Hider/Seeker (16 page)

Harry rocked around inside the four-by-four's boot, his head slamming metal on each pothole and bend. His wrists were burning from the tightly bound rope and his legs felt numb. There was no play in the knots behind his back, but he knew he had to keep moving his wrists if there was ever going to be a chance of breaking free. He couldn't make out what they were saying because of the engine's whine and had no idea where they were taking him.

While he worked on the rope, he kept thinking about Ernesto. He couldn't get over he was dead, and felt he could have saved him had Ernesto returned his gun in time. It angered him that his friend hadn't done so. But there was no point looking back as he was now at the mercy of hired killers.

Harry could now only focus on escaping, hoping an opportunity would arise. He had no idea where his three passports were and would need them to get out of the country. He assumed that the men in the car didn't have them either as they wouldn't have had time to search the house for his things. With a bit of luck, his passports and clothes might still be with Gabriela in the city.

When the boot opened again, he'd feared execution. Instead, he was dragged out of the back of the car and thrown into the boot of another that smelt of vomit. A previous victim had been trussed up just like him in the boot not that long ago. He could tell it was a different driver at the wheel from the smooth way the car pulled away. So much quieter was the motor, he could make out a cell phone ringing in the cabin. The man picking up ranted immediately at the caller but stopped abruptly for some reason. Another call followed and the shouting started again. Wherever they were taking him, they would be there soon, the man had confirmed to the caller.

Harry had little time left to make a move. He made some progress on loosening the rope but not enough to allow his fingers to unpick the knots. It was no good, he would have to take a risk.

He hit his head repeatedly against the boot lid until he reopened his old wound and blood streamed down his face. His knocking caused alarm in the car and he could hear the two men quarrelling. The car skidded to a halt and Harry held his breath. He listened to the driver's footsteps as he got out to open the boot.

The fat man holding a gun blinked at what he saw. Harry wasn't moving and there was blood all over his face. He shut the boot and returned seconds later to pour a bottle of water over Harry's head. Nothing. He shook Harry with one hand, and then called his friend to come and see. They tucked their guns into their waistbands and pulled him out of the car, stretching him out onto the road. The sun was rapidly disappearing behind the hilltops and the two men stood looking at each other with blank faces. A kick in Harry's ribs provided no response. The driver knelt down and lowered his head to see if Harry was still breathing. Harry head butted the driver's face, splitting his nose open. Blood gushed through the man's fingers as he held his hands over his face, writhing in pain on the ground. Harry then jammed the ball of his right foot against the shin of the other man standing over him, shattering his tibia. The man crashed to the ground screaming, his gun falling loose from his waistband and skidding across the tarmac. Harry got up awkwardly like a giraffe and kicked the gun into the ditch, his hands still tied behind his back. The blood-soaked driver was back on his feet, reaching for his automatic. Harry rammed him with his head, knocking him out cold.

He looked around for something to cut the rope around his wrists.

The steel rail guard at the side of the road proved sharp enough for the job. Harry then gathered the men's cell phones and hurled them as far as he could from the top of the hill.

Moments later, he was in the car and pulling away at breakneck speed. His foot never came off the floorboard until he reached the CA-1 highway, which he knew would take him into the heart of Guatemala City.

Harry guessed that Gabriela would still be at work. She rented a small office in a smart block on 14 Avenida in Zona 10, and shared a floor with an English language school. When Harry arrived there were students everywhere waiting for their evening classes to begin, and he pushed his way through them to reach Gabriela's office.

Her secretary had gone for the night and hadn't locked the door. He walked straight into Gabriela's office and found her sitting behind a pile of documents dressed in a smart suit with a white blouse. She took off her reading glasses and became alarmed by the dried blood on his forehead. There was grease on his jacket from being trussed up in car boots and his jeans were ripped from the fight.

She went to him, her face full of fear. He held her tight in his arms and she understood immediately that Ernesto was dead. Gabriela buried her head in his chest and began to sob uncontrollably. They stood like that for five long minutes, just holding each other.

Harry went into great detail about what had taken place earlier that day. She just sat at the end of the sofa with a box of tissues weeping. Her eyes were two blots of mascara, her nose red. Harry paced up and down the office, filling in more details about the two assassins who betrayed Ernesto.

Through tears she told Harry that she had left the hiring of the private security firm to Ernesto, and didn't even know the name of the company or how they recruited their men.

‘Do you think they'll come here?' asked Harry.

‘No, they've done their job. Ernesto is dead that's all that matters to them.'

‘What were their plans for me?' asked Harry.

‘Don't you know?' She said it as an explanation.

Harry didn't get what she meant at first, then it began to filter through his head that they were going to pin the blame on him.

Gabriela blew her nose and cleared her throat. ‘I delivered you straight into their hands. Ernesto was angry with me for becoming so hysterical that night that he sent his men around to calm me down. You had that gun and you were mysterious about wanting to surprise him. What was I supposed to think? Stupid, stupid, stupid,' she said, slapping her head three times with the palm of her hand.

Gabriela explained that she'd convinced everyone, apart from Ernesto, that he was the assassin they'd been expecting after the anonymous tip-off. When Ernesto's men turned up at her house that night, they were surprised to find she'd already taken care of Harry.

‘One of the killers took a picture of me with his cell phone,' said Harry.

‘That picture will be on all the police bulletin boards and in tomorrow's newspapers,' she replied. ‘The powers that be have mastered such subterfuge to an art form, trust me. You're going to have to leave tonight. But they could already be looking for you at the airports; it will be more difficult for you now they have a picture.'

‘Did you keep all my stuff at your house?' asked Harry as Gabriela stepped into a small kitchen to clean the mascara from her face.

‘Still in the bedroom as you had left them,' she shouted through the open door. ‘They put your motorbike in the garage.'

‘Did you tell Ernesto's men about my passports?'

‘No – in all the excitement, I forgot.'

Harry waited for her to come back from the kitchen before taking his turn to clean the blood from his forehead. When he returned, he asked her if she could bring him his knapsack from the house.

‘What if the police have found Ernesto and are waiting for me?' She thought a second and then gasped, ‘They could even be on their way here now.'

That was a real possibility that neither had considered. She grabbed her coat and bag straight away and led him out of the office, locking the door behind her. They took the stairs and grabbed the first cab they could find. He watched their back the whole way to Bar Margarita, but saw nothing.

They sat at a table in the packed bar and ordered a meal. Harry agreed that Gabriela should call Corina from the bar's pay phone to tell her to collect his knapsack from the house. If she saw anything suspicious outside the house she was to go back home immediately.

While she was talking to Corina, Harry made his way to the kitchen where he knew Jairo would be. He asked his friend a favour and Jairo agreed without hesitation. A hug and a slap on the back, then back to the table where Gabriela was already waiting for him.

There was still something on her mind. She wanted to know what had been so urgent for Harry to see Ernesto. Harry went over his story and explained that her husband would not help him track down Angela Linehan.

‘You have no clue at all to work on?' she asked.

‘Just one, but it's nothing really.'

‘Go on.'

‘I told Ernesto I knew Angela Linehan was living close by. It was a shot in the dark, just to test his reaction.'

‘And?'

‘That was it. He didn't react.'

‘You think she's in Guatemala?'

‘No. My guess is that Ernesto arranged the property for her hideaway somewhere in Central America.'

‘How is that going to help you?'

‘It narrows my area of search.'

Gabriela cast her mind back and said, ‘Ernesto made quite a few trips many weeks ago. He told me he was looking for property for a client to rent or buy. Said it was a really big deal.'

‘You know where he went?'

‘No. Ernesto never spoke about his clients. But I don't think this fits in with what you just said.'

‘What do you mean?'

‘On his last trip, he told me he was closing a deal on a property for this mystery client. He said he was glad it was going to be his last trip because getting there took over eighteen hours.'

‘Eighteen? Are you sure?'

Gabriela was.

‘She could be living anywhere between Toronto and Santiago.' He couldn't hide his disappointment. ‘I'm back to square one.'

No one spoke while the waitress brought them their beers along with two chilli peppers stuffed with cheese, beef and beans. He and Gabriela began to eat, deep in thought. Around them was normal life; workers unwinding from a hard day in the office. Talking, laughing, blaspheming. Things humans do to forget their worries. But Harry couldn't forget his and he doubted Gabriela could forget hers. It was developing and growing like a tsunami about to crash down on them.

‘I don't suppose Ernesto rang you when he was on that trip?' he asked.

She nodded.

‘What time?'

There was a pause while she finished what she was chewing. ‘I can't remember Harry, I think I took the call in my office. I'd just got in around nine.'

‘And what time was it where he was?'

She made a face as she pondered the question. She shrugged her shoulders, ‘I don't know.'

‘Was it the middle of the day around lunchtime?'

‘No. Definitely not, because he hadn't eaten yet.'

‘So was he one, two, three hours ahead?'

‘Yes – no. I don't know. I guess he was ahead a couple of hours, because he was complaining that his stomach was rumbling and he would have an early lunch.'

Harry stuffed a fork load of food in his mouth and considered what she had said before turning his attention to her problems. ‘What are you going to do?'

‘I'll go back to the house and wait for the police to arrive if they are not already there waiting.'

‘Are you going to be okay?'

‘Guatemalan women are made of sterner stuff.' There was a faint defiant smile. Her eyes brightened and her beauty returned. ‘We have bigger balls than our men. It's true. That macho bullshit is just a pose; we own most of the wealth and the poor boys have to do what we tell them to do. Ernesto set up his business with the money I inherited from my mother. So there is nothing for me to fear. I know what I have to say, and how to comport myself with great dignity in our feudal society.'

‘What happens when Ernesto's secret files are released?'

‘It will be a feeding frenzy for the journalists. At first they will attack members of the government he names, and then there will be an explosion of conspiracy theories about who killed Ernesto. Conspiracies are part of our DNA; they are the only thing we Guatemalans are literate in.'

‘And then?'

‘The government will leak more and more bizarre conspiracy stories until they become so ridiculous that no one can believe any of them. Once they have accomplished that, they will get some respected journalist they have in their pocket to write a long editorial discrediting Ernesto and probably me too.'

‘No investigations, inquiries?'

‘Sure, they'll find some retired judge to head that. Probably a good man that everyone can believe in. But the conclusion will be the same. It always is.'

‘Won't it be dangerous for you to stay?'

‘Yes. But I won't abandon my kids so that they can do what they want with them. Not now.'

‘The state always wins?'

‘Have you not been listening?' she said puffing out her cheeks. ‘Have you forgotten how this all started? With Ernesto gone, they get the commission to write the recommendations they want.'

‘So no mercury or arsenic in the water in San Marcos?'

‘Not enough to cause alarm, they will say. They will recommend some minimal engineering work to be carried out at the mines and that's all.'

‘What about the church? Won't the cardinal say something?'

She shook her head.

Just then, Corina entered the bar holding Harry's knapsack. There was a half smile on her face as she handed over the bag to him, saying nothing. Gabriela told her to sit down with them and asked her whether the police were at the house. She said she saw them arrive just as she was leaving from the side door. They hadn't spotted her. Corina asked what was going on, but Gabriela ignored the question as she didn't want a scene in the bar as Corina and her family were close to Ernesto and his late mother.

Gabriela stretched her hand across the table and grasped Harry's. ‘You must go now, they'll be looking for you.'

‘What about you?'

‘I told you, I'll be all right for now. I'll go back with Corina to learn that I'm a widow.'

Harry leant across the table to kiss Gabriela and then gave Corina a hug, before heading to the kitchen at the back. Jairo's girlfriend, Doris, was waiting to take Harry back to the flat where he could change into Jairo's best suit before setting off to La Aurora airport.