After three days of traipsing round the hot and humid city, Jackson was in no mood to bargain. But he didn’t have that amount of cash on him, and he couldn’t just write out a cheque or present a credit card.
‘Can I leave a down-payment,’ he asked, ‘and pick it up first thing in the morning?’
‘Certainly, sir,’ said Escobar. ‘Although for this particular item, I would require a 10 per cent deposit.’
Jackson nodded, and removed a wallet from his inside pocket. He extracted some used notes and passed them across the counter.
The shopkeeper counted the ten hundred-dollar bills slowly, then placed them in the cash register and wrote out a receipt.
Jackson looked down at the open case, smiled, removed the spent cartridge and put it in his pocket.
The old man was puzzled, not by Jackson’s action, but because he could have sworn that all twelve bullets had been in place when he had bought the rifle.
‘I’d pack up everything and join you tomorrow,’ she said, ‘if it weren’t for my parents.’
‘I’m sure they’d understand,’ said Stuart.
‘Maybe,’ said Tara. ‘But it wouldn’t stop me feeling guilty about all the sacrifices my father’s made over the years so I could finish my PhD. Not to mention my mother. She’d probably have a heart attack.’
‘But you said you’d find out if your Faculty Advisor would allow you to finish off your doctorate in Sydney.’
‘My Faculty Advisor isn’t the problem,’ said Tara. ‘It’s the Dean.’
‘The Dean?’
‘Yes. When my Faculty Advisor discussed the idea with him yesterday, he told her it was out of the question.’ There was a long silence before Tara said, Are you still there, Stuart?’
‘Sure am,’ he said, followed by a sigh that would have done credit to a Shakespearean lover.
‘It’s only another eight months,’ Tara reminded him. ‘In fact I can even tell you how many days. And don’t forget, you’ll be over here for Christmas.’
‘I’m looking forward to that,’ said Stuart. ‘I only hope your parents don’t feel I’m imposing on them. After all, they won’t have seen you for some time.’
‘Don’t be silly. They were delighted when I told them you’d be joining us. Mom adores you, as you well know, and you’re the first man Dad has ever had a good word for.’
‘He’s a remarkable man.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I suspect you know exactly what I mean.’
‘I’d better hang up, or Dad will need a raise just to cover my phone bills. By the way, it’s your turn next time.’
Stuart pretended he hadn’t noticed how suddenly Tara had changed the subject.
‘It always seems strange to me,’ she continued, ‘that you’re still at work while I’m fast asleep.’
‘Well, I can think of one way of changing that,’ said Stuart.
When he opened the door, the alarm went off. A carriage clock in the outer office struck twice as he swept aside the bead curtain and stepped into the shop. He stared across at the stand in the window. The rifle was no longer in its place.
It took him several minutes to find it, hidden under the counter.
He checked each item, and noted that one cartridge was missing, placed the case under his arm and left as quickly as he had entered. Not that he had any anxiety about being caught: the Chief of Police had assured him that the break-in would not be reported for at least thirty minutes. He glanced at the carriage clock before closing the door behind him. It was twelve minutes past two.
The Chief of Police could hardly be blamed if his old friend didn’t have enough cash on him to buy the rifle. And in any case, he did so like being paid twice for the same piece of information. Especially when the currency was dollars.
She poured him a second cup of coffee.
‘Maggie, I’m considering resigning from the company and looking for a job that means I don’t have to travel so much.’ He glanced across the kitchen table and waited to see how his wife would react.
Maggie replaced the coffee pot on the warmer and took a sip from her own cup before she spoke. ‘Why now?’ she asked simply.
‘The Chairman has told me I’m to be taken off kidnap and ransom and replaced by a younger man. It’s company policy at my age.’
‘But there must be plenty of other jobs in the company for someone with your experience.’
‘The Chairman did come up with a suggestion,’ said Connor. ‘She offered me the chance to head up our field office in Cleveland.’
‘Cleveland?’ said Maggie in disbelief. She remained silent for some time, then said quietly, ‘Why is the Chairman suddenly so keen to see the back of you?’
‘Oh, it’s not that bad. After all, if I turn the offer down, I’m still eligible for a full retirement package,’ said Connor, making no attempt to answer her question. ‘In any case, Joan assures me there are several large insurance companies in Washington who would be only too happy to employ someone with my experience.’
‘But not the one you’re currently working for,’ said Maggie, still looking directly at her husband. Connor met her eyes, but couldn’t think of a convincing reply. There followed an even longer silence.
‘Don’t you think the time has come to tell me the whole truth,’ said Maggie. ‘Or am I simply expected to go on believing every word you say, like a dutiful wife?’
Connor lowered his head and remained silent.
‘You’ve never hidden the fact that “Maryland Insurance” is nothing more than a front for the CIA. And I’ve never pressed you on the subject. But lately even your well-disguised trips have left a little mud on your shoes.’
‘I’m not sure I understand,’ Connor said lamely.
‘When I picked up your suit from the dry cleaners, they told me they’d found this in the pocket.’ Maggie placed a tiny coin on the table. ‘I’m told it has no value outside Colombia.’
Connor stared at a ten-peso piece, that would cover a local call in Bogota.
‘Many wives would immediately jump to one conclusion, Connor Fitzgerald,’ Maggie continued. ‘But don’t forget, I’ve known you for over thirty years, and I’m well aware you’re not capable of that particular deception.’
‘I promise you, Maggie...’
‘I know, Connor. I’ve always accepted that there had to be a good reason why you haven’t been completely candid with me over the years.’ She leaned across, took her husband’s hand and said, ‘But if you’re now to be dumped on the scrapheap for no apparent reason, don’t you feel I have a right to be told exactly what you’ve been up to for the past twenty-eight years?’
Jackson asked the taxi driver to pull up outside the pawn shop and wait. He would only be a few minutes, he said, and then he wanted to be taken on to the airport.
As soon as he entered the shop, Escobar came scurrying through from the outer office. He looked agitated. When he saw who the customer was, he bowed his head and without a word pressed a key on the cash register and pulled open the drawer. He slowly extracted ten hundred-dollar bills and handed them across the counter.
‘I must apologise, sir,’ he said, looking up at the tall American, ‘but I fear the rifle was stolen at some time during the night.’
Jackson didn’t comment.
‘The funny thing about it,’ continued Escobar, ‘is that whoever stole it didn’t take any cash.’
Jackson still said nothing. Escobar couldn’t help thinking, after his customer had left the shop, that he hadn’t seemed all that surprised.
As the taxi headed towards the airport, Jackson placed a hand in his jacket pocket and removed the spent cartridge. He might not be able to prove who had pulled the trigger, but he was now in no doubt who had given the order to assassinate Ricardo Guzman.