Assumed Identity

way did they have to verify his authenticity? The more Buchanan thought about it, the more the issue became, Were the twins truly furious or only pretending to be? Would the twins suspect his credibility just because a drunken American had claimed to have known him as Jim Crawford, or was it more likely that the twins would take advantage of the drunken American’s claim and use it as a pretense for intimidating Buchanan, for trying their best to frighten him, for doing their damnedest to find a weakness in his confidence?

Layers within layers. Nothing was ever self-evident, Buchanan thought in turmoil as his captors nudged him along a path toward the muted lights of an outdoor bar at the edge of the beach.

The bar had a sloping thatched roof supported by wooden pillars. There weren’t any walls. Bamboo tables and chairs surrounded the oval counter, giving several groups of drinkers a view of white-capped waves in the darkness. Sections of the hotel bordered the gardens, so that the only way for Buchanan and his captors to get to the beach was to pass near the bar.

“Do not expect those people to help you,” the first twin murmured on Buchanan’s right as they neared the bar. “If you make a commotion, we will shoot you in front of them. They do not matter to us.”

“They are drunk, and we are in shadows. As witnesses, they are useless,” the second twin added on Buchanan’s left.

“And they cannot see my pistol. I have covered it with my jacket. But be assured I am aiming it at your spine,” the bodyguard said behind Buchanan.

“Hey, let’s lighten up, okay? I’m missing something here. Why all this talk about shooting?” Buchanan asked. “I wish the three of you would relax and tell me what’s going on. I came to you in good faith. I wasn’t armed. I’m not a threat to you. But all of a sudden, you-”

“Shut up while we pass the people in the bar,” the first twin murmured in Spanish.

“Or the next words you speak will be your last,” the second twin said. “Entiende? Understand?”

“Your logic is overwhelming,” Buchanan said.

A few tourists glanced up from their margaritas as Buchanan and the others walked by. Then one of the tourists finished telling a joke, and everybody at that table laughed.

The nearby outburst in reaction to the joke was so loud and unexpected that it made the twins flinch and jerk their heads toward the noise. Presumably, the bodyguard was also surprised. There wasn’t any way for Buchanan to know for certain. Still, the odds were in his favor. He could have done it then. He could have taken advantage of the distraction, smashed the side of his hands against the larynx of each twin, kicked backward with his left foot angled sideways to break the bodyguard’s knee, and spun to snap the wrist that held the Beretta. He could have done all that in less than two seconds. The light from the bar made him able to see clearly enough that he wouldn’t have had to worry about the accuracy of his blows. The agonizing damage to the throats of the twins would have prevented them from breathing. In their panic to fill their lungs with air, they would not have had time to think about shooting Buchanan, not before he’d finished the bodyguard and swung back to finish them. That would have taken another second or two. All told, four seconds, max, and Buchanan would have been safe.

But as confident as he was of success, Buchanan didn’t do it. Because his safety wasn’t the point. If all he cared about was his safety, he wouldn’t have accepted this mission in the first place. The mission. That was the point. As the laughter of the tourists subsided, as the twins and their bodyguard regained their discipline, as Buchanan and his captors finished passing the bar and reached the murky beach, Buchanan told himself, How would you have explained it to your superiors? I can imagine the expression on their faces if you told them the mission failed because you got so nervous you killed your contacts. Your career would be over. This isn’t the first time someone’s aimed a pistol at you. You know damned well that on this assignment it would have happened sooner or later. These guys aren’t dummies. Plus, they’ll never trust you until they learn if you can handle stress. So let them find out. Be cool. Play out the role.

But what would Ed Potter do? Buchanan wondered. Wouldn’t a corrupt ex-DEA officer try to escape if he thought the drug distributors from whom he was taking business had decided that killing him was less risky and less trouble than becoming partners with him?

Maybe, Buchanan thought. Ed Potter might try to run. After all, he isn’t me. He doesn’t have my training. But if I behave the way Ed Potter truly would, there’s a good chance I’ll get myself killed. I’ve got to modify the character. Right now, my audience is testing me for weakness.

But by God, they won’t find any.

Club Internacional had a sidewalk that ran parallel to the beach. The stars were brilliant, although the moon had not yet risen. A cool breeze came off the ocean out of the darkness. Hearing the distant echo of more laughter from the bar, which was shielded from him by a row of tall shrubs and a waist-high wall, Buchanan paused at the edge of the sidewalk.

“All right,” he said. “Here’s the beach. It’s nice. Real nice. Now would you put those guns away and tell me what in God’s name this is all about? I haven’t done anything to-”

10

“God’s name?” the first twin asked, and shoved Buchanan off the sidewalk onto the sand. “Yes, a name. Many names. That’s what this is all about. Ed Potter. Jim Crawford.”

Buchanan felt his shoes sink into the sand and spun to face the twins as well as their bodyguard, where they stood slightly above him on the sidewalk. “Hey, just because some drunk thinks he knows me? Haven’t you ever been mistaken for-?”

“The only person I have ever been mistaken for is my brother,” the second twin said. “I do not believe in coincidence. I do not believe that in the middle of a conversation about my business and my safety, I can ignore anyone-drunk or not-who interrupts to tell me the man I am speaking to is not the man he claims to be.”

“Come on! That drunk admitted he was wrong!” Buchanan insisted.

“But he did not look convinced,” the first twin snapped.

Two murky silhouettes approached along the beach. Buchanan and his antagonists became silent. The Hispanics stiffened, wary. Then the silhouettes walked near enough for Buchanan to see a man and a woman- American, early twenties-holding hands. The couple seemed oblivious to their surroundings, conscious only of each other. They passed and disappeared into the darkness farther along the beach.

“We can’t stay here,” the second twin said. “Other people will come. We’re still too close to the hotel, especially to the bar.”

“But I want this matter settled,” the first twin said. “I want it settled now.”

The bodyguard scanned the beach and pointed. “Por alli. Over them.”

Buchanan looked. Near the white-capped waves, he saw, were the distinctive outlines of several palapa sun shelters. Each small structure had a slanted circular top made from palm fronds and held up by a seven-foot-tall wooden post. Plastic tables and chairs, as white as the caps on the waves, were distributed among them.

“Yes,” the first twin said. “Over there.”

The Hispanic stepped from the concrete onto the sand and shoved Buchanan hard enough that Ed Potter could not have resisted the thrust, so Buchanan allowed himself to stumble backward.

“Move! Damn you and your mother, move!” the first twin said.

Continuing to stumble, Buchanan turned toward the deserted shelters. Immediately the Hispanic shoved him again, and Buchanan lurched, concentrating to maintain his balance, his shoes slipping in the sand.

The effect of adrenaline made his stomach seem on fire. He wondered if he’d been right not to defend himself earlier. Things had not yet gotten out of control. But the first twin was working himself into a rage. The insults and shoves were occurring more forcefully, more often, and Buchanan had to ask himself, Is this an act? Or is it for real?

If he’s acting, I’ll fail the test by ignoring some of those insults. If this guy shoves me any harder, if I don’t anticipate and absorb the impact, he’ll knock me down. He’ll dismiss me as unworthy of respect if I don’t make a pretense of resisting.