Chapter 3
The swarthy man with the straw hat took a final drag from his cigarette, and threw it down on the ground, stamping it out with one quickly decisive act of finality.
He stood behind a row of palm trees next to a shorter, stockier man who was sitting atop a rock lazily reading a boxing magazine detailing information on professional boxing in Mexico City.
While the stocky man sitting perched atop the rock, whose eyebrows were heavily laden with scar tissue, continued reading the magazine in the rapidly extinguishing light of early evening, his partner stood watching the fascinating sight on the beach below.
Sitting atop her beach towel staring at the water and taking occasional looks at the full moon was Cathy Hendricks, looking thoroughly resplendent in her white bikini, which seemed to glisten as something akin to neon as the darkness of evening continued to evolve.
"Jose, have a look," he finally nudged the shorter man, a measure of excitement detectable in his voice.
"What is it?" Ramon asked Jose.
"Over there. Look," he pointed in the direction where the young woman was stretched out comfortably, enjoying her full measure of privacy to the ultimate.
"Ah, what a woman!" Ramon nodded approvingly.
"Just the kind we were looking for."
"Yes. Perfect," Ramon shook his head emphatically.
"I think we should make a move," Jose exclaimed.
"But when?"
'Tonight."
"But do you think if we moved later, after we have followed her for awhile, that it would be less dangerous?"
"Perhaps so, but then there would be another risk involved."
"What other risk?" Ramon asked curiously.
"Have you ever seen this woman before?"
"No," Ramon shook his head. "Have you?"
"Never. And that is why I feel we must act soon. Right away. Before she can get out of our sight."
"I see your point. You fear that we might not ever see her again on this beach."
"Exactly."
'Then I suggest we begin planning our move right now."
"Just what I was about to suggest, Ramon, my friend."
Meanwhile, as the two strangers plotted her immediate future, a totally oblivious Cathy Hendricks, feeling as free as one of the soaring gulls overhead about being so far away from her home base of
Chicago and the numerous pressures which confronted her both on and off her job, was thoroughly enjoying every moment alone on the beach, happy that she had decided to invest her hard-earned money on a vacation in a tranquil foreign setting. She was convinced that this was the tonic to forget John Macon and to put her life on a new footing.
Cathy continued to sit on the sand, losing all track of time, until suddenly darkness surfaced in full measure. Even though she was still not particularly hungry, she decided that she should return to the hotel and have something to eat, after which she would then return to her room and absorb herself again in her book.
As she got up slowly from her towel and, bending over, began to pick it up, Ramon let out a soft whistle, far out of Cathy's earshot.
"What a beautiful ass!" he exclaimed in near awe.
"Very shapely," Jose promptly nodded. "Oh, yes. She is so beautifully put together."
"As you said before, Jose. This girl is ready made for our purposes."
"She is and there is absolutely no doubt about it."
"Mr. Sanchez would be so pleased."
"Exactly. And it looks as if the moment we have been waiting for ever since I first spotted her is coming to pass."
"Yes. She's walking away. She's walking toward the Imperial Hotel."
"She's probably staying there. A lot of the Americans do, and unless I am wrong I think she is American."
"Oh, yes. I am sure of it. Oh, and what a lovely American. My cock has become so hard looking at her all this time in that white bikini."
"Which she wears to perfection," Jose nodded. "Oh, what a woman! Well, Ramon, I believe the time has come."
"Indeed, it has. I suggest we cut her off in the bushes over there."
"Good idea. Yes. She's walking in that very direction. Also, it is very dark and deserted there."
"Exactly why I suggested it."
"Good idea, Ramon. At any rate, let us move very quietly. We can't risk being heard."
"Oh, yes. Very quietly."
Cathy walked without a care in the world, occasionally casting her eyes upward to feast them on the glorious sight above. She recalled the manner in which her travel agent had described the beautiful Acapulco evenings with the glittering constellations of stars illuminating the skies. There it was unfolding before her. What had sounded like a distant dream at the time it had all been described to her had become reality, and she was determined to absorb every delicious moment of it.
At one point, when she had slowed down almost to a halt to stare in the direction of one particularly impressive star formation, the silence and stillness of evening and her intensely perfect concentration were momentarily interrupted by the sound of a stirring in the bushes.
Wondering if an animal of some kind might be stirring there, she dropped her eyes from heavenward to earthward, and, before she had time to do any more than utter a muffled gasp, her eyes suddenly bulging with fear, they were on her!
Ramon and Jose pulled off the abduction like seasoned professionals. Ramon used his impressive strength to lunge at the helpless young woman and grab her from behind before she had even become aware of what was happening. She felt pain as he grabbed her arms and pinned them in such a manner as to render her helpless.
By the time she had the urge to scream, Jose reached out with his left hand and thrust it over her mouth. While she continued sputtering in a helpless, inaudible fashion, hoping to let out a scream loud enough to attract attention at the brightly lit bar area at poolside of the Imperial Hotel, which she could see in the distance, Jose reached into his pocket with his right hand and pulled out a handkerchief, which he promptly thrust against her nose.
Suddenly the young woman felt a weakness, a sluggishness in her knees. Her entire world began to spin before her in a dizzying display of yellow lights. The spinning sensation grew more acute with each passing moment and her entire body grew increasingly heavier, particularly in the knees, until finally she experienced nothing at all.. . .
"Keep watch here," Jose said, stuffing the handkerchief back in his pocket and walking briskly but quietly through the bushes. "I'll get the jeep."
"Our little sleeping beauty is going nowhere," Ramon smiled, looking down at the unconscious young woman he had pulled from the edge of the sand into the anonymity of the bushes.
"Wait until Mr. Sanchez sees her," Jose said, his eyes aglitter with a glow of triumph.