Artifact

Artifact Page 12

"We're hanging out in the wrong places, Terris. Let's go get dirty."

McKendry grunted in agreement. He didn't need to comment further; he and Keene had been working together long enough that they often seemed to read each other's mind. For that reason, they had hardly spoken about Arthur's death. Each knew how much the other would miss him, but since no amount of talk would bring their friend back, they mourned him in silence. Having lost friends before, McKendry understood his own process. For him, acceptance would come slowly, but come it would, ultimately turning the open wound of loss into one more scar on the body of his life.

"The sooner we get out of Caracas, the better." Keene slurped the last of hismichelada, a concoction of lime juice, beer, ice cubes, and salt. He had taken a great liking to the drink, which he compared to acerveza margarita . "We need to start sniffing around the oil operations. I'm betting Selene's moved from Maracaibo and is headed east to focus on Frikkie's operations near the Orinoco Delta."

McKendry knew that at any other time, Joshua Keene would have enjoyed hanging out in nightclub after nightclub, where the dancers were topless and the salsa music too loud. Not now. "You just want to get into the jungle," McKendry said.

"And you don't?"

McKendry gave a small, unintelligible response which seemed to satisfy his partner. In any event, Keene was right about Caracas. Someone like Selene was unlikely to be here by choice. Besides, at this moment in their lives, the city was far too civilized a place for the two of them. Yes, it was magnificent, the jewel of Venezuela, but a postcard would have sufficed. Shining buildings and upscale restaurants, sidewalk cafes with bright yellow awnings, lavish marble-and-brass hotels and wild nightlife never had been his idea of a good time.

Still, McKendry thought, the search for Paul Trujold's daughter needed to start somewhere. This had seemed to be as good a place as any. He hadn't actually expected to find her here - Frikkie's information said that Green Impact worked primarily in the western oil fields of the Maracaibo Basin -  but this was where he had contacts in Venezuela. He knew people who could potentially lead them to Green Impact, or lead them to someone who could lead them to someone....

People like Rodolfo. The Spanish action-film star, one of McKendry's former employers, was very popular in South and Central America, though his career had gone nowhere in the United States. He had hired McKendry as a bodyguard and tough guy, a brawny piece of furniture to hover behind him every time he went out, even when they went where nobody knew who Rodolfo was.

The work had been a profitable and not unpleasant contract job. The star was less obnoxious than several full-of-themselves celebrities McKendry had guarded in the past. But when the six-month contract came up for renewal, he politely declined further service and moved on to another freelance assignment. He preferred to provide real protection rather than testosterone-filled eye candy.

When the two Daredevils were arranging to fly down to Venezuela and begin their search for Selene, McKendry had called the action star and asked what connections he might have, what help he could offer.

Rodolfo seemed delighted to hear from him and offered to do what he could. At Simon Bolivar International Airport, in glistening tropical sunshine, the star had welcomed them both with all the enthusiasm of a long-lost Italian uncle. During their first few nights in Caracas, the grinning and too- tanned film star showered them with free champagne and front-row tickets to all the hottest nightclub shows. He took them to dinner at Tambo, Il Cielo, and other jet-set favorites, and provided them with a spacious suite in the Eurobuilding Hotel, far from the outlying shanties and slums and the lush jungle- covered mountains that rode high on the horizon; they were further yet from the political, economic, and natural disasters that inevitably piled one upon the other in various parts of the South American continent.

McKendry played along for five days, asking questions and enduring the pampered treatment. Five long days; five noisy nights in nightclubs. They had been seen by all the local celebrities, by important political people in Caracas, by hotel managers and casino owners. Rodolfo was doing his best and glorying in the doing of it.

For a different assignment, perhaps, McKendry might have been able to use these new connections he had made, to pull strings and apply leverage. But not this time. No self-respecting member of Green Impact would ever hobnob with such people.

"We're getting nowhere," Keene shouted across at McKendry. He pounded on the table, signaling the nearest waitress for another michelada; so far, they had experienced no difficulty meeting the nightclub's expensive minimum-consumption requirement.

The music picked up tempo. Several topless showgirls jiggled coffee brown breasts as they danced past the table en route to the small central area cleared for occasional performances. "Nice," McKendry said. "Very nice."

Keene ran his fingers through his curly hair. He smiled appreciatively but said nothing. When his fresh michelada arrived, he slurped salt from the edge, tasted it with an extravagant flourish, and handed the waitress a large tip.

The dance number finished with a brassy finale followed by a shower of applause from well-dressed Venezuelan businessmen and their various foreign guests.

"If Selene Trujold is an ecoterrorist, self-proclaimed or otherwise, she wouldn't be caught dead in Caracas," Keene said. "She wouldn't let any of these bozos so much as buy her a drink."

McKendry drained his too-sweet drink and stood up. "Get a good night's sleep. We'll check out tomorrow."

"Not quite yet." Keene made a motion with his hand and forearm, parrying with it as if it were a sword. "Zorro the Gay Blade approaches."

McKendry turned toward the door. He really does look like George Hamilton playing Zorro, he thought, watching Rodolfo weave his way through the crowd.

"So soon you leave me?" The star arrived with his latest accessory. "But I have just found a wonderful man for you to meet. Quite a coincidence. I have brought him over here to you."

A stranger accompanied Rodolfo, a small, wiry man with quick eyes and a feral smile. His mode of dress, not glamorous but prosperous, made it clear that he was in the Venezuelan government, and well placed at that. More important, as far as McKendry was concerned, the man's furtive glances and calculating stare showed him to be in a security field - police, military, or something even more useful.

"Don't think of it as leaving you, Rodolfo." Keene rolled ther and lengthened the vowels. "Think of us as lost sheep and know we'll find our way home."

McKendry stifled a laugh and thought, not for the first time, that his partner should have been in movies.

Keene went on, "But who is your friend here? We haven't had the pleasure." He thrust his hand toward the official.

Rodolfo responded as the perfect host. "Ah, my manners. Terris, Joshua, this is Juan Ortega de la Vega Bruzual,ministro de la seguridad . Juan, these are my friends whom I told you about."

Senor Bruzual's lips twisted up on one side of his face. "My pleasure," he said, shaking first Keene's hand, then McKendry's.

Music blared from the sound system as more scantily clad dancers rushed onto the stage behind them. Keene leaned in and shouted, "We can't hear ourselves think here. Why don't you join us in our suite for a nightcap?"

McKendry considered that a very good idea, now that Rodolfo had finally brought in someone who might have information for them, or at least suggestions on how to proceed. He noticed that Rodolfo seemed very pleased at Keene's offer and motioned his muscle man to clear them a path out of the nightclub, but Juan Ortega touched the star's arm and gestured back toward the table where he had been sitting. "But my own guests, Rodolfo. I can't simply desert them." The minister looked genuinely stricken, then brightened. "Perhaps...I hate to impose, my friend, but could you entertain them until I return?"

Well maneuvered, McKendry thought, nodding good night to his former employer, who bravely went to join Senor Bruzual's guests.

The ride up in the glass-enclosed elevator was fast and filled with chitchat between Keene and Senor Bruzual. McKendry, lacking their obvious gift for inane chatter, kept silent.

When they reached the suite, one floor below the top of the towering hotel, the minister got right down to business. While Joshua poured drinks, Bruzual said, "I can tell that you are not men of leisure, that you would prefer to be direct. I have heard of your interest in Green Impact. Why do you seek this terrorist group?"

"We're actually only interested in one of their members, Selene Trujold." McKendry took a scotch and water from Keene. No reason to beat around the bush. Bruzual had been apprised of their search.

"Well," the Venezuelan said, sipping his own drink, "Selene Trujold is not just a member of Green Impact, she is the leader."

McKendry didn't want to get sidetracked. "That complicates things a bit. I suppose now you're going to tell us that Green Impact is no longer operating from the Maracaibo Basin."

Bruzual's lip twitched up into his crooked smile, but instead of answering, he asked, "Why do you seek Senorita Trujold?" He sipped his own scotch, obviously savoring it. During the headiest days of the oil boom, Venezuelans had consumed the highest per-capita amount of fine scotch in the world, and their taste for it had not declined despite higher tariffs and import restrictions.

McKendry nodded to Keene, who said, "We're working with Oilstar. She may have information about a sensitive...item stolen from Oilstar's labs. We're here to recover it."

The security minister nodded. "I have had a task force keeping an eye on Green Impact's troublesome activities for many years. For the most part, their terrorism has amounted to nothing more than an annoyance. However, two months ago their former leader was found shot along with several security guards at the site of an attempted sabotage in Cabimas. None of the guards had fired their weapons.

"A week later, we received reports of sabotage campaigns in the east led by a woman. Our information shows that Green Impact has gone at least as far as Maturin, and it is said they have an encampment in the Delta Amacuro."

Keene looked at McKendry. "Just like Frik thought. Not far from Oilstar's operations between Trinidad and the Venezuelan coast."

"That is all I can give you." Bruzual downed his scotch and stood up. "It's been a pleasure, gentlemen."

McKendry stood and extended his right hand. "Thank you, Senor Bruzual. We will return the favor."

"Just bring me Selene Trujold's head. One of those dead guards was my nephew."

As the door closed behind the Venezuelan, Keene grinned. "You pack," he said. "I'll see about getting us a ride. Should I bring an Enya CD for mood music?Orinoco Flow , maybe?"

"Very funny." McKendry grimaced at Keene, pulled out his suitcase, and started to pack. His friend was well aware that Terris had turned down a lucrative assignment with the New Age star because he couldn't stand to listen to her music.

Keene chuckled. "I didn't think so," he said, and picked up the phone.