Chris signaled to the waiter and ordered dinner. He tried half-heartedly to keep the conversation going, but had little success. Audrey fell into a sulk, returning her steak twice because it was not done properly. Karyn tried to follow Chris's inconsequential remarks, but her thoughts were outside where the night had once again claimed the world.
When they were finished, the waiter came and took away the empty dishes. Chris ordered sweet little Mexican cakes for dessert. Audrey found something else to complain about when she was told the kitchen was out of tea.
They dawdled over dessert until they were the last ones left in the dining room. It became plain that Chris was stalling. Audrey looked pointedly at her watch every two or three minutes.
Karyn badly wanted to leave, but she was terrified at the thought of walking alone through the dark to her cabana. She wondered how she could suggest that Chris walk with her without causing a scene with Audrey.
Before she could think of anything, Audrey spoke up. 'If we're going to sit here half the night drinking this crappy coffee, I'm going to the little girl's room and at least get rid of some of it. You two will excuse me, I hope?'
She left the table and walked off toward the lobby, her heels ringing angrily on the tile floor.
'You'd better take me back to my room,' Karyn said.
'I can't let you stay there alone,' Chris said. 'If Marcia was here today asking for you, it's a good bet that they'll be back tonight.'
Karyn shuddered. 'What can I do? I asked the manager, and there are still no rooms available in the main building. I can't sit in the lobby all night.'
Chris rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. 'You can come to our room.'
'All night?'
'At least until we can think of something better.'
'Audrey will love that.'
'Audrey will have to learn that things don't always go her way.'
'Have you considered telling her?'
'You mean about Drago and the werewolves?'
'Yes.'
'No way. She'd laugh in my face. It's better to let her think I've got the hots for you. That's something she can understand.'
'It kind of messes up your relationship, though, doesn't it?'
'That relationship is on the downslope anyway,' Chris said.
Audrey came back to the table and sat down, her spirits unimproved. Karyn felt oddly guilty, as though she and Chris really did have a secret love affair going.
Audrey lifted the coffee cup to her lips, then set it down in the saucer with a thump. 'I've had all this crap I can take,' she announced.
Chris spoke up in a tone of artificial gaiety. 'I've got an idea. Audrey, we still have that bottle of tequila that we bought at the airport. Why don't the three of us stop by for a nightcap or two?'
'Karyn's probably tired,' Audrey said quickly. 'Remember, she was up early this morning.'
It was time, Karyn decided, to score a few points for the visiting team. 'As a matter of fact, I'm not tired at all,' she said, turning on a brilliant smile. 'It sounds like great fun. Chris and I can talk over old times. And you and I, Audrey, can get to know each other better.'
'Terrific,' said Audrey.
'Fine,' Chris said. 'Then it's all settled.'
He called for the check and signed it. They got up from the table and walked out through the archway. Passing the desk, Chris stopped.
'I just happened to think, how many glasses do we have in the room?'
'I'm sure I don't know,' Audrey said.
'If I remember right, there were only two. Big water glasses.' He stepped over to the desk and spoke to the manager. 'Could we have some small glasses sent out to Number 7?'
Senor Davila carefully avoided looking at the two women. 'Of course, Senor Halloran,' he said with a professional smile. 'The girl will bring them out to you.'
'And send along some limes and salt,' Chris added. To the women he said, 'I'll show you how to drink tequila Tijuana style.'
'Whoopee,' said Audrey flatly.
They left the building together and walked the short distance down the path to the first cabana, the one where Chris and Audrey stayed. Chris unlocked the door and they went in. The room looked the same as Karyn's, and had been neatly tidied up by the maid. Karyn tried not to make a point of looking at the bed, though it dominated the room. Audrey walked by it deliberately and ran her hand across the spread.
Chris waved the two women to the wicker settee and pulled up the chair for himself. He carried a small table over and set it between them. From a drawer he produced a bottle of tequila. He opened the bottle and sniffed at it.
'This will be good for what ails us,' he said lamely.
Audrey and Karyn looked at him without expression.
A knock on the door saved him from having to make further small talk. Blanca, the pretty young maid, came in carrying a glass bowl of fresh lime wedges and three double shot glasses along with a salt shaker.
'Now maybe the party will pick up,' Chris said, forcing a laugh. He handed a bill to Blanca, who slipped it prettily down the front of her blouse.
'Gracias, senor,' she said, with a coquettish lowering of the eyelids. With a bare flicker of a glance at Audrey and Karyn, she went out and closed the door.
Once outside, Blanca stopped and pulled the bill from its warm valley between her breasts. Five dollars, American. This was a night of good omen. And with the blond American lady busy with her friends in Number 7, it could be a beautiful night.
She hurried to a utility shed at the rear of the hotel where Roberto was busy repairing a broken chair. He looked up from his work and smiled at her.
'Can you do that later?' she said, her eyes flashing with mischief.
'Why? Now that I have started, I may as well finish the job.'
'Maybe you would change your mind if I told you a secret,' she said, moving close to him.
'A secret about me?'
'About us.' She sat beside him on the wooden bench and ran a hand along the flank of his tight black trousers.
'Ay, girl, when you do that I have no secrets,' he said.
Blanca looked down at the bulge in his pants and smiled. She brushed it with her fingertips. 'Are you saving that for someone?'
'What a question, shameless girl. Take care that I do not lay you down right here where Senor Davila would surely find us.'
'Would you like to make love to me now?' the girl said.
'Very much. But we have no bed. To go to your room or mine is too dangerous, and on the beach one gets sand in unmentionable places.'
'We do not have to go to the beach tonight. One of the cabanas is waiting for us.'
'How is that possible? No one checked out of the hotel today.'
'The senora from California who arrived yesterday spends the evening with her friends in Number 7. Her cabana is at the far end, and there is no one there.'
'She might return.'
'Not for at least an hour. Maybe more. They have a bottle of good tequila and a bowl of limes, and the Lord knows what games in mind to keep them busy.'
'Even so, she will know we have been there.'
Blanca clucked her tongue impatiently. 'She will know nothing. I will put fresh linen on the bed and leave the
