Chapter 4

My disguise consisted mostly of a change of clothes into something a bit more flamboyant. The belt around my waist was covered with silver conchos and I had red ribbons tied around my legs just above my knees. This seemed to fit with the attire of the local tough guys, and I did not shave that day. All in all, it seemed to be an adequate departure to keep me from being labeled a Gringo without a second glance.

I started visiting cantinas to try to get a line on The Tarantula and maybe picking up an offer of employment. My GPS was a uniform mass of indicators, so I was not able to zero in on a particular site. I was going to have to search the hard way. Even Mexican beer can begin to pall, so I was starting to leave a lot of half empty glasses of beer sitting around, but I thought I was beginning to detect a pattern of activity.

One particular cantina seemed to draw me to it. The level of nefarious activity seemed to peak around it, but I couldn't be certain. I went in and immediately detected an air of menace. I did receive a few stares from some especially tough looking characters, but there was nothing that I could put my finger on. The cantina had one private room with a door that stayed closed except when there was actual traffic through it. Unfortunately, I could never find a position from which I could get even a quick glimpse into the room. I was beginning to feel very frustrated, but my luck was about to change, though not in a good way.

I guess I was too obvious in trying to see into that private room, because two thugs came up to me and suggested that I would be happier visiting a different cantina. I didn't want to make too much of a fuss, so I let myself be "ushered" out of the cantina. The problem was, the thugs thought that they would put a little icing on the cake by throwing me to the ground when we got outside. Even that I would have put up with, but one of them drew his gun as if to punctuate the affair by putting a few holes in my hide.

Now that was too much, and I lost my temper. I drew and put a hole in the head of each of my tormentors before they could shoot me. Unfortunately, the noise brought a number of men pouring out of the cantina, mostly with drawn guns. In a kind of reflex action, I began shooting at those who already had a gun drawn. I knocked off a total of 10 men, and the rest ducked back into the cantina. With two misses, I now was holding two empty guns—not of much value under the circumstances.

I was in a very exposed position, so I grabbed the nearest available horse and got the hell out of town. I went directly to my hotel room and used my special communicator to call for help. Lars came on, immediately. "Yes, Abe, what can I do for you?"

"I've discovered as serious problem. There are times when 12 shots are not enough. Can the R&D people come up with a way so that I will never run out of ammunition, no matter how many shots I fire. I just ran into a case where it was me against around two dozen, and I would now be full of holes if their nerve had not broken before mine did. I know it is a concession to the Saturday afternoon movie, but I need some of those always-loaded guns."

"OK, I'll see what I can do, but please try to stay out of trouble until I can get back to you."

I don't care how many researchers you have to put on the job, I want Hofmann to have his special guns ASAP. And ASAP means tomorrow if you can manage it!

Somebody at headquarters likes me, because I got my replacement guns by the following afternoon. This included my two regular pistols, both my rifles, and the little Derringer with its .410 shotgun shell that I carry as a hide-out gun in my boot. I appreciate the fast service, but I hope they don't expect me to repeat that gunfight of a couple of days ago more often than once a week! Sheesh! I have no idea how it works, magic is good enough for me, but I have been assured that I will never again run out of ammunition. I sure hope that they are right, because, if they are, my two pistols are the equivalent of machine pistols, and we all know what they can do! I resolved to test the new weapons the next day.

I stopped off at my favorite Mexican restaurant for breakfast, and was happy to see that the owner/waiter was back at work. He was equally happy to see me, and I had to stop him from bringing me too much food. Juan Alvera is a nice guy. I hope I am around if he has any more problems.

I crossed the river, this time dressed as a Gringo, and went to that infamous cantina. I figured that they would not recognize me without my disguise, and I was correct. Most of the talk was about the debacle of a couple of days ago and how the situation would have been different if the speaker had been able to get to the front with his gun. I hoped that I did not look too pleased with myself as I listened to the bullshit.

I noticed that there was no activity at the private room when I first arrived, but some character came in and the whole atmosphere changed. He went directly to the private room, and activity in and out of the door really picked up. I hung around a while, but saw that there was nothing to be gained by staying where I was, so I decided to see if I could find another way to learn some of what was going on in that room.

The boss looked like the cigar smoking type, so I figured that there had to be a window opening on to an alley. They would open the window to let out the excess cigar smoke, so I might be able to overhear something if I stood at that window.

I went outside and ambled up the street. I turned the corner and went looking for the alleyway that I knew had to be there. Ah, there it was. I started walking down the alley as if I was looking for something, just in case I was spotted. I got close to the cantina, and I was met by a tough looking thug. "Senor, what are you doing here?" he asked me in the kind of Spanish an Anglo was supposed to understand.

"I need to use the jakes, but I can't find one. Would you be so kind at to point one out to me."

This brought a chuckle from the man, and he pointed to a small shed to my right. I thanked him and started to turn away. When he dropped his guard, I hit him in the throat with the edge of my hand. I am sure that I killed him, I certainly hoped so. I pulled his body into the shadows and went to stand beside the window, but so that I could not be seen from inside.

I listened for some time and came to the conclusion that this was not The Tarantula, but was one of his lieutenants. I never did get an indication of where I could find The Tarantula, but I might be lucky if I followed this lieutenant. With that in mind, I dumped the body of the man I had just killed down the hole in the jakes and left before I could be spotted.

I needed to stake out the cantina and follow the lieutenant after he left the cantina. Hopefully, he would lead me to The Tarantula. I climbed to the roof of the building facing the cantina where I could keep watch. Eventually, I was rewarded after a very boring wait: the lieutenant exited the cantina and climbed into a carriage.

I retrieved my horse and followed the carriage at a discrete distance. We didn't travel far before we came to a very large manor house located outside of town. The property was surrounded by a tall fence that was patrolled both inside and out. This had to be the place! Only a crime lord would be so fearful as to have that much protection around his house. I rode on beyond the house as if I had business elsewhere, but I planned to return as soon as it got dark.

I hurried back to my hotel and asked Lars for a "ninja" suit. While I was in an asking mood, I asked for additional modifications to my pistols. I was gratified when both were delivered within about 30 minutes. It looked like my stock was still riding high at Organization headquarters.