The Jaguar

8

They took the elevator to the basement kitchen. It was large and two black women labored over the stoves and another operated a tortilla maker. It was hot and fragrant. Two young men sat in folding chairs by a far wall, weapons across their knees.

“A large kitchen,” said Armenta. “Yes, very large.”

“Why are the staff all black?”

“I used to live in the Caribbean.”

They left the kitchen through steel double doors and entered a warren of windowless vaults that soon defeated her sense of direction. The air was cool and smelled of concrete. Armenta led the way, apparently disinterested and walking fast, revealing the large handgun holstered at the small of his back. But Erin was intrigued by the mystery of this place and she lagged behind to see.

The vaults were large and the ceilings high and all were made of concrete block, unpainted, roughly cemented together. In the first was a bank of four large Honda generators, which groaned along. It was vented to the outside by a network of pipes and grates, and the adjacent vault was filled with fifty-five gallon drums of what Erin figured must be gasoline to run the generators.

In some of the vaults were large quantities of canned food and bottled water, sacks of flour, rice and beans. Others, she saw, were stacked high with crates and pallets of music CDs and movie DVDs. Thousands of them. She recognized the covers of some-American and Mexican musicians and Hollywood movies and TV shows-and she remembered Bradley telling her that the Mexican drug cartels weren’t selling just drugs anymore, but also pirated entertainment and both stolen and counterfeit designer fashion ware. She wondered if any Erin and the Inmates CDs were in the crates. Not likely, she thought, as they were a good band and known but not famous.

One large room was filled with Olmec statuary much like she remembered from the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. She had always been impressed by the great brooding heads with their infinite gazes. Another room had Toltec pieces and another was cluttered with Mayan artifacts, many crumbling with age-stone serpents and jaguars and great blackened blocks that must have come from pyramids or temples or one of the big sporting arenas like she’d seen in Chichen Itza. Armenta stopped and spoke softly into one of the cell phones as he waited for her.

They took the elevator up one floor to the ground-level zoo. It included two tigers, two lions, two leopards, two jaguars, two pumas and two ocelots. Armenta said they were mated pairs. Their separate enclosures spanned outward like the spokes of a half-wheel from the common hub of the Castle’s ground floor, then continued out into the jungle behind the structure in widening angles. The runs were separated by metal spike fences that Armenta said were too high even for the leopards to jump. The viewing area took up approximately the rear half of the ground floor of the Castle, and had a cobblestone floor and a low limestone ceiling that, to Erin, gave it the look and feel of a dungeon.

Here in the viewing area the cages converged, each of the enclosures ending at a large rust-eaten barred door that might have come from a prison. Monkeys sat on the cobblestones just out of claw range or walked with tails waving as they contemplated and jeered the captives. A giant sloth slept in a leather chair. A group of coatimundis came wobbling in from an opening on one side of the enclosures, crossed in front of Erin and Armenta, and continued out another. Parrots and macaws in reds and greens sat atop the prison doors. Peacocks and hens came and went. In the shade near the courtyard stood a large aviary filled with what looked like pigeons.

“I brought the cats in so you could see them.”

Erin studied the animals. They looked healthy. Their coats shone even in the dim light except for the lions, pale and tawny, the color of the hillsides where she lived. All of the animals were calm except the leopards. They paced opposite sides of their cage in opposite directions, six steps from the bars to the raised grates that kept them from their runs, six steps back, again and again as if counterbalanced. The tigers seemed curious about her though the lions did not. She recognized the black jaguar from the third-floor landing and it beheld her again with its pale green eyes. Eyes like the moon, she thought, eyes like the stone heads that stare forever. A piece of a song she had been hearing came to her now and she added to it: Come to me by moonlight, sugar/Let the moon be your guide/Be a jaguar in the jungle/Be a cat with Olmec eyes. She sensed Armenta looking not at the cats, but at her.

“I give them to friends. I sell them occasionally. They are splendidly cared for and indulged and yet this changes their natures none. They are not dogs and can never be as dogs. This is what I respect in them.”

Armenta walked to the last barred door and pushed a red button on the wall. Erin saw the enclosure grates withdraw into their respective concrete floors and the animals, some running and others walking, travel back into their dark slices of jungle.

Again they took the elevator up, though Armenta pushed one of the lower buttons. It was a good-sized car, paneled with Honduran mahogany, which Erin recognized from the precious bookshelves in her father’s Austin library. She counted six unnumbered control buttons. She and Armenta looked self-consciously straight ahead as strangers in elevators do. She could smell his cologne and the leather of his belt and sandals.

“How many levels?” she asked.

“Four or five.”

“Which?”

“This is level two.”

“Why is there no third-floor landing?”

He shrugged and they walked down a marble-floored hallway and came to another armed man, seated outside a door. Erin recognized him from the van. He rose and opened the door for them and Erin stepped into a large, well lit office. There was a counter with a sink and a coffeemaker and a refrigerator in one corner. The office was carpeted and three of the walls were lined with CD racks. Hundreds and hundreds of recordings, she saw. Some she recognized by their cover art and many she did not. The racks were so high there were wheeled ladders to reach the upper discs.

“From all over the world,” said Armenta.

“I thought I had a lot.”

Armenta led her past a desk with a sleek new computer on it and little else. He held a door open for her and as she stepped in, Erin recognized the wonderful aural hush of a recording studio.

The control room was large and filled with state-of-the-art equipment-a vintage Trident mixing board, Genelec loudspeakers suspended from the ceiling, a pair of NS-10 near-field speakers and Auratones on the board. She saw the two Studer twenty-four-track tape machines, and the racks with the Neve compressor, a near-holy Pultec EQP equalizer, FX, reverb mainframes dat machines, CD players and tape decks, a dedicated Mac. It was cold as control rooms are. As she moved slowly through it, looking at the expensive equipment, she felt no warm spots in the room, and she thought of her first recording sessions in an Austin garage when she was so young her brothers insisted on being there with her: the heat and the terrible acoustics and the troubled wannabe record producer who swilled warm beers and smoked joints and finally fell asleep on the floor mumbling sweet nothings to the cover of an Emmylou Harris long-play.

“Forty-eight tracks of analog,” said Erin. “And a Mac to store the digital. You have all the good toys,” she said.

“I like the warmer sound of the analog.”

“I always have too.”

He nodded. “However the digital has no hissing, and duplication is very convenient. I do the recording. I am a good engineer. I play accordion, but not well. I sing poorly.”

He held open the heavy door and they stepped into the tracking room. The ceilings were high and the rafters exposed and the woodwork and finish were handsome.

“This is more Honduran mahogany,” said Armenta.

Here in the tracking room his voice was flat and clear, as if stripped of nonessential vibration. Erin could tell that the baffles and sound-proofing were excellent, though hidden within the gorgeous woodwork. The air here was lively in a shimmery way-a tuned tracking room, she thought. Beautiful. There was a big drum booth, a piano booth in which a Yamaha grand piano held court, a vocal booth caked with foam from ceiling to floor. She turned and looked at Armenta.

“Los Jaguars de Veracruz have recorded here. And Mara Graco. Do you know Mara Graco?”

“I love Mara Graco. La Cumbia de Rosas.”

“And La Casa du tus Suenos.”

“The House of Your Dreams.”

“Her voice is almost that of a man. It is smoking and rich and hides something sharpened. She plays the piano very well but this talent is not featured on her recordings. Until here. Here Mara Graco played the Yamaha. It was…extraordinary. I want Flaco Jimenez to come here. So robusto, his accordion. I have seen him perform many times.”

Erin looked briefly at Armenta. His gray-black hair sprang randomly but his hangdog eyes were intensely focused on her. He seemed flushed by the memory of Mara Graco playing the Yamaha. For a moment his face held a ruddy glow and the hint of a smile. Then these faded and Erin saw the haunted face she had seen before, a man with losses he could not recover and regrets he would not outlive.

“And the Brazilians?” asked Armenta with a small twinkle in his eyes. “Nora Ney? Marisa Monte?”

“Hipnotico,” said Erin. “I love the Brazilians. They absorb so much and make it all work. I miss the old sambas.”

“I very much love the Irish too,” said Armenta. “And when the Chieftains play together with Los Tigres del Norte-”

“The Irish and the Mexicans together,” said Erin. “Was ‘San Patricio’ a wonder or not? With Ry Cooder!”

“Did you know that the accordions were brought here by the German and the Polish miners? Because they could travel with them. And the Mexicans fell in love with this sound. That is why much of our music is polka music-German polkas played faster and with happiness! Oh, yes, then you mix into this the passionate Irish. I reproduced two hundred and ten thousands of CDs of ‘San Patricio,’ and sold them easily. The Chieftans are excessively popular in Mexico, as are the Celtic Women. I made forty thousands of DVDs of their American PBS special. And the Spanish musicians who are so diverse and unpredictable, I am trying to bring them a bigger audience in Mexico, much bigger. The Arabic musical influence is so distinctive and unusual in Spain. Absolutely! And the Scottish are among my favorites-from ancient highland bagpipes to the guitar of Mark Knopfler! And he mixes them together in ‘Piper to the End!’ And of course the English, too, they produce greatness. And you Americans. You have Bob Dylan and the Boss and Bonnie Raitt and Taylor Swift. You may wish to know that Erin and the Inmates are beginning to be very popular in this country, especially in the states along the Gulf of Mexico. I sell you very strongly there because many of these states are friends to me. And because Mexicans love women who can sing. So they love you. I sell CDs of American women singers by the many of thousands. Most in Mexico, but many to Central and South America. Not in the United States anymore because of iPods. All of those products you saw in the basement are ready to be shipped. Of course, the downloading of music will ruin my CD business when the iPods become more affordable here. Until then, I will sell to the people what they want.”

“You shouldn’t rip off the artists you love so much.”

He eyed her. The lugubrious expression returned immediately. “Business always must be first.”

“Make it second and you’ll be happier.”

“I will be happy?”

She shrugged and looked out at the gorgeous Yamaha shining in the studio lights. “It’s possible that was a stupid thing to say.”

“Do you know how many people are trying to kill me?”

“Not exactly.”

“Thousands.”

“Truly?”

“Very truly. There are soldiers and police and hired assassins and enemies and even mere boys who would kill me without one thought. There are people who would kill me just to have a corrido written about it. Yet this is all a part of business. So, as you see, it must come first or I will die. You must comprehend that your world is not my world.”

“You’re right, Senor Armenta, this is not my world. And you’re also right about Flaco Jimenez. He’s one robust accordion player.”

“Yes. Music. I will tell you about my son someday.”

“He frightens me.”

“Not Saturnino. Gustavo. I will tell you about Gustavo. He was the beautiful one.”

Up on the fourth floor she recognized her hallway and room door. This level spread out logically at right angles, all hallways and guest rooms, like a hotel. Some of the doors were open and Erin saw that the rooms were beautifully furnished and decorated, like hers. Some were closed. They came to seating alcoves with high windows and heavy rancho sofas in leather and cowhide and grand recliners arranged around rustic trunks piled with books and periodicals. Monkeys peered down on them from the curtain rods. Parrots and macaws lined the landing rail and the banister that zigzagged down four floors as Erin looked over. A black man wearing white pants and a white shirt used a step ladder to remove various excretions from the drapery. The bucket on the floor beside him gave up the smell of lavender and Erin saw that a portion of the tile pavers was clean and still wet from the mop.

“In the daylight there are excellent views from these windows. You can see the ruins and the laguna.”

“I don’t think I’ll be free to enjoy views.”

He regarded her with a mild shrug. “No. This would not be practical.”

The top floor-Erin was fairly sure it was floor five-housed an observatory, a home theater the size of a multiplex, a recital hall, and a game room with billiards, table tennis, Foosball, scores of arcade games from “Cabela’s Big Game Hunter” to “Daytona Challenge” to “Kandahar Killers.” Father Edgar Ciel sat cramped but splendidly upright in the Daytona car, hands clutching the wheel, blazing his way through the competition while the novitiates watched on.

Back in the elevator Armenta pressed the second button from the top, which let them out on the second story, where they had seen the recording studio.

“The buttons and floors don’t match,” she said. “They are driving me crazy.”

“Driving? As a car?”

“Making me crazy. I mean, how many floors does this place have, anyway?”

Armenta looked at her as if he didn’t understand, then let Erin into a gallery. It was spacious and well lit by a network of halogen mini-bulbs. The floor was bird’s-eye maple and the walls were white plaster. They were hung with paintings and there were dozens of marble floor pedestals for sculpture from the Americas, some of it pre-Columbian and some of it contemporary. A man with a large black weapon stood in one corner, feet apart, arms cradling the gun.

“These are only a small part.”

“Of what?”

“My accomplishments.”

Armenta once again turned his back on her to talk into his phone. This time he spoke longer. His voice rose in volume and he cursed happily. In the corner the sicario uncradled his gun, lay a finger against the trigger guard and pointed the muzzle to the floor.

Suddenly, Saturnino burst into the gallery. His white Guayabera was drenched in sweat and streaked with blood and his eyes were wild with what looked like glee. There was a gun jammed into the waist of his jeans. He marched right up to Erin but stopped short and orbited her one full rotation, as in a dance, facing her and smiling wild-eyed. “You will be enjoying this!” While looking at her lips he kissed the air and spun off and loped over to his father who stood waiting, the phone still in his hand.

“Felix, papa!”

“Felix, el reportero?” asked Armenta.

“Si, Padre. Felix! El reportero! El traidor!”

Now the zoo was filled with people. Marimba music came from big speakers hung from the walls and sitting on the cobblestones. Erin was wedged in hard between Armenta on her left and Saturnino on her right. Heriberto stood in front of her. She saw the other gunmen who had kidnapped her and beaten Bradley, and the gentle boy who had served her dinner and poured her wine. There were soldiers and uniformed police and scores of what had to be cartel henchmen, a dozen of the elegant black domestic staff both men and women, and there were Mayans who must have come from the villages nearby. A group of four women and four men stood apart from the others. The women were dressed in white dresses and their heads were covered with the white rebozos, as the women Erin had seen coming from the third floor. The men were dressed in white also, long-sleeved shirts untucked and baggy pants, and their heads were covered not by rebozos but by loose white balaclavas that appeared to be made of a light material. Some of the men and women wore white cloth gloves.

In a row of seats up close to the cages sat the elders, some Indian and some Mexican and others indeterminate. To their left a man screwed a small video recorder to a tripod. Someone turned off the marimba and now a ranchero song blasted from the speakers. The music was festive and loose with up-tempo accordions and guitars strummed on the back-beat and powerful tenors in harmony. She looked through the bars of the cages but saw no cats. The grates were all down and she suspected that the animals were lost to their runs. All this commotion would certainly send them running. No monkeys or sloth or coatimundi. The compound yard was filled with vehicles. The pigeons in the aviary flapped and flitted and cocked their heads toward the ruckus.

Then she saw a beautiful woman making her way through the crowd toward them. She wore a peach-colored dress that was both modest and flattering. Her hair was dark and lustrous. It took Erin a moment to recognize her but when the woman was within ten feet she knew for certain it was Owens Finnegan. It was jarring to see Owens so far from her context of California, but somehow, Erin thought, in some inexplicable way, she fit right in here.

Owens smiled at Benjamin Armenta, then came to him, and when they embraced, Owens looked over his shoulder into Erin’s eyes and raised a finger to her own red lips. Her wide sterling silver bracelets slid away and Erin saw the ropy scars that ringed her wrists. They unnerved her as they always had. Then Owens disengaged from Armenta, pecked him on the cheek, glanced at Erin, then settled on the other side of him. Erin watched him put a stout arm around her, lightly and with affection.

Mike Finnegan’s “daughter,” Erin thought. The Finnegans. Vague, pointless people, in her opinion. They had materialized at one of their Los Angeles gigs one winter, listened to a set, then occasionally shown up to see her perform, club to club, ever since. Friendly enough, maybe too friendly. They always bought the drinks. She could tell their true interest was in Bradley and she distrusted them. Charlie Hood was searching the world for Mike, Erin knew, although she didn’t really know why. Or why Charlie was having such trouble finding him. Mike was always turning up, with his laughter-red face and lively blue eyes and his flagrant nosiness about all things.

Saturnino’s face leaned near. “Strong men need beautiful women, like her,” he said just loud enough that she could hear him over the music. “To keep us strong. And generous. And filled with love.”

“You’re quite a philosopher, Saturnino.”

“You are this beautiful to me. I will be gentle with you.” He smiled and raised his hand toward her but stopped short, brushing his fingers in the air as if along the contours of her face. She felt revulsion and she saw the enjoyment of it in his smile. “Very gentle.”

“Don’t try it until after you’ve shot me.”

“I hear this many times. Maybe I will not be gentle.”

“I’d still rather die.”

“I admire your pride and your courage. I will take them from you.”

Saturnino turned to face the cages and Erin saw the black iron grates rise from the cat runs. Like a prison, she thought, everything automatic. Cheers went up from the crowd. Seconds later the cats appeared behind the grates. Erin wondered if they were drawn by the sound of the grates clanging up, or by the crowd. More cheers. Why would wild animals come close to all this noise? But the twelve predators paced in the half-light beyond the grates. A tiger snarled at a lioness and the lioness snapped back, her teeth flashing like yellow knives and ringing off the steel bars of the run.

Two cartel gunmen led a man through the crowd. He wore dirty trousers and a torn shirt and a necktie. His face was swollen and bloody. The reporter, thought Erin: the traitor.

The prison-bar door of the leopard cage rolled open. Erin heard the squeal of it through the beats of the ranchero song. A wave of nausea broke over her and her knees froze as she watched them push the man inside and knock him to the ground. They hovered over him until the door had almost closed then they scrambled, laughing, and squeezed out of the cage. The man struggled upright and faced the leopards waiting on the other side of the grate. The ranchero music blared and the crowd jeered him and the videographer made an adjustment to his little camera.

Erin rammed an elbow into Armenta’s arm. “You can’t do this!”

He looked at her with a forlorn expression and she tried to ram him again but Armenta caught her elbow in a powerful hand that held her fast. “He is a reporter and a traitor. He writes about me in his newspaper. He tells lies because the Zetas threaten him. The newspaper reporter blames me for the heads in Monterey but these are done by the Zetas. I forgive him. The reporter blames me for the dead police in Guadalajara but these man are hanged by Zetas. From the bridge. I forgive again. He blames me for Gustavo. My own Gustavo. He blames his death, not on the Americans but on me. Enough. This is the highest disrespect. The newspaper writer is very bad for my reputation and my business. He heats the plaza. I will pay for my own crimes, but not the crimes of others. This writer is now mine and he will write no more words against me or my family.”

Armenta dropped her elbow and took a step forward, raising his hand into the air and snapping his fingers. Erin saw Owens looking at her, an unreadable expression on her face.

Then the grate began to retract into the concrete floor and when it was low enough the male leopard launched himself onto the reporter. He screamed and lashed out with his fists but the cat closed its mouth over his face and the scream echoed thickly. The man collapsed onto his back and the leopard raked open his stomach with its hind claws as the female crushed his groin in her jaws and together they carried him out of the cage and past the grate and into the jungle beyond. In their grasp the reporter appeared to weigh little more than the clothes he wore and yet he struggled as he vanished into the darkness.

Erin fainted and was caught by Owens.