Out of the Sea by Don Smith

Author:Don Smith [Smith, Don]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller, Pulp, Noir
Publisher: CUTTING EDGE
Published: 2025-11-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

That evening before dinner, Tomás and a man I had never met before came to see me in the Hotel Victoria. Roberto, after some rather colorful comments on my stupidity for letting myself be caught, had produced a beautiful sitting room and bedroom overlooking the bay. From the balcony I could just make out the Chucha alongside the quay, sacks and cases piling up on the deck as they unloaded her. I had shut that unhappy scene and the past twenty-odd hours from my mind, and slept most of the afternoon.

Tomás introduced the stranger as one Fernández, Aguzado’s lawyer. I shook hands with him and explained that I had intended to get in touch with Aguzado in the morning.

He said, “It is going to be a delightful case. They are not sure of their ground, having picked you up outside territorial waters. We will fight it through to the courts in The Hague.”

“In the meantime, what do I do?”

“Don’t worry. The case will come before the tribunal in three or four days. Either we shall be fined, or the ship and cargo will be seized, or they will return everything. If we are fined, the fine will be paid immediately, and you will be completely free. We will then protest the decision in a higher court and so on. If they return the ship and cargo, I don’t think that we will claim damages—although, mind you, we could. You will simply take your ship and depart.”

Later over dinner at the Patio, I remarked to Tomás that Aguzado certainly took care of his men.

“They all do. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t get a foreign skipper to work for them.”

“To hell with it. Let’s get drunk. Where’s our girl friend?”

“Which one?”

“That beautiful dancer, Rosita.”

“Geez, didn’t you know? She left for Madrid some time ago. Told me you’d fixed her up with a job at the Casa Alegría, a damn good night club in Madrid. If she can hold down the job, she’ll be doing all right.”

“She’ll keep it,” I said. “Let me know how she gets along. By the way, I had an interesting conversation with your friend Aguzado not so long ago.”

“So?”

“He up and told me he didn’t kill Gonzales, and what’s more, he didn’t give the order to have him eliminated. I’m still trying to figure out why he felt it necessary to explain it to me.”

Tomás caught the eye of the waiter and ordered cheese and fruit.

“It fits in with what I’ve been hearing around the port,” he said, finally. “Aguzado and Despojo aren’t too fond of each other at the moment, it seems, so it makes sense. Despojo still works for the outfit over on the mainland, but I’m beginning to suspect that Aguzado was pretty upset over the killing. He’s a hard character; about as hard as they come. But he’s not stupid, and after all, killing Gonzales was unnecessary. The rumor now is that Despojo and Gonzales met that night just as we figured out, somewhere around Señora Dolores’ establishment.

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