Take the Money: Romantic Suspense in Costa Rica (14 page)

“You’ll make it OK.  The water’s shallow and it cools you off.  But if you’re scared, just wait around until we leave and we’ll walk you back.”

Even though they were the only customers remaining, Julie had the feeling the place would stay open as long as there was a single patron.  Her eyelids felt as if they were weighted with lead; rum and low barometric pressure were combining to produce an overpowering lethargy. In a remote corner of her brain, an alarm went off and she forced herself to her feet. “I’m leaving,” she said.  “See you all tomorrow.”

A thicket of low hanging trees and shrubs were visible in the moonlight, but the path she’d taken to enter the restaurant was shrouded in darkness.”Don’t go now,” the Canadian said. “The party’s just getting good. I’m ordering another round of drinks.”

Julie raised her hand in protest “Not for me, I’m going to find my way back home before it gets too late and I’ve had too much rum.”

“Better take off your shoes,” the wife said.

After Julie had walked out to the porch, she understood she’d received good advice.  The ocean covered the steps she’d taken just a few hours before, but the fresh sea air had cleared her head; walking home up to her knees in warm salt water seemed like a lark.

It was slow going as she waded in the moonlight toward her hotel.  The only sounds were the sloshing of water and the whisper of wind in the trees. A few owls cried out, but all seemed quiet until Julie heard something like a tree branch cracking a few feet away. Her heart thumped. Was something out there?  She tried to hurry, but the ocean dragged her down.  It was impossible to go fast.  How much money was in her coin purse and would it satisfy a thief?  Would they only want money?  She listened harder, hoping it was just her imagination, when a tall shadow loomed behind her.  She opened her mouth to scream and felt a hand at her waist.

“Julie.  I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Julie spun around and found herself face to face with David.  “What are you doing here?” she cried out.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get away any sooner.  I had to meet a late flight.”  He moved closer, his nicotine breath wafting under her nostrils.

“I don’t understand?  Did you think I wanted to see you tonight?”

“Yes”

“But why?”

“Because of that first night in San Jose.  When you got off the van.  You gave me such a large tip.”

“Large tip?”  Julie tried to remember.  She’d had a bunch of bills, and been too tired and nervous to look at them closely.  “How much did I give you?”

“About forty dollars.”

“Omigod.”

David moved closer and lay a hand on her shoulder. “I shouldn’t have taken the money.  I don’t usually do that sort of thing.  I thought I could make it up to you later, buy you a nice dinner or something.”

Julie’s hands were trembling and she looked around, hoping her Canadian friends would have decided to leave, after all.  This guy was a stalker. She moved away from his touch. “David,” she said.  “This is crazy, it was a mistake.  I didn’t actually mean to give you such a large tip.  I thought I was giving you a bunch of ones.”

“But why did you come here all alone? When you went in the casino, I was sure you were looking for companionship. And you let me accompany you to the mall.”

“And I said goodbye at the bottom of the escalator.  I told you not to wait for me.”

“You said you had some personal business, I didn’t want to embarrass you.”

He’d thought she was being coy, playing hard to get.  Or worse, that she was on the prowl for a man.  “Tell me something.  You knew I caught a plane yesterday didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did.”

My God, was it that easy for someone to follow her?  “How did you know?”

“My cousin, he works at the place you were staying.  He saw you leave for the airport.”

“And the tour company just let you come up here?”

“Sure. I told them about us, they understood.”

“Us?  What is there to tell?”

“We might fall in love.”

“Why would you want to fall in love with me?  A tourist from the States?  I’m too old for you, anyway.”

“ I’ve always wanted to go to the States.  You could take me back there with you.”

“David, this is a terrible mistake.”  Julie turned away from him and headed back toward the hotel, trying not to let him see she was afraid. “You were very kind to me. I appreciated your showing me the way to the mall.  But you misunderstood everything.”

“There is no hope?  You aren’t interested in me?”

“Look, I find it hard to believe that it’s me that you find so attractive.  There are many beautiful girls your own age.  I have the feeling you think you’d be happier in the US.  But it’s not as great as you think.”

“But everyone has two cars and a house.”

They had been walking slowly in the water and were now at her hotel. 

“Come in,” she said.  “Sit down in the lobby and dry off.  Both of us are drenched.”

“No!”  Julie was surprised at the loudness of his voice.  His moist face was flushed above the dark blue veins in his neck.  “There is nothing whatsoever to discuss.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you and I certainly didn’t say anything to encourage your interest.”  Julie moved quickly into the small lobby where a few hotel guests were watching television.  It was frightening to see how agitated David had become.

“I won’t annoy you again,” he said stubbornly, then turned toward the door.

“Don’t go that way,” she said. “The tide is still coming in.  Look, you can go out the front door and up the steps to the road.” 

Ignoring her plea, David disappeared into the darkness. She watched as he walked into the water, his silhouette starkly outlined against the horizon until finally he disappeared from sight.  Still shaken, she stood in the open-air lobby for awhile looking out across the sea. 

The warm air smelled of salt and sand and tropical flowers, but the tranquil scene did nothing to lift her spirits. The rum had begun to wear off, leaving her with a letdown of depression and worry.  She’d felt so safe this morning, but it was unsettling to know she had been so easily followed.  Was David the only one who knew where she was?  She turned and went upstairs to bed, resolving to call Nellie in the morning.  If the coast was clear, she was going back to San Jose.  She had some shopping to do.

That night Julie slept fitfully, dreaming of a tiny delicate baby with Indian features and improbable pale blonde hair.  Dr. Rojas was at the clinic, surrounded by nubile young girls and haggard women, old before their time.  Everyone was barefoot. They were sick and hungry.  She was trying to help, but there was nothing she could do.

She awakened in the morning to the muffled sounds of men’s voices that seemed to be coming from the beach.  What could be causing excitement in such a slow, sleepy village? She threw open the shutters and looked out over the ocean. The sun was still lighting up the sky, and a handful of men stood over the inert form of a man who lay on the beach.

Julie grew numb with fright.  The head was narrow, the black curly hair cropped short.  The men were shaking him, trying to arouse him from slumber. Finally, they turned him over, exposing David’s swollen face

Julie threw on her clothes and flew down the stairs, her bare feet pounding the cement steps.  It couldn’t be.  Not again. 

Gulping air, she ran across the garden past a squawking parrot and found an opening in the hibiscus hedge that bordered the hotel. Fishnets were scattered on the sand near a small wooden boat where a black-haired man knelt beside the body while three others looked on.

One of the men looked up as she approached, and she knew by the morbid expression in his sad droopy eyes that he had just made a grim discovery.

“ What has happened?”

“Don’t come any closer
, Senorita
. This is a terrible thing to see.”  The fisherman moved toward her with upturned palms, vigorously shaking his head back and forth. 

“What’s terrible?”

“A man has drowned. Undertow.  Very dangerous in this area.  He went out too far, he should have known better.” 

“Are you sure?”  Julie felt her body swaying.

The men lifted their heads in unison, their eyes darkened with pity. She scanned David’s bloated face for signs of some other trauma and examined his pale body for bruises or wounds.  But his chest was smooth and unblemished, with just a few tendrils of black hair circling the dark aureole of his nipples.  The whites of his eyes stared back at her, unseeing, above unmoving blue lips.

“Is he your friend?  Do you know him?”  Their voices deepened in sympathy, and they moved closer as if they thought she might faint.

Her face felt stiff.  She steadied herself against the trunk of a palm tree, barely able to speak.  “I don’t know him at all, except that he drives the van for the tour company.”

“Well, then
, Senorita
, best you go back to your hotel.  This is not a pleasant sight.”

Julie closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands, trying to block the guilty thoughts whirling through her head like a tropical storm.   Another death so soon. For the thousandth time she envisioned Kevin's crumpled body against the rich smooth leather seat of his new Porsche.  Why hadn’t she realized what would happen?   Could she have gotten him out before the explosion?  What bad karma was coming down?  Had she been cruel and insensitive to a naïve young man with good intentions?  If she had been kinder, David wouldn’t have walked back out into the water. 

Julie turned away and broke into a run, past the hotels and restaurants, finally coming to rest on a pile of black rocks jutting out across the water.  She sat panting for air, sweat oozing from every pore in her body as she stared out at the beautiful sea that had so easily swallowed David’s young life. The surf pounded against the back of her head like a marching band, urging her back to the hotel.

She called Nellie as soon as she was in her room.  “What’s new?” she asked. “Has anyone from Lewiston been back?”

Nellie hesitated. “I heard there was some Hispanic guy in here looking for you a couple of days ago.”

“I didn’t know any Hispanics in Lewiston,” Julie said.  “Must have been some Tico who saw me at your place, and wants some nice American lady to take him back to the States.”

Nellie said, “I miss you, Julie. You were a really good waitress.”

“I’m sorry.  Are things going any better?  Making any money?”

Nellie’s voice bubbled with optimism. “Believe it or not, I am.  And they say the big tourist season is just starting.”

“Great.  I’ll be in for lunch in a couple of days if you promise not to make me work.”

“Why not today?”

“I’m still at the beach.  And when I get to San Jose, I have some shopping to do.”

“Good.  It’s about time you got some clothes that don’t hang off your bones.  Get yourself some tight jeans and spiked heels.  You could be a knockout my girl, if you’d just try.”              

“I’m not exactly the skinny pants and high heel type.”

“All right then, but clothes that fit, in colors other than brown and black, would work.”

Julie thought about Enrique.  Had he found her drab and pathetic? Then she thought of the Indian women in the village with their soiled dresses and bare feet, and was ashamed for worrying about fashionable clothes. “I’ll try and find a few new things,” she said, “but I’m really looking for tennis shoes.”

“Tennis shoes?  Can’t you find something between them and spiked heels?  I mean, there are leather sandals, pumps--”

“The tennis shoes aren’t for me,” Julie said quickly.

“Not for you?  Then who are they for?”             

“Some women and children in the village of Santa Clara.  Listen to me, Nellie.  People in this country aren’t all living off the fat of the land.  There’s still a lot of hunger and disease.”

“Wait a minute.  I thought you went up to the beach near Liberia.”

“I did, but there was a little detour. I’ll explain later.”

Nellie said. “Promise you’ll come see me when you get back?”

“Promise.”

Julie threw her things in her bag and left a few colones for the maid.  No more large tips, ever. 

“
Senorita
?  Is something wrong?  Why are you leaving?”  The desk clerk, a soft faced young man with sweet round eyes, seemed hurt.

“ No, I must to return to San Jose.”

“It’s not because of what happened is it? The man was foolish, he shouldn’t have gone out by himself like that.  No one should swim alone.  Don’t let it ruin your vacation.”

“This isn’t my vacation,” Julie was immediately sorry when his face flushed with embarrassment at her sharp tone. “Please, just call a taxi so I can go to the airport.”

“There are no flights until this afternoon.  That’s when the taxis are available.”

“Are there buses?”

“Buses are not for tourists. Very uncomfortable.”

“If they’re so uncomfortable, why are there so many of them?”