THIRTEEN
Appropriately, it was sunset when we arrived at the Puesta del Sol. There was a couple registering in front of us, so while Laia waited, I crossed the lobby to check out the pool. At the door marked PISCINA, a uniformed porter stepped in front of me and said, “Usted no puede entrar en la piscina vestida de esa manera.”
“Perdon?” I said.
“Su ropa,” the man said, indicating my clothes. “Usted no puede entrar en la piscine.
” “Okay,” I said, turning away. I knew I was dusty and could use a shower, and my clothes weren’t from Chad’s tailor, but I was a little annoyed that the hotel was so pompous that I wouldn’t be allowed into the pool area. I looked around the echoing lobby. It was certainly upscale—not at all like the motels Mom, DJ and I stayed in when we went on holidays. The floor was of gleaming marble, the walls either glass or polished wood, and there were crystal chandeliers and plush seats all around. Even the row of elevator doors was polished to a mirror finish.
As I watched, one set of elevator doors opened and a dumpy, middle-aged couple came out. They were chatting happily, and both had white towels over their shoulders. There was nothing remarkable about them—a couple going for a swim before dinner and the evening’s entertainment—except that both were completely naked.
I watched in shocked confusion as they crossed the lobby, smiling and nodding at me on the way, exchanged a couple of friendly words with the porter and disappeared through the doors to the pool. My clothes weren’t the best or the cleanest, but at least they were clothes.
I spun around toward the registration desk and collided with another naked person. “Watch where you’re going,” he said in English. I mumbled some kind of apology and kept going. Laia was at the desk, talking to the receptionist. “There are naked people here,” I blurted out.
Laia looked startled, but the receptionist simply said, “Of course there are, sir. The Puesta del Sol Hotel is a naturist resort. Clothing is optional in most areas, although clothes are not allowed in the pool area and are essential at all times in the restaurant and after eight in the evening everywhere.” I could think of nothing to say. “I’m sorry,” the receptionist went on. “You were not aware of this fact?”
“A simple misunderstanding,” Laia said. She seemed remarkably calm. “My friend Steve is from Canada. I don’t think they have many naturist resorts there. Perhaps it is too cold.”
The receptionist smiled. “I think you will be more comfortable after eight o’clock,” she said to me. “I hope you enjoy your stay with us.” I glanced at the clock on the wall behind her. An hour and a half until people put their clothes on.
“I’ve got our room keys,” Laia said. “You are in four twelve and I am in four thirteen; our bags are already there. Perhaps we should go up, shower and relax. I’ll meet you back here at five minutes past eight.” She exchanged a smile with the receptionist.
Laia led me over to the elevator. I kept my eyes firmly on a small patch of the marble floor in front of me. When the doors were safely closed, I looked up. “Did you know this?” I asked.
“No,” Laia said, “but there are many naturist resorts along the coast. Sofia and Felip used to bring me on holiday to them when I was young.”
“Are you a naturist?” I asked.
“No,” she said to my great relief. “It is not for me, but if you do want to take your clothes off, the south of Spain is probably a good place to do it.”
“If you have lots of sunscreen,” I said.
Laia laughed. “You see, already you are getting used to it.” The elevator doors opened and we pushed out past a large, noisy, naked family on their way to the pool. At the door of 412, we stopped. “Don’t worry,” Laia said. “No one has to take their clothes off—unless they want to go for a swim. I’ll see you downstairs—after eight. It’s been an exciting day.” She smiled, kissed me on the cheek and went on to room 413. I fumbled with my key card, fell into the room, closed the door and collapsed on the bed beside my backpack. I wasn’t sure how much more excitement I could take.
“Do you feel more comfortable now?” Laia and I were looking at each other across a spotless white tablecloth in the largest restaurant I’d ever been in. It was 8:15, early to be eating dinner in Spain, so the restaurant was quiet. The few diners there were all fully clothed.
“I think I’ve gotten over the shock,” I said. “You know what I first thought when I saw the naked couple come out of the elevator? It was a line from The Sixth Sense.”
“The scary ghost movie about the kid who says, ‘I see dead people’?”
“Yeah. My first thought was, ‘I see naked people.’” Laia laughed. “The rooms are great though,” I went on. “The bed’s so soft, I fell asleep as soon as I lay down. I only woke up half an hour ago, but a shower and clean clothes made me feel like a new person.”
“That’s a shame,” Laia said. “I liked the old person. But the rooms are nice. I sat on the balcony for a while, looking out over the pool and the palm trees to the lights of the boats out at sea. I suppose some people live like this all the time.”
“I feel more relaxed than I have all day. Shall we eat?”
Dinner was a buffet that stretched the full length of the restaurant. There was food from all over Europe, but Laia insisted we eat local dishes. I had shrimp, octopus, fried local fish, ham, salad and a wonderful pastry dessert dripping in honey. I returned to the buffet three times.
“You won’t need to eat for the rest of your holiday,” Laia commented after I had finally finished and sat back in my chair.
“I’m not so sure about that, but I’m certainly eating well. Almost enough to fuel all the walking we’re doing.”
“And there’ll be more tomorrow,” Laia said, “if we’re going to walk back up to location number five.”
“What does Felip have planned for tomorrow?”
“I don’t know. I suspect there will be a lot of legal paperwork he will need to check on so that Chad can be fully informed when he goes back to whoever’s behind this scheme. He’ll probably have to drive down to Almería.”
Mention of Chad brought back memories of Scarface and Blue Eyes’s threat. “By tomorrow, we’ll be halfway through the forty-eight hours,” I pointed out.
“I know,” Laia said. “If we see Felip tonight, I’ll try and find out what’s going on. If Chad’s not too keen, finding out about the laws and regulations he’ll have to get around might be enough to discourage him. If not, I’ll tell Felip about Blue Eyes tomorrow night.”
I must have looked worried, because Laia went on, “It will be all right. If all else fails, we’ll be gone from here before the forty-eight hours are up anyway. Blue Eyes’s threats were meant to scare us. It makes no sense for him to chase us to Barcelona or Canada. He would just be increasing his risk, and there would be nothing to gain by it. It’s not rational.”
“I’m not convinced that Blue Eyes is entirely rational,” I said. “He’s a Russian mobster, after all.”
“But that’s what makes him rational. He wants to be able to carry out his illegal activities with a minimum of fuss and without drawing unwelcome attention. He’s not above threatening people or hurting them if necessary, but he wants to maintain at least the façade of being a reputable businessman. There has to be a gain to outweigh any risk he runs, and there’s no gain in chasing either of us.”
“I suppose so.” What Laia said made sense, but I’d still be much happier with Chad gone and all talk of building Roman-style resorts ended.
“Hello, you two.” We looked up to see Felip coming toward us. I was relieved to see he was alone.
“Hello,” Laia said. “I wasn’t expecting you here so early. Where’s Chad?”
“He said he had people to see,” Felip said, sitting down beside us. “To be honest, I find him a bit…”
“Tiring?” I suggested.
Felip nodded. “He is cheerful all the time. Everything is so positive. I’m afraid I find it a bit wearing.”
“I know what you mean,” I said. “Do you think he will go ahead with this Roman resort project?”
“I don’t know. He goes on about how wonderful the idea is, but the decision’s not up to him. He’s simply checking things out for an American company.”
“What will the local businesses think of an American company moving in?” Laia asked.
“Good question,” Felip said. “As you can see from all the building along the coast, there’s a lot of investment here already. Much of it’s foreign money.”
“Some,” Felip said. “It’s hard to tell where the money comes from, and there are many different companies that could easily all be owned by one man. But there is a strong Russian connection. This resort, for instance, is owned by a company called Gorky Holdings, which certainly suggests a Russian connection.”
Laia and I exchanged looks at the mention of Gorky. It was a name that seemed to crop up everywhere.
“What do you think of the resort?” Felip asked with a smile.
“You mean apart from the naked people all over the place?” I said, smiling back. “That was a shock at first, but the resort seems fine. I’m not sure I’ll use the pool though.”
“There are a lot of naturist resorts along this stretch of coast. Chad said he booked us in here because it was the only place with space that was close to Palomares. Otherwise, we would have had to drive in from Almería. Speaking of which, I have to go down there tomorrow to look at land-titles records and talk to people. What are your plans?”
“I think we’ll walk up into the hills and look at location number five,” Laia said. “I doubt if there’s anything to see, but I’ll bet the views are spectacular up there.”
“They are,” Felip said. “Take plenty of water with you. I should be back in the afternoon. I have to meet with Chad, but we can have dinner later. Perhaps the next day we can drive north and poke around the ruins in Cartagena?” Felip stood up. “I have paperwork and emails to catch up on, so I’m going to head on up. See you down here for breakfast?”
“Sounds good,” I said as Laia and I also stood. “Good night.”
“Good night,” Laia added.
When Felip had gone, we signed the meal bills to our rooms. “Let’s get a breath of fresh air,” Laia suggested. We strolled through the lobby, nodded to the doorman and headed outside. The air had cooled since midafternoon, but it was still pleasantly warm. We wandered up the drive toward the road, without any specific goal. “I guess Blue Eyes does own this place then,” Laia said. “He certainly seemed to be into Gorky.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Do you think he might be the Gorky in Grandfather’s notebook? He might be old enough.”
“He could be, but when you asked him if he knew Gorky, he talked about someone else.”
“I suppose so. We may never solve that part of the mystery.” I stopped and pointed to a red scooter under one of the streetlights. “Isn’t that the scooter that passed us on the road this afternoon?”
“There are a lot of scooters around,” she said, “and I don’t think the kid we saw could afford to stay in this place.”
“Hi, kids!” A figure stepped out of the shadows. I couldn’t see who it was, but I would recognize that cheerful voice anywhere. Laia groaned audibly as Chad strode toward us. “You two going for a romantic evening stroll?”
“Yeah, something like that,” I said. “I thought you had a meeting.”
“All done,” Chad said. “You’ve got to be quick in this business. You snooze, you lose.”
I was tempted to keep walking, but I had a question I wanted to ask. “Do you think your American investors will go ahead with the Roman resort project?”
“It’s a wonderful investment opportunity,” Chad enthused. “In the long term, it can’t fail, and the cleanup costs will be absorbed quickly. I think they’d be crazy not to run with it.”
Now it was my turn to groan. Chad gave me an odd look, part concern and part thoughtful, not like him at all. “But,” he said eventually, “if you want my honest opinion, I suspect the politics will be too much for them. I think we’re a few years away from any development on that land.”
My heart leaped, and I had trouble not shouting out loud. “Oh,” I said as noncommittally as possible.
“You kids have a good walk,” Chad said, winking broadly at me. “Don’t go too far. You never know what kind of people are around these days. Good night.”
“Good night,” I said.
Chad headed for the hotel lobby, and Laia and I continued out to the road. “I was terrified he was going to suggest he come for a walk with us,” Laia said.
“Just as well he didn’t,” I said. “I would have had to kill him.” We laughed. “I was glad to hear he doesn’t think the deal will go through with his investors. Blue Eyes should be glad to hear that.”
Laia nodded, and we linked arms. We strolled along the road and down to the beach, happy just to be in each other’s company. When we got back, I noticed that the red scooter was still there.