Show CARI BIBEAN affy ff fy s conspiracy BRENDA CONRAD TIIE STOll tSo fari anne ann heywood beautiful td daughter aUghter of a wealthy now new tark newspaper publisher publish ert goes on an to puerto rico where P pete tie wilcox a reporter a on 11 he her lathers er I 1 paper Is stationed as ai a V S army r 8 tene 80 0 officer on the boat she he meets a young oung puerto rican miguel valera and an aft engineer named richard taussig taming ol of whom she he li 12 immediately suspicious she does doe not know that he li is in fact a german agen agent t ordered to destroy puerto rico wat water er supply when annes bag bad are searched arched she suspects Ir Tau aussig aili sh she goes oe to ahli hotel room to investigate and ll Is by s a man she recognizes u klind vaccra valera li talking to pete pet alwil C CHAPTER V pete blew a large white ring of cigarette smoke out in front of f him an and d watched it dissolve in the cool wa sliver saver air niguel vilera valera had been bee n ed educated uc ted in the states he ought ough tto to h have ave learn learned ed that bod you dont discuss i a girl witha with a man you scarcely 01 know retook he took a diep deep breath and said nothing im sorry it if ive offended you sald said quietly vie he put down his glass 1 I thought bod you were a CIO close e friend of hers 1 I am in that case if you will allow me to offer you some advice send her back mackto to the states on wednesdays clipper he got goi up good night captain wilcox it was almost eleven when anne got 91 0 out of the elevator and went over to the desk there was a note in her mail box from pete and a couple of 0 airmail air mail mall letters from home S she h e went out on onto the porch and sat down dom to read her mall mail she must be careful of her skin her mother said and not go without a hot hat her father hoped she wis was having fun and fall fail in love with any damned native she smiled put the letters in her bag and opened petes note anne youre lunching with me S same ame time same game place pete she got up As she started to go back into the lobby a big shiny black limousine with a uniformed chauffeur pulled up under the portico annes heart lumped jumped miguel maguel valera was getting out with him was his father don alvaro for an instant her impulse was to run but she h e miguel had bad seen be her r it was an important moment something profoundly deep inside her told her it was one of the most important moments of her life then he was coming toward her and she let him know she knew good mor morning fingl 1 this this is awfully nibel with the speed of light something so concealed that it was almost imperceptible relaxed behind miguel valeras gray green eyes he smiled warmly taking her friendly outstretched hand annes face brightened shed done it he know and the rest was easy you remember my father of course she smiled at don alvaro standing aloof and dignified in the archway waiting for his son he had anthe on the same white drill semi mill tary uniform or another like it because he was spotlessly starched and nd ironed and the sam egray felt lebavin hat in his hand good morning she said she know whether it should be mr or senor Seno or don so she say his name at all good morning senorita don alvaro bowed with formal Cour courtesy tesi his eyes nie meeting eting hers with xray X ray clarity were old and wise and calm yet somewhere in them was a veiled shadow of the same subtle resentment shed felt so sharply and in gra clelis ci elas she held out her hand band simply As a simply imply don alvaro took it in the brief instant her eyes were raised t to his bis calm and trusting as a childs the heavy load he had bad carried since his bli sons return had vanished he smiled will you have coffee with us senorita miguel reaching in his pocket for we his lighter stopped his bis hand abruptly he had known his bis father would like her he help it when he once knew her but he had expected a long uphill cumb climb before more than a truce prevailed hi he glanced at his father out of the corner of hi hisoye bis seye eye not entirely convinced id love to anne was saying wilcox know he be thought how ow much it had taken for him to suggest sending her back to the u states he watched her film flame tipped body moving easily beside bis big fathers erect firm figure independence was a spiritual and physical as well as a social and economic quality you Youl could spot anabert an american 19 can girl anywhere in the world the way she moved was even more revealing then than the way she dressed just so long as it get her into trouble he be thought ashes not half as sophisticated as she looks i pete wilcox sat at his bis desk at general headquarters going through the mornings reports from the departments part ments undercover under cover agents in puerto rico it was a curious assortment sort ment meRt buano but no more cu curious rious than the assortment of people cople who sent it to in army intelligence 9 spreads reads like a sensitive plant over over the entire caribbean area he looked at his watch it would be hours before he saw anne if she showed at all he wished to god shed stayed at home there was only one ray of com comfort fortin in the im mediate present tied to his desk with the ball and chain of army regulations like the prisoners of old morro mono he got some relief from the fact that miguel valera wanted her I 1 to go home it meant at any rate that be going all out to glam orize her into staying and there was one other dewdrop in the desert that had been dropped in passing by bi the generals aide old iron lung namely colonel mortimer st clair de voe engineer in charge of maintenance and construction st truc tion of the caribbean area had said a id to tell the CO with his compliments ments that he give a blank blank blank blank if the eternal himself sent the prophet hezekiah Heze klah down to puerto rico nobody was seeing the details of the pumps at borinquen or any place else he w was in charge of he would be ga glad ad go to write the senate of the united states individually and collectively and tell them so by blank what did the general say some one had asked the general said the aide oh the general the genessi general grinned and sent mr taussig plus a copy of the senate resolution they passed yet for old iron lungs pet project on tortilla coy cay to the old boy both with his compliments so mr taussig is on the engineers hands bands not ours pete looked down at the papers in front of him hed been trying 0 to o it 71 1 the heavy load he had carried since his sons return had vanished get up nerve to ask for or a weeks leave it nerve so much actually as proper self control when colonel fletcher turned him down he could hear his this is the army captain wilcox allcox in case youve forgotten he read absently through the report of a dance hall girl at a dideon dive on la marina that was out of bounds for soldiers put it aside riad read another and started in on a third this man Is not a personal enemy to roe me he read methodically he is of ancient and honorable lineage and his family are sll all thieves throat cutters and swine he is without principle himself as all his bis generations before urn him pete stopped abruptly abrupt li not because the tone of the letter was unusual but because of the name he suddenly saw staring up at him from thi the florid script miguel valera seeks to undermine the government he has been seen by me in conversation with a man who is known to steal a box of dynamite from isla grande and dump doimi it in the sea off la perla when the sailors come so 0 o they find nothing miguel valera was seen by me lazerwith later with an american who is hired by the alego rum hum company the american whose name is george raised his glass and drank the toast to the first president of puerto rico I 1 write without bitterness my grandfather was killed in falling in machinery at valera cen aral pete put the letter aside with a scowl vindictiveness wasted as muc much hUme time as stupidity he went patiently on till he be came to th the lost last letter in the pile it was on cheaper paper than thon most of them even and was signed with the initial ID D miguel valera son of senor alvaro miguel valera y delgado seen by me this day speaking I 1 to in back room of bar of la rosi rosa with solve salva tore vegas salvatore steal dynamite from isla asli grande and throw in sea the family salvatore work lo 10 long a g time in the sugar mill of valera salvatore of good information of machines ch ineil one of the bloodiest battles the conquistadores ever fought they fought right out there miss keywood heywood pete said he waved his bis hand hana out over the rolling greengold gre green engolf goll course in fronton front of el morros morro officers club it was in 1623 1025 in case you have your notebook with ay you oo 00 ill tr try to supply you with one fact a day its usually tourists who supply us with facts but you dont seem to have your guide book with you anne put down her coffee cup and looked at him across the table pete she said evenly 0 what the matter with lyou who me you she said id youve been perfectly foul all through lunch and you known th the matter he took his lash las cigarette out we wadded added the empty package and dropped it into the ash tray in front of him he could see the warm flush creeping up into her cheeks and her tortoiseshell tortoise shell cats eyes getting darker storm warnings flying in the caribbean im sorry borry he said 1 I suppose its because im worried about you then he could have kicked himself across the graveyard into the atlantic that was just the thing he have said he waited for her to dare bare up and make some stinging retort but she may I 1 ask why youre worried about me she inquired c calmly a somebody must have told her about counting ten since hed left new york he be thought you may ask but I 1 can cant aten tell you he said quietly the trouble he looked at her sitting there ther eat cool and confident and a babe in the woods actually if he could just take her by thi the back the neck the way you did a kitten or a latin woman and put her in a plane and say go homel everything would be easy but h be a nobody could or if he C could tell her why his job prevented that anyway it would probably be just the thing that would make her stay even if she believed him look anne he said they were at the far end of the open porch the boys had cleared empty tables around them you know I 1 love edve you if its jealous pique dear he interrupted her calmly it youre probably sick of hearing me say it so lets skip it the point is I 1 like you too different and I 1 think you like me oh pete she began he gave her a twisted grin to try to conceal the sudden ache inside him when her voice was like that it reduced his insides to quivering lelly jelly the point is he wenton went on unsteadily im going to ask you to do something and not ask any questions or try to guess the answers just trust your uncle pete just once he saw the shadow behind her dark curling lashes and the almost imperceptible lines between her eyebrows he liked her eyebrows they were dark and thick so that they accentuated her slim oval face not thin plucked lines that made her look like a seared scared siren she looked at him a clear steady instant before she said you want me to go home dont you pete yes on tomorrows clipper it its full but I 1 can manage that she looked up at him pete she said 1 I knowin know it on account C of miguel I 1 mean it be because i cause youre jealous of him and and like sue porter and if its mr taussig she hesitated well im not afraid of him maybe I 1 could even even he help ap you I 1 mean he stared it at her without even being aware of it she had slipped in the connecting link hed been racking his bis brain oil all morning to find and for himself taussig and his sanitary engineering miguel maguel valera and salvitore salvatore vegas and she was already in it a child playing dolls with a stick of dynamite he pushed his chair back abruptly youre going hom borne Jor tomorrow anne nei her eyes flashed bashed dark brown and green 1 1 I am hotl you are too youre a crazy fool you dont know what youre getting into this place is a keg of nitroglycerine and youre lighting matches to powder your nose youre getting on that plane tomorrow morning if I 1 have to tie your hands and feet and put you on it myself and as for that aple y you ou 11 he stopped abruptly she was standing on the other side aide of the table ble erect and vibrant as a streak of flame from a blow torch her eyes sheets of molten gold her face pale with anger dont you dare peter wilcox her voice was low and quivering 1 I wont go ill leave san juan when im good an and dready ready and not one minute before and I 1 hate bate youl you rd id never have believed you could be so goodby good by her high heels clicked across th the a bare wood floor of the club house bouse por chUke the sharp tattoo of a savage drum pete watched her his face a grim tight mask then h he turned abruptly and went out th the other way TO 10 BE CONTINUED |