"I’ve
always wanted to play a spy, because it is the ultimate acting exercise.
You are what you never seem.”
-- Benedict Cumberbatch, actor
Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico
The restaurant at the Hotel
Colonial in no way meets the definition of a small café but, then, a small café
was not where Matias and the Baroness had lunch several years ago. They had wanted a bit more privacy which the
Colonial could afford them. The Colonial,
built in 1944, had a certain tarnished charm that comes with age. The Colonial’s four floors were accessed via
tiled stairs as no elevator was ever installed.
The tiled floors and stairs blended well with the years of varnished, age
darkened, woodwork and an indoor central courtyard which sported a small,
colorfully tiled fountain. The courtyard
also served as the indoor access to one of the better restaurants in central
Manzanillo.
Several restaurant guests,
mostly tourists, looked out from between the turned, wooden balusters which
stretched floor to ceiling at the main windows offering an open air view of
passersby, cars, and colorful street vendors on the main avenue. Several of the guests commented to each other
while pointing at the pristine Karmann Ghia that moved with the slow traffic. It didn’t matter that it was lunchtime, the
traffic was slow from early morning until nine at night, later during
festivals. Traffic for a couple of hours
either side of noon, however, is particularly plodding in el centro and Matias
always opted to avoid it whenever possible, especially if he was driving his
convertible.
Today, he was forced to circle
the block twice and finally caught the eye of Maxamillian, his favorite car
wash man, plying his trade on the street in front of the bar just around the
corner from the hotel. Max was just finishing
his latest client and looking for another.
He smiled when he saw Matias and stepped into the street to stop him
while the car he had finished backed into the street allowing Matias a parking
spot. Max threw the last of a half
bucket of soapy water onto the next car as Matias shut down the engine and got
out. Max wiped his right hand on his
jeans before giving Matias a hearty handshake.
“Buenos dias, Capitan! Como esta,
how is it going, senor?”
“Bein, bein, gracias Max. Y tu?”
“I am fine, senor. As you can see business is brisk. Your car looks as if it is not in need of my
services however, yes?”
“I was wondering if you could
just keep an eye on the old mujer for me, Max.”
“Ah, always a pleasure to watch
your lady, senor.” Max offered his
toothy grin in expectation of the captain’s usual show of appreciation and
Matias did not disappoint as he peeled off two hundred pesos amounting to four
car washes. Max would eat a hearty lunch
today. “You will be back soon?”
“About one hour, Max.”
Max nodded. “No problem, senor. She is safe with me.”
He patted Max on the shoulder as
he was stuffing the two bills into a front pocket. “Of that I have no doubt, my friend.”
Matias rounded the corner and made
for the entrance of the hotel restaurant, half way up the block. He mounted the steps, checking his watch as
he entered, and was greeted with the rich smells of classic Mexican cuisine coming
from the kitchen pass-through. Just in
front of this were the hostess station and a plump woman in a summer dress who
looked up as he entered. Her eyes sparkled
when she saw him and she checked her top button to make sure she looked
appropriate.
“Buenos dias, Capitan! Como esta?
Bien?”
“Dias, Consuela!” The captain had known Consuela for as long as
she had been the hostess – for years.
“Bien, bien. Gracias.
Y tu?”
“I also am fine senor.”
He glanced around the nearly
empty room. “I suppose I should have a
table, and I am possibly meeting someone.”
Consuela nodded her head as she winked
and looked around to ensure no one was watching. “This is true, senor. Your appointment is here and waiting for you
in room 408.”
Matias actually felt his look of
surprise. “Room 408?”
Consuela continued nodding and
removed a key from her apron pocket while lowering her voice to a whisper,
“This is my key to the roof. The stairs
are next to the room. In the event of an
“emergency” you may return the key to me later.” She gave a knowing wink then looked around
again, very cloak and daggerish, which forced Matias to bite his lower lip
fighting back the smile while trying to maintain a respectful composure. Consuela thought he was meeting a married
woman?
With some drama he whispered
back, “Gracias, my sweet.” He grasped
both of her hands and kissed the back of both.
“Remember darling, we’ll always have Paris.”
Consuela blushed and smiled at
the kisses but her eyes betrayed her confusion at the statement concerning
Paris, which told Matias he had wasted a great line for an anti-climactic
outcome. He still smiled at her naiveté
while he turned toward the adjoining indoor courtyard which was well lit from
the very old and large, multi-paned skylight on the roof above. The stairs were just to the right against the
wall. He stopped at the bottom and
looked up to the fourth floor railing, suddenly realizing he had to piss. He began the long climb to the fourth floor.
All of the rooms on each floor
lined the outside wall, one unit deep, and were accessed from the hallway on
each floor which overlooked the indoor central courtyard and fountain
below. He stopped when he reached the
fourth floor and looked over the well varnished railing while he caught a quick
breath. He immediately backed away a
step with momentary vertigo. Matias had
never been one for heights and being on the fourth floor was about the limit of
his comfort level. He proceeded around
the hall to room 408 and knocked. A
familiar female voice from within butchered the Spanish with a heavier German
accent while trying to ask who was there.
He tried to keep his voice low. “Matias.” The doorknob locked clicked.
The lock on the knob was false
security that kept honest people honest more than keeping thieves away. A credit card in the proper hands would gain
access to the room in seconds. The door
opened a few inches, enough for him to see a very pretty blonde of about
twenty-five looking out at him. She
closed the door to remove the secondary level of non-security, the obligatory
chain. With the door fully opened he
noted she was wearing a proper business suit, sans jacket, with a white cotton
blouse and flats. He continued in
English which he hoped most German business people would know, “I believe we
have an appointment?”
The young woman smiled, happy
for the language change, and closed the door.
“Kapitan, please come in. I am
Hilda, the personnel assistant to…”
“The Baroness.” Matias finished for her. “Yes, we have spoken before. I am very pleased to meet you in person, albeit
a bit surprised.”
A mischievous, mature voice from
the outside hall behind him stated, “Then let me surprise you again, my love.” He turned to find the most beautiful sixty
year old woman he has ever laid eyes on; short blonde hair, cream complexion,
and a twinkle in sky blue eyes with enough laugh lines to confirm a life of
love and good humor, striking a seductive pose against the door jam. His own eyes went wide with happy surprise.
“Dios Mio! Elke!
What…” She placed a finger on his
lips and uttered a short “shush.”
Elke pointed inside the
room. “Let’s go inside and I’ll
explain.” He turned toward a chair and felt
a gentle pat and squeeze to his butt cheek while Hilda secured the door.
He smiled. “I see you haven’t changed.”
Elke threw him a pouty lower
lip. “Nor have you, you old prude. Hilda, would you be a dear and make us a
drink?” She handed Hilda the brown bag
containing a bottle of Johnny Walker Scotch which she just purchased from the downstairs
bar. “I cannot believe you didn’t hear me on the stairs behind you.”
“You always were quiet as a
cat.”
Hilda interrupted, “Would you
like the envelope, Baronin?”
“Yes, thank you dear.” She leaned forward and gave Matias a hug and
whispered in his ear, “We must be careful. The German’s are listening.” She winked at Hilda and his eyebrow arched at
the old warning held over from World War II when Nazi intelligence operatives
blanketed almost every major port in the world.
Mexican’s still used the phrase as a warning to be prudent about what
you say in public. In this case Matias
wondered if it didn’t have more of the historical significance, considering his
earlier visit from the young agent.
Hilda returned with a manila
envelope and two tumblers of Scotch rocks.
She handed the envelope to the Baroness.
“Danke, Hilda. Now, be a darling and keep watch while I talk
to this handsome gentleman, ja?”
“As you wish, Baronin.” Hilda took a small purse from the table by
the entry door, closing the door behind her as she left.
Elke placed the envelope on the
table in front of them and said, “Please, let’s sit.” She rested a hand on the envelope as she talked. “We had to leave Germany for a short
‘vacation’ as it seems we opened a bit of a hornets nest during our
research.” Matias leaned forward with
interest.
“Would this have anything to do
with government intelligence assets?” It
was now Elke’s turn to show surprise.
Ja! Ja, and other, more
dangerous ones I fear. She looked into
his eyes. “Matias, do you have any
idea what you have stirred up?
Matias spread his hands. “Not really, the letter doesn’t begin to
touch on what we found, so, no. Do you?”
She let out a sigh. “Perhaps.”
Removed several sheets of paper
from the envelope and spreading them out, she moved up against him on the small
couch and his mind began to wander to carnal thoughts. She caught him looking at the cleavage of her
small breasts and snapped her fingers in his face, saying firmly, “Pay
attention, stud.” Matias smiled and she
continued, “I will keep this short and
to the point, so please hold any questions until I get through it.”
He nodded. “Claro, I understand.”
She tapped the papers with a
narrow finger. “Computers are not always
our friends and, thus, I may be the cause of whatever danger we find ourselves
in. As you know, I have many close
friends and colleagues at the Archives.
When you are one of the largest contributors of money and technology, as
well as a sitting board member, you make many friends you wish you
didn’t.” She took a sip of her
drink. “I took the liberty of digitizing
the information you sent me so we could send it into the digital ‘cloud’ and
see what else was out there.”
“Elke, please, keep it simple?”
“Sorry, love. We queried the internet. When the Archives query the internet, we
query virtually the entire net. I
dare say we even sample some areas where we may not be welcomed. Well, something we sent, perhaps a
combination of key words, seemed to have set off bells and whistles which
caused someone from the outside to try and hack into the secure areas of our
computerized archives. More to the point,
they tried to hack my personal computer, as well. As luck would have it, my money also helped
pay for a state of the art, tenacious little computer science bulldog, cum
programmer, cum hacker, cum make-my-teenage-day IT specialist. Our hacker was able to block the hack
and backtrack it close enough to cause the perpetrator to get cold feet and
shut the system down before he was discovered.”
Matias’ brow was furrowed with
questions. Elke saw this and continued,
“You might be asking what made him get cold feet?”
Matias exhaled from the effort
of trying not to interupt, “Yes.”
She pulled one sheet, which
looked like a page of computer language, closer. It was all Greek to his non-tech mind. She placed a finger below three highlighted
letters, about mid-page - NPD. “This is what
my girl assumes brought the hacker up short and made him shut down the attempt.”
She pulled over another sheet
with four photos filling the page. The
photos were of four men, ages mid-twenties to mid-forties, all blonde. One looked like a student, one a businessman
and two who could have been posing for mug shots at the local police
station.
“I managed to get these photos
from another close friend of the archives that works with the BKA,” She caught
herself using another acronym and corrected it, “the Bundeskriminalamt,
Germany’s version of your national security folks, or America’s FBI. This might also be where we went askew in our
research attempts.’
“How so?”
After WWII, Nazi police officers
and agents were recruited into police services as they had all the relevant
experience to immediately take control.
As you can imagine it was difficult to find any non-Nazis with this
requisite experience. Unfortunately,
many were high ranking officers that also had intimate knowledge and
involvement in the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews. It is also a known fact that Gestapo and SS
officers were among this group of recruits.
This bodes the concern of whether a clandestine group is working inside
the BKA, and if they are, have they been since its creation in 1951?”
She paused for a breath and
pointed at the photos again.
If this is the case, it would
explain why, in asking for information on these individuals, someone in the BKA
might have become alerted to our activities.
As it turns out, these four individuals are rumored to be the
enforcement arm of the Nationaldemokratische Partie Deauschlands, or the NPD.”
“Elke?” She looked again into pleading eyes. “Spanish if you please, my German was never
so good.”
“Pardon, of course. I get carried away. The NPD is the National Democratic Party of
Germany.”
Matias sat back. “Nazis?
We keep coming back to the Nazis.”
“Yes, dear, neo-Nazis. The NDP is considered by some to be the most
significant neo-Nazi party to emerge after the fall of the Reich in 1945. Although they do not bring unwanted attention
to themselves through anything more than political issues, we must remember
that politics was all Hitler needed to get a foothold in Europe prior to
1940. What is of even more concern is
their rumored association with Werwolf.”
“Werwolf. That sounds familiar. I seem to remember something of them from
last year, or perhaps the year before, in Europe; a neo-Nazi terrorist group?”
“There have been several. The one you refer to was associated with the
WWT, the White Wolves Terror Crew.
Werwolf is much more insidious.
In the waning years of World War II, Heinrich Himmler created a
clandestine terrorist group comprised of several small guerilla units that
could operate independently from each other and, if need be, the Reich. Their sole mission was to create havoc
through sabotage of the allied forces.
It has been quietly suspected for the past sixty-five years or so that Werwolf
continued their clandestine mission through business ventures that amassed
quite a war chest enabling them to fund other groups to do their dirty work
against the enemies of the new Reich.
They supposedly have advanced technology and technicians, and well-placed
followers that have been slowly secreted into law enforcement and government from
the lowest custodial services to the highest levels.”
She let all that was said sink
in for a moment. Matias leaned back into
the couch and let out a long breath. “Mother
of God, they sound like our drug cartels.”
“They probably own your drug
cartels. The possible involvement of Werwolf
is why we thought it prudent to come pay you a short visit.”
“What makes you think Werwolf
is involved at all?”
Elke leaned forward again and
pointed to the figure in the upper right photo.
“This one was discovered dead, just outside the gates of my estate as we
were leaving for the airport.”
Matias sat back up looking
stunned and concerned. “Who killed him,
or dare I ask?”
Elke put her right hand gently
over her heart. “A subject best left for
others with more clout to determine.”
“More clout?”
She let out a small
chuckle. “Do not concern yourself,
Matias. It will all work out on my end,
as soon as I return.”
The unlocked door to the room
almost burst opened. Hilda entered the
room rapidly, purse swinging on a spaghetti strap from her shoulder, pointing
at the papers on the table with the finger of one hand while the finger of the
other was inserted in the trigger guard of a gun commonly referred to as a Beagle;
a 9mm, Baby Desert Eagle II with a ten round magazine and one in the chamber. “Visitors, downstairs. The Kapitan must have been followed.” Her voice became firm with no room for
argument. “Schnell! We must go
NOW! Leave everything except the
envelope contents. Lass uns bewegen!
Let’s move!”
Matias was already on his feet
in near shock of seeing this proper young woman brandishing a pistol. Elke smiled when she saw his confusion,
patted his cheek and calmly said, “Time to go, my love! Shall we?”
As she grabbed up the papers up
and took his hand, he reached for his own briefcase. Hilda scolded, “I said leave everything!”
Matias pulled his hand from Elke
and opened the case to remove his own 1911 and the extra ammo. “If you don’t mind, I’m not leaving this.” He then pulled Consuela’s key from his pocket
and stepped passed the women. “Follow
me.”
He led the two women to a narrow
set of stairs, mere feet from the door to the room, and started up single file. He could see a door in the semi-darkness at
the top of the stairs. They heard a
stifled squeal come up from the courtyard four floors below. It sounded as if someone was being threatened
or beaten, and probably at gunpoint. Consuela
would die first, but it wouldn’t be long before the woman at check-in was
coerced to give up the room. Matias
urged speed from the women and they made the door in seconds. There was no landing so they all crowded at
the top step while he fished the key into the doors lock in the semi-darkness. This deadbolt was more substantial than the
room locks. Why not, he thought, nothing
to steal on the roof.
The door swung opened to a humid
furnace of blinding afternoon sun and sweltering heat reflecting off the black
tarred roof. Matias closed the door and
was gratified to find the deadbolt was capable of being locked from either
side. He secured it and turned around to
review their options only to find the women were already heading for the fire
escape at the back side of the hotel. Elke’s
girl, Hilda, was now in the lead with her small pistol still at the ready and
being held like she knew how to. He took
a step to follow and found his casual loafers were beginning to weld into the
hot tar of the roof. He hurried after
them.
The sun heated mopped tar gave
with every step. The only reason his
shoes didn’t adhere to it before was the thin coating of soot the old electric
company pumped all over town prior to changing over to natural gas when the
gasification plant went online. The air
was much cleaner and healthier now but, like a volcano, the soot will remain
for a while longer.
The ladies were looking down the
ladder as he caught up and looked over their shoulders at the narrow, metal
escape. He stated, more than asked,
“Allow me to go first,” and quickly added, “and don’t stop moving your feet.”
Elke was already marching in
place as she looked back at him.
“Chivalry, Matias? Do we have the
time for such niceties?”
He gently nudged between them
and started down. “Make some time, for
my sake, Elke. Please.” He continued down to the metal landing on the
fourth floor level. Typical metal fire escape
steps led down from there and, once the ladies were safely down the ladder, he
led them down to the second floor landing and then to the drop ladder which
would reach to the sidewalk below. He
unlatched the ladder and it noisily dropped down its track to just feet from
the concrete.
He’d just grabbed the ladder when
hand reached out from behind him to grab a handful of his trousers. Startled, he quickly turned his head to find an
arm extended from the window of the room at the landing. Attached to the arm was a concerned face
belonging to Consuela. She shook her
head at the idea of using the ladder and silently beckoned them inside. Matias didn’t argue as Consuela had instincts
honed on the backs of four boys. He helped
the ladies through the window, then followed.
Consuela smiled as they entered
and put a finger to her lips to caution for silence. Once they were all in, she closed and latched
the window then drew the curtains closed.
Her initial concern was replaced with a giddy excitement.
She patted her hands lightly
together and whispered, “Oh, que excitacion!”
Her face became serious, “But, very dangerous, si? There was a man, one of the group of thugs
downstairs, sent outside to keep watch should you try to leave. I saw them come in and knew they were trouble
by the way they kept looking around. I
was on my way to warn you but they were on the stairs first.
I thought you might find the key
of use and thought it might be safer for all to grab you as you came passed my
room. I think they will not check every
room, and I have called the police. We
should be safe here until they arrive or the thugs leave.”
Matias put a hand on her
cheek. “You have come through for us, my
dear friend. I owe you.”
She balked at the notion of
debt. “You owe me nothing, senor. It is I and my family who will forever be in
your debt.” She smiled and held his hand
to her cheek for a moment longer.
Elke and Hilda took a moment to
put the loose papers Elke was still carrying back in the envelope while Matias
questioned Consuela further. “Cuantos?”
“Que?”
“How many came in? Did you see?”
Consuela’s head was moving back
and forth as she both answered and watched the papers being put in the
envelope. “Three or four, senor.” Her eyes suddenly got very big and she gasped
while pointing a finger toward the page with the four photos of blond men. “Senor!
He is one of them!”
Matias followed her finger and
snatched the paper from Elke. “Which one?”
She pointed to the photo of the
lanky blonde with glasses, then to one of the two older gentlemen. “And, I think this one as well.”
Elke asked, “Are you certain?”
She nodded her head. “Si, yes!
This young one, on my mother I swear, senora. This other, not so much, but I am pretty
sure.”
Matais turned from Consuela and
addressd the other two. “Good enough for
me. Who are these men, and what do they
want?”
Hilda looked at the three of
them as they discussed the photos, finally adding, “If one is here, and maybe
two, we have a serious problem.”
Elke looked from her to
Matias. “I have to agree. I can account for one, two are downstairs,
that leaves a third we don’t have eyes on.”
“Enough of this.” Matias pulled out his cell phone and hit a
speed dial number. The line rang only
twice before Juan answered, “Si, Capitan.”
Matias kept his voice low but
urgent. “I have some trouble at the
Colonial, my friend.”
There was a short pause and he
could tell Juan was already on the move. “How bad, senor?” Before he could answer there was the muffled
sound of Juan issuing orders while he listened to Matias.
“Possibly four complications to
my being home for dinner with two lovely guests, and one delightfully creative
senora that makes the best chilaquiles, next to yours and my mother’s.”
He heard the ATV engine start up
in the background as Juan answered, “Ah, si!
I know of whom you speak. I am
already there for you.” The line went
dead.
Matias closed the cell and put
it back in his pocket. “Juan will be
here shortly.”
Consuela’s eyes lit up at the
mention of Juan. “Oh, I like senor
Juanito!” She quickly put a hand over
her mouth and quietly followed the statement with, “But, do not tell him this,
si?”
Matias patted her shoulder. “Si, si, Consuela. Your ‘not so secret’ is safe with us.” She smiled again, looking as if she totally
missed the captain’s jibe. He continued,
“Consuela, baño por favor?” The
morning’s coffee had finally caught up with his aging bladder in all the
excitement. She pointed at a closed
door. “Ah! Gracias.”
Elke reminded him as the door
closed, “Make it fast, senor. I wouldn’t
want you to get caught with your fly opened and have to zip up in haste.”
Matias cringed at the thought,
while Hilda smirked and whispered, “Ouch!”
When finished, Matias opened the
door to see Elke nearby with a finger to her lips and a thumb toward the
window. More than one person could be
heard talking and descending the metal steps of the fire escape. A shadow filled the curtained window and
there was a creak as the lock was tested.
The shadow moved back and there was muffled discussion in German before
they went back up the step toward the roof.
Hilda was closest to the window
and she leaned toward it, trying to hear if anyone remained behind before she dared
peek out to check visually. She gingerly
pulled the curtain back an inch and confirmed no one remained on the landing.
She whispered to Elke, “Alles klar. They saw the ladder to the street was already
down and assumed we had made good our escape.
They’re leaving to check the street.”
Elke placed her face in her
hands and lowered her chin, slowly shook her head in disappointment. “It is an embarrassment that, as Germans, we
have allowed these vermin to rise back to a point where they have this much
money, power, and influence. It is like
fearing the Gestapo all over again, and again, we condone it. History repeats.”
Matias reached out to touch her
hand. “No one learns from history any
more, my dear.”
“As if we ever did.” With a
forced smile she looked into his eyes while taking his hand in hers. He saw the deep sadness within. Although Elke was born after Hitler’s failed
reign, her family had suffered greatly by opposing the insanity.
The next ten minutes went by
rapidly. Matias stole a glance at his
watch and jumped with the ladies as they were all startled by a resounding
thump against the wall just outside the hotel room door. Slow footsteps struggled up to the door, and
through the space at the bottom they could see a shadow moving. Another solid thump threatened to force the
door from its hinges and into the room.
Then there came a soft knock.
Matias signaled Consuela and put fingers and thumb together in a
‘speaking’ sign. Consuela nodded and
moved to the door. Another, firmer knock
and she looked at Matias with worry. Her
eyes pleaded as she shook her, too frightened to address the person on the
other side. Another knock and Matias
pointed a stern finger at the door. She
finally let out a timid response in a shaky voice.
“Si?” He voice was on the verge of breaking. “Qué
deseas? What do you want?”
A familiar voice to Matias answered
her with, “I am but a poor laborer bearing a very large, and heavy, gift for
several lovely ladies.”
Matias moved Consuela aside and turned
the door handle. The door sprang open startling
all within, and Matias almost missed catching the unconscious body which Juan
had been holding up against the outside of it.
Juan immediately grabbed the feet and they finished bringing the man further
into the room so they could close the door.
Juan let the feet drop and
looked up into the big smile which covered Consuela’s full face. His own smile sobered a bit. “Buenos tardes, Consuela.”
“Buenos tardes, senor
Juan.” She was beaming.
Elke held out the sheet with the
photos and pointed to one that looked very much like Juan’s new friend. “I think we can assume those remaining are
all part of the same team, as well?”
Matias nodded. “I concur.”
Juan looked at the photo, looked
at his unconscious contribution, then looked at all of them confused, “What
team?” His eyes lit up when he
recognized Elke. “Ola Baroness! I had no idea.” He gave her a polite bow and noted the
younger woman and Matias were both holding weapons. “What is going on, mi Capitan?”
Matias quickly explained the
‘German connection’ and, when finished, Juan pointed at the unconscious muscle
and asked, “What do we do with this one?
We cannot leave him here for Consuela to explain, not to mention the
danger she would be in if he were to wake up or they were to return looking for
him.” Consuela smiled at the note of
concern for her safety.
Elke spoke up first. “You boys carry him with us and we’ll deposit
him elsewhere in the hall for others to find and report. If he wakes up, he will be none the
wiser.” Matias nodded agreement and
motioned for Juan to grab an arm. They
muscled the dead weight out the door to the railing overlooking the courtyard,
one floor below, and leaned him over it on his chest. Juan put a firm hand on his back to hold him
in place while Matias fished some pesos out of his wallet and handed them
toward Consuela.
“Oh, no senor, no!” she
protested.
Matias pushed the money into her
hand. Take it Consuela, with our sincere
appreciation for all you have done at great risk to yourself. It is truly not enough to repay you for
friendship and loyalty which go above and beyond.”
He put a gentle hand on her
cheek and she drew the money into a clenched fist which she held against her
chest as she looked at the tiled floor, holding back tears. “Gracias, senor. Muchas gracias.”
Her words of thanks were
punctuated by a splintering crack from the railing behind him. Matias turned to see Juan looking over a
space, where railing used to exist, and down to the courtyard on the floor
below. He was still holding what was
left of the unconscious man’s shirt. He
looked at Matias with wide eyes and muttered a simple, “Oops.”
Hilda looked at the, now dead,
body on the tiles below. A pool of blood
was starting to spread from a cracked skull.
The neck was obviously broken as well.
“Huh, well, I suppose that thins the Fourth Reich out a bit more, eh?” She smiled.
Consuela crossed herself and
kissed the small gold crucifix on a chain around her neck as she looked about
with frightened eyes, as if she were looking for a ghost. “Don Nicholas has taken another evil soul.”
Her reference was to an incident
at the hotel in 1944, ultimately resulting in a shootout between the
aforementioned Don Nicholas Rivera, guilty of multiple murders, and two
municipal police officers as well as a platoon each of army and marines. After a lengthy battle that lasted the night
he was finally shot by a sniper on another building. It is said his ghost wanders the halls
collecting evil souls as penance for his sins.
Matias rolled his eyes. “We don’t have time for this.”
Elke agreed, “Yes, we must go!”
“But, what of Consuela? Surely they will…” Juan was interrupted by another loud
splintering of wood.
They all turned to see the room
door swinging back from hitting the stop on inner baseboard. A ragged foot sized hole was in the thin
veneered panel near the knob. The jam
was ripped away and the cheap lock was now worthless. After kicking her own door in all Consuela
could offer them was a shrug and, “He kicked the door in and I threw him
out. I seemed to have forgotten about
the rail.” She bit her lower lip so as
not to smile as Elke and Hilda covered their own mouths to stifle small laughs.
They all bid her a hasty
farewell and Juan gave her a small kiss on a fleshy cheek. Juan winked, which made her giggle. He caught up with the others at the top of
the stairs.
Matias couldn’t stop thinking
about Hilda’s cold nonchalance, and the smile, at the gruesome death of the
unconscious man. Having known her for
years, she brings yet more to the table which is unexpected.
Juan took lead down the steps,
and Hilda took flank with her small pistol, which left Matias assisting the Baroness
with his own 1911. All of them were moving on high alert, checking all
directions for the next threat. Elke gave
him a smile. He canted his head back
toward Hilda.
“So, I don’t think you ever told
me where you found the ‘capable’ personal assistant.”
She gave a momentary side glance
back to Hilda. “On loan from the Archives
research department.”
“Hmmm… Librarians have developed
new skill sets since I was a child.”
Everyone was too focused on the
dead body to notice them as they descended to the courtyard. Matias, Juan, and Hilda, covered their
weapons with pockets, envelopes and hands, as they made for the front
door. The crowd around the body
continued to pay little attention to them or their poorly secreted
weapons.
Once on the sidewalk, Elke
continued, “Hilda Stein hails from a prominent Israeli Jewish family. She and her younger brother were assigned to
the Archives to do classified research.”
They stepped into the opened
store front of a small lingerie shop and took a breather after all of the
excitement. They all kept their eyes
opened for treats. Matias asked Hilda, “Your brother wouldn’t be a computer genius
which one might refer to as a ‘hacker’ by any chance?”
Hilda gave a slight shrug, “As a
matter of fact…” He drew up short at the
sidewalk and looked at both Hilda and Elke.
“You said ‘classified’
research. She isn’t…” Elke put a hand gently to his cheek and gave
it a solid pat.
“Mosad? More to the point, my dear, she is a katsa;
a field intelligence officer assigned to Germany to investigate Werwolf
and a possible resurgence of the Reich.”
“And her bother? A bit young for this work, it sounds like.”
“We needed IT support at the Archives
and she sang his glowing praises. I
brought him on board to give him some worldly experience.”
“And you really think these…
people, are working on a Fourth Reich?”
“Mosad has been chasing Werwolf
for years and have been unable to stop it from becoming a full-fledged
criminal enterprise which makes the Russian mafia look like rank amateurs.”
They stepped back out onto the
sidewalk and started moving toward the car wash area around the end of the
block. Matias asked Hilda, “It has been,
what, over sixty-five, seventy years? If
any of the original members are still alive, would they even be worth
prosecuting?”
Hilda’s look became serious and
her eyes enflamed with hatred as she reached forward and grabbed Matias by the
shoulder, bring him up short. “The Jews
recognize no statute of limitations for mass murderers of hundreds of thousands
of our own people, Kapitan. And, there
is the matter of billions of Deutsche marks they have accumulated from their
investment of Jewish blood, and stolen Jewish wealth.”
He pulled his eyes away from hers
and placed his hand atop the one on his shoulder. “There is always that. My apologies, Senora Stein.” He patted the hand, trying to calm the
moment.
Hilda removed her hand and looked
toward the corner up ahead. “No offense
taken, Kapitan. Please, call me
Hilda. I think danger dictates a
loosening of protocol, ja?”
“Matias, then. Si, danger makes close allies of new friends.”
As they reached the corner,
Matias looked to Juan for direction.
“Max has us both, senor. I
recommend you leave your car with him. I
have brought the jeep which will fit all of us, and the suspension is better
for losing anyunwanted ‘wolves’ following us.”
Matias agreed. “Yes, this is true. You excel in the ‘tope destruction derby’ of
Manzanillo, my friend.”
A tope (toe-pay) is a Mexican
speed bump that is three times the size of their American counterpart. Failure to traverse a tope at a snail’s pace
can send your vehicle airborne or destroy a cars suspension, or both, not to
mention the physical damage to the driver and passengers. Topes are never clearly marked and a driver
rarely sees one before it is too late, especially if the view ahead is blocked
by another vehicle in which case your only warning usually comes when you see
the vehicle ahead of you go airborne.
Your amazement at the other driver’s feat of levitation will be
immediately replaced by your own spine crushing launch.
Juan gave a toothy grin.
They rounded the corner to
parking stalls and Max’s car wash area.
Max was in conversation with a bald gentleman a foot taller than he
was. Max looked intimidated. He had an unobstructed line of sight to
Matias and was trying to inconspicuously waggle a finger to Matias in a ‘no-no’
fashion as a warning. Matias put out an
arm to stop the group.
The tall man caught the finger
movement, looked down then quickly to the side and down the street toward
Matias’ group. Matias got a good profile
of the man’s face as he searched the street.
The man reached out and tried to grab Max without looking, just as he
saw Matias, Juan, and the women. Instead
of grabbing Max he reached behind him under his light jacket, and spun toward
them, pulling a pistol from a belt holster at the small of his back. He had made the big mistake of disregarding
Max as any threat.
Max threw a shoulder into him
while yelling, “PISTOLA!” just before diving between two cars and out of danger
No one saw the personnel truck
full of Marinas, Mexican Marines, as it rounded the same corner Matias was on
and the driver saw the altercation and the armed man. The big diesel motor revved as the passenger
beat the outside of his door with the flat of his hand, a signal to the marines
in back that there was a commotion.
The large personnel truck came
even with Max and the other man just as Max hit him with his shoulder. The man spun back toward the street as he
fired, and the bullet hit one of the Marines as he rose up with his fellows to
see what the commotion was about. The
big diesel truck rattled to an abrupt stop as the gun went off.. The big man saw the truck full of Mexican marines
too late to do anything but keep firing, which was, of course, the wrong move.
Ten Marines in full body armor
and carrying automatic weapons fully loaded for port patrol were already lined
up against the metal side fence of the truck bed as the tall man made the bad
decision to continue shooting. Like the
closing scene of Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, it was like
putting a human meat sack into a tenderizer.
The sound of automatic gunfire was deafening as the man’s body, dead
with the first volley, continued to dance as the multitude of rounds slammed
into his soft flesh. What was left of
him finally collapsed as the shattered legs bones could no longer support the
bloody sack meat and gave way to gravity.
Matias saw there was also very
little face remaining for anyone to use for recognition purposes. He caught the movement of a hand on the hood of
the Karmann Ghia, where Max had dived for cover. Max slowly lifted himself out from between
the two vehicles and ran a shaking hand through his oiled, black hair. He looked down to see that one of the cars
was the Ghia and his fear turned to concern.
He looked the car over from one end to the other then went around to the
other side and repeated the review. He
got a big smile and threw Matias a ‘thumbs up’ without looking in their
direction. He yelled out, to the crowd
watching, and so Matias could here, “No damage!”
A cheer went up around Max, and
Matias let out the breath he’d been holding.
Matias didn’t know if the breath he let out was relief over there being
no damage, or if he’d been holding it in since the shooting started.
Max put on a serious face and
waved Matias away as the Naval Infantry Force of the Armada de Mexico jumped
from the truck to quickly surround the scene and take control. Max began loudly lying through his teeth, and
with great animation, before the Marine in charge even got to him. The marine surveyed the growing crowd not
even registering the backs of several pedestrians trying to swim against the
tide of onlookers converging on the scene from down the street, to make his job
all the more difficult. He barked orders
to hold the crowd back and then got on his cell phone to call in support. There were always a couple of trucks full of
soldiers patrolling the downtown area to ensure the security of the largest port
city on the Pacific coast of Mexico.
Matias finally broke his group
free of the surging mass of onlookers.
It was easy going now that the sidewalks were free of the people that
had converged on the poor Marines. The
vacant sidewalk also allowed them to make it up the main street in less than
ten minutes. At the other end would be a
plaza where they could catch the small rattletrap bus back to Compos and the
hacienda. Just two blocks from the
plaza, he stopped them again. They could
see another personnel truck and at least twelve more marines pull up at the end
of the street to begin setting up a checkpoint.
Elke moved close to Matias and
whispered in his ear as they feigned looking through a stack of women’s panties
on a table outside a shop, “What now?”
“Let me think a moment.”
The shop’s clerk noticed them
from the back of the store and smiled a welcome.
“Take your moment, but the clerk
will be here shortly to ask why you keep fondling her wares.” He stole a glance to see the young girl
heading their way. He smiled to her and
held his hands up to indicate he was done.
Matias tried to adopt the character
of a man on holiday with friends. He
smiled at the clerk while he put his arm around Elke’s shoulder and gave her a
hug, whispering in her ear, “You all have your passports and papers,
right? So, everything should be fine.”
Hilda smiled, leaned in and added
her holiday character to the tragedy by reminding, “And, the weapons?”
His smile wavered. “Mierda! Does this test never end?” He looked around at the shop fronts, not at
all sure what he was looking for, an idea or a miracle solution. The solution found him first in the form of a
shouted recognition.
“Senor Matias!
Capitan!”
The yell was coming from the new
checkpoint, up the street, and Matias thought to himself, “Oh joy.” He scanned the personnel and finally saw the one
marine waving an arm and smiling. He
motioned them to come forward. Matias
shot the Marine a large smile of recognition and waved back as he told his
group, “I guess we’re in it now.”
Elke hooked his arm answering, “Up
to our necks.” They all moved toward the
checkpoint like friends out shopping and she noted, “Well, he’s smiling so
that’s a good thing, right?”
She saw Matias cock an
eyebrow. “It would be if I could
remember who, in God’s good name, he is.”
Juan moved in front of them and blocked
their way with his arm. He motioned to the
vendor of a dry goods cart, said something to him in a low voice and passed the
vendor several pesos for which he got two sturdy paper grocery bags in
return. The group made as if they were looking
over the carts offerings, while Juan doubled one bag inside the other. He squeezed between Matias and Hilda, holding
the bag opened so they could drop their weapons in while blocking prying eyes. Juan folded the top twice and they continued
on toward the checkpoint.
Hilda put her hand in Juan’s and
began to swing it as though they were a couple on a date. Juan looked at her and grinned. She smiled back, “Do not get carried away
with your part, senor.” Juan’s grin got wider
at her comment.
Luckily, the closer they got to
the checkpoint the better Matias’ memory became. Matias finally remembered
Ignacio as they walked up to the checkpoint and offered his hand with a big
smile.
“Ola, Ignacio! Cómo está tu familia?”
Ignacio energetically pumped the
offered hand. “The family is fine
Capitan. Thank you for asking.”
Prior to be accepted to the Marinas, Ignacio worked with his father and
brother as tile masons. They were
responsible for installing every piece of indoor and outdoor tile at the
hacienda. The project was no small feat
and the price was beyond fair to the point he gave them a bonus for finishing
ahead of both schedule and budget.
After introductions around and a
copious amount of handshaking, an explanation was given of the cars being
stranded at the center of whatever disturbance had occurred down by the
waterfront and how they were all here to catch the bus back to the
hacienda. Ignacio would not hear of it. He made a phone call and, in short order, a pickup
truck with an extended cab arrived complete with a chain fed, .50 caliber
machinegun mounted in the bed and a young, battle-dressed gunner hanging onto
both handles. Ignacio rubbed his hands
together, grinned again and motioned to the door being held open by another
troop, “Your taxi senor y senoras!”
Matias helped ensure the paper
bag of weapons made it safely back into Juan’s waiting arms after he climbed in
the back seat with the women, then he turned to Ignacio. “Thank you my friend, for your
assistance. This…” he made an
encompassing wave at the truck, “is truly a rescue we will all remember.”
He gave Ignacio’s hand a firm
shake, and was pulled in close. Ignacio
put a finger to his lips. “Let us keep
the taxi service our little secret, eh Capitan?” He let out a low chuckle which Matias
echoed. The two shook hands and Matias
got in front with their driver. They all
waved as the ‘taxi’ pulled away. The
group rode the rest of the way back to the hacienda in silence.
When the truck had made the
delivery of its passengers and sped off back down the road, Elke took a deep
breath and leaned against a palm tree near the whitewashed concrete arch that
gated the drive at the base of the hill.
“Would someone mind telling me how we have all become involved in this,
and what this is?”
Matias held his hand out to her
and said, “Let us get up the hill to the hacienda and some cool drinks, and I
will try to add what we have to what you have brought us.”
Hilda gave Matias a questioning
look. “What else do you have?”
Juan started up the hill stating
over his shoulder, “If someone will get the cold drinks from the kitchen, I
will fetch the hard drive and line up some photos.”
Elke and Hilda both looked at Matias who was smiling. “You brought us some Nazis, Juan and I think it only fair to respond in kind.” With that, he started up the steep drive behind Juan, leaving the two women to look at each other.
