xp_logs | Xbalanque

After a grisly discovery about Dr. Mendez, Nash and Julio are escorted into town to meet with the local magistrate, who tries to get them to agree to the accepted story and leave town. Nash and Julio, not so inclined to believe him.

When Elpis has arrived at Santo Tomás that morning, they're found a hole where the door was supposed to be, scared residents, and one hell of a strange story. Made even worse when one of the hands found Dr. Mendez.

Or what was left of him.

The call for help, yielded something very different. Armed "police" who wanted to speak to the ladinos. Nash obviously, and after a lost round of rock, paper, scissors, Julio.

While San Juan Ixtahuacan wasn't exactly the richest of communities in Western Guatemala, the magistrate's offices were clean and well kept, which spoke of the amount of money he had coming in. Possibly not all that legal. If that wasn't a clue, the number of guards milling about further added to it. There was a rumor that Eduardo Duarte, magistrate of San Juan Ixtahuacan and the surrounding areas was corrupt, and he wasn't exactly going out of his way to disprove it.

Julio frowned at his escort. It would be much easier to believe that this was all standard procedure if the man didn't have his pistol very pointedly in his lap the entire drive down. He and Nash were seated in the hallway and had been waiting for the last half hour. Julio suspected it was to make the guy seem more important and busy than he actually was. Finally they were beckoned to enter into an open, airy office. The ancient ceiling fan creaked overhead, and seated at an old, but well-kept desk was a short wiry man with neatly trimmed dark hair and horrible acne scars. He gestured for both Julio and Nash to sit, giving them a small, polite smile, greeting them both.

"~You wanted to take our statements, Señor Duarte?~" Nash said, politely enough, although there was a barely noticeable tension about his posture that said 'readiness' to anyone who knew how to look.

"~Yes, yes,~" Duarte unearthed a couple of files. "~You were up in Santo Tomas because...?~" he said, addressing Julio moreso than Nash. There was nothing outwardly unfriendly about his demeanor, but there was a distinct edge to the man. Something saying that he was only friendly as long as he was kept happy.

"Uh," Julio blinked. "~We work for an aid organization, Elpis. It was a research trip?~" He looked to Nash to continue. Julio's strengths were not in diplomacy and he didn't want to accidentally land them both in jail.

"~We have all our credentials and visas in order, Señor,~" Nash said, his deep bass voice almost echoing in the office. "~I would be happy to show them to you.~"

Duarte held his hand out and gestured somewhat impatiently for them. Upon receiving them, he frowned and took entirely too long to go over them. When he finally looked up he smiled warmly. "~Yes, of course, Elpis. You work with mutants, correct? Our little corner of the world seems to be developing our fair share. Ever since the war ended, especially,~" he mused. "~I admired the work Mendez was doing up in Santo Tomas. But he was playing with fire, the guerillas in the area love to recruit the young. Poor dumb kids don't realize what they're getting themselves into until it's too late. Did you know many commit suicide rather than have to stay?~" Duarte shook his head and leaned forward. "~Unfortunately for Dr. Mendez, they don't take kindly to the loss of their soldiers.~"

Julio fought to keep a straight face at the abrupt change in Duarte's demeanor. He'd gone from surly to everyone's favorite uncle in the space of an eyeblink, and that smacked of condensation to Julio. "~Sir?~" he said, trying his best to sound polite. "~We saw the body.~"

"~Definitely not a simple murder,~" Nash rumbled.

Julio nodded, "~Less shot, more slashed--~"

"--~These groups do that,~" Duarte said, cutting Julio off. "~Let me guess? It looked like a wild animal did it?~" He looked in both Julio and Nash's eyes and then snorted. "~These people and their myths. I was stationed in this area during the war, and I learned all about their 'killer jaguar spirit,~'" he made quotes with his fingers. "~It's a ghost story, something they use to frighten the foreigners and the ladinos. No, what you're looking at is a guerilla group that got sick of him impinging on his territory. I did warn him repeatedly not to make them angry.~"

Nash's expression was still neutral, but there was a hint of something less even-tempered in his gray eyes. "~Sounds like a possibility to me,~" he said briefly. "~But I suppose the investigation will answer the question conclusively.~"

"~Quite,~" said Duarte shortly. "~But I'll save you the trouble and tell you exactly what the investigation will find. Dr. Mendez was murdered by True Peace, one of our local guerilla groups hiding in the mountains. So what I suggest is you put your affairs in order and return to the States, as there's probably nothing else for you now."

"Oh, how I've missed Latin America..." Nash muttered under his breath in English, then rose. To his full height, which was imposing even in the fairly high-ceilinged room. "~I appreciate the advice, Señor,~" he said, "~but our work's not finished. If anything, Dr. Mendez's murder means we have more to do.~"

Duarte's face didn't change, except for a slight twitch in his jaw. Nothing was said, but it was clear that a line in the sand had been drawn. "~If that's how you feel, I can't exactly stop you. I can tell you right now it won't be easy, though.~"

Julio rose along with Nash, and though he was no where near as imposing as the taller man, he could still pull off that he meant serious business. "~It's part of what we do,~" Julio said.

"~If we can be of any further help with the investigation,~" Nash said, and it was very clear that as far as the ex-Mistra operative was concerned, the meeting was finished whatever Duarte though, "~you know where to find us.~"

"~I'll keep in touch,~" Duarte said. His smile didn't reach his eyes, though. The tension in the room became thick and heavy. With a nod a gesture to the man by the door, Duarte dismissed them.

Back out on the street, Julio exhaled and laced his fingers behind his head. "That went well," he said.

"No, it didn't," Nash said, and it was more a statement of fact than a missing of Julio's sarcasm. The big man's expression somehow managed to be tense and pensive at the same time. "I wish I didn't wish I'd brought fewer of you relative youngsters and more of our... scarier fellow employees along." He smiled faintly, before Julio could respond. "No offense intended, I know you can all handle yourself. But this is starting to feel more like a crisis in the process of happening than I like."

"This actually happens to us a lot," Julio said dryly. "It's something of a surprise when a situation doesn't get all fucked up," he ran his fingers through his hair. There was a reason his father detested anything having to do with Guatemala. "Now is the time for plan B, yes?"

It just would be nice to know what Plan B was.