Read Online The Rodriguez Affair (1970) by James Pattinson - Free Book Online

Lindsay was a surprise, something he had not bargained for. And yet he might have guessed there would be a woman involved, knowing Harry Banner. The question was, just how did she fit in?
    It was warm and close in the room. It had the feel of a room that was not much used. Cade wondered where Gomara was.
    “When does he want me to join him in London?” the girl asked.
    “Not yet,” Cade said. “It’s not all straightened out yet. Give it time.”
    She looked disappointed; the corners of her mouth drooped. “I don’t see what there is to straighten out. You said there’d been no trouble. My God, I wish he’d hurry. I’m sick of this place. Might as well be buried alive.”
    “Why did you come here?”
    She shot him a glance. “Are you kidding? What would a girl like me go anywhere with a guy like Carlos for if it wasn’t the money? He has to have a woman around. I guess he always did. Maybe it’d have been better for him if he hadn’t.”
    “I’d like to talk to him,” Cade said.
    “I don’t see what you want to talk to him about.”
    “Call it a whim.”
    “Funny kind of a whim.” She sounded faintly suspicious. “Anyway, he won’t see you. He’s not pleased, you know.”
    “No?”
    “Well, it’s not surprising, is it? You could hardly expect him to be shouting for joy. Besides, I think he’s afraid Harry may not stick to his side of the bargain.”
    “He’s got nothing to fear from Harry.”
    “That’s what I tell him, but he doesn’t believe it. He doesn’t trust anyone.”
    “Not even you?”
    She laughed. “Carlos is not a fool. Know what he once told me? Loyalty is measured in dollars. He could be right at that.”
    “It’s cynical philosophy‚” Cade said. “Are you sure you couldn’t persuade him to see me?”
    “You’re really set on it, aren’t you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well,” she said doubtfully, “I can try. But it won’t be any use today; he’ll have to be worked round to the idea gradually. Can you come back tomorrow?”
    “I’ll do that.”
    “Am I to tell him you know Harry?”
    Cade thought that one over before answering. Then he said : “No, better not.”
    “I think you’re right,” Delia said.” Tell him that and he’d fly through the roof.” She gave him a long, cool stare, faintly puzzled, it seemed. “I don’t altogether get you, Mr. Cade. What’s in this for you? What are you getting out of it?”
    “Just call it a kick,” Cade said. “Yes, just call it that.”
    “Where are you staying?”
    “At the Phoenix in San Borja.”
    “Harry stayed there for a while.”
    “Yes, I know,” Cade said. He wondered whether she knew about the other two men, about Manuel Lopez and Luis Guzman. “Then he came to work here. Is that right?”
    “I imagine he told you.”
    “He didn’t tell me how he got the job.”
    She smiled. “Harry’s a very persuasive man. He talked Carlos into it.”
    He had talked her into something too, and Cade would have liked to know just what. But perhaps it had not needed much talking in her case.
    “What exactly did he do?”
    “Didn’t he tell you?”
    “He told me he was a kind of man about the place. Maybe a handyman.”
    She gave a laugh. “That could describe it. Handy with a gun maybe. He was Carlos’s bodyguard.”
    “I see.” And yet he did not see, not with complete clarity. He would have liked to ask more questions but decided that it might not be advisable to do so. Better not to let the girl know just how much in the dark he was. Perhaps there would be a bit more light when he had seen Gomara. If he saw Gomara.
    “How did you get out here?” Delia asked. “You didn’t walk from San Borja, did you?”
    “Not all the way. A man named Earl Johnson gave me a lift in his jeep.” He was about to add that Johnson was prospecting for oil, then remembered that Johnson had asked him to keep that business under his hat. He need not have worried.
    “Oh, that oil man,” Delia said. “He’s been