Maria finished the paperwork for her new passport in less than twenty minutes. She thanked Giuseppe for his time before Payne and Jones asked him for a huge favour. They were looking for a place to store Hamilton’s Hummer and its delicate cargo, and asked if the consulate had a warehouse they could use. As luck would have it, the consulate included a private garage attached to the back of the building. Not only would it keep the vehicle off the street, the garage was technically Italian soil, which meant they didn’t have to worry about Mexican authorities catching them with Mayan artefacts or a crate full of rifles and explosives.
Payne drove the vehicle around the back, parked it in Giuseppe’s personal spot, then grabbed everything they needed for a night at the Fiesta Americana. Maria still wasn’t thrilled about putting herself in danger in order to flush out the men who had trashed her room, but Payne and Jones were so confident of their decision that she decided to go along without complaint.
Jones, who had started his day in Pittsburgh, showered as soon as they reached the suite. When he emerged, he felt like a brand-new person. Dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, he raided the minibar for caffeine and candy, even though they still had plenty of snacks left over from lunch. He had spent the whole day looking for Terrence Hamilton. He figured the least Hamilton could do was buy him a Coke and some Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
That’s if the guy was still alive.
Meanwhile, Payne took his turn in the guest bathroom. As a hotel aficionado, he paid close attention to the small details in the suite: the marble floor, the jetted tubs, the Italian towels and bathrobes. All the little things that made a guest feel like royalty. Some people were surprised that he cared about such comforts, especially those who knew about his military career. But he told them it was because of his military career that he cared about such things. After years of sleeping in the desert and the jungle, he vowed to see the world from a different perspective on his next go round. It was one of the few guilty pleasures he had.
Like many people, Payne did some of his best thinking in the shower. It was his time to block out the world. Time he could spend alone with his thoughts. He ran through the last twenty-four hours in his mind, searching for irregularities. Years of experience had taught him the value of this. Little was gained by focusing on the norm. It was the anomalies – the things that went against the grain – that tended to define a situation.
Unfortunately, there were so many irregularities with Hamilton’s disappearance that Payne didn’t know where to begin. According to Petr Ulster, Hamilton was a thrifty academic who didn’t have enough money to pay for research assistants, let alone a corner suite at a five-star resort. Yet he had paid for Maria’s first-class airfare from Rome and rented her a suite for the entire weekend. Why would he do that? Was it, as Maria speculated, an enticement for her to make the journey? And even if it was, why in the world did he choose her for the job? Not even Maria could explain that.
The oddities didn’t end there. Hamilton had a trunk full of artefacts and a crate filled with weapons, even though both were out of character for him. These things reeked of desperation, but desperation related to what? Did he borrow money from the wrong people? Or was this merely a precaution because of his expected windfall? He had told Maria that they were close to finding something that would blow her mind. Maybe the weapons were nothing more than insurance?
For Payne, it was tough to get a handle on things because he’d never met the man. He had never looked him in the eye or had a conversation with him. Other than a few photos from the Internet, his only experience of Hamilton was via the hotel’s security feed – which had been partially erased by a top-notch hacker. That was another thing that didn’t make much sense. Why take the time to do that? Payne was familiar with the abduction racket in Latin America. Several of his military buddies had left the service to work as independent contractors in the kidnap and ransom (K&R) industry, and a few of them worked in Mexico. He knew kidnappings were so common in certain parts of the world that corporations paid big bucks for K&R insurance (policies that would reimburse them for money lost on ransom payments). Yet in all the articles he had read, he couldn’t recall anything about high-end hackers covering up an abduction. Then again, maybe that was because hackers covered up the cover-up.
Payne put on a golf shirt and shorts, then headed into the living room, where he fully expected to find Jones and Maria flirting, fighting or both. But neither of them was there. Instead, Maria was taking a much-needed nap in the bedroom and Jones was admiring the ocean view from their private terrace. Payne grabbed a bottle of water, then joined him outside.
‘Nice view,’ he said as he pushed a teak chair against the patio wall. From there, he could see the Caribbean and the interior of the suite. ‘But not as nice as Pittsburgh.’
Jones laughed. ‘Apples and oranges.’
Payne nodded in agreement. Both views were spectacular, but in completely different ways. ‘Speaking of fruit, I’m starving. We might need to get room service.’
‘When aren’t you starving?’
‘Good point.’ Blessed with a freakishly high metabolism, Payne had to consume more than 8,000 calories a day, or else he lost weight. ‘How long has she been sleeping?’
‘Four hours or so. Pretty much the entire time you were in the bathroom. I swear, you are such a princess when it comes to hotels. Did you enjoy the guava shampoo and papaya soap? What about the towels? Did they meet your impeccably high standards?’
‘First off, I was in there for ten minutes, not four hours.’
‘Bullshit.’
‘Second, I thoroughly enjoyed the bathroom accoutrements. Thank you for asking.’
Jones stared at him. ‘As God is my witness, if you ever say “accoutrements” again, I’m going to punch you in the face. That word is way too fancy for an American.’
Payne laughed. ‘You’re probably right.’
‘I know I’m right.’
Payne cracked open the bottle and took a long swig. ‘Anyway, while I was in the bathroom, I was pondering the circumstances of Hamilton’s disappearance, and I realized something important.’
‘That water is a valuable resource and shouldn’t be wasted in a four-hour shower?’
‘No, I thought of someone we should call.’
‘The African village that won’t have anything to drink because of you?’
Payne ignored him. ‘Don Stillwagon.’
Jones paused in thought. It was a name he hadn’t heard in a very long time. ‘Stillwagon? Why should we call Stillwagon? Isn’t he in Eastern Europe?’
Payne shook his head. ‘Stillwagon’s in Mexico.’
‘Really? Doing what?’
‘K&R.’
‘No shit. I haven’t talked to him in years.’
‘Me, neither. That’s why I didn’t think of him at first. The last I heard he was working for an insurance company in Mexico City.’
‘That’s a thousand miles away.’
‘True, but it’s still Mexico. He has to know some of the players who work around here. And even if he doesn’t, he’ll know a lot more about K&R than us.’
Jones nodded in agreement. ‘Do you have his number?’
‘Probably. If not, I’m sure I can get it. That is, if you think it’s worth my time. Remember, you’re running the show down here, not me. I don’t want to step on any toes.’
‘Hell yeah, it’s worth your time. What else are you going to do tonight? I mean, besides ordering room service ten times and watching pay-per-view.’
Payne laughed. ‘Actually, I’m glad you just said that. I’ve been meaning to tell you something all day. The head of security gave me a movie that you have to see. Go get your computer. It’s one you should watch without Maria. I don’t think she’d approve.’
Jones glanced inside the suite. Thankfully, she was still sleeping in the other room. ‘Why? How perverted is it?’
‘Just get your laptop. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.’