Like A Hole In The Head

     I remembered a conversation I had had with Lucy. It seemed a long time ago but the echoes of our voices came clearly to me:

     You mean he's fallen for you. Is that it?

     I suppose so. You don't mind, do you?

So long as you haven't fallen for him.

A surge of uneasiness ran through me.

     'This is the day,' Raimundo went on. 'It's up to you now. By tonight, you could be a rich man, soldier. You . . .' He broke off as we saw Carlo coming across the sand.

     Raimundo got to his feet.

     'Sure you're feeling okay?'

     'Yes.'

     'It won't be long now . . . we'd better eat.'

     He joined Carlo and they went into the house.

     I sat still, feeling the heat of the sun as it was reflected off the white sand while I stared across the dunes to the sea.

     I thought of Timoteo.

     Lucy had said : We think alike.

     She had also said : Since this happened, you've become someone I don't know.

     Raimundo came out on to the verandah. He put a plate of sandwiches on the table.

     'Something on your mind, soldier?' he asked as he sat down.

     'Do you have to ask stupid questions?'

     After a long pause, he said uneasily, 'You'd better eat. It could be a long afternoon. Like some beer?'

     'Why not?'

     He got up and went back into the house. By the time he had returned with two glasses of beer, I had forced Timoteo out of my mind.

     We drank and ate in silence. When we had finished, I got to my feet.

     'I'll fix the rifle.'

     'Anything I can do?'

     'No.'

     I cleaned and loaded the rifle, then clipped on the telescopic sight and screwed on the silencer. As I completed the operation, Raimundo came to the doorway.

     'All okay, soldier?'

     I suddenly realised he was much more jittery than I was. I was jittery enough but I could see he was really steamed up.

     'Sure.' I moved round him, carrying the rifle and went up the stairs and up the ladder to the roof. I put the rifle by the concrete parapet in the shade. I looked across the empty bay. Would Diaz show? The chances were that he would, but he might not. If he didn't, Savanto would imagine I had warned him. He had said : I will avenge myself on your wife.

     Raimundo came up on the roof.

     'Any problems?' he asked.

     I had had about all I was going to take from him.

     'For God's sake, can't you leave me alone?' I snarled at him. 'You're driving me crazy !'

     'I'm driving myself crazy, soldier. I'm as responsible as you.'

     'Have you only just found that out?'

     I walked across the roof and looked up at the big tree with its leafy, overhanging branches. I got up on the parapet, caught hold of one of the branches and swung myself up. It was an easy climb. I had only to step from one branch to the next until I was high enough to be out of sight. But I had to be sure.

     I sat astride one of the branches, my back resting against the trunk and looked down. The dense foliage hid the roof, but not the bay.

     'Can you see me?' I shouted down.

     I heard Raimundo walk across the roof. There was a long pause, then he said, 'I don't see a damn thing except leaves. Move a little.'

     I swung my legs.

     'I can hear you, but I can't see you.'

     I came down slowly and cautiously : no branches swayed, no leaves rustled. When I joined Timoteo on the roof, Savanto's witness must have no suspicion that Timoteo wasn't alone.

     I dropped lightly to the roof by Raimundo's side.