The Last Informant

.

.

Chapter 22

Driving in the beat-up red truck, Lee, Amanda, and Pepita finally arrived in the town of Reymosa, sweaty and a bit tired. Because they had Pepita with them, Lee and Amanda had decided to remain clothed as native villagers.

Unlike the smaller villages they had visited, this town was large enough that they could drive down the main street, alongside other vehicles. Reymosa was made up of a mishmash of shops and booths, where goods of all kinds were brightly displayed. Leading away from the main street were many side roads, where all the specialty shops were located.

"What was the informant's name and profession?" Lee asked, as he drove down the main thoroughfare.

"His name is Alvaro Fernandez," Amanda enunciated clearly, "and his shop sells rugs. The name of his shop is..." she pronounced it very slowly to make sure she got it right, "Al-fom-bras en A-bun-dan-cia."

Pepita translated, "That means Many Rugs!"

"What street is it on?" asked Lee, looking left and right out the front windshield.

Amanda responded slowly, "Ti-en-da de Mar-a-vil-las."

"Ah, the shop of wonder!" Pepita interpreted and then, after some time, exclaimed, "I see it! Tienda de Maravillas! Turn here, Señor, here!" she pointed, "The shop is over on the right!"

The adobe -walled store was one of the larger shops on the off street, with a bright green and white canopy hanging over the entrance. Lee passed the shop once, then came back around and parked the red truck a quarter of a block down from the shop. Turning off the engine, he exchanged a tentative glance with Amanda.

This would be their last identification. And they would either face a cooperating informant or a ruthless killer.

While still seated, Lee reached into his pocket, withdrew a wad of pesos, and handed it to Pepita, "Here, Kid," he told her, "Maybe this could occupy some of your time while we're gone. Use this money to buy some food for us. You could even get a churro for yourself from that cart over there. We'll be back in no time."

Even though this was more money that Pepita had ever seen in her lifetime, she didn't seem very interested in the cash as she looked sadly at Lee.

"Will you and Señora Amanda be gone long?" she wondered, her eyes large and round, "How long must I wait?"

"Not too long," Lee told her, "Maybe 40 minutes, max. And when you go out to get the food, don't mention us to anyone. We don't exist. Forget about us, Kid."

Pepita looked alarmed, "Forget about you? Why must I do that?"

Amanda immediately shot a glance at Lee, "Lee! She's only a little girl! She doesn't understand spy-speak!"

"Spy-speak? How could I be doing that when I don't know what it is! What did I say to deserve 'spy-speak' status'?" Lee wanted to know.

"You were talking to her like she's an operative!"

"No, I wasn't! I would never call an operative a kid!"

"You know what I mean! Just...speak in simple terms to her, without the covert-sounding 'forget about us' stuff," Amanda advised.

"Maybe you should take the lead," Lee suggested.

"I will." Amanda looked down at the miserable little girl. She took Pepita's hand and said in her most gentle tone, "Sweetheart, Señor Lee didn't really mean for you to to forget about us! I mean, he did say that but that's not what he meant! Of course, we want you to remember us, and likewise, you will always be in our hearts as well! What he means is that he doesn't want you to let anyone know we are here, in case anyone asks."

Pepita still looked concerned as she watched Amanda's face, "But what happens if you do not come back?"

"We will do our best to come back, I promise," Amanda assured her, patting her hand.

"-BUT if we don't," Lee added, "you need to get away from here, quickly and quietly. Utilize the money handed over to you to take a bus or taxi back to your hometown of Mayorita. Be aware of your surroundings the entire time. Make sure no one is following you."

Amanda stated in a sing-song tone, "-Spy-speak again..."

"-that may help save her life," Lee reminded her, and then turned back to Pepita, "Anyway, Kid, if anyone along your journey asks why a little girl is traveling by herself, inform them you had been a runaway, but have changed your mind and are returning home."

Pepita scrunched her face, "This is so confusing. If you are doing such a good thing by getting rid of bad guy, why must it be a secret? Everyone should know if you do a good deed, right?"

"Yeah, but it's not that simple, Kid," Lee told her. After a glance at Amanda, he realized he needed to explain better, "Señora Amanda and I have two jobs to complete while we are in Mexico. One job is to keep you safe and the other job is to keep your country safe. And we have to do both jobs secretly, or the bad guys will catch us. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

Amanda nodded her approval at his explanation.

Pepita looked down at her lap and quietly stated, "No, I don't," she mumbled, and then looked back at Lee with determination, "I will not tell anyone, Señor. I promise!" then she thought about it some more, "But even if it is like I forget about you, I will still worry about you and the Señora."

"There's no need to worry about us," Lee assured her "We can handle ourselves against any bad guys. I am very good at my job, and Señora Amanda over there..." he paused and gave a playful wink, "well, she may get into trouble from time to time, but all in all, she is very good at her job as well."

-"Hold on there, Buster,..." Amanda amusingly defended herself, "Just to make it clear, I am not the one who starts the trouble—it's already there by the time I arrive!"

Lee's lips trembled to keep from smiling, "You do realize, Amanda, that even a fish wouldn't get into trouble on a fishhook if he had kept his mouth shut, don't you?"

"Ha!" Amanda reacted to their bantering, "Now I actually miss your spy-speak!"

Although she pretended to be irritated, it was the little playful moments like this that she liked most about Lee.

"So you ready to go?" Lee asked.

"Yes, just one more thing to Pepita," Amanda had turned serious again as she faced the little girl, "Before we leave, you do understand why you cannot follow us when we go into the shop, right?"

Pepita nodded slowly, "Yes...but... I hope you will come back to me," she hesitantly stated.

Amanda reached her arm over and hugged the girl, "We are expecting to do just that! After all, didn't Señor Lee tell you to buy some more food? He wouldn't have told you that unless he was going to eat more tamales later with you, right? After all, we have a lot more adventure to experience!"

Pepita's eyes lit up with delight, "Oh yes! More adventures together in our red truck! Okay! I will buy much good things for us to eat, especially more tamales!"

Amanda playfully tapped the little girl's nose, "That's my girl!"

By now Lee had already left the truck and had come around to open the passenger side door to let Amanda out. Leaving the truck, they both glanced back at Pepita, who looked composed enough, as she gave them a hearty wave.

Amanda commented, as they walked towards the rug shop, "You're getting pretty good at this kid-explaining stuff, once you got over the spyspeak lingo, that is."

"Yeah," Lee humphed, "I am a legend in the world of kid-splaining!"

She laughed.

The situation turned serious, however, the closer they got to the shop, Alfombras en Abundacia.

Before entering the store, Lee re-checked for his gun, that had been stuffed and hidden at his waistband. Upon confirmation, he then put on his hat, as Amanda covered her head with her shawl. Opening the front door, they went inside.

The shop was full of carpets of various sizes and colors, many of them rolled up and stacked against the wall, while others were fully laid out in piles on the ground. Luckily, there were no customers in the store.

A male worker was situated behind the counter, working on some paperwork. When he looked up as they entered, Amanda squinted her eyes to look at the distant figure. Her eyes widened, as relief flowed throughout her body.

She nudged Lee, "It's him!"

Lee felt she was too far away to make an identification, "You sure about that?"

"Unless he has a twin, which I'm sure he doesn't, since it wasn't in the packet, that is Alvaro Fernandez!"

Let's get closer," Lee suggested.

Feeling confident, Amanda walked up to the counter. Wordlessly, she reached up and removed her shawl from her head and smiled, letting the counter person see she was an American. The store clerk rose slowly from his seat, a smile plastered on his face.

"Welcome to my shop of rugs!" he heartily greeted them in almost perfect English, "May I help you find a beautiful rug for your home?"

Amanda smiled back, "Hello! And I do see that you have many beautiful rugs here!" she then pointed to herself, "My name is Amanda, and you must be Alvaro Fernandez."

The shopkeeper's smile immediately turned into a scowl.

"Alvaro, you say?" he questioned, looking totally stumped, before shaking his head, "No, I am not that man, and there is no one here by that name."

Amanda looked confused. She was so sure.

Lee stepped up to the counter. He figured they might be successful if he told this man the safe words from the previous informant, to ease the man's doubts.

"Do. Not. Search. The. Shoes. For. Soles." Lee slowly spoke the coded words to the shopkeeper to make sure he got it.

"Lo siento, Señor. Solo habla español," was the shopkeeper's response to a very surprised Lee.

Amanda took in Lee's expression and leaned into him to whisper, "Lee, what'd he say?"

Lee whispered back, "He said he's sorry. He only speaks Spanish."

"Only speaks Spanish?!" Amanda looked thoroughly baffled, "b-but we just heard him speaking English!"

"Exactly!"

"Well, uh... tell him the coded words in Spanish then!" she suggested, as she gave the shopkeeper her sweetest smile.

Lee tried again, this time in Spanish, "No busques las suelas en los zapatos."

It was now the storekeeper's turn to look confused.

"Please, Sir," he stated, enunciating each word, "I only speak English."

What the hell? Lee thought.

Amanda's mouth dropped.

Something strange was going on here and Lee didn't like it.

Plus he also sensed they were being watched.

So whatever all of this was supposed to be, he didn't want Amanda involved in this.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he commented, while instinctively grabbing her by the shoulders to turn her around at the same time, "Let's get outta here and I'll deal with this on my own at a later time."

Amanda didn't protest his action or words, "Okay," she nodded.

They walked swiftly away.

The door loomed ahead of them. They had just passed the standing rolls of carpet located near the entrance when, from behind them, a rough-looking, bald-headed white man emerged. He was clad all in black, with a distinct tattoo on his left hand. He had a gun aimed right at them.

"Hola, amigos!" he stated in poor-sounding Spanish, being that he was obviously American, "Hands up, or I shoot!"

Lee and Amanda had no choice but to raise their hands.

So they had found their impostor,

But, unfortunately, their impostor had found them as well.

.

Please review