Dreams Die First (32 page)

“You asked what I was doing.”

“I think we ought to meet.”

“Okay. How about breakfast?”

“Tonight.” His voice was flat. “I think I’ve come up with an answer to our problem. How long will it take you to get straight?”

“Half an hour all right?”

“Meet me in my room.”

I put down the phone, climbed out of the tub and headed for the shower stall. “Dinner might be a little late,” I told Eileen. “I’ve got to go up to the hotel and see Lonergan.” Then I went into the shower and turned on the cold water full blast.

***

“Come, have a drink,” he said as he let me in. “I just fixed myself a martini.”

I followed him to the bar and climbed up on a stool while he poured a scotch on the rocks for me. I tasted the whiskey. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” He came right to the point. “Julio agreed to move his operation away from here.”

“What made him agree to that?”

“Eighty-three relatives who are either on the payroll or working for the hotel in other ways.”

“That’s good enough reason,” I said thoughtfully. I took another sip of the drink. “What makes you so sure that he’ll do what he promised?”

“He gave me his word,” he answered coldly.

That was the end of it. Final. Period. Lonergan’s face was impassive. Even if I were Julio, I would think a long time before I crossed him.

“I’m still not sure. I don’t think we’re going to get gambling down here. At least not in the foreseeable future. And without gambling, the costs are too high.”

“I’ve taken care of that, too,” Lonergan said.

“You’ve been busy.”

He didn’t smile. “They’ll take a lease with a purchase option.”

“That’s interesting. How much?”

“Two hundred fifty thousand a year plus twenty percent of the operating profit from the hotel and fifty percent of the casino profits if we get gambling. The term of the lease is five years. You can buy the hotel at any time during the lease period for ten million dollars cash. The only thing you have to guarantee is to spend one million dollars for changes and improvements, which you would have to do anyway.”

I did some quick mental arithmetic. Rent, staff, overhead and amortization of the improvements added up to a base cost of about eight hundred thousand a year.

He was right with me. “You could break even at about a thirty-five or forty percent occupancy.”

“It’s still a big nut.”

“That’s right.”

“I’ll have to think about it. I wonder what made them go for a deal like this?”

“They had an attack of realism. And no place else to go.”

I stabbed. “What about Señor Carillo?”

He shot me a sharp look. “You know about him?”

“Only what I read in the newspapers.”

“We saw him this afternoon. He guaranteed government approval of the deal.”

“He’s got that much power?”

“He owns practically everything in the state.”

“Where are the Indians?” I asked.

Lonergan was puzzled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s nothing.” I laughed. “When do they expect an answer?”

“As soon as possible.”

“Let me sleep on it. I’ll have an answer for them before I get on the plane tomorrow.”

“Okay.” He took another sip of the martini.

“One thing you haven’t told me, Uncle John.”

“What’s that?”

“How do you feel about it? Do you think it’s a good deal?”

“I think it’s as good a deal as you can get. But you’re the one that has to decide whether you want to take the shot or not. It’s your money.”

“Your money, too. You’re a partner.”

“I haven’t done too badly going along with you so far. Whatever you decide now is all right with me.” He walked me to the door. “Either way I haven’t lost anything.”

“What do you mean?”

A smile came to his lips. “I managed to take a walk barefoot in the surf.”

***

Eileen had chosen the black dress and her eyes were shining as she let me in. I glanced over at the cocktail table. The jar and the tiny spoons lay on a small silver tray.

“That’s no fair,” I said. “You got a head start.”

“I was going down. I needed a hype. What happened with Uncle John?”

I went for a spoon in each nostril before I answered. I could feel the energy expanding inside me. “I’ve got a deal if I want it.”

“Going to take it?”

“I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

She came toward me, her face serious. “Don’t do it. I have bad vibes about the whole thing.”

“You may be right. But if it works, it could mean a lot of money.”

“Do you need the money, Gareth?”

“Not the money. But the game is fun.”

“It won’t be fun if you lose.”

“I can afford it.”

Her eyes grew dark. “Maybe, if all you lose is what this costs you. But that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head as if to clear it. “Maybe I’m just on a down trip.” She picked up the jar and a spoon and snorted two big ones. Afterward she took a deep breath and her eyes grew even brighter. “That’s better.”

I smiled. “Everything goes better with coke.”

The butler came in with hors d’oeuvres, tiny enchiladas, delicately thin tortillas rolled around chili and beef, crackers and avocado dip. He fixed a scotch on the rocks for me and a margarita for Eileen. He gestured toward the dining table, seeking our approval.

The table was beautifully set for three with candles, linen, crystal glasses and Dom Pérignon in the wine bucket. I called on my limited Spanish. “
Muy hermosa.
”

He smiled, bowing, a grin of pleasure on his face. “
Muchas gracias, señor.
”

There was a knock at the door and he went to answer it. Marissa was wearing the white gown she had worn the first night.

“You look absolutely beautiful,” Eileen said.

Marissa smiled with pleasure. “And so do you,” she said.

Without asking, the butler brought her a margarita.

“Wait a minute,” I said, picking up the coke. “We’re two spoons up on you.”

Marissa looked at us doubtfully. “I don’t know. After last night—”

I laughed. “It was the mixture that got to you. I won’t let that happen tonight.”

“Okay.” She took two good hits.

I held up my glass. “To happiness.”

We drank.

“There’s one thing missing,” Eileen said. “If you take over this place, I’m going to insist that there be music in every room.”

“There is music,” Marissa said. “I guess I forgot to show you.” She walked over to the bar and pressed a button on the wall beside it. Mexican music poured into the room. “We also have American music,” she added, pressing the button again. It was Frank Sinatra singing “Night and Day.”

“I like that,” I said. “Dance?”

“Which one of us?” Marissa asked.

“Silly questions get silly answers,” I said, holding my arms wide. “Both of you, of course.”

They moved close to me and I put an arm around each of them. Eileen laid her head on my left shoulder; Marissa rested her face against my right check. Their perfumes intermingled. We moved slowly; our bodies pressed closer and closer together. It was beautiful.

And so was dinner. We all fell in love.

***

The golden light from the fireplace played on their naked bodies as they lay sleeping, entwined in each other’s arms, on the zebra rug. I sat on the floor, leaned back against the couch and swirled the cognac in the crystal snifter. I sipped it slowly, savoring its tart warmth.

They were double Goyas, two Naked Majas. The fire turned Eileen’s pale flesh to gold and Marissa’s already tanned body to copper. Marissa’s nipples were like purple grapes compared to Eileen’s, which were more cherry pink. They slept facing each other, each had an arm under the other’s shoulder and one hand cupping and shielding the other’s sex.

At first, Marissa had been shy, but when she felt the warmth and love and heightened sexuality brought on by the combination of music, drink, dancing and dope, she opened like a flower. And in the end she was the most sensual of all of us, demanding, taking, tasting and loving until we were drained and exhausted.

Now they were asleep and I was wide-awake. Coke did it every time. I watched them for a moment more, then got to my feet. I slipped into my slacks and went into the jasmine-filled night air.

There were still screams and shouts of laughter coming from Bobby’s cottage. They had been going strong all night, although after a while we hadn’t heard them.

Holding the drink in my hand, I padded down the walk to the other cottage. I opened the door and stepped into the middle of an argument.

Samantha was staring at Bobby and Dieter, her naked breasts heaving with anger. “It’s not fair!” she yelled. “You fags always stick together.” She turned and saw me. “They screwed us!” she shouted. “They had it rigged so that Danny would win.”

“I could have told you that.” I smiled. “He’s president of the Los Angeles chapter of the FFA.”

“I wouldn’t give a damn if he were the president of the DAR!” she snapped.

“Okay,” I said. “What was unfair?”

“All of us girls used KY jelly. He used Crisco.”

“I don’t see what’s wrong with that.”

“Of course it’s wrong,” she shouted. “Everybody knows that Crisco is shortening!”

I broke up. I hadn’t known that Samantha had that kind of humor. When I caught my breath, I said, “Okay, just so that you girls have no beefs, I’ll give you each the two hundred you put into the pot. But next time make sure you spell out the rules first.”

She seemed satisfied. “Okay, but right now I want to get laid and there are no men around here.”

I gestured toward King Dong, who was stretched out on the floor, with his head in one of the girls’ laps. “What about him?”

“He’s all fucked out,” she said in a disgusted tone. “It took us over an hour to get him up for the last one.”

“Don’t look at me,” I said quickly and ducked out the door. I went back to my cottage. My two Naked Majas were sleeping exactly as I had left them. I went into the bedroom, pulled a blanket from the bed and covered them. They didn’t stir. I had just started for the bedroom when there was a heavy knock at the door. Angrily I pulled it open.

Denise’s face was scratched and swollen and her khaki shirt and pants were torn. She took a stumbling step toward me, her eyes dilated with terror. I caught her before she fell.

“Take me home, Gareth, please take me home,” she said in a hoarse, frightened voice. “They’re after me. Don’t let them take me back. I want to go home!”

CHAPTER 45

I carried her into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. Her eyes were tightly closed and she was shivering with fear. I threw a blanket over her and knelt beside the bed. Her lips were moving in a hoarse whisper. “No, please…. I don’t want to go back into transit…. No more…. I did see him. I swear it. I wasn’t hallucinating…. Please. No.”

Eileen’s voice came from the doorway behind me. “What is it?”

“Denise. She’s hurt. See if you can find a doctor.”

Marissa appeared behind Eileen’s shoulder. “I’ll call,” she said.

Eileen put on a shirt and jeans and came over to look at Denise. “My God!” she exclaimed. “What happened to her?”

“I don’t know. Get a towel and some warm water. See if you can clean up some of those scratches.”

“Gareth.” Denise reached up for me.

I sat on the side of the bed and took her hand.

She held it tightly. “They said you weren’t real. That I was hallucinating.”

“I’m real,” I said. “Who are ‘they’?”

“Brother Jonathan. The others. He was angry. I broke the rule against connections. He made me go into transit. I didn’t want to go. But he made me. The others helped him. They dragged me into the laboratory.”

She was growing hysterical again. “It’s all right now,” I said soothingly. “You’re safe now. You’re here with me.”

Her fingers tightened around my hand. “I’m not hallucinating, am I, Gareth?”

“No. You told me not to tell him I saw you. How did he find out?”

“I told him. We must tell the truth. Always. That’s the first rule. Then he got angry and said that I was lying. That you weren’t anywhere near here and that I was hallucinating.” She began to shiver again. “You won’t let them take me back, will you?”

“I won’t. You’ll stay with me. And come home with me.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Eileen came with a towel and a basin of hot water. She put it down and began to clean Denise’s face.

“Eileen?” Denise’s voice was questioning.

“Yes, dear.”

“Is it really you?”

“Yes, dear.”

She reached up and touched Eileen’s cheek. “I’ve always loved you. You know that?”

Eileen’s voice was as gentle as her touch. “I know that. And we love you.”

“I was frightened,” she whispered. “I was running in the forest all night. And there were animals.”

“You’re safe now. Don’t think about it.”

Denise suddenly tensed. “Don’t let them take me back! Please.”

Eileen held her close. “We won’t, baby. I promise you we won’t.”

Marissa came into the doorway. “The doctor will be here in a few minutes.”

“Good,” I said.

“I have extra shirts and jeans in the closet,” Eileen called over her shoulder.

Marissa dressed, then joined us around the bed. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Who’s that?” Denise asked in a frightened voice.

“Marissa,” I said. “She’s our friend.”

“Let me touch her,” Denise said, reaching out a hand.

Marissa took it and Denise held it for a long moment, then let it go with a gentle sigh. “She is a good person,” Denise whispered. “Her aura is filled with love.”

“Help me undress her,” Eileen said to Marissa.

They bent over Denise, carefully removed the torn shirt and slacks and began to wash her scratch-covered body.

“The guards!” Denise exclaimed suddenly. “They told Brother Jonathan about us. They saw us running from the village.”

“Why would they do that? They have nothing to do with the Retreat.”

“They do!” Denise became vehement. “Every day they come in a truck and take about twenty people to work on Carillo’s property.”