"No, Mateo. His bullet sailed over my head. My bullets both hit him. I aimed for the heart. See, you are covered with his blood, no?"
"Water." Hall was sitting on the floor, Jerry"s head in his lap, a hand clasped firmly over her mouth. He dipped a handkerchief into the gla.s.s Vicente gave him, ran it over her face. "Jerry," he whispered, "promise me you won"t yell if I take my hand away? Everything is all right. His shot missed us both, and now he"s under control."
She nodded. "I"m sorry I pa.s.sed out," she said.
"You"re O.K. now."
Vicente, standing over them, grinned at the girl. "_Si_, you _magnifica_," he said. "You make boom noise of comb. She"--he pointed to Androtten, who lay under a blanket Vicente had found while Hall was reviving Jerry--"she have much scare of boom, she shoot much badly. Me, Emilio, shoot much good. She no good no more."
"Is he dead? _Muerto?_"
"Much dead." Vicente showed them his pistol. He pointed to his own silencer. "I heard the son of a wh.o.r.e mother," he said to Hall, a sardonic smile on his grim face. "When he gets to h.e.l.l he will learn that there were other silencers in this jungle."
"You heard everything?"
"But naturally, _companero_. I followed him to the door and listened.
When you shouted to the woman that the n.a.z.i had a gun, I knew you were shouting for me. I have a gun, too. And a pa.s.s key. So I rushed into the next room and climbed over to the balcony. It was not difficult."
"You were very good. You saved our lives."
"It is nothing."
"I can get up, Matt," Jerry said. "I"d rather sit in the chair."
Hall helped her to the chair, told her what Vicente had done. Vicente laughed at Hall"s account of his heroism. "It was nothing," he repeated.
"The n.a.z.i was too fat to miss."
"He"s very messy," Hall said, looking at the blanket.
"What are you going to do with the body?" Hall asked Vicente.
"Feed it to the sharks."
"Better fingerprint him and make photos of the face, first," Hall advised. "And let Segador know immediately."
"Be tranquil, _companero_. All in good time. When you and the woman leave, Pepe and I shall put the remains of this dog in a laundry basket and get it out of here." Vicente looked at Jerry. "And I think you had better get her out of this room. She is going to get sick if she stays here."
"You"re right." Hall gave Jerry his hand. "Come on, nurse," he smiled.
"We"re going to my room. This is no place for a lady." He helped her to her feet.
She held her hand out to Vicente. "You are very sweet," she said.
"_Usted mucho dulce._ Understand?"
"Understand," he laughed. He kissed her hand.
Hall had a bottle of brandy in his room. He poured two stiff drinks for Jerry and himself. "Feel any better?" he asked.
"It was awful for a few minutes. I was afraid he would kill you."
"So was I, baby. I was afraid he"d kill me before I ever got around to telling you how I felt. About you, I mean."
"How do you feel about me?"
He filled the gla.s.ses again. "Still think I"m a cop?"
"I don"t care. I guess you aren"t, though."
"Right."
"I"d have died if he killed you. I love you, Matt."
She was sitting on the edge of the bed. He stood over her, took the gla.s.s from her hand. "You know how I feel, then," he smiled.
"Darling," she said, raising her face, "didn"t you think that I knew?"
"Wait," he laughed. "I"m filthy with his blood. I"d better change my clothes."
He found a fresh suit and a clean shirt in his closet. "I"ll change in there," he said.
"Darling," she said, while he was changing, "I still can"t figure out why Ansaldo wanted me at the ranch."
"I think I can, baby. It"s not so hard. Figure it out for yourself. The beautiful American nurse is a complete political innocent. Sees all, knows nothing. A perfect set-up. The Falangist doctors take you along to San Hermano. You sit in the sickroom while Ansaldo examines Tabio. You yourself work on the smears and the slides in the laboratory. You are the clean, unbiased witness who can testify that scientifically all was on the up and up. Your existence is proof that Ansaldo"s visit was legitimate. If anything was shady, he"d bring a Falangist nurse."
"But why was I brought to the ranch?"
"Same reasoning. Lavandero blocks Ansaldo"s plans. Meanwhile, the Falange sends two agents from Spain with the latest orders for Ansaldo.
He has to sneak out of town to confer with them. So does Androtten, the n.a.z.i boss of the expedition. Again Ansaldo takes the unbiased, non-political nurse along. She is still the witness. She sees nothing wrong at the ranch, and, after Ansaldo puts Tabio in the grave, if anyone starts to suspect anything, they question the obviously innocent American nurse and she backs Ansaldo"s story. She really hasn"t seen a thing."
"That is," Jerry said, "until the dumb American nurse stood under the wrong window and heard Joe n.a.z.i himself."
"Exactly."
"Then you think they know that I heard Androtten?"
"I can"t say. But just to play safe, you"re moving out of this hotel to where they can"t find you. And right away. Not that they"re not prepared. Remember, you didn"t _see_ Androtten. They know that much. By now you can bet your bottom dollar that they have a coffee planter three hundred miles from the Gamburdo ranch who will swear on a stack of Bibles that Androtten was with him for the past three days, and a whole slew of witnesses to back him up."
"But won"t it make them suspicious if I move?"
"The h.e.l.l with them, baby. It"s you that counts now."
"Then I"m staying. I won"t spoil it for you by playing into their hands."
Hall took her in his arms. "You"re wonderful," he said. "But ..."
The phone began to ring. It was Dr. Gonzales. "Can you come over to the Presidencia at once?" he asked. "Yes, very important. I am in Don Anibal"s apartment. Please, hurry."
"I"ll be right over."
"What is it, Matt?"