near Santiago. “Where the hell is Cavuto?” he muttered, looking about for the hotel phone, thinking he’d ring the other man’s room.
Looking up, he saw Angelica coming down the stairs on her father’s arm. Still stunning at her age, she was dressed in a clinging scarlet-red gown, cut deeply in front, revealing generous curves. His eyes narrowed in resentment. Cold bitch, no child’s find succor at those icicles she called tits. Behind them trailed both her sister, Reyna, and that mysterious fiancee of hers, another shadowy SP figure, Alejandro Valdes. Eyeing Reyna, he once again thought, I should’ve married the younger one instead of the gorgeous one. Alfonso consoled himself with the thought that he was not the first and wouldn’t be the last man to’ve made a choice of marriage partner based on looks. Always overshadowed by her sister, Reyna had been the baby of the family, indulged and protected, unlike the overbearing, demanding Angelica. In stark contrast, Reyna’d grown up into a warm, sensual woman, more to Alfonso’s taste-tantalizing and completely out of reach.
Covering his surprise at finding his wife here, Alfonso stood and greeted the family with a pained smile. As they neared, he awkwardly leaned in to kiss Angelica, but she turned her face aside. His kiss landed on her cheek; her gesture, he felt, portended worse to come. Extending a hand to Arias, Alfonso said, “What a delightful surprise, Angelica! Humberto!”
“So nice of you to come, Colonel.” Arias quickly filled his right hand with a champagne glass to avoid shaking hands. Instead, he nodded and flashed a feral smile.
Arias’s chilly reception added to Alfonso’s anticipation that something was in the offing, something like a crouched tiger in deep shadow, just off stage, waiting to pounce. It was likely no accident that Cavuto Ruiz had made himself scarce after ordering drinks. The deep-seated, long-held fear he’d harbored toward Arias had begun to rage like an undetected cancer eating away at his resolve to maintain the pretense of a satisfying marriage. God how he hated Angelica and her father, and what their relationship had made of him. At the moment, he felt cornered by them…a mouse brandished above a hungry serpent, his flailing and kicking only adding to their delight. The dungeons were, after all, just below his feet.
Alejandro stepped between the two men, taking Gutierrez’s hand and shaking it firmly, saying, “It’s been a long time, Colonel Gutierrez. So good to see you again.” Turning to Humberto, Alejandro expertly guided him and the ladies toward the banquet hall where a band played Cole Porter tunes. “I suggest, sir, that you show off your lovely daughters on the dance floor.”
“Both at once?” asked Arias, smiling.
“I get the first dance, Papa!” said Angelica, snatching Arias away from Reyna, who gracefully acquiesced with only a glimmer of distaste that quickly faded.
Gutierrez frowned at this and thought, Witch always has to be first. How has Reyna kept from killing her all these years?
Alejandro added, “Alfonso and I will join you shortly, after a smoke. After all, we’re nearly brothers now, and we hardly know one another.”
Arias looked pleased at the suggestion and with a daughter on each arm, he strolled off.
As Alejandro guided Alfonso toward the balcony, he produced a cigar for Gutierrez, saying, “It’s true, we have not had the opportunity to get to know one another, Alfonso.”
“My work keeps me pinned to that desk in Havana.”
“My work, too, has kept me unusually busy lately.” Alejandro leaned over the balustrade and pointed to the lights of Santiago. “It looks like a fairy city with the lights and colors of Carnival, doesn’t it, ‘brother’?”
“I like that you can call me brother, Alejandro. I’ve liked you since Reyna brought you into the family, but I also have it on good authority that you may have secret motives.”
“Me? Secrets? Who tells such lies?”
“I need no one to tell me that if Reyna bears children, you’re gold in the old man’s eyes.”
Alejandro smiled wide. “Ahhh…so you have me then. Not many are as astute as you, Alfonso. It’s why I needed to talk to you in the first place, a warning my friend.”
“Indeed…you know why I’ve been summoned here like a dog on a leash to be insulted by my wife and her father?”
“It’s nothing to do with Arias. He’s not summoned you here. Be smart. It’s entirely Cavuto’s idea, dragging you here. Arias, Angelica, why they were as surprised to see you as you obviously were to see them.”
“That Ruiz. I suspected something was not right.”
“If you’re not careful, Alfonso, he’ll dangle you over a fire to be toasted…like a marshmallow on a stick.”
“What do you know of Cavuto’s plans here in Santiago?” Alfonso warmed to the direction this was taking him.
“I know only that he’s made dangerous mistakes that’ve upset and annoyed Arias.”
“Are you saying that there is a way for me to get on Humberto’s good side after all?”
“Precisely, and the key is Ruiz.”
“Tell me what you want.”
“Stay close to Ruiz, and report all of his movements back to me. Together, we will tell Arias what a lying scoundrel Cavuto really is.”
“And how does that benefit me?”
“Arias rewards those who watch his back, and I’ll make certain your part in this is clear to him.”
“I do despise Cavuto.”
“Speak of the devil, look.” Alejandro pointed with his cigar as Cavuto’s figure emerged from the crowd and came toward them.
“Ahhh…Alfonso, Alejandro! Here you are!” Cavuto extended another drink to Alfonso. “Time to join the party inside, my friends. Your wife is dancing with another man.” Even Ruiz’s laugh sounded disingenuous now.
Alfonso next heard the wave of clapping and cheering, knowing his wife and Arias had regaled the crowd, finishing their dance with a flourish. As always, Angelica- the exhibitionist — must show off her look-but-don’t-touch body to gain the approval she’d never gotten from her father. But for now, Alfonso knew he must continue playing the dutiful husband, and to remain close while concentrating on Cavuto and his game. The idea of finally pleasing the old man was irresistible.
Alfonso allowed himself to be led by Cavuto toward the banquet hall, Alejandro following, just behind them, a shadow overhearing Ruiz say, “You know, Alfonso, we’ve never really had an opportunity to truly get to know one another. Let me freshen your drink.”
Glancing over his shoulder at Alejandro, Alfonso saw the younger man give him a thumbs up. So why do I feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter, and which of these men-Ruiz, Valdes, or Arias is my butcher?
Same time at a bar near the hotel Casa Grande
“So why are Cavuto Ruiz and Alfonso Gutierrez here in Santiago if they’re not shadowing us from Havana?” Luis Estrada asked Alejandro Valdes.
“For the same reason I’m here.”
“Which is?”
“Ordered to come to the Forteleza de la Montana.”
“Why?” pressed Luis.
“We’re to be congratulated…and given our just rewards.”
“You sound your usual skeptical self.”
“Suspicion is a way of life when handling vipers. We’ve all been kept in the dark about who gets a thumbs up, who gets it down.”
“And I’ve heard the Forteleza can mean way, way down.”
“Two fathoms below the lowest rung of Hell.”
“I can’t imagine the tightrope you walk…weaving among Arias, the SP, Cavuto, and us.”
“More complicated since Cavuto’s men killed those doctors. Cavuto’s pissed because Arias sent me to clean up the mess…again. Since you netted ’em last week, Humberto’s paranoia is at an all-time high and rightly so. Cavuto’s an ass. He still thinks he blew up the Sanabela. I haven’t told him otherwise.”
“Then so far as Humberto knows, Cavuto blew us to Africa along with my boat?”
“Correct. When I told him it was not Latoya but an American security guard aboard, the look of pure malice on his face when he ordered me to hunt down Cavuto and stop him at any cost was stunning.”
