Silver Bullets (11 page)

When he exited the CitiCinemas, he turned on the cell phone and immediately the familiar cavalry charge rang out. Boss, where are you hiding? I went to Mass. You aren't out drinking this early in the day, are you? I'm practically a teetotaler, I'm an anachronism. Well, don't overdo it; listen, two things: Don't forget that on Saturday I'm going out with Rodo to celebrate his b-day, we'll probably leave the city, do you think I could take Friday afternoon off? We'll see, what's the other thing? Mariana Kelly called, she says she's ready to see you, she'll expect you tonight at her house at nine, do you want me to go along? No, you call Laura Frías and pay her a visit at home, maybe she didn't tell me everything she knows about Canizales, sniff around a bit there. What are we looking for? I don't know, they call them clues, but I really don't know what, use your head; did Mariana leave her number? Write it down. Call her, tell her I'll be there, did Ortega send anything? Oh, yes, on the front yards and backyards, and on the car and the garage; the one on the car is interesting, they found tollbooth receipts from the Culiacán–Mazatlán highway from the night he was killed, they had them in a bag they hadn't looked at, what do you think. Interesting,
I'm tempted to say Aldana didn't come to him, it was Canizales who took to the road. But he's still guilty, isn't he? Of course, we will never forgive him for what he did to us. I'm going to leave the report on your desk. And don't worry about all this, take it easy so you'll have plenty of energy for Saturday, oh, and get me a date with the mother, I'd like to hear what's behind her accusation. By the way, I went back to Social Security, Mónica Alfaro wasn't in but one of the secretaries told me that on the fatal day, before Bruno left, a young man came in, furious, and let him have it for dumping him, he threatened to kill himself. Another who thinks he couldn't live without him, what is wrong with these people? Why do they think they're indispensable? Find out where he lives and tomorrow we'll pay him a visit, for now go see Laura. And don't you start carousing. The way the world is going soon we'll all be Chinese, so we'd better run wild while we still can; oh, call Rodríguez's office, ask the watchman how late the boss was there Thursday night. Okay, give me a call if you need me; here's a tip, six months ago Mariana Kelly took a target shooting course in Phoenix.

After a few minutes, the cell phone rang again. The detective was still in the movie-theater parking lot mulling over
Capote;
the topic of homosexual relations invariably evoked unwanted memories, Bardominos dressed in white, his shirt buttoned right to the top button. Mendieta. Can I see you? Of course, is there something new? I want to pressure you to find whoever killed Bruno. What do you have in mind? Maybe a massage called “It'll Hurt”? I'll pass. The bottom line is we don't want our friend's murder to go unpunished. Tell the people who asked you to lean on me that we are doing the impossible and that we're making good progress. And suppose I tell you it was my idea? You'd be lying and putting your good name at risk, what I do agree is that we ought to meet up, I'd like you to tell me more
about Canizales's relationship with Samantha Valdés, how about we have breakfast tomorrow at nine. Where? At the Miró, you can have another salad. And you another disgusting sandwich, could we make it at eleven?

They were smiling when they said good-bye. The detective thought it was time to learn something about the parents beyond the official story.

The lighting where Mariana Kelly lived was soft. He parked in the street and took the elevator to the third floor. Forest fragrance. Goga Fox opened the door, and he almost peed his pants. He had fallen into a trap, should he draw his gun? Scream as loud as he could? Call for reinforcements? Nope, any attempt would be useless.

Thirteen months before.

At a party in Altata, invited by Omar Briseño, who had just been promoted, he saw her for the first time. Gorgeous, like the first night with the love of your life. Tall, delicate and sensual features, platinum blond hair cut very short. She was chatting with the other wives while the men talked business, politics, soccer. She must be married to one of these yokels, he thought, and he felt nervous just looking at her. She listened attentively to her companions, encouraged them with a playful smile or a cautious nod. On the fourth whiskey Mendieta went out to the beachfront where two large boats were moored and over to the beach lit subtly by a spotlight spattered with sand and more by the full moon. The night sea is a remote past, he thought, inscrutable but in motion, filled with Portuguese sailors led by Ferdinand Magellan going around the day in eighty worlds. The sea is a good place to be a man and not die in the attempt.

Sorry, I must have made a mistake, he muttered, his heart leaping into his dry mouth. Edgar Mendieta, aren't you going to
say hello? He wanted to kiss her, strip off her clothes, make love to her right then and there the way the inventor of sliding doors must have imagined; to watch once again her lean body making its way toward the bathroom with that unbelievable killer stride; she had the strange habit of washing herself immediately after sex and thus that palm-leaf sashay. What a surprise, he kissed her on the right cheek. In Europe they kiss both and people get upset when you kiss only one, she brought her face near, he obeyed. The same perfume. The red skirt, the white blouse with the persimmon print. Memories bouncing on a Ping-Pong table. The aroma, the smile, her eyes all made his head spin; that particular fragrance, made from rose essence and what was the other ingredient? He felt it in his stomach.

Either you're sad or you're a poet. Under the moon on the beach he did not know whether to look at her resplendent hair or her smile. Why not a sculptor? You look calmer than the others, shall we go for a stroll? Back in those days, thanks to Dr. Parra, he had his anxieties completely under control. My name is Edgar Mendieta and I am about to turn into a werewolf. Georgina Fox, they call me Goga, what should I do so you won't attack me? Speak nicely. I see, you are one of those guys who think having a woman at his side makes the world turn. Mendieta was not one of those. On the contrary, I think that if women ruled the world everything would be chaos. Even more than it is already, I don't think so. Have you ever drunk Goga-Cola? No, does such a thing exist? It's a thick clear drink, comes in sweet or sour. Where do they sell it, I've got to try it. I'll let you know, he wanted to tell her that she smelled fabulous, but he did not dare, what happens when you compliment a woman's perfume? He did not know.

He was about to repeat that he had made a mistake, but behind Goga he saw Samantha Valdés and Mariana Kelly,
looking mischievous: Hello, Commander, how goes the heroic life? Are you an anonymous hero or an eponymous one? Good evening. Mariana's smile was cold and there were deep circles under her eyes. No matter how much of a bastard you are you can't complain about this reception, right, Detective? Samantha fixed him with a glare, they were on their way out; behind Goga, Luigi wagged his tail. Dear, we have errands to do, a couple of guys to kill with silver bullets, and certainly you two would like to continue catching up, so if you know how to count, don't count on us, oh, and the dog is well trained, as soon as he sees two people kiss, he disappears. Then they left them there, at the door, did he feel like bawling them out? It did not even cross his mind. Was he going to stop them before they got on the elevator? Not that either. Should he go away and have a few drinks to clear his mind? Dear God, what labyrinths you spin for your children. Every human chews his pencils. He stood there watching them move off, and then he turned toward Goga, who was making way for him with a flourish.

A week after that first encounter, his mouth dry and his heart pounding, he was waiting in the parking lot of Ley Tres Ríos supermarket at 9:20 as they had agreed. He saw her get out of an Audi A6, give her shopping list to a kid in a black beret, and walk toward the white Jetta: white print blouse, red skirt with flounces: a stupendous sign.

I had no idea you knew each other. Since we were girls, when we were all classmates at Monfe. Have they been lovers since then? You cut right to the chase, I guess you aren't losing your touch as a detective, she put ice in two glasses and served whiskey, the answer is yes; Mariana was always sure, Samantha less so, that's why she got married and had, as she says, that awful experience with her husband; but they never stopped being together and they still are, to your health, because you look the
same. To yours, he was going to say, because he found her even lovelier, but he had not yet recovered. Luigi, beside the easy chair, looked at them expectantly.

She did not want to go to a motel, but since he had no friends who could lend them a house, they ended up in one. They opened the door and welcomed each other with kisses: kisses that made their eyelids, their skin, their pubic hair stand on end, that hid their commitments, their dreams, that stripped them of their clothes, their future, their intelligence. Firm, perfumed body, precise breasts, and her way of being revealed. Everything that orgasms, half-open lips, and closed eyes give away. She got up and headed toward the bathroom, and for the first time he saw that magnificent behind on the way to being washed.

Goga gave him a velvet kiss, but he remained cold, untamed, disconcerted. He saw Parra's beard giving him advice and a dark room. Deep down he hoped to keep his distance, felt he had suffered too much, as if he had never read
Love in the Time of Cholera
. They sat down together across from the dog.

I can see you're still mad at me, she said looking him in the eye. Mendieta looked at his hands and swirled his glass; he knew he was weak, lacking the right words to express his confusion. When did you get back? The detective sipped his drink, his heart galloping. Monday night, black suits you, I've told you that before, haven't I? He nodded. When your thoughts are racing you never know which one to utter, he wanted to tell her that he understood the message of her attire, but he remained tongue-tied. I understand, she said, and she tossed back her drink in one swallow.

For four months they had seen each other once a week. He was happy. For the first time in many years he had managed to clear out the cobwebs, she reveled in him. One day she went
away. He went up and down her street, staked out her empty house, became a regular at the Miró, and even the kid with the black beret was witness to his distress. The worst: One night Bardominos came back stronger than ever, and he went back to Parra. I hope you agree I'm in a desperate plight. He was so deeply hung up on her that he believed enduring it without looking for her was a heroic stance. It turned out her husband had become a producer in Hollywood and they were living in Los Angeles; it was a true feat to keep from buying an all-inclusive and zipping off to find her.

I live in Santa Monica, she served herself another drink, I'll be here for two weeks and now we have the night before us, the girls will sleep at Samantha's house, any proposal no matter how improper will be accepted, she made herself comfortable on the sofa revealing 87 percent of her legs. My werewolf. Mendieta saw his world was crumbling. The ancients were right, the world is flat and it ends in a great waterfall, what was that song she used to sing? What I would have given for this to have happened six months ago. “I have witnesses: a dog, the dawn, the cold,” it's too late, he thought, he was not a womanizer, he stood up, terrified: I'm leaving, it's been a pleasure seeing you, truly, he paused, I can't stay, I can't go against my convictions. Edgar, you have no reason to leave, we're mature adults, capable of being ourselves in any context, of seeing our relationship clearly, but he was not listening, did not want to, could not, he left his glass on a sideboard, opened the door, and went down the stairs without seeing that Luigi would not stop wagging his tail.

He went to the bar in the Hotel Lucerna, where he drank and cried like a man alongside a bunch of inflamed soccer fans watching the Mexican side go down to the United States on penalties.

Well, yeah, no way, no nothing.

Twelve midnight. Copper, is that you? Who else? Christina Aguilera, for example, who is about to give birth to my child. Oh. Are you drunk, copper? How could you think that, what's on your mind? When I woke up today I suffered an attack of decency, it got worse all day, and right now I can't hold out any longer, I want to be of service to society. You don't say. Don't ask. Did you call the Humane Society? I tried to tell them, but they sent me to you, to Lefty Mendieta, the flashiest badge in town. Do you want to confess? The fact is you're tripping over your tongue, copper my man, is something wrong? Nothing, I'm listening. Let's see you do a DUI step. Come on, spill it, why are you calling me so late? The night they killed the enemy I was near his house and maybe I heard a gunshot and saw who did it, do you hear me? Go on. I blew you away, don't try to fake it, why did you get drunk? A woman. Same as me, but I got over it and I advise you to do the same, would you like a snort or are you just a romantic copper loyal to your weed? Don't you know I could lock you away for fifteen years for hiding information and seven more for drug addiction? Don't you know my father would spring me in seven minutes on either charge? Who's he? A maiden fair with
scraggly hair, you look into it, copper my man, you're deep into your cups for some reason, did your babe die too? Practically. That is hell itself, ain't it, copper, in my bitch of a life I never felt so shitty, that's why I want you to make the arrest so you'll get named copper of the month and they'll give you a check so you'll never lack for your nose candy or your lager and you'll be able to bear your sorrows. That's up to you. I'm not going to tell you over the telephone, there might be a little bird on the line, I'll only say that the day they cooked the stew I saw the queen at home, it would have been 3:30 in the morning, I climbed aboard my little bike and off I went, you can imagine where I was headed, I staked out the house of the enemy, but he never showed, what I did see is going to cost you a pretty penny, how about half the check they're going to give you? That sounds fair. You tell me where to meet you, oh, and let's do it tomorrow because right now I'm reading, do you know what my babe left me as inheritance? A book. And you think that woman loved you? Anyone who gets you reading hates you from the depths of her being. Shut your trap, copper, shut it. Did you see the murderer go in or come out? What's with you, copper, my man, don't get pushy, tomorrow I'll spill the beans, but let's make it in the afternoon because in the morning I'm going to be busy being decent. You don't say. Don't ask, as you like to say. Why not now? Because it's time for something else, something sweeter and nicer. At six in the Miró. Make it seven at Las Ventanas, death to the bad guys.