don reynard stood up when alfredo entered. he looked like every other man who had ever hired alfredo to do what he did.
the room was bare except for a pair of couches facing each other, with a low table between them. on the table were a bottle of whiskey and a couple of glasses.
“we meet at last, my dear sir,” don reynard addressed alfredo. he did not offer to shake hands, but indicated that alfredo should sit down across from him. “i have heard a great deal about you.”
“no doubt, “ alfredo replied, as he seated himself on the edge of the offered couch.
“i hope you did not find the elaborate means i took to arrange this meeting too onerous.”
“no doubt you had your reasons.”
“i did. would you care for a drink?”
“i doubt if you went to all this trouble to bring me here to poison me. so, yes, i’ll have a drink.”
don reynard poured two stiff drinks from the bottle on the low table. he indicated that alfredo could take either one, and he took one.
“my sources tell me,” said don reynard.leaning back on his couch, “that you spoke with don carlos.”
alfredo just shrugged.
“no doubt he told you some story about myself. perhaps some story about a man named bud johnson.”
“he may have.”
“don carlos is a fool.” don reynard laughed. “there is no such person as bud johnson, he is a fiction we have imposed on him.”
“if you say so.”
“in any case, you came to me.”
“i told him you had contacted me first, and that therefore i would hear what you had to say first.”
“ha ha. no doubt you are thinking that if you go to him he will tell you that i am deluded, that he has imposed some fiction on me.”
alfredo took a sip of his drink. “he told me he was the richest man in the world.”
“yes, it pleases him to think so. as it pleases him to tell you about my concern with bud johnson, who does not exist.”
“be that as it may,” said alfredo, “you must want me to do something to somebody.”
“yes, of course. look here.” don reynard reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and took out a tablet the size of a wallet. he placed it on the table and unfolded it so that its screen faced alfredo.
“this is real time,” said don reynard. “the picture is not quite the best.”
“it is good enough,” said alfredo. “but what exactly am i watching?”
the picture showed a moderately beautiful young woman, dressed very plainly in slacks and a white shirt, sitting in a wicker chair with a book. the picture was clear enough to show that she was not concentrating on the book, but kept glancing at -
a boy about eight or nine years old, seated on the floor in front of a fireplace, turning the pages of an oversized book. the boy rocked back and forth slightly as he perused the book.
“it is the boy we are interested in,” said don reynard. “not the woman.”
“you want me to kidnap him?”
“if you can. but kill him if you can not.”
alfredo nodded.
“i assume you have no qualms about killing a child.”
“i do not know what qualms are.”
“well, you can always look it up in the dictionary under ‘q’ if you are curious.”
alftedo stared at the screen. “they must be well guarded.”
“of course. we would not have gone to the trouble of enquiring as to your services if it were otherwise. “
“speaking of my services -“
“we are aware of their value. what did you have in mind? any particular currency?”
“what is money in today’s world? i was thinking of something more substantial.”
don reynard smiled. “such as?”
“a kingdom.”
“ah.”
“preferably an island. it need not be a large one.”
“i am sure it can be arranged. do we have a deal, then?”
“tell me more about this job. do you have any entry at all to this well guarded target- or am i to work from scratch?”
“ah. i have no doubt you could work from scratch, as you put it, but we do have an entry, one we would prefer to use, as it is in place, and we would like to get this whole affair over and done with as quickly as possible.”
“go on.”
“you have met beatriz.”
“i have? you mean - “
“the woman who picked you up and drove you to the dock.”
“oh. i hardly saw her. except when she let me out at the dock. she did not introduce herself.”
“but you noticed her. eh?”
alberto shrugged. “a woman is a woman.”
“ha, ha, to are sure. a most worthy sentiment. what a different world it would be, eh, if all adhered to it?”
“well, what of this beatriz? “ alberto replied impatiently.
“i see you are all business, my friend. well, beatriz will impersonate a reporter, a reporter for a european newspaper -“
“a newspaper?”
“yes, one of the last in existence, and as such she will gain entrance to interview the child and the governess. you will accompany her as a bodyguard. the child has been represented as some sort of prodigy, in order to justify to the curious the massive security around it. a journalist will be allowed admittance, to counter allegations of fraud.“
“i see. and once inside this massive security i am to kidnap or kill the child and the governess, and then get out, with them and this beatriz in tow?”
“the governess is of no importance. beatriz can take care of herself. as for the rest, that is what you are being paid for.”
alberto nodded.
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