hidden speakers.
But nobody was dancing.
Jacey saw one woman being
manhandled by two men.
They were both trying to strip her, pulling
down the straps of her dress, and fumbling with her breasts.
Giggling,
she pretended to fight them off.
Finally they both hoisted her up off
the ground, one of them holding her under her arms, and the other by
her feet, and carried her up the stairs, while she shrieked with
delight.
Carmen watched in disgust.
"Look at that.
She's a stuck-up bitch who'd refuse to talk to someone
like me.
The wife of one of the Generalissimo's chief advisors."
"Where's her husband?"
Jacey asked.
"Probably fucking his latest boyfriend."
Carmen shrugged.
Jacey looked round at the guests.
Everyone seemed to be shedding both
their clothes and their inhibitions with equal speed.
The music
thumped even louder.
Through the open door she could see couples, and
groups, kissing and pawing each other.
"Aren't any of these people afraid of being black mailed?"
she
asked.
Carmen laughed briefly.
"Who by?
Nicolas?
If he wants to destroy someone he doesn't have to
bother with blackmail."
A half-naked man ran past them, pursuing a young, totally naked, Indian
boy.
The boy had a smooth, brown body and straight, shoulder-length,
black hair.
His delicate limbs reminded Jacey of a young gazelle's.
His pursuer caught up with him, pinned him against the wall, and began
to kiss him roughly, starting with his face and then quickly descending
lower.
The boy leant back against the wall submissively, neither
helping nor hindering, his face blank, as the man nuzzled between his
thighs.
As the boy gazed out into the room, for a brief moment his
eyes caught hers but they were dark and expressionless.
A group of guests, men and women, appeared suddenly and when they saw
what was going on, began to laugh and shout lewd encouragement.
The
boy's face remained impassive, as if they weren't there, but the man
responded.
He stopped his rough caresses and turned, joining in the
laughter.
"You want him?"
he invited.
"He's for sale.
Come on, make me an offer.
Highest bidder gets him!"
Jacey was incredulous and what was more, felt embarrassed.
She turned
and walked away, and Carmen followed.
"Don't blame the Indian boys," she said to Jacey.
"It's hard for them to find work in Techtatuan.
They have to either
whore, or steal."
She paused.
"They give most of their money to their families, you know?
And the families are forced to spend it on the over priced food that
the government sends out to the reservations."
"There are reservations for the Indians?"
Jacey asked.
"Some," Carmen nodded.
"There was a move towards resettlement, some time ago.
But I don't
think the Indians were given any choice.
Their villages were
flattened, and they had to move, because of a scheme to start logging,
which came to nothing in the end."
She shrugged.
"I
sometimes wonder what the Indians really think of us.
It's hard to
tell.
But I'm not surprised that they want to change things."
"By supporting Lohaquin?"
Jacey hinted.
"I wouldn't know," Carmen said, quickly.
"I'm not political."
She gave Jacey a hard stare.
"And don't start talking about Lohaquin to Nicolas.
It won't make you
very popular."
"I can handle Nicolas," Jacey said confidently.
"That's what all the other women have said," Car men warned her.
Maybe, Jacey thought.
But I think I have an advantage over most of
them.
In their case, Nicolas Schlemann was using them.
In my case,
I'm using him.
In more ways than one.
I'll use his knowledge, and
I'll use his body.
I'm going to enjoy every minute of it!
Chapter Four.
Jacey woke up, glanced at her clock, then turned over lazily in bed,
and stretched.
She wasn't on duty until eleven, and she intended to
enjoy breakfast on her balcony before sending a message to Major
Fairhaven.
This time, she thought, she had something interesting to
tell him.
While Nicolas Schlemann might want to encourage Hernandez to
exploit Guachtal and all its resources, Lohaquin and his supporters
clearly had other ideas.
Whether they had the power to act as a serious opposition was another
matter.
Maybe this mysterious Lohaquin could depose Hernandez with
some outside help, but she knew that such help would come with a price
- and that would be the kind of price a political visionary might not
want to pay.
Any government willing to support Lohaquin would have to be sure that
he was a viable alternative to Hernandez and Nicolas Schlemann, not
just an impractical dreamer, or the kind of man who could encourage a
revolution, but not govern.
More important still, they would have to
be sure that he would keep the promises he made to them when he gained
control of Guachtal.
I need to know much more about Lohaquin, she
thought.
In fact, I need to meet him and make a first-hand
assessment.
She knew that her main point of contact was someone like Paulo.
He was
a native Indian, and she was sure that his involvement with Lohaquin
went further than just giving verbal support.
However, he was hardly
likely to trust her once he knew that she was considered to be Nicolas
Schlemann's new woman.
But she was already planning ahead.
Nicolas had openly admitted to her
that he was a power freak, and she remembered what Carmen had said:
that he enjoyed discarding his women when he grew tired of them.
It
probably made him feel powerful.
She had no doubt that their affair
would be interesting, but short.
How many weeks had Carmen given
her?
Four?
Six at the outside?
And when Nicolas dumps me, she thought,
I'll make it clear I want revenge.
After a public humiliation, no one
will doubt me.
Nicolas may have even given me a perfect excuse to win
sympathy from at least a few of Lohaquin's supporters.
She smiled at
her optimism.
There would be a certain poetic justice in that, but in
her heart of hearts she knew that it was unlikely; revolutionaries took
a dim view of the mistresses of dictators and military men.
She went into the kitchen to make coffee, and toast some slices of the
tasty, seeded bread that the hospital chef baked for the staff.
Afterwards, as she showered and washed her hair, she thought about the
message she had intended to send to Major Fair haven.
Perhaps I'll
wait, she thought.
I'll wait until I have something more than
speculation.
In my next report I may be able to tell him tell him I've
met the mysterious Lohaquin in person.
Jacey was dreading seeing Peter.
She walked past his office and
noticed that the door was half open.
Let's get this confrontation over
with, she thought, and went in.
But the office was empty, and looked
unusually tidy.
Surprised, she went to her own office, and prepared
for her rounds.
She finished them with out seeing Peter, and met Dr.
Sanchez in the corridor.
"Ah, Dr.
Muldaire."
The elderly Spaniard gave her a charming smile.
"I
was looking for you.
Will you be able to cope on your own?"
Jacey stared at Sanchez in surprise.
"Isn't Dr.
Draven here?"
Sanchez was equally surprised.
"Didn't he contact you before he left?
He had a call from England last night.
A death in the family; a road
accident, I believe.
He had to catch an early plane."
"He didn't say anything to me about it."
Jacey did not know whether to
be relieved or angry.
Sanchez looked concerned.
"Perhaps he didn't want to worry you.
And he did have to leave in a
great hurry.
He told me he felt sure you could carry on here without
him."
"Of course I can," Jacey said.
Sanchez patted her arm.
"It won't be for long.
I'm sure Dr.
Draven will be back soon."
Jacey couldn't help feeling that Peter's return to England had come at
a very convenient time.
Perhaps he's ashamed of himself, she
thought.
And maybe he ought to be, if he really intended to pass me round to his
friends like some kind of fancy treat.
After a few days she began to suspect that Peter had no intention of
returning.
Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard nothing as the
time passed.
He made no attempt to even send her an e-mail.
She
wondered if Dr.
Sanchez would ask her to take on Peter's patients on a
permanent basis.
She could cope easily, but longer hours at La