Montezuma’s Revenge

The voice, close to his ear, jolted Tony so hard he almost dropped the case, but he held it more tightly and turned to face the man just emerging from the next suite. Stetson hat of great expanse, high-heel boots elaborately tooled and decorated, face as leathery as the boots, wrinkled and wattled. Not the police at all, just another tourist, nothing to fear. The sound of his own heart, as loud in his ears as a pile driver, slackened a bit.

“Good morning. Yes, nice day.”

They discussed the weather all the way to the elevator while Tony wondered why he was doing this and not just bolting. Act normally, that was the cue. Be calm, talk with this son of the old West, and make his exit gracefully from the hotel. He had definitely decided upon this wise course when he noticed that the indicator showed the elevator rising toward this floor and, clearly as though all were glass, he saw the police who were jammed in it shoulder to shoulder.

“Late, got an appointment, good-by.”

Off and running toward the exit sign down the hall leaving Tex gaping behind him, through the door and down the stairs to collide with the bellboy who was coming up them.

“Just the gentleman I was hoping to meet, senor. For some inexplicable reason a great number of police have entered the establishment and have been asking for you. They rise now in the elevator.” The vision had been true! “I thought perhaps you would care to avoid embarrassment and exit through the service entrance.”

“Done! Show me the way.”

They clattered down the stairs to the ground floor and along an ill-lit hallway toward an open door and sunlight.

“I cannot thank you too much.”

“There is an easy way to express one’s gratitude, senor”

“I was about to do that. Here, take this for your services.” They were at the entrance now, bills changing hands again, when Tony had a second vision, as clear as the one he had had of the police—jammed elevator. This involved a man who could be bought, for any man who could be bought would certainly be on sale to others.

“And take this as well,” Tony said producing more money and pointing off to the right. “If the police should ask, by all means tell them that you saw me and that I went that way.”

“As good as done.”

Tony walked quickly off to the left, but no more than ten steps. When he looked back over his shoulder the doorway was empty. He turned and crossed the street and hurried away in the opposite direction. Not too fast, make haste slowly. There were other pedestrians here and he accommodated his pace to theirs while trying to ignore the growing sensation between his shoulder blades, his ears ready for the cries that would stop him, followed by the bark of the volley of bullets. When he reached the corner he could bear it no longer and, as he turned, he risked one long look behind him before the wall intervened. Prophecy again. Burned on his retina was an image of the nark of a bellboy pointing down the street in the direction he had originally taken, while blue-coated figures rushed past him like hounds upon the scent.

A false scent. Now he had to muddle his trail some more while he considered what he should do next. The squeal of protesting brakes sounded in his ear as a battered bus proudly titled “La Dulce Vida” stopped at the curb to disgorge passengers. In an instant Tony was in the midst of pushing figures with baskets, dangling squawking chickens, bags of beans, crates of cucumbers. This wave rushed away and a minor backwash of passengers streamed past to board the bus. It was natural to join them and he swept in, to fumble out the copper coins in payment and to stand, surrounded and lost in the crowd as the vehicle rumbled away.

What next? For the moment he was safe, but the haven was only a temporary one. He searched for an answer but could find none; his mind wasn’t working too well, the affairs of the previous night and the resulting fatigue were taking their toll. For the moment it was all he could do to hold to the smooth metal of the pole and jounce along with the other passengers. Soon, he would decide soon, he held to this optimistic thought as he came as close to sleep standing up as he could.