“What do you think?” Cara asked.
“I think it’s perfect. It matches your outfit and suits your coloring.”
Cara studied Lucie for a moment, then reached up, pulled down an identical hat and placed it on Lucie’s head. “There. It’s perfect for you, too.”
They both laughed as Cara turned to the vendor and asked the price. When he quoted the amount, not outrageously expensive, but apparently more than Cara thought they were worth, she began haggling with the vendor. Lucie grinned as she tried to keep up with the conversation taking place in a mixture of Spanish and English. Finally Cara and the vendor agreed on a price.
The afternoon passed quickly while they explored the market, and by early evening they both carried large cloth sacks filled with a variety of purchases, everything from silver bracelets to heavily embroidered white blouses.
“I’m starving,” Cara said. “Didn’t we pass a couple of restaurants about fifteen minutes ago, just before the pottery display?”
“El Recoveco looked like a nice place,” Lucie said. “I think there was a buffet on the patio.”
“Perfect, but first I need to make a stop at the ladies’ room. What about you?”
“Yes, definitely,” Lucie replied.
“I imagine Jason could use a short break, too.”
“El Recoveco was an indoor-outdoor restaurant, with a buffet meal served on the patio, but they probably have an order-from-the-menu three-course dinner available inside.”
“I vote to eat inside where it’s cool.”
“Sounds good to me,” Lucie said.
Jason followed them as they backtracked through the market until they reached the restaurant. Using her wireless communication device, Lucie contacted Jason to explain that she and Cara were going to the restroom, so he should take this opportunity for a break.
“I’ll be waiting for you outside the restrooms,” Jason said.
After ordering drinks and putting their names on a short wait list, Cara and Lucie asked about the restroom and were given directions. The men’s was on the left side and the women’s on the right, both marked with cute primitive drawings, one of a man and the other of a woman. The poorly lit interior of the restroom was like a stucco cave, the walls painted a cinnamon-red, the two stalls a dark green, and the ceiling a mustard-yellow. There was an out-of-order sign nailed to one of the stall doors.
“You go first,” Lucie said, as she removed her sunglasses and hung them on the elastic neckline of her blouse.
“No, go ahead.” Cara removed her hat, fanned herself and then shoved her sunglasses up on top of her head. Then she put her heavy bags on the floor, laid her hat on top of the bags and removed her cell phone from her purse. “I should call Suelita and let her know not to expect us for dinner. I’ve been having so much fun that I forgot about our host and hostess.”
Lucie placed her shopping bags on the floor beside Cara’s, but she carried her purse with her as she shoved open the door of the in-working-order stall. “Don’t leave the restroom.”
“I won’t,” Cara said, then Lucie heard her begin a conversation with Senora Delgado, explaining where they were and what they were doing.
HECTOR AND PEPE entered the men’s restroom directly behind Cara Bedell’s bodyguard, the man who had done a good job of stalking his employer without being obvious about it. They each smiled and spoke to the American as they approached the urinals. After he finished and washed his hands, Pepe walked out of the restroom a couple of minutes ahead of his companion, just as they had planned. Their instructions had been clear. They had to do the job today.
Pepe lay in wait for the bodyguard. When he saw the man exiting the restroom, he went over to him, keeping his broad, toothy smile in place.
He tapped his naked wrist. “I do not have a watch. Do you know what time it is? My wife will be angry if I’m late.”
Although it was obvious that the man was uncomfortable with Pepe’s friendliness and probably suspected him of being up to no good, he didn’t immediately reach for his concealed weapon. While Pepe tried to distract the bodyguard, Hector came out of the restroom, moved in behind the man with silent precision and before he could react, Hector drove his knife into the man’s back, puncturing a kidney. Pepe grabbed the man as he slumped forward, holding his body upright. Hector assisted Pepe and together they dragged the dying man out into the alley behind the restaurant.
Chapter Six
LUCIE CAME OUT of the bathroom stall and went straight to the single decorative sink to wash her hands. When she turned on the faucet, she discovered there was no warm water, so she hurried through the process. At least there was a stack of paper towels on the tiled shelf above the sink.
“I spoke to Suelita to let her know not to wait dinner for us.” Cara hung the strap of her small leather bag over Lucie’s shoulder. “Keep that for me, will you?” Then she disappeared into the stall.
Lucie checked her makeup in the mirror and decided that since they were going to eat soon there was no point in applying lipstick until later. Just as she readjusted her straw hat and removed her sunglasses from where she’d hooked them on her blouse, she heard the bathroom door squeak open. In her peripheral vision, she noticed a dark figure, and then suddenly realized a man had entered the ladies’ room. Immediately sensing danger, she reached down for the Glock in her shoulder bag, but before she could reach it, the man wearing a fake beard and mustache lifted his foot and knocked her hand away from the purse. Pain shot through her hand and up her arm, but she jumped back, hurriedly assessed the situation—one man, no visible weapon—and prepared to defend herself.
“Do not fight me, Senorita Bedell,” the man said, in heavily accented English. “I do not wish to hurt you.”
“What’s going on out there?” Cara called from inside the stall.
“Stay where you are, Lucie,” Lucie said to Cara, realizing that this man believed she was Cara Bedell. “Don’t come out. Please, stay there. Do you hear me? Stay where you are. That’s an order.”
“You do not wish your bodyguard killed,” he said. “That is good. You will cooperate, yes?”
The door opened again and another man, also wearing a fake beard and mustache and with a 9mm pistol pointed directly at Lucie, entered the room. He spoke rapidly to the other man in Spanish. Lucie wasn’t able to make out everything he said, but she got the gist of it. They were going to kidnap Cara and kill her bodyguard. Only they thought Lucie was Cara and vice versa.
Damn, where was Jason? He was supposed to be waiting outside for them. If she hadn’t been confident that he was watching their back, she wouldn’t have been caught off guard this way.
“Wait,” Lucie said, speaking directly to the two men. “Don’t harm my bodyguard and I’ll go with you without putting up a fight. Both of us will cooperate.” Lucie glanced toward the stall door, which was easing open. God, she had to stop Cara. As long as these men thought she was their target and Cara stayed put, they both had a chance of coming out of this alive. “No, Lucie, please stay there and don’t come out. Do as I say. I’m bargaining with these men for our lives.”
“Uh…all right…Ms. Bedell,” Cara said, her voice trembling.
Thank God, Cara had realized these men had mistaken Lucie for Cara.
The unarmed man grabbed Lucie, yanked Cara’s shoulder bag down her arm and then tossed it on the floor. It took all her willpower not to fight him. If Cara’s life wasn’t on the line, she wouldn’t hesitate to defend herself.
“You understand Spanish, senorita? I must remember that.” He tugged on her arm. “Come with me.” He glanced at the closed stall door. “Please stay there and do not try to follow us. If you