‘You must have been affected by the feud in some way,’ said Mingolla. ‘At one of the negotiating sessions, Ruy mentioned something about your pain… something somebody’s uncle had done to you.’
‘Yes? What about it?’
‘I’d like to hear what happened.’
‘I don’t see the point,’ she said coolly.
‘There’s something I want to say, but I want to be sure of everyone before I commit myself.’
‘Very well… but I trust it isn’t just curiosity.’ She smoothed wrinkles from her slacks. Some years ago I was married to a Madradona…’
‘I didn’t know that ever happened,’ Mingolla said.
‘It was an attempt at ending the feud,’ she said. ‘I balked at it, of course. I’d been living in Los Angeles, and I’d become rather a free spirit. Quite undisciplined. Perhaps it was my father’s intention to check these tendencies, for the Madradonas are nothing if not disciplined.’ Laughter from the others. ‘Despite my attitudes, after the wedding I grew to respect and care for my husband… though I can’t say I ever really loved him. But I had sufficient confidence in the marriage to become pregnant. Things were going well for us, but then one day an old lover of mine came to visit, purportedly to offer his congratulations on the baby. In the course of our conversation he drugged me and laid me out naked on the bed. It was his plan to have my husband return home and catch us in flagrante delicto. And so it happened. I was just waking from the drug when my husband entered. He and my lover got into a terrible fight, and though I was still groggy, I tried to intervene. I received a blow in the stomach, and as a result I not only lost the baby, but was unable to conceive another. Later I discovered that my lover hadn’t been entirely to blame. My father-in-law had manipulated him with tales of my husband’s cruelty to me. He’d never accepted the marriage, and I guess the prospect of a child was too much for him.’ She glanced up at Mingolla. ‘Will that do?’
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘It was important.’
‘Now what’s this all about?’
He let his gaze swing around the room, lingering on Ruy, who was sitting on the bed. ‘I hear the negotiations are going well.’
‘Extremely well,’ said Aurelio. ‘So?’
‘Would you say they’re on the verge of success?’ Mingolla asked. ‘Isn’t this time frame the time of greatest risk, the time when someone is likely to lose it? To find some reason for blowing everything out of the water. Like with Tel Aviv.’
‘If you have something to tell us,’ said Marina, ‘I suggest you get on with it.’
Mingolla took the notebook from his hip pocket, unfurled it, and saw Ruy stiffen. ‘Ruy knows what I’m talking ’bout… don’tcha?’
‘Where did you get that?’ Ruy asked.
‘I thought so,’ said Marina, relaxing. ‘This has to do with Ruy’s fixation on your girlfriend.’
‘It’s more than that.’
‘I doubt it. I’ve seen this before. Ruy learned long ago that he can’t indulge his fantasies.’
‘Give me that,’ said Ruy, coming to his feet and holding out a hand. ‘You had no right to take it.’
‘We’re talking rights, are we?’ Mingolla shoved him back down. ‘How ’bout the right to some privacy?’
The other Sotomayors looked to Ruy as if expecting him to retaliate, but he only sat there.
Mingolla passed the notebook to Marina. ‘See if you don’t think this is evidence of something more than a fixation.’
Two of the men read over her shoulder as she studied the notebook, turning the pages with a flick of her forefinger. ‘Oh, Ruy,’ she said after several minutes, ‘Not again.’
‘You don’t understand,’ said Ruy. ‘You don’t see how he… how he…’ He stood, sputtering. ‘She can’t bloom, she…’
‘You’re fucking ridiculous, y’know that, man?’ said Mingolla.
Ruy sprang at him, but Mingolla sidestepped, grabbed his shirt, and flung him against the wall face-first. Ruy sagged to the floor. Blood from his mouth left a red snail track on the wallpaper. ‘See there?’ said Mingolla. ‘Man’s outta control.’
‘You aren’t helping the situation by goading him,’ said Marina.
‘I want you to see what he’s capable of,’ said Mingolla. ‘It’s not my fault he’s the way he is, and if you don’t think he’s a threat… Hey! Let him go on with this shit. It won’t be long before he does something really stupid.’
Ruy groaned, rolled onto his back. Blood smeared his mouth and chin.
‘What do you suggest we do?’ Marina asked.
‘I met an old guy at the palace the other day… the caretaker.’
‘Eusebio,’ she said. ‘We can’t strip Ruy for something he
‘Then put him on notice. Seems to me the worst thing Ruy could imagine would be to lose his power.’
He could see the idea working in her face, in all their faces. They liked the thought of punishment.
‘Perhaps that is the best way,’ said Marina, and Mingolla thought he detected a deep satisfaction in her voice.
Ruy sat up, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. He gazed blearily at the others; he must have seen something in their faces, because he scrambled to his feet and made for the door. One of the men blocked his path.
‘You can’t listen to him!’ said Ruy, flicking his hand toward Mingolla. ‘He’s not one of us.’
‘Be quiet,’ said Marina.
You can’t do this,’ he said. ‘Not just on his word.’
‘We have your word, Ruy.’ She held up the notebook, and Ruy looked away.
‘Carlito won’t let you,’ he said weakly.
‘We’re not going to do anything,’ she said. ‘Not yet. But if anything happens to Debora or David, you’ll be held accountable. And not even Carlito will be able to help you then.’
Ruy stared hatefully at Mingolla.
‘You been a bad boy, Ruy,’ Mingolla said, and grinned.
‘I don’t want you talking to either of them without my permission,’ said Marina. ‘Is that clear?’
‘That’s hard to avoid,’ said Ruy. ‘I live in the same building, and I’m bound to run into them.’
‘Move,’ she said. ‘Move tonight. You can move in here, Ruy. You used to tell me how much you liked being near me. Now you have your wish.’
Ruy looked stricken. ‘I’m going to talk to Carlito about this. Right now. He’s not going to be happy.’
Marina turned to Mingolla. ‘Would you mind leaving us, David. Ruy apparently needs proof of our seriousness.’
‘What you gonna do to him?’
‘Give him a taste of what he’s risking.’
‘No!’ Ruy shouted it, wrestled with the doorknob, and was thrown back by two of the men.
Please, David.’ Marina gestured toward the door, and Mingolla crossed to it, taking pains to avoid Ruy’s eyes. ‘Oh, David!’ Marina called as he went out into the hall.
‘Yes?’
Her smile was the gracious smile of a hostess acknowledging the departure of a favored guest. ‘Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.’
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Gilbey’s friendship with Jack Lescaux gave Mingolla hope that he might restore Gilbey completely: friendship was such a human thing and so untypical of the armies. He was strong enough to effect this; he could feel strength like a heavy stone inside his head, wanting to explode, to exert itself upon some target. But he must not have had sufficient knowledge. Even had he been stronger and more knowledgeable, he doubted he would have been able to do anything for Jack. Most of the time Jack was barely capable of movement, and on the one occasion that Mingolla succeeded in getting him to talk at length, an afternoon they spent on the steps of the palace, it made him very
