Thanks to Michael the German’s fascination with the ship’s engine room we had a brilliant couple of days on the top bunk of the cabin. He only came back to sleep, by which time we too were snoring; at least the boys were. It hadn’t been too bad in the tent where I could reach out and turn them over, which usually shut them up, but in the cabin I just had to put up with it. Luckily I was usually sated enough to ignore the symphony of snores and sink into oblivion myself. The exception was the third night where thanks to rough seas we all queued outside the toilet for our turn to be sick. So much for my confident assertion that I was a good sailor.
We hit Puerto Natales a few days before Christmas, which to my relief meant that phase two of foiling Carlos’s plans were put on hold so we could spend the holiday in the national park. Pasta and instant soup wasn’t the ideal Christmas dinner, so we bought a couple of cartons of wine and some fruit cake as a festive addition to normal rations. We were leaving a lot of our stuff in the guesthouse, so we had room in the rucksacks for a few luxuries. We spent two nights stoking up on steak and fish dinners, beer and pisco sours before we set off.
The Torres del Paine are three granite rocks sculpted by nature into massive, perfect phalluses – I kid you not. As we got off the bus and walked towards them they sparkled in the afternoon sun. We were going to spend the night at a campsite as near as possible to the towers and walk up to the best viewpoint before dawn to see them blushing pink in the sunrise.
For the first time for ages I felt completely happy. I might have glossed over it but there’s no doubt that being a spy is a touch stressful, especially when you’re also dealing in unusual sexual practices. Now that Red and Robbie were happy with the Chiloe investigation and we were just going to be walking and sharing the tent together for a few days, not to mention celebrating Christmas, I felt like the old carefree Bliss. I almost skipped up to the campsite. Well, that’s not quite true because the path was a bit steep and although I may have given the impression that I hotfooted my way effortlessly through the Inca Trail I’m not really that sporty.
A few tents were dotted around the campsite, which was in an idyllic position, sheltered by trees. We walked around the site to assess the best spot but were stopped in our tracks by the sight of a fox sidling around between the tents.
Silently we watched it circling each tent, none of us daring to move in case we scared it away. I was surprised when, turning, it seemed to know we were there. I don’t know what a fox’s eyesight is like, but I suspect it could smell us. Rather than fleeing, which I would have expected, it stood looking at us.
‘Don’t worry, you won’t frighten it off. It’s used to being fed by tourists,’ said a voice behind us. The guys turned with animated faces to talk to the stranger, but I didn’t have to. Carlos’s voice was easily recognisable.
The change in expression on Red and Robbie’s faces was quite comical, but I had other things on my mind; like, what was he doing here?
He kissed me on both cheeks after shaking hands with the guys.
‘I couldn’t decide how I wanted to spend Christmas. Seeing you has made me homesick for England, and as I couldn’t get over there I thought the next best thing would be to come down here and spend it with my favourite English person.’
He was looking sincere and I wanted to believe him, especially after the last three days we’d spent together. But I knew Red and Robbie would pour scorn on any suggestion that he really did just come to be with me, and I could hardly blame them.
Robbie’s eyes had moved back to the fox, which was trotting over to a man squatting by a tent, holding a morsel of food in his hand.
‘Isn’t it amazing how his natural instinct to avoid human beings goes on hold when someone offers him a piece of bread or cheese.’
Carlos shrugged. ‘That’s what happens when you’re hungry. And not just to animals.’
Robbie nodded slowly. ‘Hungry – or greedy. I guess you’re right, humans or animals, we’re all quick to overcome our fears, or even morals, if the price is right.’
It was as if he’d said, we know what you’re about, but Carlos was completely unfazed. I told myself he may not have caught Robbie’s drift.
Carlos smiled faintly. ‘Anyway, I hope you don’t mind me being here. I’ve got a proposition to put to you.’
He indicated a large tent near the back of the campsite, on the edge of the wood. I’d noticed it before, because it must have been big enough to stand up in. Trust Carlos to have the best tent on the site.
‘Shall we dine together?’ he suggested formally, as though we had all met up by chance outside the Ritz. ‘I saved a space next to my tent for you, so after you’ve pitched yours let’s share resources. I’m only going to be around for a couple of days so I had room to pack some wine in my sack.’
He looked at his watch. ‘I’m going for a stroll now. I’m afraid the weather’s going to break, so just in case I don’t get up to the viewpoint in the morning I’ll at least have seen something of the towers. Why don’t you bring your food over in a couple of hours’ time? If it should rain, there’s plenty of room in my tent for all of us.’
‘Great,’ I said briskly. Red looked as though he was about to prevaricate and it seemed best to get rid of Carlos so we could at least discuss him alone. ‘See you later.’
I pecked him on the cheek, suspecting he was the only man in the whole of the national park who smelled faintly of expensive cologne.
We put up the tent without a word and laid out our bedrolls and sleeping bags. I put the plastic sheet down in the doorway and Red and Robbie sat on it, looking up at me.
‘So? You think I shouldn’t have said, OK, we’ll come to dinner at yours?’ I asked, slightly exasperated by their look.
‘Bliss, you didn’t – you didn’t invite him, did you?’ asked Red quietly.
‘Oh for fuck’s sake.’ I was really quite cross. ‘You think I wouldn’t have told you? No, scrap that remark. You really think that I would have invited him in the first place? Surely that’s ridiculous enough, never mind doing it and not telling you.’
I plonked myself down on the sheeting and gave them an evil look. ‘You turn up in Chiloe and he thinks it’s my doing, now he turns up here and you suspect I invited him. Doesn’t anyone trust me?’
‘OK, calm down,’ said Robbie. ‘Of course we trust you. But it’s a bit surprising that he’s arrived here on the same day as us.’
‘I was thinking about that as we put up the tent,’ I admitted. ‘But let’s face it he knew which day we were sailing on, and if he doesn’t suspect you’re out to do a little undercover work in Puerto Natales he could easily have worked out that we’d be here today at the latest. After all, it’s not the most exciting town in the world, is it?’
‘He can’t spend all his time deducing where you’ll be and when. Don’t forget that’s how he said he found you in San Pedro,’ said Robbie thoughtfully. ‘He admitted he had you followed in Bolivia. What’s to say that ever stopped?’
A shiver went through me at the thought that I’d been stalked for weeks, but I dismissed it. ‘No, he did that for my protection. Honestly, I believe him. And I think you should give yourselves credit for noticing if we’d been tailed all along.’
Carlos wasn’t out to harm me, I was sure of that. We sat in gloomy silence for a moment, then I had a brainwave.
‘Got it!’ I said triumphantly. ‘We booked the bus tickets the day before we came. He wouldn’t need to have us followed if he had a contact working for the bus company.’
The guys agreed that was quite inspired. We certainly knew that Carlos had plenty of contacts in various places.
‘So, not necessarily sinister. He really might have just wanted to join us and phoned a friend.’
Red and Robbie didn’t look relieved in the slightest, however. I started to lose patience with them.
‘Look, you don’t really believe he’s followed us to do us some harm for trying to expose him, do you?’
They didn’t answer.
‘Well, do you?’ I repeated.
‘I guess I do,’ admitted Red. ‘He’s turned up here to have a nice family Christmas. Can you buy that? And I think we’re all forgetting he said he’s got a proposition for us.’
Robbie smiled crookedly. ‘Let’s cool it and assume for now that he’s going to propose that Bliss sleeps with him rather than us. The little shit – I hope you say no. But apart from that, look at all this.’
He gestured at the tents dotting the campsite. Even as we’d been putting up our tent and talking more people had turned up, obviously with the same plan as us. Others had come down the path from the viewpoint, exclaiming how beautiful it was, and were diving into the tents that had been unoccupied when we arrived.
‘It’s going to be a pretty full house here. He might have expected to be able to threaten us in some way, but with all these people around he’s got no chance of getting away with it.’
Stubbornly, I couldn’t believe that Carlos was out to harm us. ‘He is
not
going to threaten us,’ I said fiercely. ‘I’m telling you he won’t hurt me, I know it. He – he’s fond of me.’
God, that was hard to say to the guys, because I knew how fond of me they were too. I just wanted to get them to relax rather than waiting for Carlos to pounce on me at any minute. If he was up to something we’d find out sooner or later, and not only were we three against one but frankly we were all somewhat bigger than him.
Dinner was most pleasant. As Carlos was only spending four days in the park as opposed to our eight I had no compunction in rifling through his food. He was obviously not an experienced tramper, having brought impractically heavy things such as cans of corned beef and soft things such as a hunk of truffled pate. Seeing as that was already squashed into a formless lump I decided we might as well have it as an hors d’oeuvre before the pasta with instant sauces. After one of his litre cartons of wine the sporadic conversation livened up a bit and once we started on the second carton – the guys were all for saving it for the next day but I overruled them – I found myself explaining how lucky we were at getting Michael the German as our cabin mate.
‘Obviously we wanted a bit of privacy.’ I looked Carlos straight in the eyes and, OK, I was flirting. As I said, I’m turning into a bad girl; having all three of my lovers round the metaphorical dinner table had rather turned me on.
My hint hadn’t gone unnoticed.
‘It seems a good time to discuss my proposition,’ said Carlos softly. ‘I guess you guys are a bit pissed off that I’ve turned up just as you’re going to share a few nights with Bliss. Or share Bliss for a few nights.’
‘Or share a few nights of bliss,’ I added childishly.
‘I’m sure they will be. Especially as she has been staying with me for a week, although we encountered a couple of little problems. Which she may have told you about.’
‘That’s right, mate,’ said Red aggressively. ‘She tells us everything – make no mistake about it.’
‘Yes, including how you got rid of Susie-cow,’ I said, touching Carlos’s arm. ‘Not to mention that I was a complete tosser, thinking you were going to use me as a prostitute. And that I led you on about wanting an audience.’
‘Not so loud, Bliss,’ grinned Robbie. ‘Are you pissed?’
‘Just relaxed,’ I said defensively. ‘Anyway, proposition away, Carlos.’
His eyes were on mine. ‘You told them about Susie. So they know that the only time I’ve been the spectator was unwillingly.’ His eyes moved to Robbie. ‘I want to play your part. But I want to watch both of you with Bliss. And I want her tied up.’
‘Jeez.’ Red sounded as though he was about to burst out with outraged refusals but Robbie waved his hand for silence.
‘You only want to watch? Bliss will be tied up but we’ll be free? Is that why you’ve got such a big tent?’
Carlos had nodded to the first two and laughed his assent to the last. Of course in his job he’s used to planning in advance, I thought, half amused.
‘I’ve never fucked Bliss,’ Robbie stated baldly. ‘If that’s what you want, she’s got to agree.’
‘It’s about time you did,’ I said, putting as little inflection in my voice as I could. God knows how long I’d been wanting him to! Even when we played the no limits game he’d hung back from it, and on the boat Robbie had watched from his top bunk as Red and I screwed in the other. In fairness to Red, however, I didn’t want to sound too desperate.
‘Red?’
He stirred uneasily. ‘I’m not keen. It’s one thing having your mate there, but I’m not used to performing in front of strangers. Not to mention having her tied up.’
‘That’s essential, and I don’t mean just from a selfish viewpoint,’ said Carlos. ‘I know Bliss will like it. Won’t you?’
His face was close to mine and his dark eyes hypnotised me, but not as much as his words. ‘Tied up, being screwed by your two lovers, one for the first time, with someone watching. Someone who also wants you. Watching and wanting, but not having. Don’t disappoint me by saying you’re not interested.’
Fat chance of that. ‘Maybe I’m disappointed that you’re not going to join in,’ I said archly.
‘Insatiable slut,’ said Robbie with a smile on his face, and I knew we were on. He’d started already.
‘That sounds good,’ said Carlos, his eyes narrowing. ‘I’ve heard you provide the commentary too.’
‘Why won’t you join in, Carlos?’ I asked. OK, I am an insatiable slut.
He looked thoughtfully at Red. ‘I will if you want me to – after,’ he said obliquely.
‘After what?’
‘Well, I would like a little rôle play. You’re going to be tied up. All that’s missing is an element of coercion.’
‘Oh, fuck off. I’m not going to bloody well rape her,’ said Red.
‘No,’ said Carlos quickly. ‘Just . . . let’s say she’s willing, but not enthusiastic? Let’s say the scenario is that she’s agreed to be tied up by her boyfriend but didn’t know his friend was coming round. And that . . . somehow –’ he looked at Robbie ‘– she’s talked into letting the friend join in.’