a pleasant evening. a pink sunset over the forest surrounding the airport.
alfredo stood with twenty other drivers of limousines in a waiting area outside the main terminal.
he was waiting for beatriz, whom he had not seen since he had had a brief look at her when she had driven him to the dock on the lake .
don reynard had explained to him that in order to maintain the fiction that beatriz was a journalist and alfredo her bodyguard, beatriz would arrive on a plane, alfredo would meet her, and they would then drive to the compound where the child - the target of the operation - was held.
suddenly beatriz approached. the plane had apparently arrived early. alfredo had not even taken out the little sign identifying himself as her driver.
she was even more beautiful than alfredo remembered.
“you are early,” alfredo told her.
“yes, just as i planned,” beatriz replied.
they understood each other perfectly.
“let’s go,” beatriz said. “i know a place we can stop.”
*
maria paced nervously, pausing every few minutes to look out a window, although night had fallen and she could not see past the walls of the compound.
she could not understand why a journalist was to be admitted to the compound. it seemed to contradict everything that had been done previously to protect gerald and guard his privacy.
she had been given reasons but she did not really believe them.
gerald was in his usual place in front of the cold fireplace, with a sketchpad, drawing a graphic novel.
“something is going to happen,” maria blurted out.
“of course something is going to happen,” gerald replied. “how could nothing happen?”
*
only a few lights were visible on the highway outside the motel.
beatriz pulled the shade on the window. she turned to alfredo. “you know they are probably watching everything we do.”
“do you care?” alfredo asked.
’not really.”
and then alfredo took her.
he took her as no man had ever taken a woman before.
he took her as a volcano takes an island as it disappears into the ocean forever, as the last star in the universe blazes outward and consumes a million galaxies….
and still beatriz cried for more…
*
watching the proceedings on his little screen in his bungalow, don reynard roared with laughter.
“go, big fellow, go!” he cried. “go!”
“come and look at this!” he shouted over his shoulder. “you don’t want to miss this!”
*
“do you think we could make a run for it?” beatriz asked alfredo, as she watched him button up his shirt. “and leave all this nonsense behind?”
“we could try,” alfredo told her. “but i contracted to do a job.”
“oh, of course. and you want your reward - your kingdom.”
“i contracted to do a job,” alfredo repeated. “i never liked welshers.”
“but you have not gotten the kingdom yet,” beatriz replied. “if you do not do the job, no one will be cheated of anything.”
“i contracted to do the job.”
“oh, very well.” beatriz sat up and began picking her clothes off the floor. “i suppose we may as well run over the details of this happy proceeding.”
“yes,” alfredo agreed.
“will you try to bring a weapon in with you?”
“it is worth a try, but anything too elaborate might backfire.” alfredo produced a small pistol and showed it to beatriz.
“this is a 259 coronado with 17 g’s of blast power, filed down with an 88 dominican grip, capable of 60 pops, 20 second.”
“it looks like a toy.”
“it is not much more than a toy. we can try to get it in playing innocent - ‘ i am a bodyguard, of course i need a weapon’. or you could use such charms on the guards that they forget all about me. perhaps try your charms first, fall back on the innocence.”
“yes, that sounds as good as anything, i suppose. no doubt if we can not get the gun in, you have other methods.”
“that is what they are paying me for.”
*
gerald put down his sketchbook and stood up when the woman and the man, the journalist and her bodyguard, entered the room. they were unaccompanied by any guards, although maria and gerald had heard some palavering in the outer room before their entry.
“good evening,” maria greeted beatriz. she felt strangely calm.
“good evening,” beatriz replied with her most charming smile. behind her, alfredo scanned the room.
“and who is charming little man?” beatriz continued, looking at gerald, who stared directly into her eyes.
“this is gerald,” maria answered easily. “and he is prepared to answer any questions you might have. are you not, gerald?”
“who is he?” gerald asked, pointing to alfredo.
“who am i?” alfredo smiled and stepped forward and looked at gerald.
and in that moment he knew the truth.
the child was himself.
alfredo took the 259 coronado out of his pocket and shot gerald between the eyes.
*
seated side by side on the couch, don reynard and don carlos watched gerald fall backward.
and alfredo disappear in a cloud of green and red smoke.
“that went well, “ said don reynard.
“as well as could be expected,” don carlos agreed.
“so is the universe saved now?” don reynard asked.
“until the next time.”
the end
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