“Frances, please. How these people came here is not important…. “
“Oh, isn’t it? Not to you, perhaps, but I’m afraid that I’m used to a little more in the way of privacy — or politeness.”
She stopped then, realizing that these strangers were completely unconcerned with her feelings; the girl scarcely noticing her. Frances stalked across the room and took out her temper on the curtains, throwing them wide, then looking out at the lashing rain, tapping her fingers angrily on the glass.
“All right, Diaz. What are you doing here and who are these people?” Hank spoke in a low voice, controlling his anger.
“These are my Uruguayan associates…. “
“Tupamaros?” Hank said.
“Yes,” Josep said, crossing the room and picking up the phone. “May I use your telephone?” He was dialling well before he asked; Hank remained silent. Josep spoke a few words in quick Spanish and hung the phone up again. “I am glad we all have the chance to meet at last. And exchange information. You have something to tell us?”
“That depends what you know already. Do you have a transcript of the material delivered in Hawaii?”
“I had one from your people,” Josep said. “I passed a copy on.”
“Then you know almost all that we do. These tapes since then go over the old ground with nothing really new.”
“All right, then I have information for you. The meeting will be aboard this ship. The diamonds will change hands here — and the principals involved will be General Stroessner and Admiral Marquez.”
“The national leaders themselves?”
“Exactly. This provides a rich opportunity for us, as you might imagine…. “
He was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Let them in,” Josep ordered. “Those are my associates.”
Frances was furious — but silent. Hank unlocked and opened the door and four men slipped in. They appeared to be cultivated and well-dressed Latins. But with the same grim hardness about them that Josep had.
“These people will be staying in this cabin,” Josep said. “They have come aboard the ship illegally and have no quarters of their own.”
“That tears it,” Frances said, stalking across the room and standing before the arrogant Tupamaro. “For all of the brass-bound nerve you take the prize. So take your friends out of here and…. “
Concepcion stepped close and seized Frances by the shoulders, spinning her about and slapping her viciously across the face. Frances moaned with pain and Hank jumped forward, this tiny sound driving all reason from his brain. He seized Concepcion and hurled her to the floor, clenched and raised his fist.
“Enough,” Josep said, seizing Hank’s arm to pull him away. Still possessed by anger Hank spun about and drove his fist hard against the man’s jaw.
Josep fell and rolled and, like a cat, was on his feet in an instant. With a long knife in his hand thrust out before him. His face filled with cold fury; no one struck him and lived. Hank saw this, but would not retreat. He crouched, hands extended and ready, his only chance would be to grab the knife arm, Josep tensed to leap — when Leandro Diaz’s voice called out sharply.
“This is a.45 calibre Webley I am holding,” he said, moving the barrel of the large revolver back and forth to cover them all. “You will put that knife away, Josep. The violence among us will end here. You will put that knife away, Josep. The violence among us will end here. You will tell that little bitch with you that I will kill her, instantly, if she as much as touches Mrs. Greenstein again. You all understand this language, don’t you? Or should I shoot one of you just to make the point clearer? We must work together on this thing, without internal wrangling. Agree now — or get out of here.”
“Agreed,” Josep said in a toneless voice, folding the large clasp knife and putting it away. His hand lashed out, hitting Concepcion so hard that she gasped and fell to the floor. “There. All even now, Mrs. Greenstein. You have had your revenge. Now we will stop these stupid games and go to work. We need each other. We don’t have to like each other. But we will work together for our common goal.”
Leandro looked at Josep, at the other Tupamaros, and knew that he had to make his mind up now. Was Josep telling the truth? Probably. He was correct when he said they needed each other. The tape-recorded information added to what his Paraguayan informants passed on to him, had made this entire operation possible. They all knew that. And the Tupamaros had been brought in as a heavy squad, a job they knew how to do and could do well. For the time being they would all work together for their mutual benefit. But afterward — when the others were no longer needed — what would the Tupamaros do then? That was obvious too; they would do just what they wanted to do, irrespective of anyone else’s needs or desires. So be it. That particular bridge would have to be crossed when they came to it. For now, they would act in alliance.
“All right then. We get on with the job,” he said, putting the revolver back into his belt. He did it calmly and surely — but it was the same calm as that of an animal trainer entering a cage of tigers. If he showed fear he would be ripped to shreds.
Frances went numb with something more than shock. She was aware of Hank’s arm around her as he helped her to a chair. She appreciated it and loved him, was immensely glad that he was there. But his presence could not alter the sudden awareness that the world, as she had always known it, was no longer there. She was now living in another and more terrible reality where none of her old values appeared to apply. A world she had read about in the newspapers yet really, truthfully had never thought existed, or rather its existence, for her, was on a par with the reality of the latest novel. Imaginary people, far away, doing imaginary things. As she dropped into the chair, she realized that she had had her first lesson in living in this new world. Keep her mouth shut and forget the social order of things she had always lived in and believed in. She found that she wasn’t humiliated by the discovery, quite the opposite. It was a lesson in survival that she had learned. And she wanted to survive.
Hank had learned the lesson too. But as he leaned on the side of the chair, his arm around Frances, he worked very hard to keep his expression blank and set. Because he was filled with a burning fury that had no outlet. Not yet. So he did not wish anyone here to know his feelings. They would, he promised himself that, they would one day. He knew a good deal more about this other world than Frances did, which was one of the reasons he had been so loathe to expose her to it. He knew that some little bit of happiness had died inside of her, died forever, and he detested these people for doing that to her. Nothing could be done about it at the present time.
He would help them in their plans to shake down their vicious little dictators. He would do this in order to assure that the Nazi war criminals were brought to justice. But when that part of the job was done there would be a personal sorting out. He had no idea yet what form it would take. But it would happen, yes, it would, and he was looking forward to that time with immense pleasure.
The atmosphere was still tense, taut, and no one seemed willing to break the silence. The sudden knocking on the door startled them all since it was a new factor, an outside one that none of them were expecting. But the Tupamaros were survivors of countless sudden interruptions, and moved together without a word, crossing silently to the end of the room where they would be unseen when the door opened. After a moment’s hesitation, Leandro joined them. Josep silently waved Hank forward.
“See what it is,” he whispered. “Get rid of them.” He stood behind the door and put his foot just a few inches from it, so it could be opened no wider than a crack.
Hank unlocked the door and looked out.