“
I wanted
you to know who we’re dealing with. The chest Sergio found, the
real pirate’s treasure, was Jaime’s. He doesn’t care about the
loot, but he doesn’t want any mention of him connected to it or to
anything else here. He’s not involved, Manolo.”

“
Why does
he think he will be?”

“
Because
the chest with the money was put there by a pirate called Cutter.
Cutter was the original Cano. The original Serrano was called Fire
Eyes – actually, the second. El Tiburón was the first, but he
wasn’t as successful as a pirate. The two families do not like one
another. They are very different kinds of people.”

“
From the
same life, one is a pillar of society and one is the same kind of
scum. One ascended, the other merely descended. A good argument for
the genetic imperative producing the potential, but not the
direction.”

“
Sheesh!
You’ve been talking to Dave!”

They
chatted a moment, then Clint went back inside. An attractive girl
from Denmark was very interested in Clint. Manny said,
“Gina?”

“
Ah! Miss
Halverson will be back from time to time as a friend, but she will
not long remain interested in the exotic detective,” Jim warned. “I
knew her father well. I have met Gina on several occasions. She is
a very independent person. It is good that she will have the wealth
that will come, but she will spend much of it very quickly. She
wants to know the world, not just Panamá and Colombia and Texas.
She will expect Clint to understand that there are no chains. On
either.”

They soon decided to call it a night. Jim was
invited to stay on Isla Colón with Manny’s family. He said a couple
of days for a vacation would be most welcome, at this juncture. He
called Renaldo to say he had to fend for himself for a day or two.
He could stay on the avion or at a hotel. Clint said he had a spare
room. He said maybe he’d stay at Clint’s. There was a pause and he
said he would stay at Ben’s. Jim giggled.

When he hung up, Manny asked what the giggle
was about. “Oh, I was wondering if Ben would seduce my son. I would
suggest the question is answered!” They had a laugh about it, then
went their separate ways. Clint went to a couple of places with
Inga, then she stayed at his place for the night.

It was a beautiful day when he awoke in the
morning. He slipped out of bed and fixed coffee and an omelette. He
went out to his deck for the breakfast and waved to Judi, watering
her orchids on her own deck. It was just 6:30, a bit late for
Clint. He then went inside to work with his computer. Inga got up a
little after nine.

Clint made an omelette for her, she went
swimming off his deck, then came in to dress and they went into
town. She soon met her friends, who had been worried about her. She
didn’t tell them she had other arrangements for the night. She
introduced Clint to them and said he was showing her around Bocas
Town. They couldn’t go to the mainland like they planned because of
the water taxi situation. Clint spent until noon showing them all
around, then they decided they would take the bus to Boca del Drago
for the afternoon. Clint said he had to get to work and said
goodbyes. Manolo called to say Jaime could relax. It seemed the
Cano family had the word that Serrano would very discreetly have
every single one of them fingered if they so much as mentioned
they’d ever heard his name.

Well, that seemed to settle things.

Clint had another good night, this time
without stay-over company. He saw Ben and Renaldo twice the
following day from a distance to just wave to. Gina called and said
she wouldn’t be back to Bocas for awhile because she had a trip to
Paris and London and a few other places planned. Clint talked to
Jim and Manny on the phone. Clint told him his problem was solved
and done. He could relax and enjoy. They had been out fishing for
most of the day. Jim hadn’t been able to relax so much in years. He
had forgotten too much of what made life worthwhile. He would visit
often.

Clint and Judi took Clint’s boat to Almirante
for some shopping. Stuff was getting in short supply on Bocas.

Clint had a good meal at home. He was a good
cook and liked things different from restaurant fare a lot of the
time. He made a good old-fashioned Yankee pot roast with the
vegetables he brought back from Almirante. He worked a bit on the
computer and got to bed early. In the morning Jim came in to say he
was heading back to Colombia. Renaldo was going to stay for a week
or so with Ben. Jim seemed worried, so Clint shrugged and called
Ben.

“
Ben, Jim
is getting worried about Renaldo. Not against or anything, but he
has to know.”

Ben laughed. “Tell him Renaldo is definitely
not gay. It’s just new and different. I’m going to take advantage
of that. He’s a dream of a man.”

It was on speaker. Jim heard and sighed, then
giggled. “That’s something I never experienced. It would seem I
have led a very sheltered life. The youth are so much freer now. It
would be my instinct to stop it even before now.”

“
Then he
would wonder about it even more and would eventually get involved
with a much different type than Ben.”

“
Ah! The
– what do you call it – forbidden fruit.”

Ben said he might be a fruit, but definitely
not forbidden. He hung up.

“
I
greatly envy the wealth of friends you have, Clint. I have noted
that these people really LIKE and respect you. I can only hope
their respect for me is genuine.

“
I will
return to my duties and leave my son and heir in the capable hands
of Ben and my privacy in your own capable hands. I am proud to call
you friend!”