Red Angel

Devlin stared at him. “Who the fuck are you, Martinez?”

The major made a helpless gesture. “I am a humble police officer. Like yourself, my friend.”

Devlin stared at his shoes. “Okay, Major. From one humble police officer to another, what now?”

“Now we go back to Havana and resume our surveillance. My men will remain here to watch the house. There are also several more watching the rear. They will notify me when we should return.”

“What about the ritual and the nganga?”

“It will arrive at night, my friend. Perhaps tonight, perhaps tomorrow night. The Abakua palero will not want to draw attention to it. As I told you before, a nganga is not something that goes unnoticed in Cuba.” He placed his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. “When the nganga arrives, or when our gentleman from Cobre leaves to go to it, we shall be there. Be assured, my friend. We are coming to the end of this mystery.”

Adrianna sat in a chair in the middle of an empty room. The two men who had taken her from her aunt’s house leaned against the wall watching her. The house they had brought her to was near the Marina Hemingway, and through an open window she could smell the sea and hear the sound of fishing boats returning to port.

Cabrera did not arrive until seven o’clock. He placed himself in front of her, arms folded across his chest.

“Where are you and your friends staying now, senorita?” he asked.

“You know where we’re staying,” Adrianna said.

“Oh yes. The Hotel Inglaterra. I know that much of your clothing is still there. But the hotel informs me that the rooms do not appear to be occupied. Why is that?”

“The hotel is wrong.”

“Ah, I see. And the absence of any shaving implements, or cosmetics, or a simple toothbrush, is undoubtedly another mistake our hotel employees have made, no?”

“Undoubtedly.”

Cabrera stroked his well-trimmed beard and sighed. “It would be so much easier-for you-if you chose to answer my questions honestly. You are unaware, perhaps, that it is against our laws to give false answers to an officer of State Security.”

Adrianna stared at him. “Then I think you should arrest me, and contact the American Interests Section at the Swiss embassy.”

Cabrera threw back his head and laughed. “Perhaps in ten days, senorita.” His face hardened. “If you survive ten days.” He took a step toward her. “I want to know where I can find Senor Devlin and this Senor Pitts I am yet to meet. Then we can bring this matter to a conclusion. As I’m sure you know, it is also unlawful for foreigners to stay in our country without notifying the government of their living arrangements.”

“I don’t know where they are.”

Cabrera raised one hand and the two men left their positions against the wall. Adrianna could feel her legs trembling, and she fought to control them.

“If you refuse to cooperate with me, I will be forced to turn our interrogation over to my men.” He shook his head. “It is something I would regret very much. So, once more, senorita. Where are Senor Devlin and Senor Pitts?”

The door flew open behind Cabrera, and Ollie Pitts filled the frame. He was in a shooter’s stance, and the barrel of his pistol was leveled at Cabrera’s head.

“Your men go for their guns, and you’re a dead man, Colonel.”

Cabrera barked an order in Spanish and the two men froze.

“Who are you?” Cabrera snapped.

“I’m fucking Santa Claus,” Pitts said through a grin. “Merry fucking Christmas.”

Adrianna hurried across the room and placed herself behind Pitts. “How did you find me?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you later. Tell those two wahoos to take their pistols out with two fingers, and to lay them gently on the floor. Then they should kick them over here.”

When the two men had followed Adrianna’s directions, Pitts turned his attention back to Cabrera. “You armed, Colonel?” he asked.

Cabrera shook his head.

Pitts smiled. “When I search you, Colonel, if I find out you’re lying, I’m gonna kick you in the nuts.” He reached down and grabbed his crotch. “Comprende? It’s gonna hurt like hell.”

Cabrera glared at him, then reached inside his jacket and withdrew a medium-sized automatic. He laid it on the floor and kicked it to Pitts.

Pitts glanced at it, and smiled. “Now don’t you feel better that you did that, Colonel?” His eyes hardened. “Now handcuffs and keys, plus the keys to both your cars. Tell your men to kick it all over here.”

Pitts collected the weapons and keys, then told Adrianna to cuff the three men together.

When she had finished, he gave Cabrera another grin. “You come out before we’re gone, and I’ll put small holes in your fucking heads, you got that, Colonel?”

Cabrera glared at him and nodded, and Pitts slowly backed himself and Adrianna out of the room.

Outside, he stepped over the unconscious body of Cabrera’s driver, reached through the open window of his car, and ripped the microphone from his radio. Then he did the same to the second car.

“That should give us time to get the hell out of here,” he said as he took Adrianna’s arm and led her to his own car.

“How did you find me?” she asked as she slid into the passenger seat.

Pitts started the engine and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. “I’ve been tailing Cabrera. His driver went behind the bushes to take a leak, and I decided I’d take a little look around. When I heard your voice through that open window, I gave his driver a little taste of my sap and went in.”

Adrianna leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. “He wanted me to tell him where you and Paul were. Once he knew that, I think he was going to kill me, Ollie. And then I think he was going to kill you and Paul.” She opened her eyes and looked at the hulking man she could barely stand to be in the same room with. “If you hadn’t gotten there …” Her voice began to tremble as everything caught up with her. She drew a deep breath. “Thank you,” she said.

Pitts winked at her. “Hey, forget it. Besides, we’re not out of this yet. When Cabrera gets loose, he’s gonna turn this city inside out. So we better find Paul and that sneaky little major. If we don’t wrap this mother up soon, we could end up in one of those goddamn voodoo pots.”

18

Devlin stared at Martinez. “This was a little too close, Major.”

“You are right, of course.” Martinez pressed an index finger against his lips, thought for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. “I had hoped to keep our activities more hidden, but that now seems unwise. From this point Senorita Mendez will stay here unless she is with us. While she is here-and while we are elsewhere-two of my men will be inside the house with her, and two more will be stationed across the street. I will have to arrange for them to be out of sight, but that does not concern you.”

Devlin studied him a moment. “These things seem pretty easy for you to arrange. Why is that, Major?”

Martinez resisted a smile. “Ah, not so easy, my friend. Nothing in Cuba is easy. Sometimes it is simply necessary.”

Cabrera arrived at his home shortly after ten that evening. He lived in a two-story stucco house similar to the one occupied by Adrianna’s aunt, and only four blocks distant. Like the Red Angel, he was unmarried, a man who had dedicated his life to his career, and his personal goals for the future.

His driver pulled the car to the curb. Cabrera waited as a second car pulled up behind him and disgorged four men. who immediately moved into positions at the front and both sides of the house. Then Cabrera climbed out and studied the placement of his men. The security was unusual, but after the incident at Marina Hemingway, the colonel had decided not to underestimate the audacity of his American opponents.