Cade Read online

  ‘No.’

  ‘Nor do I have to enlarge on the intentions of a brilliant, talented photographer who obviously is interested in her?’

  Cade finished his coffee.

  ‘Let’s have some more of this. Mexican coffee is really excellent.’

  ‘It is, isn’t it?’ Oroseo smiled happily. He snapped his fingers at a passing waiter. There was a pause while their cups were refilled.

  Cade asked, ‘What is Senor Barreda doing here? I would have thought he would have been too occupied with his ships to be in Acapulco.’

  ‘Yes, you would have thought so, wouldn’t you?’ Oroseo looked reflective. ‘But no one should jump to conclusions. Actually, he is recovering from a heart attack. His doctors advised the sun of Acapulco. So he is here. His sons are dealing with the ships for the moment.’

  ‘A heart attack?’

  ‘Quite severe. There were distinct moments of acute danger.’

  Cade turned this over in his mind. Oroseo anticipated his next question by saying, ‘You are wondering how it is that an old man with a bad heart is staying at the Hilton Hotel with a beautiful, vigorous young woman like Juana Roca. Isn’t that what you were wondering?’

  ‘It did occur to me,’ Cade said, smiling at Oroseo.

  ‘But women as beautiful as this one inspire risks. It is really very simple and not unheroic. At home, Senor Barreda would be in difficulties. At Acapulco, no one pays attention to love affairs. It is obviously worth the risk to him.’

  ‘I suppose it is,’ Cade said and felt suddenly deflated.

  If Barreda was prepared to risk his life for Juana Roca, Cade felt he had no right to intrude even though Juana had taken the trouble to change her room. He had a sudden admiration for the old man. He felt it would be in the worst possible taste to spoil such a dangerous honeymoon.

  He shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘Well, so much for Senor Barreda and his mistress. Let’s go. How about a drive up to the mountain?’

  Oroseo called for the bill.

  ‘It is impossible. I have to return to the office.’ He signed the bill with a flourish. ‘Mr. Cade, may I give you some advice? I never give advice usually, but I like you. My advice is this: there are many women in Mexico, so be careful who you choose to amuse you. It is said in Mexico City that Juana Roca is fatal to men. She is our modern Carmen. Two bull fighters have already died because of her. You can’t fight a good bull successfully if your mind is preoccupied with a woman. It would be better for you to look elsewhere. With that suggestion, Mr. Cade, I leave you. Be careful. Not tomorrow nor the day after, but now. If you are careful now, you will avoid trouble. Remember that a woman’s beauty can often be the tempting bait that covers a barbed hook.’ He shook hands with Cade. ‘I have the greatest admiration for your work. Let us meet again very soon.’

  Cade watched him walk briskly to his car. He now had the idea he wouldn’t stay longer in Acapulco. But like most people who are too sure of themselves, he dismissed the advice that had been offered.

  When Oroseo had driven away, Cade left the restaurant. He paused by the Jeep and looked up at the stars that shone with an intense blue light against a background of soft black velvet. The air was close and hot. He could hear the sound of the sea as the waves slid over the sand and retreated. In the distance he could see the mountain. Its lights formed the shape of a giant iguana. The headlights of the descending cars were like fireflies as they appeared and disappeared behind the screen of trees along the road.

  He drove thoughtfully back to the hotel. He kept thinking of Barreda. He decided he would call Sam Wand and find out what he had to offer. He would leave Acapulco the following morning. Once occupied with a new assignment, he was sure he would forget about Juana. He had absolutely no right, he told himself, to spoil such a honeymoon. Barreda wouldn’t be risking his life unless he was fatally in love with this woman.

  Arriving at the hotel, Cade went immediately to his room. He put through a call to Wand’s apartment. Then, sitting on the bed and lighting a cigarette, he watched the moon’s reflection on the sea while he waited for the connection.

  He got Wand after a twenty minute wait.

  ‘They told me you were away for a week,’ Wand said in the usual bellow that he had cultivated to impress people that he was truly alive.

  ‘Well, don’t break my ear drum. I changed my mind. What is it, Sam?’

  ‘What’s the trouble?’ Wand asked, slightly lowering his voice. ‘Wouldn’t she lie down for you?’

  ‘Skip the comedy act. This call is costing money. What is it?’

  ‘Bull fighting,’ Wand said. ‘There’s a new rag coming on the market next month. It’s called See For Yourself. It’s very moral, very stuffed shirt and crusading, but they have lots of lovely money. They reckon they can stop bull fighting dead in its tracks with pictures taken by you. How simple can you get? But they are offering three thousand and twenty-five per cent if the pictures are reproduced outside the States which, of course, they will be. You know the stuff they want: the broken down horses, the panting bull, the cowardly toreador, the sadistic tourists. I don’t have to tell you. There’s a good fight this Sunday. I’ve talked to Creel. He says the bulls will be good this Sunday. Diaz is fighting: popular hero right now; big time; big wheel. Can you make it?’

  This was Friday night. It suited Cade very well.

  ‘Okay, Sam, I’ll take care of it. Have Creel get the tickets. Two rows from the bottom and tell him to buy the seats either side of me. I need lots of room.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘Tell him I want to talk to Diaz before he fights and after he fights.’

  ‘That could be a little tricky. Diaz is a big shot now. Maybe he won’t play.’

  ‘That’s up to Creel. You tell him I want it fixed.’

  ‘Okay. Should I reserve a room for you at El Presidente?’

  Cade hesitated. His eyes went to the communicating door.

  ‘No. I’ll take care of that. Did you get those last pictures I sent you?’

  ‘Just arrived. They are sensational! Val, you are truly terrific. I mean that. I …’

  Cade who had heard it all before gently replaced the receiver. He sat for some moments, thinking. He was pleased with the assignment. It offered him a new challenge. He would have to work with a fast shutter and because the light wouldn’t be good, with a large aperture. The depth of field would be tricky, but he liked tricky problems.

  He picked up the telephone receiver and asked the Hall Porter about the planes leaving for Mexico City tomorrow. He was told that there was a plane leaving at 09.15 hours. There was no need to reserve a seat. The plane was never full. Cade thanked him and hung up. He then looked across the room at the communicating door. He got to his feet, went over to the door and putting his ear against the panel, he listened. No sound came to him. He walked out onto the balcony and leaning forward he examined the window of the adjacent room. The window was shut and no light showed. He returned to his room.

  So it had been a joke, he thought rubbing the back of his neck and frowning. She hadn’t changed rooms. A stupid, rotten idea of a joke.

  He took his Valapack from the closet and began to pack. He was angry with himself for being so angry. Hadn’t he already decided that he wouldn’t intrude? Then what was he getting so worked up about? His packing completed, he wondered if he should go down to the bar for a last drink. It was now a little after midnight. He decided to go to bed.

  He stripped off his clothes, then before going into the bathroom, he again listened at the communicating door. Again silence greeted him.

  ‘Oh, the hell with it!’ he said aloud.

  He remained under the cold shower for some time. And when finally he turned off the water and dried himself, he felt relaxed and no longer angry.

  As he walked out of the bathroom, his telephone bell rang. He put on his pyjama trousers before lifting the receiver.

  ‘Hello?’ he said, wondering if Sam Wand had forgo
tten some detail of the assignment and was calling back.

  ‘Hello. I saw your light was on.’

  Her voice and accent were unmistakable. Immediately his heart began to beat very fast and he found himself suddenly short of breath.

  ‘Oh, did you?’ It was all he could think of to say.

  ‘Yes. Have I disturbed you?’

  ‘No … no … of course not.’

  ‘That’s good. I wanted to tell you my side of the door is unlocked.’

  Even with this unbearably suffocating excitement, he did think of Barreda.

  ‘I was just going to bed,’ he said, aware that his voice was unsteady.

  ‘I am in bed.’

  He replaced the receiver and walked quickly across the room, slid back the bolt on the communicating door, opened the door and paused to look into the room.

  She had shaded the bedside lamp with a blue silk scarf. There was just enough light for him to see her stretched out on the bed. Her gleaming black tresses covered her naked body. She was looking towards him and smiling.

  He moved into the room and closed the door.

  They had a mad rush to catch the 09.15 plane, arriving at the airport with only seven minutes in hand. There were only eight other passengers: a group of American tourists, festooned with cameras, flowered sun hats and enormous sombreros.

  As they might have expected, the aircraft was late. Their furious drive now turned out to be a needless risk. The aircraft finally took off at 09.55 hours.

  The adventure—it was the most exciting and unique adventure Cade had yet experienced—was slightly spoilt for him by his feeling of guilt.

  It was when the dawn was lighting the night sky, and as they lay side by side, spent by their fierce love-making, that she said she was coming to Mexico City with him.

  ‘Who told you I was going to Mexico City?’ he demanded, startled.

  ‘I heard you on the telephone. You are going to take photographs of the bull fights, aren’t you? Well, I’m coming with you.’

  ‘But you can’t do that.’ Desire for the moment satisfied, he was able to think of Barreda. ‘Are you forgetting you aren’t alone here? You must think of him. What will he say?’

  She lifted one long leg and peered in the half-light at her small, shapely foot.

  ‘My foot is pretty, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘Look. Not many girls have such a pretty foot.’

  He sat up abruptly.

  ‘Now, listen. We shouldn’t have done this! He is ill. He is in love with you. He …’

  ‘He is old, and he bores me,’ Juana said, lowering her leg. ‘I have packed everything. My luggage is with the Hall Porter. I am going to Mexico City with you tomorrow.’

  ‘I can’t let you do it! He didn’t bore you before you met me. I’m not …’

  ‘He has always bored me. I should never have come here with him. It was a mistake. What have I to do with an old man like him? I am going back to Mexico City. If you don’t want me, say so, and I will go alone.’

  ‘But what will you say to him?’ Cade asked, worried. He leaned over her, trying to see her face in the half-light.

  ‘I shall say nothing. He gets up late. By the time he is up, I shall be gone.’

  Cade was genuinely shocked.

  ‘That’s no way to behave. At least you must send him a note.’

  ‘There is no need to send him a note. The Hall Porter will tell him I have gone. That’s all he needs to know.’

  ‘You can’t do a thing like that! It would be humiliating him. You must either see him or write to him. I’ll help you write a letter. Let’s do it now.’

  ‘Now we will make love again,’ she said, turning to him. She put her arms around him, her mouth seeking his, her body arching against his naked flank.

  When next he woke, Cade saw it was 08.00 hours. In the rush to get dressed, to get his check settled and his luggage in the car, the letter to Barreda was forgotten.

  It was only when they were half-way to Mexico City that he remembered and by that time it was too late. He thought of the old man and he felt a little sick. He looked at Juana, sitting contentedly at his side. Seeing her smile to herself, so obviously happy, he found it difficult to believe she had this callous, hard streak in her, but her attitude to the old man left him in no doubt that she did have it.

  ‘I know of a little house that we can rent,’ she said, seeing he was looking at her. ‘It is facing the Chapultepec Park, and it is very nice but a little expensive. We can rent it for a week, a month or a year. It would be nicer than staying at an hotel, wouldn’t it? I am a fine cook. I will look after the house and cook for you. You would like that, wouldn’t you?’

  She was wearing an expensive sleeveless white dress. Her hair was piled high on the top of her shapely head and she wore flat gold ear clips and a gold collar around her throat. The very idea of such a beautiful, sophisticated woman running a house and cooking made Cade laugh.

  She frowned.

  ‘You don’t think I can cook?’

  ‘I didn’t say that,’ he said, seeing he had hurt her. ‘I am sure you can, but how many servants will you want?’

  ‘Servants?’ She grimaced. ‘I don’t want any servants. If we have servants how can we make love when we want to—any time during the day? Who wants to share a house of love with servants?’

  He was touched. All the women he had previously known had submerged him with servants.

  ‘I think that’s wonderful,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘Let us rent a house then.’

  She stroked his hand, smiling at him.

  ‘I will arrange everything. Have you any money for me? I shall need money to make you comfortable.’ She opened her bag and looked inside. ‘I have only six hundred pesos. Poor Manuel is very mean.’

  ‘That reminds me. You really must send him a telegram.’

  ‘I asked if you have any money to give me,’ she said, withdrawing her hand. ‘It bores me when you talk about Manuel.’

  Cade sighed. He took out his billfold and gave her five thousand pesos bills.

  ‘I will cash a cheque when we get to Mexico City. That’s all I can spare right now.’

  ‘It is enough. You will find I am very thrifty.’ She began to stroke his hand again. She looked up at him, her luminous dark eyes expressive. ‘I love you very much. We are going to be very happy together. I would like it very much if we could make love now.’

  ‘So would I,’ Cade said, his hand closing over hers. ‘But I don’t think these other people would be too happy about it, do you?’

  She giggled.

  ‘There is that,’ she said.

  They arrived at Mexico City a little after 11.00 hours. Adolfo Creel, Sam Wand’s Central-American representative, was there to meet them. He was a fat, balding man with a seedy air and a bland manner. He wore a panama hat with a curly brim and light brown suit that was a little too small for him and liberally sprinkled with food stains.

  He made no attempt to conceal his admiration when Cade rather perfunctorily introduced him to Juana. Creel swept off his hat and bowed so low Cade thought he was going to fall flat on his face.

  ‘Did you get the tickets?’ Cade asked as Juana, flattered, gave Creel a dazzling smile.

  ‘Certainly,’ Creel said. ‘You will be perfectly satisfied, senor. Everything is as you ordered.’

  ‘When do I see Diaz?’

  Creel lost his bland smile. He looked inside his hat, frowned, then sadly shook his head.

  ‘That unhappily, senor, is impossible. A thousand regrets. Senor Diaz never sees anyone before he fights … not even the President. He is a very religious man. He prays and prays before he enters the ring. No, it is not possible.’

  ‘I have to see him before he fights,’ Cade snapped. ‘I told Mr. Wand to fix it with you.’

  Creel skipped from one foot to the other. He beat his fat leg with his hat.

  ‘Senor Cade, I swear I have done everything possible. No one could have done more than I have, bu
t Senor Diaz is very firm about this. He sees no one before or after the fights.’

  ‘Diaz is a stupid blown-up frog!’ Juana exclaimed, her eyes flashing. ‘If you really want to see him, cariño, I will arrange it for you. You will find that there are many things in Mexico that I can arrange for you. Now I leave you. I must arrange about the house. We will move in tomorrow. Let us spend tonight at El Presidente. Wait for me there. I will be with you late this afternoon.’

  ‘Hey, wait a minute,’ Cade said. ‘You really mean you can fix Diaz for me?’

  ‘Of course. I never say anything unless I mean it.’ She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth. ‘I love you, cariño. Look after my luggage,’ and she was gone.

  Cade looked at Creel who was simpering into his hat. Catching Cade’s eye, he said, ‘You are very fortunate, senor, to have such a beautiful lady who is able to achieve the impossible.’

  ‘Yes,’ Cade said, and picking up his overnight bag, he walked to where the luggage was waiting.

  Since Cade was basically a simple and decent man, he had never ceased to wonder at and be grateful for his continuous success. He still often recalled his first overwhelming excitement when at the age of ten, he had won the one thousand dollar prize for the best amateur photograph in a World competition. From then on, he had led a charmed life. He had never had a serious illness. He couldn’t remember when he hadn’t owned a car. He had never been short of money. He had never been hungry. He had never been seriously unhappy and he had never been without some glamorous woman who was willing to share his bed.

  Perhaps because of all this, Juana Roca’s abrupt appearance in his life hadn’t utterly surprised him as it might have surprised a less fortunate man. But that didn’t mean that Cade wasn’t a little dazed and didn’t fully appreciate this extra lavish gift from the gods.