CHAPTER 47- THE STALKING
Boy pulled up at the entrance. "No time to spare. I'll return the car while you check in."
"We'll save you a place on line. Look for us inside," Robin said, handing over the rental car's papers. The women hurried off to check their luggage, then they lined up to pay the required tax fee before boarding. "Where is he?" she worried. "He has to present his own ID at the tax window."
"Here I am, girls," Boy boomed, coming up behind Robin and towering over her.
"Ha!" Robin exploded. "Hurry up. We're going to the other line. The one for customs." The women set off in the other direction, dragging their carry-on luggage and Boy's books. Their line was almost through the door leading to customs when Boy caught up again.
"Made it," he sighed with relief. "Now it's just the customs check and we'll be on board."
The group was so busy struggling with their belongings and presenting themselves to the customs' personnel to notice a small man toward the back of the line. The man wore a white suit. The brim of his straw hat was pulled down over his face. He clutched something in one hand, his eyes intent on the group. Samantha casually glanced in his direction and he ducked out of sight behind others on the line.
"This is it, gang," sang Samantha.
"Boarding at last," sighed Raven.
The passengers moved forward with the line, slowly, obediently, onto the plane. Boy easily hoisted the carry-ons into the overhead racks while the women took their seats. No one noticed the mysterious passenger sidle past them to take an aisle seat in the back of the plane. Hat brim still shading his face, he bided his time.
Boy, Raven, and Sam settled down to wait. They closed their eyes and relaxed. Cat and Robin buckled their seat belts and continued pawing through the books. At long last, the plane was ready to depart. It taxied bumpily down the strip.
"I hope the pilot can fly this crate," Robin remarked.
"Perhaps you want to go up front and help him," Cat suggested sweetly.
Robin shot her a withering glance, but Cat wasn't paying attention to Robin. She'd spotted something in the book she was holding. She put her ticket on the page to mark the spot and took up another book. It was one she'd looked at before. She was searching for something she'd read in the car.
"Catherine Elizabeth," said Robin in a reproving tone, "you're flipping those books all over. What's the matter with you?"
The others heard the commotion and turned around. Raven fixed Cat with questioning, dark eyes. "What's the fuss?"
"Ha! It's here! I knew I'd seen it in the car." Cat pointed to the places she'd marked in the two books. "Look at these old zombie legends."
"They could just be old superstitions and nothing more," cautioned Samantha.
"But all these legends. In all these books." Cat indicated the pile of books with a wave of her hand. "They all say never to give a zombie salt or meat."
"Those are only legends, not facts, Cat," Robin pointed out.
"Don't discount Cat's theory so quickly," Boy insisted. "Most legends are based in fact so maybe the salt, and the meat which naturally contains salt, causes some sort of chemical reaction to the first drug."
"So, does it say why not to give a zombie salt or meat?" asked Robin.
Cat continued, "Well, while all the old legends say not to give the zombie salt or meat, they differ as to what the result of such an action would be." She held up the marked pages and continued. "These books allege that zombies who tasted salt or meat suddenly realized they were dead. They gave out anguished cries and shuffled off, back to their graves. Then they crawled into those graves and tried to claw the dirt over themselves. Those watching claimed the zombies began to decompose, on the spot."
"Good grief," sniffed Robin. "Shades of a horror movie."
"Yeah," Boy agreed, "it would make one hell of a script."
"So, that's one side of the story," said Cat. "Take a look at these other books," she said, bending down and fumbling under the seat. Cat brought up some of the books and handed them to her friends. "Open them to the marked pages," she insisted, pointing to one of the passages. "Now these other legends say the zombie spell is broken if the victim tastes salt or meat. See here, it says that a zombie accidentally given a confection containing salted nuts gave an anguished cry. This one recovered."
"Well, that anguished cry business certainly gives me chills," Robin said.
"No, it makes me rather think of some sort of a serious chemical reaction taking place," replied Boy. "Now that those doctors have samples of Ramon's poisonous compounds, they can run tests and experiments on them. After all, Luis isn't going anywhere in a hurry. They could test the poisons and the alleged antidotes on lab animals to see if there's any truth to it."
Samantha reached back across the seats and touched her friends' hands. "We're the lucky ones. We survived. We get to go home to our friends and families."
"Tell us the truth, Boy," Cat asked, "now that our ordeal is over and no one can overhear. Ramon drew so many people from so many different backgrounds and religions into his web. Now that Manny and the police have pieced everything together, in your opinion, which religion do you think was the true one? Which was more powerful than the others?"
"Oh, Cat, haven't you figured it out yet? A religion is no stronger than the strength its worshippers bring to it. When people pray, the details of the ceremony are only the focal point. The true power lies in each of us. Don't forget," he added, "we're in a country where airline passengers applaud the pilot for a safe landing. They have a different perspective of life than we do. And they view their deities differently."
"Also," he continued, "Manny told me that in Santeria, the orishas may possess a person during a ceremony. Then through this host, like the gods of ancient Greece, the orishas may mingle with the common folk. This makes me wonder how Ramon must have viewed himself. He may have walked with gods so often that he came to think he, too, was a god and could act with impunity."
Leaving them stunned, Boy jumped up. "And now, I'm going to see if this plane can put me in touch with the ground."
"What are you going to do," asked Cat.
"Think of it. So many prepared foods contain salt and meat. If there's even one grain of truth to these old legends, the doctors treating Luis should have this information before some well-meaning person serves the kid lunch."
He turned and hurried up the aisle. The four women watched his retreating figure and then closed their eyes. They began to doze almost immediately.
The man in the back of the plane saw his opportunity. He unbuckled his seat belt and slipped into the aisle. He headed in the direction of the four women, concentrating on Robin who was sitting in the aisle seat. The man crept silently along until he was beside her. He had something concealed in his hand.
Oblivious to his presence, the small woman dozed. The man bent over her sleeping form and brought up his hand. Cat sensed the furtive movement and opened one eye. She peered over from the middle seat and saw the man, his face hidden, bending over Robin. As the man brought up his hand, Cat could see there was something in it.
"Nooooooo!" Cat screamed. She thrashed around to grab the man and missed, trapped by the seat belt. Robin's blue eyes snapped open. The man's face was almost on top of her own. She opened her mouth to scream, but the man was quicker. Before she could utter a sound, he tore off his hat and planted a passionate kiss on her parted lips.
By now, Cat had freed herself from the restraint and grabbed him by the hair. Robin tried desperately to push the man's face from her own. Cat yanked his hair, trying to separate the two. Despite their efforts, the man was seriously engaged in kissing Robin and refused to let her go. Raven and Sam turned to aid their friends, but only got in the way. Cat managed to keep a tight grip on the intruder and struggled to her full height.
"There's something in his hand!" warned Sam. With a supreme effort, Cat pulled the man off Robin. She held him in the air, his feet dangling inches above the aisle. The women stared at the st
alker and gasped. It was Pedro, the handyman from the hotel. He relaxed within Cat's iron grip, a big, satisfied smile on his face.
"Ahhhh, Seńorita linda," he purred to Robin. "I know how to treat a beautiful woman." He held out his hand to Robin. The women stared in horror as he opened his fingers, then sighed with relief. His hand contained a flower, a wilted, little wildflower. When Robin didn't reach up to take the flower from him, Pedro leaned over and tucked it into her hair. "We will go together to your beautiful country? Si?"
Cat released him. "I guess all of us are going to our country. Especially if we're on the same plane." The stewardess, in her crisp uniform, came rapidly down the aisle.
"It's all right, Miss. We have everything under control," Raven said as she pushed Pedro into Boy's vacant seat. The stewardess paused doubtfully. Raven smiled sweetly up at her.
"Just an old friend having his little joke. Don't worry. He'll behave from now on."
The stewardess shot Pedro a suspicious look. "If there's any further disturbance . . ."
Raven cut her off. "There won't be. I promise." The stewardess went back to serving drinks.
"I have to explain something to you, Pedro," Raven said. Pedro turned and waved to Robin. "No, Pedro, pay attention to me," insisted Raven.
She reached out and physically turned him to face her. Pedro gave Raven his silliest grin. He listened to what this dark-haired beauty was telling him and his smile began to fade.
By then, Boy's mission had been completed. He came striding back down the aisle just as the plane hit choppy air. He was sent bumping into the drink cart. The stewardess recovered from the jolt and looked up, recognizing this large man as one of the group she'd branded troublesome.
He tried to stammer an apology, but something about her made him feel so guilty, that the words froze on his lips. He helped straighten the cart and, with profuse apologies, climbed clumsily past the woman and her bottled wares.
Samantha spotted Boy first. "Were you able to get through?"
Boy nodded, smiling. "Yes, for some reason, I couldn't dial directly. So, they put me through to air traffic control and somehow patched the message through to the police. The fastest way was to send a man to the clinic."
Little Robin chimed in, "For whatever our message is worth, I pray it's in time."
"Who's this in my seat?" inquired Boy, staring down at Pedro.
"Someone suffering from unrequited love," replied Cat as she fixed Robin with a meaningful glance. To Cat's immense joy, Robin smarted deliciously.
"Someone who’s traveling with us to the United States," added Samantha.
"And," sighed Raven, "someone we're going to have to befriend and help to find a job." She turned to Pedro. "All right, Pedro, time to go back to your own seat. Move along now, before this big man eats you all up."
Pedro rose meekly and slipped around Boy. He hastened down the aisle to his own seat, where he sank down in dejected silence.
Five minutes later Pedro glanced up from the depths of his despair and saw the young woman across the aisle from him. He stared, thinking, What silky hair she has! Like a dark, shiny cloud. And her eyes! A brilliant blue, more beautiful than the sky. And her complexion! Absolutely flawless. Her clothes are expensive, so she is definitely a tourist. Pedro firmly believed that all foreign women were rich and this one was so young and beautiful. A goddess!
He reached inside his jacket and pulled out another wilted flower. Leaning across the aisle to her and holding out his floral token, he gave her his most penetrating gaze. The woman sensed his presence and turned to face him.
"Hola," Pedro whispered intensely, "I am a man who knows how to treat a beautiful woman."