have a look at that shoulder.” Rudy stripped to the waist and presented his left should for her inspection. With care, she removed the blood stained bandage and cleaned the areas around the wound. After applying a clean dressing she said, “You’re going to need to be more careful how you use your arm and shoulder. It’s not going to heal without complication or infection if you don’t.”
With a smirk he replied, “Thanks, now all we need to do is get Juan and Carlos to agree to that and all of our problems are solved.”
“There’s no need to be sarcastic,” she chided back. “I simply want you to take better care of yourself.”
She turned away and walked to the stand holding her suitcase. She rummaged around inside for a moment and then said, “I’ll take my bath first, if that’s okay with you.”
Rudy pulled of his loafers and laid down on his right shoulder. He would need to explain to her, after she finished her bath, that he wasn’t trying to be sarcastic, he was just stating the facts. His activities over the last few days had been caused by others and were not of his choice, is all that he meant. He pulled a pillow under his head, closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter Four
Rudy opened his eyes to find himself in a cold dark unfamiliar room. The windows were covered with heavy draperies and the wall air conditioning unit was working at top speed. He got to his feet and surveyed the rest of the motel room. Pamela was wrapped in covers in the bed next to his. The digital clock on the night stand between the two beds showed 1:26 P.M. He had slept for about seven hours on his right side without moving and he felt stiff and cramped.
Quietly he made his way into the bathroom, slowly closed the door and then flipped the light switch on. He did not want to disturb her. He took a long hot shower to sooth the soreness in his muscles and joints. He shaved with a new disposable razor and tried on the white terrycloth robe he found hanging on back of the door. He turned out the light and quietly opened the door.
Pamela was awake and propped up in her bed and she too was dressed in a white motel robe. “Good morning,” she said. “You can adjust the air conditioner to whatever is comfortable to you now. I like it turned up to freezing when I’m trying to sleep, especially when I’m away from home.”
“Did you sleep well then?” he asked.
“Yes, like a rock. How about you?”
“I passed out. I didn’t move a muscle the entire time.”
Pamela watched him gather his clean clothes and return to the bathroom to dress. “I’m going to find us some coffee and something to eat. Are you hungry too?”
“Yes, coffee sounds great and whatever you can find to go with it.”
“You’d better get dressed while I’m gone. We need to leave here as soon as we can.”
“Okay,” she said. And he made sure the door was locked behind him.
He walked to the corner donut shop and bought two coffees and peach danish. During his walk back to the room, he thought he saw the black Lincoln driving slowly past the motel entrance. He stepped behind a telephone pole to watch what the car would do. It continued to move along with the Sunday afternoon traffic. Rudy hurried to his rental car and placed the coffee and pastries on the dash and looked behind himself checking to make sure no one was watching him.
As he opened the motel door Pamela was dressed and zipping her suitcase shut. “Come on, we have to leave right now.”
“What’s the matter?” she asked with wide eyes.
“We may be being watched by some of Juan’s men. I’m not sure, but we can’t take the chance.” He picked up their luggage and motioned to her to go before him with a jerk of his head towards the door. She needed no further persuasion and was to the door holding it open for him this time.
While he put the luggage in the trunk of the Ford, she climbed into the passenger seat and examined the surrounding courtyard. “What makes you think someone may be watching us,” she asked as Rudy started the car.
“When I came out of the donut shop I saw a black Lincoln, just like the one they took me to the mountains in, driving past the motel. I couldn’t see the driver, but the car was moving slowly and looked very suspicious.”
“But Rudy there must be hundreds of black Lincolns in New York City.”
“Yeah, probably thousands. Juan’s firm has a whole fleet of them. But all we need to do is miss the one that’s them.
Pamela thought about that for a moment and then said, “What do you think we should do next?”
Rudy took a deep breath and said, “I think it’s time for us to get out of town. If we stay here, sooner or later, they will find us. I think the best thing would be to go to Mexico and look for Inez or find her family to see if she has been in touch with them. They may be able to explain what happened at your house yesterday and that may be the proof we need to bring charges against Juan.”
“Rudy....finding Inez is the most important thing on my mind. I need to know she’s safe and not in immediate danger.”
“Yes, I know, and this may be our only chance to get away from here. If it’s not Juan’s men killing us, it may be the police locking us up. Either way it looks better to me if we just vanish for a while and Mexico would be my choice.”
“Do you think it smart for us to go to the airport?” she questioned.
“No, not in New York it’s not. But we’re only about 100 miles from Philadelphia and we can drive that in about two and a half hours. It’s just going on two o’clock. We’d be there about 4:30 or 5:00 this evening and be able to catch the 8:10 P.M. flight to El Paso. With the time change and flight time we’d be there around midnight. What do you say?” She looked at him for a long moment and wondered why leaving the country with him sounded so exciting and natural. She simply nodded her head in agreement and became emotional with an overwhelming feeling of pride. He was a good man.
Rudy took the coffees and pastries from the dash and handed them to Pamela. “Peach Danish?” he offered.
“Oh Yes, they’re one of my favorites. How did you know?”
“It’s one of those intuitive skills we Matadors have. We may sometimes not know which end of the bull the horns are on but we never get a lady’s Danish wrong.”
Pamela chuckled at his ability to make light of his profession and took a big bite out of her pastry. “Mmmm, that’s a good one,” she said with icing smeared on both cheeks. Rudy drank his coffee and drove southwest out of the city while watching her relish both of the pastries.
The traffic was light on the parkway and they were making good time.“Have you ever been to Juarez?” Rudy asked.
“No....I’ve been to Mexico a number of times, on vacations with my family when I was younger....but Juarez was never included in any of the resort guides. How about you, Mr. Globetrotter?”
“Yes, I’ve been many times. I have dear friends outside of the city that have become like family to me. We have not seen each other for
