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By Root 1034 0

committed, no more than a kilometer away, had already disappeared from their lives. Why should it be otherwise? They were not moralists; they were advisers and oversight personnel and not makers of policy. They came and went, as shadows did. Empires fell apart and died and new nations were born. A footprint in a jungle was as transient as the life span of an insect. The porous stone altars of the Mayans still contained the blood of the innocents who had been sacrificed by pagan priests centuries ago. What were the lives of a few more Indians? Krill believed this was how the mercenaries thought when they thought at all. In truth, he had never really cared about these men one way or another. Not until now.

His cell had a domed ceiling and seemed to bloom with a cool, fecund odor that was like water in the bottom of a dark well or mouse droppings inside a cave that dripped with moisture. There was another odor, too, one that was like mushrooms someone had trodden upon in a forest that never saw sunlight. It was like the smell in the disinterred bodies of his children. It was an odor that only a grave produced.

Krill propped his arms against the bars on the door and watched the mercenary the others called Frank. “You took off your mask,” Krill said.

“We’re all family here,” Frank said.

“You’re a nice-looking guy, man. Why are you a hump for a man like the Russian?”

“Sometime we’ll have a beer and I’ll fill you in.”

“I don’t have illusions about my situation. But I think you do,” Krill said.

Frank grinned. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt scissored off just below the nipples and a pair of black cargo trousers with big snap pockets stitched on the thighs. He had the clean, chiseled features and freshly scrubbed look of a 1930s leading man. “Just out of curiosity, what were you doing with the zip?” he asked. “Don’t give me that seeking-forgiveness crap, either.”

“What does ‘zip’ mean?”

“As in ‘zipper-head.’ I’m talking about the Chinese broad.”

“She can absolve sins.”

“Did you know your ancestors never invented the wheel?”

“Before the Spaniards came, there were no draft animals. Why would my ancestors want a wheel when they had no animals to hitch it to? They did not spend their time on non-utile pursuits.”

“You said I’m operating under some illusions.”

“When you killed Negrito, you freed his spirit. You don’t know it yet, but you got some serious problems, man.”

“You’re inside a prison cell and I’m outside of it. But I’m in trouble? You got to clue me in here. I’m fascinated by Indian mumbo jumbo.”

“Negrito wanted to be me, to live inside my skin. The way an assassin wants to become his victim. But he was too loyal to hurt his friend. So you did it for him and let his spirit leave his body and go inside mine. Now, no matter what you do to me, Negrito is going to be waiting for you. That is very bad for you, man. You haven’t figured that out yet, but you will.”

“Can your friend’s spirit rise out of concrete? Because you’re gonna be part of the foundation in Josef’s new barn.”

“Me cago en tu puta madre. Or are you already standing in line for that?”

“What did you say?”

“‘I defecate in your mother’s womb.’ That was Negrito’s favorite expression. See, I told you, Negrito is on the loose.”

“See my friend there, carrying that bucket out? Know what’s in the bucket?”

“The waste your mother usually makes you carry out?”

“Take another guess.”

A thick-bodied man, stripped to the waist, with a buzz haircut, was walking up the cellar stairs, a bucket swinging from his left hand. The muscles in his back looked like oiled rope. In the yellow glow of the bare bulb that hung above the steps, Krill could see stringlike tendrils of blood on the man’s skin.

“The item in that bucket was donated by one of our other guests,” Frank said. “Those two guys you whacked and mutilated at Josef’s place were friends of mine. Keep shooting off your mouth, greaseball. I’ll make sure you’re a donor, too.”

AT NINE A.M. of the same day, an independent taxi operator parked his vehicle in front of Hackberry’s office and came inside with a