Belmopan

by B French

  The door slamming on the other side of the vehicle, and the shuffle of feet, announced the retreat of the custodian through the automated security doors; the bespectacled assistant waited patiently on the far side of the glaciated portico. The barely audible click of his cane on the cement, garage floor echoed, and then ceased as he entered. The custodian slowly turned to face the beleaguered Doug. His face was drawn and pale as words, “Go get her,” slipped from his chapped and bleeding lips.

  Disdain for the order was hard to hide, but the need to rectify an injustice to his male psyche was necessary. It was what was required to sustain his own predilection for control and power. Climbing back inside the rear of the waiting 4X4, “Take me to the estate,” pierced the dull silence, directed to the driver. He would make some calls and find where his own driver, and friend, was being held and set bail, if needed.

  Aguada

  It had been months since Shawna and Brian had been together. Still weak from her ordeal, Brian carried Shawna into the shower area and ran the water to a tepid flow. Easing themselves into the small stall, they embraced and kissed; their bodies responding to the each other’s touch and the pulsing water that flowed over their skin. Almost faint from excitement, he carried her to the bed and embraced her gently, like a butterfly in the palms of his hand. Kissing the length of her body, she responded in passion and deed. With their bodies entwined, they rolled, sweated and convulsed; they were lost in intense passion.

  Steve had chosen to take a dip in the pool. Changing his clothes, to his bathing trunks in his room, he had considered the passion and the need for privacy of the two in the adjoining room. Showering in the pool area, he had taken a Bud from the passing waitress and proceeded to cool himself in the water. Looking over to the swampy, irrigation pond that lay off to the far side of the garden, he noticed the resident iguana, approximately three feet long, sunning himself in like manner. They both were content, listening to the music that floated on the air as easily as Steve’s air-mattress on the water.

  Magnus, showered and shaved, stood and gazed from the balcony of the second floor overlooking the pool. He looked content, at least for now, over the outcome of the last days. He would need to be clear on his pronouncements to the police, whom they would meet within the hour. Explaining the custodian and his true intent, would be difficult and not at all prudent considering the possible ramifications. He would need to explain something though; murder, if he could prove it, to the Police Chief in San Ignacio. Divulging the custodian’s true nature and purpose for the ceremony, would bring unnecessary attention and perhaps his escape. The doctor would lay out a more detailed and direct course of action when he met with Henry the following evening. With all things considered, it would be difficult to explain the near supernatural nature of this being, or thing, and its penchant for source DNA and genetic alteration. Magnus speculated, it had survived and existed in near obscurity around the world for centuries, within the confines of a timeless institution. Coming to Central America centuries ago, was its only way to remain concealed and private to continue with experimentation and its political meddling, till now. Magnus still needed time to set up the means to restrict, confine, incarcerate, and ultimately bring about the demise of this horrific, senseless, careless being.

  Looking down at his watch, he shouted down to Steve, “It is time my friend, to get that foot out of the water.”

  Steve lazily looked up and gave him a wave while taking another sip of beer. Back-paddling the blow-up bed, he reached for the side and hoisted himself onto the concrete patio stones that surrounded the periphery of the pool.

  “I’ll be right there,” he yelled back.

  Steve sat for several moments at the edge, watching the sunlight reflect off the gentle waves as they lapped the side of the pool. The bright, turquoise blue bottom shimmered through to the broken sparkling surface. He was cognizant of the day’s events and wondered whether he had done the right thing in not pursuing Juan into the jungle when he’d had the chance. Perhaps, Juan would still be alive. Feeling drained and emotionless, he watched as the remaining rays of light winked out from between the trees at the far side of the garden; he wanted to see Rose and the kids. The iguana was no-where to be seen.

  A half-hour later, clean shaven and wearing fresh clothes, Steve gently put his ear to the door of the next room and heard nothing. The exterior, balcony walkway was open to the pool area below and he could see Magnus sitting by its edge in a reclining chair, smoking a cigarette.

  “Leave them,” Magnus suggested. “Shawna needs all the rest she can get. I’ll have a word with the guard to remain here and wait for them to awake, as if that will be any time soon,” he said whimsically.

  Steve sauntered down to the restaurant area after Magnus and nodded to Jackson as he wiped glasses from the inventory on the shelf. After gulping down a tasty enchilada, the screen door slammed shut with a bounce that almost kept rhythm to the music from the bar. Magnus spoke with the officer waiting near his car close to the festivities about Brian and Shawna, and climbed into the Fiesta. With a groan of discomfort, Steve attempted to press the clutch pedal with his sore foot. A forced grin came to his face, “You ready doc?”

  They bounced away from the parking lot in a cloud of dust, off toward their meeting with the Chief in San Ignacio.

  The San Ignacio Police Station was cramped and hot. The overhead fan did little to move the air around the waiting room that felt no larger than a lavatory cubicle, and smelled little better. Several drunks slept on a corner bench, snorting at every disturbance that affected them. Owen was perched on the next seat beside them covering his nose with the hanky he had used previous to wipe his brow. Edmundo and Amalia were opposite, waiting patiently for the proceedings to begin. The Chief was in an adjoining room with a boisterous crowd of individuals still dressed in costume from the day’s ritual. Mayhem ruled supreme.

  Exasperated, the Chief, a balding, heavy set man, entered the waiting area and nodded to Magnus. His attempt at neatness of appearance was obvious, but the stains of sweat beneath his arms and the disheveled hair that rimmed his skull at ear level gave a true account of his demeanor. Turning, he gather some pens and several clip boards and looked to the five with metered disdain at the condition of his overcrowded offices.

  “Would you all come forward,” he stated, putting the clip boards in order on the counter before him. Looking up again, he asked, “Where are the other two; the young lady and the other fellow?”

  Magnus cleared his throat and began, “They will be along shortly. They were held up for medical reasons and are with the officer you left at the

  Aguada.”

  “Oh,” he replied and looked down to the forms on

  the clipboard. “You need to give me your names and

  addresses while in Belize; a contact number where you

  can be reached over the next twenty-four hours, a cell

  number perhaps; a detailed account of what you were

  doing at the Xunantunich site; what you saw; what you

  think you saw, and, if any, your relationship to the

  deceased.” He looked over to Owen, “and what you

  were doing filming the whole thing?” Owen looked

  down to his feet and wondered at his predicament.

  Magnus giggled.

  Leaving the waiting area, the chief re-entered the

  room next door and began another round of questions

  and assumptions. Gathering close, they all looked at

  one another with the same bewildered look.

  “Where do we begin,” Edmundo asked, looking to

  Magnus for direction?

  “Start at Caracol, the night Shawna was abducted.

  Just leave out the important parts as to why you believe

  she was taken. If you feel you need to, just say, ‘a

  ransom for the ‘Pillars of the Moon’.” He peered

  reflectively at them all, “We need to be similar in
our

  accounts as to why we were at Xunantunich.” Magnus

  looked directly at Amalia in sympathy,” Some of us

  had no choice,” then continued. “All of us have our

  personal reasons for wanting to see Doug and the

  custodian put away, but they are connected to some

  powerful politicians. At this point, we have only clues

  as to who they may be; they have remained protected

  and active for many years for a reason; we just don’t

  know how, yet!”

  They all nodded in agreement and went back to sit

  in their respective areas and started to write. Twenty minutes later, all but Owen were finished and eager to

  leave the fetid confines of the waiting area.

  Waiting for the Chief to return, Steve began to

  wonder at Edmundo’s condition and asked in concern,

  “Can I get you anything from the Aguada? I know your

  friends have all left, but if there’s anything I can do for

  you, let me know.”

  “I’ll be heading back to the resort with Amalia,”

  Edmundo stated, looking up from the paperwork. “If

  you could bring my duffel bag and truck, I’d appreciate

  it.” He reached in his pocket and threw the keys back

  to Steve in one quick motion.

  “I’ll see you in an hour.”

  Within moments, the front door opened, and Brian

  and Shawna slipped into the vacancy on the bench

  made available by Steve, Amalia and Edmundo.

  Squeezing by the couple, they retreated from the

  cramped office to remain outside the front door. Reaching for several papers that remained on the

  front desk, Magnus motioned for Brian to collect the

  loose leaf. “Fill out these as indiscriminately as you

  can. I’ll do my best to have it cleared up by Henry at

  the ministry.”

  Refreshed from the shower at the Aguada, and

  relieved from the intimacy experienced earlier, the two

  sat quietly together and started to pen the impressions

  the last few days had conjured.

  The door from the adjoining room swung open and

  spewed the Police Captain and a young, female

  assistant. “What in the heck that bunch was up to, I’ll

  never be able to figure,” he belched. “The court system

  will have to sort it all out!” He shuffled some papers

  and looked over to Magnus, “And what do you have to

  say for yourself. How did you get mixed up in all of

  this, as if I need to ask?”

  Magnus just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. The chief noticed Shawna and Brian penning their

  forms and made no effort to arouse them.

  “I suppose the Ministry will have a lot to say and

  do through all of this.” The Chief gave a forced

  chuckle and slapped his hand down hard, startling

  everyone, including the prone drunks that gave slight

  motion and extruded grunts again. “And how is

  Henry,” he asked, as he peered down over the counter

  to where the doctor sat, as if a switch of melancholia

  had been flicked in the room.

  “Fine,” was all that Magnus offered.

  “As soon as everyone has finished,” the chief

  brandished, “put your reports on the counter, sign the

  log with the assistant here, leave the pens, and get out!”

  Aguada

  The moon was full and illuminated the parking lot as Steve threw Edmundo’s army green duffel bag in the back of his truck. With a cough and a chug, the engine sprang to life and jerked profusely as Steve unevenly popped the clutch to get the vehicle in motion. The din of crickets and bull-frogs, by the river’s edge, almost drowned out the low cough and sputter as he proceeded along the Western Highway, through the town toward the bridge that crossed over to San Ignacio. The water below sparkled and rippled in the moonlight as he crossed unimpeded to the upper reaches of the town and the cathedral that stood bold, reminiscent of better times in the past.

  As the Police vehicle pulled away from the entrance to the San Ignacio Resort, Edmundo and Amalia stopped just outside the front doors and turned to look at the sky and the stars that twinkled above the tree’s canopy across the road.

  “Would you like to sit by the pool and have a drink,” he asked Amalia, who was visibly more relaxed now that time had passed from the ordeal of earlier.

  “I’d love to,” she replied, looking up to him and taking his arm.

  Both receded through the doors, oblivious to the van and the occupants that sat several yards away. Doug, and his driver Carlos, waited patiently and watched for an opportunity, and location, to snatch Amalia away. Getting from their vehicle, they observed through the doors as the two walked past the stairs and through to the patio and down to the pool area beyond. Doug paused for several moments to think of the alternatives and the lack of police at the time.

  “You go around the side to the rear and stay undercover,” he suggested. “I’ll see if I can separate them and get her alone to talk to her.” Doug grabbed him by the arm after some thought, “If you see me walk with her back to the front of the hotel, make your way to the truck. I’ll get her there somehow. If worsecomes-to-worst, shoot the bastard.”

  Edmundo had just given the waitress their drink order when Doug waltz up to beside the table, ducked the umbrella, and stared down to Amalia without a word. Edmundo rose to his feet, the hair on the back of his neck stood to attention. He automatically poised himself in a protective, offensive stance that was barely noticeable but for the few who sat in reclining chairs and at tables close by.

  Doug looking to the patrons that sat either side of their table and back to Edmundo, “I only want a private word with her.”

  Edmundo, sensing the tension rise within Amalia, and the flash vision of the bruises and markings on her back, “I don’t think so!” Standing his ground and watching the reaction in Doug’s eyes, Edmundo didn’t move a muscle.

  Reaching down to grab Amalia by the arm, Doug was shocked at the lightning quick reaction of Edmundo’s foot stretching out toward his forearm, kicking it from the advance. Surprised, Doug stood motionless considering the attack, and looked back to the patron that sat just off to the side. Edmundo, in like, looked to the reaction; his considerations becoming soft, from his years away from the military, and forfeited his defensive posture. Doug taking advantage, placed a precise kick to Edmundo’s upper thigh and punched out with lightning speed toward his face. Both hit their mark before Edmundo could block and counter-punch. Startled, and correcting himself before he fell into the bystanders table, Doug kicked out with a firm foot to his chest, Edmundo stumbled back winded, and into the pool. Female patrons screamed while the males stood unable to determine a course of action, apart from subdue, should the altercation continue. Reaching down, Doug pulled Amalia to her feet, “Come with me, and don’t make a scene, or more will get hurt.”

  Edmundo, barely able to catch his breath, grabbed the edge of the pool-side and watched helplessly as the two disappeared through the rear-entrance doors to the patio and back through the lobby. From behind the pool’s waterfall, and the thick foliage that surrounded the outside perimeter of the pool area, Carlos watched, replaced his handgun in its shoulder holster, and the eased himself from his hiding spot to continue around to the front of the resort.

  As Steve pulled up in front of the resort, he could not help but notice a couple arguing in the shadows of huge, black vehicle just down from the front doors. He sat for a moment not wishing to interfere and allow them privacy when he heard a slight scream and a whimper. Thinking it over for a split second, he decided to take a closer look, but not to conspicuous. To his surprise, there was Amalia in the f
orceful clutches of Doug. Bandage over his ear, Doug turned to view the intrusion expecting to see Carlos. Equally surprised, Steve looked at a tearful Amalia and lashed out with a hard punch that crumpled Doug’s nose and sent him flat through the open door of the truck. Not moving from the sprawling position over the seat, he remained quiet. Amalia, unable to comprehend the quickness of the actions and reactions, hugged Steve around the belly.

  “Are you alright,” Steve asked.

  “Uh huh.” was all she replied.

  “I don’t think so,” came a disembodied, heavily

  accented voice from beyond the truck door. The door slowly closed on the dangling legs of Doug, and remained ajar. “I suggest, senor, you back away and leave the girl here.” A black revolver protruded from the fingers of a closed fist. Carlos reopened the door to recognize, a prone Doug in the shadows of the interior. Steve reacting very slowly, backed out from between the parked vehicles, pushing Amalia clear behind him. “Not all that wise Senor,” Carlos stated, a slight smile on his lips.

  “For who!” came a familiar voice from behind the open door. Kicking the door as hard as he could, Edmundo tried to debilitate Carlos, but only pushed him further between the parked cars toward Steve and Amalia. Not knowing what to do, Steve stepped forward and swung down as hard as he could, dislodging the gun from Carlo’s grip. Edmundo, from behind, struck out with his fist, hitting Carlo in the temple. A semiconscious Carlo crumpled to the ground.

  “Let’s go,” yelled Steve, running toward the Edmundo’s pickup. “You’d better drive,” he suggested to Mundie. “I think I broke something.”

  “That’s if I can sit down,” Edmundo replied easing himself behind the driver’s seat.

  In a puff of smoke from the tail-pipe, the three, squished together on the small, bench seat, bounced their way down the hill toward the downtown area of San Ignacio and further on to Santa Elena, and the Aguada.

  The moon became dull as a cloud slid before its brilliant hue, signaling yet again, that the gods were thwarted of a tasty morsel this fine, balmy evening.

  Jackson looked up from behind the bar counter, amid the empty cervasa bottles and rum, to the slamming of the screen door. The motley three laughed as they entered, arm-in-arm, the crowded restaurant. He shook his head and continued wiping the water spots from glasses with a white cloth. Magnus approached to greet them from a table in the shadows of the far corner. “You guys OK?”