Part 30 (1/2)
May I see you for a private conversation? I have an important and confidential business matter to discuss with you. Meet me at Morelos Cafe this morning at 11.
Most sincerely yours, Reed Dougherty I folded the note. The muscles of my extremities twinged with panic. I never should have a.s.sumed I'd be safe from Dougherty, even in Mexico.
Alonso stopped mid-brush, holding a shock of my hair in his hand. ”Is there a problem?”
”It's an old business acquaintance,” I said, not wis.h.i.+ng to alarm Alonso. ”He wants to see me.”
”How did he find you here?”
”I wish I knew.” I looked at Alonso in the mirror. His expression looked askew-perplexed and perturbed. Or was it merely a distortion of the mirror?
”Should I go with you?”
”No,” I said, fingering my collarbone. ”It's best if I see him myself.”
He released my hair and dropped a hand to my shoulder. ”You are upset.”
”I didn't expect to hear from him. Especially not here.”
”I will not have anyone making trouble for you.”
”You needn't worry about that. I can handle him.”
Commanding myself to pluck up, I dressed and took a carriage to the Morelos Cafe. Reed Dougherty, as lanky as ever, stood beside the front door, leaning against the building as if he owned it. It appeared he'd already spent a week or two under Mexico's clear skies: A roseate tan flushed his gaunt face. And he wore the regional apparel-a casual beige suit rumpled from wear. Then again, he never had shown any interest in tidiness. He still sported his signature downturned mustache, and had added a beard, perhaps in an attempt to dignify his odd looks and underhanded ways.
Descending from the carriage, I composed my shawl over my shoulders and ambled toward him.
He pushed himself away from the building with his shoulder, as if sloughing off a bothersome hand, and approached, a mischievous gleam overtaking his narrowed eyes. ”Miss Walker, is it?”
”Mr. Dougherty,” I said, not offering my hand. ”You never change.”
He chuckled. ”No, I've kept the same name.”
”Well, shall we get this over with?”
”I've asked for a quiet table for us.” He motioned to an outdoor table set apart from the others under an awning. ”Will this do?”
”As well as any,” I said, leading the way and taking a seat.
Dougherty raised a hand, calling for a waiter. We ordered coffee.
He slung his arm around the back of his chair. ”Thanks to you, I'm becoming the most traveled detective in the world.”
”Why do you insist on intervening in my personal affairs?”
”You think I manufacture these affairs just to make your life miserable?”
”It certainly seems that way.” I could see his face all too clearly across our platter-sized table-those penetrating dark-brown eyes, and the long nose that plunged down from his high brow and lent his expression a homely dolor.
”Well, it is rare in my line of work to enjoy such a ... shall we say ... involved relations.h.i.+p as you and I share.”
”It sounds as if you've missed me, you fool.”
”A fool for missing a woman of your many charms? On the contrary, my dear Miss Walker.”
I had no stomach for this ludicrous banter. ”Who has sent you this time?”
”The Mexican government.”
”Why ever would they care about me?”
”You know very well. For starters, there's no Florence Walker in the employ of Iron Mountain Mining.”
”I can't imagine the Mexican government cares about such a trifle.”
”Perhaps not, but they do care about the mining contract.”
”All that was quite straightforward,” I said with a toss of my hand. ”The highest bid won.”
”And it was a relative of yours,” he said, smirking.
”Of what consequence is that?”
”Don't you think other parties would be interested in how that contract was won?”
”They were obviously outbid.”
Dougherty whipped out a paper and spread it on the table-my notes about the bidding. ”You spied,” he said. ”And compet.i.tors do not consider that a legitimate way to do business.”
Nausea ripped through my belly. But I forced calm into my manner. ”We're in Mexico, Mr. Dougherty, where they do business just as they please.”
He folded the paper and tucked it inside his suit jacket. ”And where Mexican interests expect to win domestic contracts.”
”The deal is closed. I can't see why the government cares in the least about me.”
Dougherty reared his head back, like a horse pulled to an abrupt halt. ”Because you've been gadding about with the son of the Secretary of Resources, and Secretary Elvira Perez cannot risk any exposure.”
”I will leave Mexico when I please.”