Elena and Fiona smiled at the young man who had, as required, gotten changed into 18th century military garb. He smiled back and cleared his throat. He was obviously nervous, but he was certainly doing his best to impress the beautiful women standing in front of him.

"Come, my friends! Let us delve into the hallowed halls of San Cristóbal!" As he said this, he was waving his arms around as though he were telling a ghost story. Elena and Fiona really did not understand his methods nor his purposes, but they played along in order to get the information they required.

The tour guide started in the center of the fort, explaining the architectural styles that the Spanish employed to ensure that their fort would hold off any intruders, especially those pesky Englishmen. San Cristóbal was the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the new world. Elena and Fiona feigned interest as best they could, but they were only mildly interested in the architecture. Elena was a little more interested; she generally loved history and found its secrets fascinating. This stuff, however, was available to anyone who spent five minutes on Wikipedia.

Elena decided to make a comment to that effect. "Excuse me," she paused to read the young man's nametag, "Raul. This is all very interesting, but I'm the kind of girl who really fawns over history. I'm sure you know a host of secrets about the fort, and I would really love to get a better idea of what those were!"

Elena laid the flirtation on really thick. She knew Nate would not mind if it meant them reaching their goal. Raul perked up; she still had it. "Personally, ma'am, I've always found the dungeons to be the most interesting thing here. The walls have been made famous by the special paintings made by soldiers hundreds of years ago. And, to boot, they did them with almost no light at all!"

Fiona recognized a clue when she heard one, so she continued to add fuel to the fire. "What a fascinating tale! We would love to go and see these paintings!"

Elena concurred, "Absolutely! Can we please go and see the dungeon now?"

Raul looked a bit uneasy, "Well, we're not supposed to see those until the end of the tour, but... sure! Why not? What's the harm in that?"

Elena and Fiona were now genuinely excited. Nate had said that the fort was likely built over the hiding place that Frances Drake had originally set up, and that meant that a dungeon would be a very likely place to hide an entrance to someplace underground. They followed eagerly as the tour guide led them through the fort's tunnel system, and into the one that wound its way around to the dungeons.

When they reached their destination, Raul halted and turned to face the women he was guiding. He mustered up his best tour guide tone and began to read off the part of the memorized script that dealt with the dungeons. "Ladies and gentlemen; well, just ladies, I suppose; welcome to the famous dungeons of the Castillo de San Cristóbal. Step forward and we'll take a look at the paintings."

Elena ducked as she entered the dungeons. They were not exactly designed for comfort. She peered through the lighted area and saw them: several beautifully-done paintings of various sailing ships of the era. She stepped closer, hoping that her tour guide would not protest. "They're so... What's the word... majestic."

Raul nodded and started pointing at the different paintings to explain their known history, but Elena was not interested in that at the moment. She knew that whatever legitimate secrets they hid, if any, would not be on the tour guide's script. Then, she saw it. One of the ships was one she had seen numerous times before, the Golden Hind, flagship of Sir Frances Drake. This was what she was searching for.

Elena glanced over at Fiona to see if she had made the same discovery. Instead, Fiona appeared to be enthralled with what Raul was saying. Of course it was a ruse, but the situation allowed Elena to investigate the Golden Hind painting more closely. Just as Elena got within a few feet of the wall, Raul stopped his speech. Fiona knew she had to act quickly to give Elena just a little more time. "So," she began, in a tone intended to feign interest, "Could you describe how these dungeons were used?"

Elena stepped back a bit, worried that Raul would catch her in the act. He did not. He merely continued to discuss what little he did know as a tour guide, but it was ultimately enough to give Elena a chance to further inspect the painting. As she did, she noticed that something about the wall upon which it was painted felt odd. This had to be the clue she was looking for.

As Elena backed away, he heard Raul close with, "And the Spaniards had no idea!"

Fiona produced a fake smile, "That is so very fascinating."

Elena motioned to Fiona letting her know that she got the information she needed. "Well, thanks so much for this lovely tour," Elena said.

"B-but... I'm not even halfway done yet."

"Oh, no, we couldn't impose any more. You've done so much for us already."

"Actually, I would really like to keep showing you around and—"

Elena interrupted him, "No, no, we insist! Thanks, Raul!"

With that, Elena and Fiona quickly walked away, as Raul called after them, feeling like he had lost his chances with them forever.

()()()()

"It's not my fault!" Nate yelled as another bullet flew past him. He threw himself up against the hallway wall and peeked around the corner. The hotel manager had been shot and was lying limp on the lobby floor. The desk clerk's body was slumped over the front desk, lying next to the phone that was beeping loudly from being off the hook. He had tried to call the police but did not make it in time.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is, Nate! We have to deal with these guys." Sully bounced out from behind the hallway and laid down cover fire across the lobby. Damn, he thought, he did not get a good look at where the gunmen were holing up. He dropped down behind the front desk for cover, and checked the clerk's pulse. Nothing.

Sully popped his head up over the counter draw their fire. A man dressed in black and carrying an AK-47 dashed across the room towards the desk. Nate dropped out from the behind the hallway and fired, putting a slug right through his head. The man fell to the ground, and his AK-47 slid across the floor, a few feet away from his position.

"Nice shot!" Sully yelled from behind the desk. Nate saw the assault rifle and knew it would be his ticket out of here. He ran out from behind the hallway, dropped quickly towards the ground, and rolled forward, grabbing the AK on the way. He then dove behind the front desk just as a bullet pierced the carpet right next to his left foot.

"Whew. Too close," Nate said as he positioned himself next to Sully. "We've got to take one of these guys and figure out why these jerks are after us."

Sully agreed, "Yeah. Definitely. Did you have a plan for accomplishing this?"

"Working on it."

"How many of them are left?"

"I think there are three; at least, that I saw. Sully, why don't you run out to the right and take care of those guys with the AK? I'll move around to the left and capture the other guy from behind while he's focused on you. It should be foolproof."

"Nate, with you, nothing's foolproof."

Nate rolled his eyes. Sully smirked and looked over to Nate. Nate held up three fingers and he began to count down. The plan worked flawlessly. The three remaining attackers had not expected Nate and Sully to both come out from behind the counter, in opposite directions. Sully took the offensive and drew all the attention (and gunfire) to himself. Fortunately, he was a lot better shot than they were. He put two of the assailants down quickly and brandished the AK at the other one.

"Freeze!" he yelled. "Drop the gun on the floor and kick it over to me."

The assailant did not look very eager to comply. He placed the gun on the floor, but then he made a move to kick it back up into his hands. However, he did not count on Nate being right behind him. Nate kicked him behind the knee, causing him to completely lose his footing. He placed the barrel of his Desert Eagle right up against his forehead.

"I don't think you'll want to try that again," Nate said.

Sully kept the AK trained on him as Nate grabbed him from behind. Sully began the interrogation, "What do you want from us? Who sent you? Why?"

The guy was obviously a rookie. His wits and resolve were no match for the lifetime of training that Sully had endured. "Please, please, sir. Don't kill me."

Nate pressed the barrel of his pistol hard against the man's temple, trying to act tougher than he actually was. "Tell us what we need to know, and we won't have to! Now, like the nice man said, who sent you?!"

The man starting shivering with fear. A wet stain appeared on the front of his pants. "Look man, I'm sorry. I... honestly don't know!"

Nate brought the Desert Eagle back and swung it at the man's forehead, stopping just short of hitting him with it. "What do you mean you don't know? Who sent you? It's an easy question!"

"I work for a man named Sellers. He gave us the job, but I have no clue who hired us. I just get the paycheck and don't ask questions..."

Sully moved in closer to close the gap between himself and his enemy. "Where is he now?"

The man shrugged. "I think he was headed to the historical district. We were supposed to rendezvous at the airport tomorrow. He said that our mission was done once we took you guys out in the hotel."

Nate was getting furious by this point. "So someone wants us dead and we still don't know who. If this Sellers guy was headed to the historical district, then Fiona and Elena could be in danger. Sully, we've got to get over there."

"What'll we do with him?" Sully asked in a sinister tone.

"The guy's a piece of trash. Set him out by the road."

Sully smacked the young man with the butt of his AK and they dragged him to the dumpster and locked him inside. He would be going out with the garbage, where he belonged. After that, Nate and Sully called the police to come clean up the mess at the motel. They grabbed their luggage (again) and headed out into the streets.