Life Blood ---XVIII---Page No--59

The phone call was feeling stranger and stranger. He was
sending me to see something, probably in hopes it would make
me go away. It was actually more unnerving than if he'd done
nothing at all.

"Well, in any case, I hope you have a good visit," he declared
diplomatically. Another pause. "Planning to be here long?"
        "I'm not sure yet." Why did he want to know that?
        "I see. Whatever happens, I hope you find what you're looking
 for. Best of luck."

He hung up, leaving me with the feeling he already knew the
answer to every question he'd asked. The guys at the airport, and
now the embassy—I was the best-known tourist in the country.

Okay, maybe I should just play along and see what happens. In any case, I'd just lost my appetite for fried eggs with hot sauce, but I had a definite interest in the phone book.

And there they were. Ninos del Mundo. Complete with an address, way out the Boulevar R. Aguilar Batres.
        Well, why not see where it leads you? Sarah's card said the
place was in the Peten, but who knows?

I got up off the bed and went into the bathroom for a shampoo and shower. Despite the fact that Barry Morton wanted me to see this Ninos del Mundo place, whatever it was, I didn't want to show up looking and smelling like some bedraggled tourist. I'd wear my tailored blue suit, which, along with the dark blue heels, ought to make me look adequately businesslike.

The shower was wonderful, purging away the soot of the park, and I was wrapping my hair in a large beige towel when the phone jangled again. I tucked in the edge to secure it and walked over. Maybe it was Lou ringing back.

No such luck. The caller was none other than my brand-new partner Alan Dupre. I was not thrilled to hear his voice. Was he about to get cold feet and back out?

"Morgan, listen," he said, not wasting time on niceties,

"there's been a small change of plans. I've—"

"Alan, don't do this to me." You shit. "You agreed— "

"No, why I'm calling is, we've got to go ahead and go up

today, storm or no, God help us. You happy now?"

What? After that neurotic song-and-dance he'd just given me
in the park? I should have been overjoyed, but something about
the whole thing immediately felt synthetic. I paused a long
moment, trying to think the situation through. What was going on?
        The answer to that was clear as day. I was being set up.
Somebody wanted me out of town, and they'd just found a way.
        Or was I being paranoid again? Had the weather cleared? I
reached over and pushed aside a curtain. Nope, it looked as
threatening as ever.

No question. This was definitely a setup.

On the other hand why not use whoever had put him up to
this? This told me for sure I was on the trail of Sarah, and the
sooner I got going, the better. Aside from calling New York and
then checking out the local Ninos del Mundo that Barry Morton
wanted me to see so badly, I had no other pressing plans. . .

"Alan, I thought you declared no 'effing' way were you going
to go today," I said testing him. "Why the sudden revision in
scheduling?"

"Yeah, well, something heavy's come up for tomorrow. I'm

afraid it's gotta be now or forget it for at least a week."

Unrefined bullshit. But somebody knew how badly I wanted to
go.

"Look, there's something I need to check out first. I just

learned about a place here in town I want to at least see. It's also called Ninos del Mundo."

"No shit." He paused. "Okay, we'll talk about it. Get the

address and maybe we can cruise by if there's time. Thing is, we don't have all that much leeway here."

"One last question." I thought I'd give him a final shot at the

truth. "Just tell me honestly why it has to be today. The real story."
        "Like I said everything's changed." He wasn't budging. "So if
we're doing this, I've got to pick you up now and get us on our
merry way."

He was too cheerful by half, which definitely told me he was
lying.

"All right, but I really need to make at least one phone call
first." I wanted Steve to know where I was. "And if I walk out of
here with a bag, I've got to let the desk know I'm not skipping on
the bill."

"Forget the phone call. No time. Do it after we get back. Just be out front in exactly nineteen minutes. This is not a dry run. The train is leaving. I'm outta here now."

There was a click and he was gone.

I sat there a moment staring at the floor. What was I getting
into?

Well, there's one way to find out. Play their game and beat
them. There's no better way to get inside what's going on.
        The first thing I did was call Steve's hotel in Belize City. Of
course he wasn't there, but I left a long message to the effect that
I was taking a "sightseeing" trip up to the Peten with Alan Dupre
today because of unforeseen new circumstances. The reasons
were complicated, but I'd watch out for myself and therefore he
shouldn't worry.

That out of the way, I looked around the room. It was a

disaster, but I quickly began cramming things into the small

folding backpack I always took on trips. Then I rang the kitchen
and told them to make up a quadruple egg sandwich (quatro
huevos, por favor) to go, along with a large bottle of distilled
water.

By the time I got to the reception desk and explained I wasn't actually checking out for good, Alan Dupre was already waiting outside in his battered green Jeep, cleaning his scratchy shades and leaning on the horn.