Too Many Cooks

Chapter 8

Darcy locked his room and wandered down the hall to the elevators. The couple standing waiting looked like they were about to jump one another. The woman reminded him of Elora George, with her brown skin and soft hairstyle. The man was probably Argentinean and had great handfuls of her plump bum. Darcy stood to one side and gave a half smile when the woman turned and looked at him.

They both did a bit of a take but the elevator arrived and the couple went to the rear while he stayed at the front facing forward. In the lobby he stepped to one side and let them pass, admiring wistfully the long legged stride and the sensuous hip swing of the woman. He sighed and made his way to the hotel coffee shop. Dinner would be whatever he could get for his budgeted eight dollars.

He found an empty booth, hung his hat on the rod beside the seat and slid in with a contented sigh, picked up the menu and began his hunt for the most for the least. At the counter he saw the back of a man hunched over a coffee and beside him on the floor was a briefcase. Darcy felt a chill as he stared at the man's back. There was something eerily familiar about the man. He moved around in the booth trying to see past the profile but couldn't. A waitress came and wiped the table, showering his lap with old toast crumbs.

"What are you having, senor?"

"Uh- I think I'll have the uh- the Pancho Villa burger and a coffee please."

"That ees eet?"

"Uh yes it is."

She sucked her teeth and ambled away, yelling something in Spanish through the serving hole to the kitchen. The man at the counter turned and looked at Darcy, smiling about the waitress's remark and Darcy froze. He shifted back in the booth as the man turned back. It was Graeme-Hughes! He recognized him from Hoyte's research. What was he doing here, in this excuse for a diner?

Darcy couldn't believe that if Graeme-Hughes had the money from the trust that he would be within a hundred miles of the airport coffee shop. Something fishy going on, Darcy, he cautioned himself. The waitress slopped back to his booth and dropped the plate with the Pancho Villa burger, a meal the size of a doorknob with three French fries and some kind of grass as a garnish. The condiment tray held more food than the burger. Darcy asked again for coffee and received a snarling reminder that she only had two hands.

*****

Terry hailed a taxi after clearing the airport security and customs and asked for the, Hotel Sol de Mayo. The ancient cab tore away in a bone rattling burst of speed and headed east into the city of Buenos Aires. His reservation had been arranged and his first appointment with the la Librería de Argentine was at nine-thirty the next morning. He would have the entire evening to dine and do a little exploring. He thought about the past weeks, about Wilfred and Jeantrine and the partners at JGD&S and particularly about Walter Jaeger. A trace of guilt lay on his tongue like the taste from a piece of metal, a taste he tried to hide with a breath mint. He hoped never to see something like that again.

The cab pulled into the forecourt of a wonderfully old Spanish styled hotel consisting of only three floors. Large palms gathered in clusters at the corners and around the grand entrance, which was a white stucco-ed archway with glossy terra cotta tile steps and foyer. Terry looked across the drive and down the hill he could see the lights from the many luxurious residences, financial and commercial businesses that clustered in the semicircle around the original settlement, the Plaza de Mayo. The excitement grew and he hurried after the driver who was lugging his bags to the front desk.

Terry paid and waved him off and then accepted the greeting from the charming young woman who took his reservation slip and rang the bell for a boy to take him to his room. The second floor room was small but comfortable with a tiny balcony that faced to the east. He was delighted and showed it with a generous tip to the bellboy who offered his services for any special needs Terry might have. Terry thanked him and locked the door behind him.