"The one who taught you?"
"Crazy. That's all. He's got his ways. And that's it. You can't reason with him."
"The one who taught you?"
"Never could. Never will. I don't know why I bother."
"The one who taught you?" asked Kathy again.
"Watch how you walk," said Remo.
"That is the first time I have seen you angry about something. You don't ever seem to get angry."
"Try walking where you're told," said Remo.
That was the second time. It was clear there was someone he loved. But what sort of a relationship was it? Was there a reason he was not attracted to her? Was it all women he wasn't attracted to?
"Watch how you're walking," he said.
He turned out to be more than right. There was a hill up ahead. And just over it, set like a white jewel topped with red ceramic tile, was a classic hacienda surrounded by unclassic machine-gun nests. There were fierce-looking guards at the gates and enough antennas set into the tile roof to direct an air attack on the rest of South America. The land around the hacienda was cleared to prevent any possible hiding place.
"Oh, wow," said Kathy. "We'll never get in there."
"No. Those defenses are for bandits. Where did he put that device?"
"He would know," said Kathy.
"If you're frightened, you can wait here, and I'll come back for you."
"No. That's all right. I owe it to mankind to try to make up for any harm I've done," she said. She certainly wasn't going to waste this filthy walk through the jungle to miss all the crunching of bones and breaking of bodies. If she wanted safety she would have stayed somewhere in London and sent this one off to Tibet or someplace.
"Stay with me."
"I'll never leave you."
The thing about Remo; the thing she noticed most, was that he used people's reactions to operate. Like walking pleasantly up the road right past the machine-gun nests. He waved. They waved back. She realized that perhaps his greatest deception was that he was unarmed. He presented no threat of danger. It was as hidden as it was magnificent. Kathy could feel the sense of danger vibrate into her body. She wondered if he was going to kill a guard for her.
"Hi," said Remo. "I'm looking for the Generalissimo. I've got good news for him."
The guard did not speak English. Remo spoke in Spanish but it was the strangest Spanish Kathy had ever heard, more Latin than Spanish and strangely sing-song, as though an Oriental had taught him.
"The Generalissimo does not see everyone," said the guard, noticing Remo's wrists. There was no wristwatch, therefore the gringo was not a gringo, but a citizen of the country. The guard asked why Remo was not out in the fields working or in the hills with the bandits or in the army of the Generalissimo. Also, what was he doing with the beautiful gringo woman? Did Remo want to sell her?
Remo said he didn't want to sell her. But he was here to give the Generalissimo the best deal he could ever make for himself. He might let the Maximum Leader live to see the sunset. The guard laughed.
Then Remo moved. His hand seemed to brush across the guard's arrogant face. It was not a fast move, but fast enough so that Kathy only noticed it leaving the face. The laughter on the guard's face disappeared. It was impossible to laugh without lips or teeth. The guard couldn't even do anything with his hands but try to stanch the flow of blood. He also quickly indicated the Generalissimo was in the top floor by pointing. There was another guard nearby. He pulled the trigger on a machine pistol. But the pistol didn't fire. The finger pulled again. The pistol did nothing but jerk with a little gush of red. The gush came from the hand. Even on the ground the finger was still pulling. Remo walked right on through with Kathy. The guards back at the machine-gun nests didn't even notice. She knew that because they were still looking at her and blowing kisses.
The guards back at the gate were trying to patch themselves as Kathy tugged at Remo's shirt.
"Aren't you going to finish them off?"
"No. I wouldn't even have touched them if I could have gotten in with a letter."
"But you started something with them. I mean, how can you get something going and then not finish? You know break a neck or something."
"I didn't want to kill them unnecessarily."
"Why the hell did you get everyone so excited, and ther just leave? Wham, bam, not even a thank you ma'am."
"You want to finish them, lady, you finish them."
"I don't know how to kill," she said. "I hate that. I hate that in men. You know, a touch here, a touch there, and then nothing."
"Shhh," said Remo.
"What?"
"I'm thinking."
"Well, don't strain."
"Where did he meet you when you came here?"
"Remo, everything was so strange. So reeking with ... the strangeness, I guess, that I couldn't tell. They may have done this on purpose. I don't know."
"Sometimes they do that. I am asking because if people have something they really treasure, they don't go far from it. Not really far."
"Has that been your experience?"
"No," Said Remo. "A lesson."
"From that man?"
"Will you lay off that subject?" snapped Remo. "Just lay off. There must be something you don't want to talk about." He looked around the palatial hallways with their cool polished marble floors and tinted glass windows two stories high. Rich wood polished to a warm luster. Highbacked chairs. Gold in the chandeliers.
He heard laughter on the second story, and headed toward it.
"Does laughter tell you where the lord of this manor is?" asked Kathy.
"Nah. Maybe. I hate places like this. You know. A bit of Spanish, which means a bit of Arab because they were the real architects of Spanish styles. A little Mayan. A little Aztec and some California American. The place is a mess. You can't get a read on where the owner is. I hate it when they mix styles on you."
He went up the stairs with Kathy running to keep pace.
Outside there was some noise from the guards. An alarm sounded somewhere. Remo seemed to ignore it all. And then he saw an officer running into a room, locking the door behind him. Remo followed, springing the lock like a stone from a slingshot. Panting, Kathy caught up with him. It was safe to stay behind him. Perhaps the only safe place. That is, if he knew it was you.
"It's me," she said.