Life Blood ---XVI---Page No--52

God I loved this man. But the last thing on my mind at that moment was food.

"Honey, I don't know if I'm really—"

"Hey, don't wimp out on me. If we're going to do this place, at least we can do it in style. Besides, you can't live on smog alone. You gotta eat."

He had a point. Starving myself wasn't going to help find

Sarah any sooner. And there were details I wanted to tell him that I didn't want to broadcast in the room. What if Colonel Ramos had long ears to match his long arm?

"Come on," he pressed. "Just put on the slinkiest thing

you've got and get ready to go native. It'll help you put this part of the world into perspective."

Alas, I had nothing particularly "slinky," though fortunately I'd packed a silk blouse I could loosen and tie with a scarf around the waist. Don't laugh, it worked. I even brushed on some serious eye shadow, which normally I don't bother with much.

I tried not to let him know how concerned I was as we walked down the driveway of the hotel and hailed a cab, while I furtively searched the shadows. Seeing the streets after dark made me sad all over again for Sarah. I still wanted to see and feel
Guatemala the way she had, but when I got close to the realities of the place, it made me uneasy.

It turned out the marvel he'd discovered was called Siriaco's,
a wonderful old place with a patio and garden in back—both roofed
by glittering tropical stars—which were down a stone pathway from
the main dining room and bar. It appeared to be where a lot of
VIPs, the ruling oligarchy, dined. It was romantic and perfect.
        When we arrived, his special anniversary surprise was
already being laid out on a low stone table, attended by Mayan
women all in traditional dress: the colorful huipil blouses of their
villages, red and blue skirts, immense jade earrings.
        "They've reconstructed a kingly feast from old documents," he
explained, beaming at my amazement. "Cuisine of the ancient
rain forest. We're going to have a banquet of authentic
guatemalteco chow from eons ago."

And the meal was definitely fit for royalty. Soon we were

working our way through a long-forgotten medley of piquant

flavors that swept through my senses as though I were in another
world. There was pit-roasted deer, steamed fish, baked wild
turkey. One calabash bowl set forth coriander-flavored kidney
beans; another had half a dozen varieties of green legumes all in

a rich turtle broth; a third offered vanilla-seasoned sweet

potatoes; others had various forest tubers steamed with chiles.

We even had a delicious honey wine, like heavenly nectar, served
in red clay bowls, that made me want to have sex right on the
table. There with Steve, the unexpected juxtaposition of spices
and flavors made every bite, every aroma, a new sensual
experience. (Let me say right here he's a cooking fanatic,
whereas I've been known to burn water. I think it's the new
division of labor in post-feminist America.) Finally the Mayan
waitresses brought out cups of a chocolate dessert drink from
ancient times, cocoa beans roasted, ground, and boiled with
sugarcane. The whole event was pure heaven.
        Except for the occasional unwanted intrusions. Various dark-
eyed low-cut Ladino divorcees, about half a dozen in all, hanging
out at the bar with heavy perfume and too much jewelry, kept
coming over purportedly to marvel over our private feast (or was it
Steve's big brown eyes). He returned their attentions with his
polite and perfect Spanish, but I despised them. In any case, they
were shameless. Not remembering quite enough Espanol,
however, the best I could do was just to put my hand on his and
give them the evil eye. It seemed to work, though what I really
wanted to do was hold up a cross the way you do to ward off
vampires. . .

"Hey, check out Orion," he said finally leaning back, an easy,
delicious finger aimed at that sprawling constellation. I looked up
at the canopy of stars, and sure enough, the hunter and his sword
dominated the starry sky above like a stalwart centurion, guarding
us. "I always know I'm in the tropics when it's right overhead."

"Honey, this has been wonderful," I declared. "Thank you so much." I moved around and kissed him. "It's exactly the attitude adjustment I needed."

"Well"—he smiled back—"now I guess we've got some

organizing to do. So tell me everything you left out back there at the hotel. I know you were holding off."

I was feeling increasingly hyper, probably from the high-

octane chocolate, but I proceeded to recount all my findings about
Alex Goddard and Quetzal Manor. Then I moved on to Colonel
Ramos and how he'd threatened Carly and me about my film.
Finally, I told him my deep belief that Colonel Ramos and a
couple of his goons were obviously the ones who'd roughed up
Lou and taken Sarah.