Clint Faraday Mysteries collection A Muddled Murders Collector's Edition (39 page)

Clint nodded. “Where will Chino run to?”

Mano
shrugged and said maybe Chitre or Col
ó
n. He had family
in both places. Chitre. He was more Chinese than black. Not good
for Col
ó
n.

That told Clint what he wanted to know about
Chino. He was a black/Chinese mix who looked more Chinese. It was
worth a shot so he asked if Mano knew any other name than
Chino.

He shrugged again. It could be Sardina or
Salvador, but those were probably just names he used. Clint said he
figured the same way, making Mano think he knew Chino. Chino’s
sirename started with an “S” and had six or more letters in it.

They talked, then Mano said he knew he was a
dead man because he was now the link that had to be broken. What
did Clint know about a safe place? Clint made a short call and soon
said to go to Puerto Armuelles and talk with Paulo Lariez.

“
LARIEZ?!” he cried, then shrugged and looked at Clint like
he thought he was nuts. “But they’ll be ... I see. No one in his
right mind would go to Lariez so that’s where I’ll go where they
won’t even look. What’s the deal?”

“
I have
most of what I need. Naldo will spill. They’ll probably find Chino
before I do. If you knew where he’d go they’ll know where he’d go.
You’re the last link. If they can’t find you Gordo becomes very
important, wouldn’t you say?”

He started to shrug, then grinned. “You’re
pretty damned cool and damned smart! If they have Gordo hit they’ll
have to also hit Niko.”

“
All I’m
after is to get that kind of slime out of Panamá as fast as I can.
If it means using their methods on them I have no hesitation in
doing so. Maybe we can make them eliminate most of it themselves,
then I can go after the real big man. It still doesn’t make sense
if you look at the whole picture. It makes perfect sense one item
at the time.”

“
What
does that mean?”

Clint grinned. “You’d better get out of here
fast. They’ll be watching that car so it would be damned stupid for
you to go anywhere near it.

“
Do you
have enough clothes and such to go? You damned well can’t go back
to your apartment or house or whatever.”

“
I have
more than a thousand balboas in cash. I don’t need anything.
Nothing there is worth dying for.”

Clint nodded and noted a person he’d seen
before out on the sidewalk lounging against a newspaper rack. He
couldn’t see in because of the tinted glass so Clint had Mano go
through the kitchen and out the alleyway behind. A truck was there
delivering chicken. Clint put him inside and gave the driver
fifteen bucks to take his friend to the airport (where he was
headed next, anyway). Mano would walk from the airport to the bus
terminal and get the bus to Santiago, then from Santiago to David,
then to Puerto Armuelles. He’d get a haircut in Santiago and shave
part of his moustache. He’d lighten his coal black hair to a dark
brown.

Then Clint went back to have another coffee.
He strolled out after ten minutes to see the one lounging around
run to the door and inside – where people would say Mano had left
before Clint even ordered coffee. He went back out with some
friends who were there.

Clint made it a point to note who came and
went when he was in a place with any such situation. Three people
had left just after he came in. The watcher would have to walk past
and turn around to not make it obvious he was tailing. There was a
fifty-fifty chance he wasn’t close enough to be quite sure Mano
wasn’t one of the three.

Clint thought for a moment, sighed and called
the terminal to learn the bus to Chitre left in half an hour. He
went to the hotel and then to the terminal three minutes after the
bus left. He went to the David bus terminal and caught one to
Santiago. He could get a bus at Santiago for Chitre. That might be
tough on Mano if he was on that bus.

He wasn’t.

“
Clint?
Judi.” The phone buzzed just before he got to Chitre. He’d been on
buses for seven straight hours with only two breaks at Santiago and
David. “How are things? You haven’t called in days.”

“
I’m
running around the country trying to find who’s behind this stupid
mess. How are things in Bocas?”

“
Same as
always. Manny says to tell you he thinks you may be looking for a
man called Viktor Smednoff. That should clue you as to what you’re
getting into and why Paulo seems so anxious to stay distanced from
it.”

“
Smednoff? Never heard of him,” Clint said, thinking. This
did have the earmarks of the Russian mafia, as they were called in
Panamá.

“
That’s
the object. He’s supposed to be a representative for a big vodka
distributor here. Huge amounts of money move around, but we can’t
find more than a few minor shipments. He seems to be in a lot of
little businesses as a minor partner. Each of those twenty or more
partners put in nine thousand or so dollars and immediately become
independent distributors in various places. That’s not a lot, but
they then send him very large sums from the businesses. He seems to
be treasurer in all of them.”

“
Oh. What
are they laundering from?”

“
Manny
says they’re mostly into getting money out of Europe and Asia that
was paid for arms after the cold war. Thousands of large weapons
are unaccounted for. No nuclears, because that would get the
attention of too many people. They’re nuts, not stupid.”

“
Thanks,
Judi. I’ll have to be a bit more careful than I have been. As you
said, they’re nuts.”

They chatted for a few minutes, then Clint
grabbed an hour and a half of sleep until they came into Chitre at
ten after seven. He knew the crowd Chino would run with would be
around the Tiburon section – so wouldn’t bother looking there. The
section they would avoid would be the Zona Alta, the elite section.
He would go there and try to blend.

He found him an hour later in a restaurant
where he was trying to act like another one of the crowd and
failing miserably. He was edgy and jerky in his movements and
looking around at everyone who came in. He was at a table in a
corner. When a very fat man with a sexy bimbo came in he slid down
in his seat, peered past the menu at them, then sat up.

Clint watched him for a minute then went back
out and to the pension where he was staying. This was a wasted
trip. Chino’s type wouldn’t be trusted to know anything at all. He
was expecting Gordo to show up in person, something a Gordo
wouldn’t do. Period.

In the morning he headed back to David. Just
as they came into town he got another call from Judi who said that
there was something very strange going on around his house. Manny
had warned Vern that there may be something dangerous going down
and he could be misidentified by a hood. He said to have Vern go to
her place and he’d be there on the four o’clock flight from David.
Judi said he was staying on San Cristóbal at Dave’s little place
there to be out of sight.

Clint walked into La Iguana just after it
opened. Vern was to meet him there.

La Iguana is a surfer bar. Vern liked surfing
and water sports and hung around the place. He was quite popular.
The water off the deck was clear and deep. Some of the patrons swam
there when the mood struck them. Dave was there at happy hour when
he was in Bocas, though he didn’t fit the crowd well. He played the
guitar there sometimes when he had it with him.

“
Greetings!” Clint greeted. “Is Wanda with you?”

Vern laughed and said he’d spent one
afternoon with Wanda and, believe it or not, had one hell of a lot
of fun. Dave said he didn’t mean Frederico? He said he did.

They talked awhile and Dave pointed at a big
black man when he came in. That was the one hanging around Clint’s
place.

Clint went up, introduced himself and asked
if he’d found who he was looking for.

“
Daniel
Arauz,” he replied. He studied Clint a minute and said, “He’s not
here, is he.” It was a statement.

“
It
depends on who you’re looking for. Let’s see. Ras is dead. Chino’s
hiding. Mano skipped to Colombia. Niko and Gordo are in Panamá
City. Vern’s here. He doesn’t have anything to do with that
bunch.”

“
Chino’s
in Chitre. He could only tie Mano to anything so we don’t bother
with such as him. Mano can cause a lot of trouble.

“
Was that
you who grabbed Donaldo?”

“
I heard
about that. Hanrady. I think he doesn’t have a clue as to what he’s
gotten into.

“
He
doesn’t, you know.”

“
He drops
out of sight at odd times. We wonder what he’s up to. It seems
strange that he broke up the deal in Puerto Armuelles, then HAPPENS
to be where Naldo gets his head split open and just HAPPENS to know
Vito.

“
Vito is
a very large pain in the ass to us.”

“
I can
respect him for that!”

Rauz studied him for a few more seconds,
said, “Stay out of our way and we’ll stay out of yours.’

“
Far too
many people are doing that already. That’s what keeps you in
business.

“
Who are
you looking for?”

“
Someone
who does that. Someone with a big mouth and a small brain. Like
you.”

“
You’re
dangerously stupid or ... stupid as dirt!”

“
Well, at
least my I.Q. is as high as my shoe size while yours is about your
neck size.”

Rauz tensed, looked around, sneered and said
they could continue their little discussion later. In private.

“
If you
threaten me again I’ll kill you. That’s not a threat. It’s a
warning.” He turned his back and went back to the deck with Vern
and Dave. They decided to go to Bongos for a seafood dinner, then
to come back to La Iguana. Clint said he was going to meet Judi at
El Ultima Refugio for dinner and would see them later. He finished
his beer and the three headed to the left. Dave and Vern stopped at
Bongos, where Gisela waved at him. He continued on, Rauz coming
from behind and staying close to the far side of the street. When
he was around past the ferry dock where it wasn’t well-lighted and
no one was about, Rauz came silently toward him from the rear. He
apparently didn’t notice the light in back made a good shadow for
Clint to be prepared when he brought a knife from his belt and
reached for him.

Clint stopped, stepped toward him and brought
his elbow toward his face. Clint’s foot was behind him when he
tried to step back and he went down. Hard. He started to get up
when he got a shoe heel in the face. He groaned and Clint said next
time he should bring a few of his friends. Maybe three or four of
his type could take Clint, but there was no way one oversized toad
was going to even slow him down. He picked up the knife and said
he’d give it to the policia later. Rauz could claim it there.

Clint went on the Refugio for his dinner with
Judi and Manny while Rauz held his face and moaned that his nose
was broken. After dinner they went back to La Iguana, which was
packed. Clint went on down the street to the police station and
told Serg that Rauz had dropped it when he fell on his face.

Serg grinned. “His face a mess?”

“
Well, it
always was. It’s a little messier now. He threatened me, Serg, then
tried to stick me down by the notary’s office. I kicked his nose
into his face and told him that was the last chance to get away
easy.”

Serg grinned again and made out a slip saying
that Rauz lost his knife while trying to rob or mug a citizen.
Clint went back to La Iguana. It was a fun night. Bastimentos Joe
came in with a guitar and played some songs, then Dave played a
couple. Clint got a little drunk. Judi said it’s a good thing he’s
a happy drunk with all that was going on!

Clint went out on his deck, dressed as usual
in his house in the morning. Nude. He swam off the deck for a few
minutes to loosen up, then made his coffee and a two-egg omelet.
Waved to Judi Lum on her deck watering and caring for her native
orchid collection, then dressed and turned on his comp. There was
another e-mail from Batty, asking if he could please come to Puerto
Armuelles to try to find out who was doing strange things to him
now. He sighed and called Batty. Yvon answered and passed him to
Batty, who said he was in his office all night because of the
people hanging around his place. Something was happening and he
didn’t have a clue as to what and why.

“
Maybe
it’s just someone who figured out your scam and wants to cut your
throat?”

There was a silence for a minute, then Batty
said, “Okay. So we were running a scam any idiot should be able to
see through. Every one of them knew they were getting into
something very shady and more than a little dishonest. You could
figure that part.”

“
Not
Vern, but I won’t argue the point. He came out ‘way ahead, you and
Yvon came out ahead. Abel and Downy didn’t lose anything they
couldn’t afford. Sally was stupid, but didn’t deserve dying. Arnold
maybe did. Monica definitely did. Now there are a few thugs in
Panamá City dead. I don’t waste sympathy on the type.

“
I only
mention this because you said an idiot could see through your
little scam – then you’re stupid enough to deal with that kind of
people.

“
Who’s
the head man? It’s not Gordo or Niko.”

“
I don’t
know. I thought it was Gordo. Now he’s scared to death of someone.
If I knew who I could protect myself. I don’t.”