Chapter 4
It took Tim a moment to process the message. He couldn’t immediately recall why Matthew Arnold sounded familiar. After thinking for a few minutes he remembered it was the name of James’ colleague, the one he had mentioned on his message to contact while he was away on vacation. The question was, how did Matthew get his number and what was the news?
Tim quickly dialled the number Matthew had left, but found that it just kept ringing with no answer. He was concerned that perhaps it was already too late for whatever the news was. He decided to order the pizza anyway while he was waiting, no sense in worrying on an empty stomach.
After trying a few more times someone finally picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, this is Tim Harding, I’d like to speak with Matthew Arnold please.”
A pause and then, “Matthew speaking, thanks for getting back to me Mr. Harding. As I said in the message, I am afraid I have some bad news for you.”
“What news?” Tim asked, impatiently.
“I’m afraid to say that James Conroy is missing. He was last seen yesterday morning at his hotel in Puerto Vallarta but never returned to his room since. His cell phone is turned off and no one has seen any sign of him. He gave me your number along with the rest of his current cases when he left in case something came up while he was away. I am sorry to be giving you such bad news,” Matthew responded.
Tim didn’t know how to react. He paused for a long moment before stammering, “Thanks for letting me know, Matthew,” and hung up the phone, not being able to think of anything else to say.
He tried to imagine what could have happened to James and wondered what this would mean for him. James was the only person who knew the details to Tim’s secret. What if he had been kidnapped and forced to divulge the information or worse yet, killed? Tim felt as if someone had punched him hard in the chest.
After a little while, the pizza arrived, and Tim managed to make himself sit and eat, even if he couldn’t enjoy it. He tried to calm himself down, but his mind continued to rush through what-if scenarios. He wasn’t sure what, if anything he could even do about the news. Without more information, James could be anywhere and anything could have happened.
When he finished eating he turned on the TV to try to calm down. Regardless of what had happened, there was nothing he could do right now and worrying about it would only increase his stress level and not help matters. He managed to distract himself with a combination of reruns of Shark Week on the discovery channel and a Fox News expose on the dangers of shower curtains. He did manage to relax enough to think clearly, but still had trouble deciding what to do.
He still hadn’t heard anything back from Tabitha, which likely meant that she had either not received or more likely just ignored his request for Jeremy’s contact information. This meant that James might be his only hope of contacting Jeremy. He had a thought and called Matthew back.
“Hello, Matthew Arnold speaking,” the voice on the other end answered.
“Hi Matthew, it is Tim again. Sorry for hanging up so abruptly, I was a little bit shocked. I was just wondering, what happens to James’ cases if he isn’t found? Do you have access to his documents?”
Matthew hesitated, trying to form the right words, “Well, not precisely, no. Because of confidentiality laws, James’ files are strictly secret and as his clients didn’t give their express permission for me to be privy to their information, I can’t access it. All I have is a list of his open cases so that I could handle any further matters.”
“But what about the information in his files? How would I get my things back?” Tim enquired.
“Well, in the unlikely event that James isn’t found, a court appointed caretaker would review the files and return their contents to the relevant parties in order to preserve their confidentiality.”
Tim thought about this. If the files were returned to their owners, he would undoubtedly only get his own information back and Jeremy’s would remain inaccessible indefinitely. As all other options seemed to have exhausted themselves, Tim realized that James would have to be found or else risk having his secret revealed to the world.
“Is there anything else I can do for you Mr.Harding?” Matthew said after not hearing anything from Tim for a while.
“No thank you, that is all for the moment,” Tim responded and hung up.
At this point, there was really only one option left. Tim picked up the phone and dialled another number. After a few rings, someone answered, “Hello?”
“Hi Nick, its Tim. How are you?”
“Oh hi Tim. I’m doing pretty well here, just enjoying the last couple weeks before school starts up again. It’s good to hear from you. What is new in your world?”
“Actually quite a bit, but I don’t really want to get into it at the moment. I was calling to see how you would feel about coming with me down to Puerto Vallarta. I know you’ve talked about going down to Mexico.”
“That sounds great, I think I could probably get some time off a bit before Christmas, does that work for you?”
“Actually, I was thinking of a little sooner,” Tim replied.
“Well, I can’t go much before that, it will be term time.”
“Yeah, I know that, I was thinking more like tomorrow”
There was silence on the other end and then, “Tomorrow? That is a little short notice don’t you think?”
“I know that, but do you have anything more pressing you have to get done in the next week?”
“Well, not exactly…yeah, ok, I’ll do it. When do we leave?”
“Fantastic. We’ll leave tomorrow night after I finish work. I’ll send you an email with the flight details once I have the tickets booked. It will be good to catch up, talk to you then Nick.”
Tim didn’t talk to his brother all that often but they did get along well and as he didn’t particularly want to travel by himself again, he figured bringing Nick would give him company and a chance to catch up. He hadn’t decided what, if anything, he would tell him regarding the reason for the trip and the timing, but he had some time to figure that out.
Nick was a few years younger than Tim and had started as Science teacher at a local high school a few years back. He had been an avid traveller and they often talked about trying to take a trip together, but Tim’s job rarely allowed him much time off and so they had never managed to arrange anything.
For the moment, he had some packing to do as he was hoping to leave immediately after work the following day. He searched Google for last minute vacation deals for Puerto Vallarta and there was, quite conveniently, one leaving the next night. He booked an all inclusive package at one of the resorts that included return airfare coming back the end of the following week.
He would have to leave work a day earlier than he had expected, which meant he needed to get a lot done tomorrow before leaving. Fortunatly, he was a diligent worker and had a knack for meeting deadlines, no matter how ambitious. Having a plan set up made him a little calmer and he set about getting ready for the trip. He didn’t entirely know what he would do when he arrived at the resort, but he hoped he might be able to at least piece together some more information on what had happened to James.
He got a suitcase out from his closet and began to pack. It wasn’t exactly the ideal time of year to be travelling to Mexico as the summer sun would be much hotter there, but being in a resort on the ocean would moderate the temperatures a bit and he couldn’t really do much about the timing. He filled the suitcase mostly with clothes, ensuring everything was in order before getting the relevant travel documents together. He still had his passport out on the counter from Paris and many of the items he would need would be the same.
Once he felt satisfied that he had everything packed, he sent off an email to Matthew Arnold to find out where exactly James had been staying so they would have a starting point when they arrived. After everything was completed, he realized that it was getting quite late and he had much to accomplish the following day, so he headed to bed. The next day he would bring his suitcase to work so he could head immediately from there to the airport after picking up Nick.
He slept soundly and when his alarm clock went off at 6am, he felt surprisingly awake and ready to go. While certainly not a morning person by nature, Tim found that occasionally he could muster productivity in the early hours if he knew it served a purpose. This was one of those mornings and he was indeed very efficient.
Having already packed and sorted out all his travel arrangements the night before, all he needed to do was grab a quick shower and get dressed and he was out the door. He had decided that if he was going to take off a day early, he would certainly need to put in some extra hours at the office that day to get everything done.
He felt sure that Michael would allow him to leave early, so long as he got everything done in time. For this reason he bypassed the coffee shop that morning and instead relied on the decidedly worse quality coffee at the office. Normally, he wouldn’t have even bothered to drink coffee of that quality, but this morning he knew he would need caffeine and didn’t have extra time to spare.
When he arrived at the office, he quickly got to work. While most of his work for the day would involve making phone calls, he knew that most people probably wouldn't appreciate being called before 8:00 in the morning. As such, he reviewed the files on his computer and began sorting through everything in his office. Tim wasn't one to include too many personal touches at the office so the job was fairly quick. He sorted out the paperwork into various piles to be given to whichever advisers were taking over. After he had finished, but before it was a reasonable time to start calling, he went over to get some coffee from the office staff room.
When he got back to his desk it was 8:45 which he decided was a reasonable time to start making calls. As many of his clients no longer work, he was able to reach more of them than might have been the case with a different demographic. He managed to keep calling pretty consistently until noon when he took a quick break to grab a sandwich to eat at his desk. On his way out he stopped by Michael's office and explained his plan. Michael was very understanding and, as Tim had predicted, agreed to it providing Tim could get everything done before he left. That taken care of, he went to Subway and got himself a hearty sub and a coffee to keep up his energy.
After he finished his lunch, he looked at his list. He had forty-three more clients to reach before he could go home. At an average of five minutes a phone call, he could be done by 5:00 and out the door shortly after, allowing plenty of time to pick up Nick and get to the airport for their 8:00 flight. Tim worked diligently for the next several hours and remarkably managed to work at the pace he had set out for himself. He took a very brief break around 2:30 to go get another real cup of coffee and then went back. He was surprised to find that almost all of the calls were going smoothly. So far he hadn't had any repeats of the previous day.
Tim was feeling very pleased with his progress until he got to one of his more challenging clients. For whatever reason this particular woman had always been a little bit difficult to deal with. Though she never talked about her family, Tim got the sense that there had been some kind of falling out. She never made mention of them and certainly didn't plan to make a provision for them in her retirement plan. When he called her up, she seemed disinclined to talk, even though when Tim offered to call back another time she refused.
When he explained the process of transferring her account over to another adviser, she became increasingly more and more upset. His attempts to be reasonable only seemed to infuriate her further. After explaining the process several times and assuring her that nothing would change in her portfolio, he asked if she had any questions. While she still seemed very upset, she didn't have any questions in particular, and so Tim wished her a good day and hung up.
He managed to finish the rest of his calls without incident and remarkably after the last one looked at his watch and realized it was only five o'clock. Pleased with himself, he packed up his things and said his goodbyes to those in the office, last of all Michael. Everyone wished him the very best of luck and he promised that he would see them soon.
After saying his goodbyes, Tim called for a taxi and went outside to wait. He called Nick to let them know that he would be there in about 20 minutes to pick him up. The taxi showed up a few minutes later and, after throwing his bag in the trunk, they were on their way.
Nick conveniently lived on the way to the airport, just off Southwest Marine Drive. While he wasn't a punctual person by nature, having grown up with Tim he made a habit of being on time whenever they were going to something together. And so, like clockwork, Nick was waiting outside with his bags when the cab pulled up to his house.
Tim got out of the cab and gave his brother hug before taking his bag and throwing it in the trunk. "Great to see you Nick, I'm glad you were able to come."
“Me too Tim. I admit it was sort of sudden, but to be honest I think it will work out pretty well. I am looking forward to it,” his brother replied.
Traffic was quite bad that evening, and it took much longer to get to the airport than Tim had thought. He really should have budgeted for more time knowing traffic had steadily been getting worse in Vancouver over the last several years. When the taxi did finally arrive at the airport, they had to grab heir bags and run to the gate. Luckily they were both very organized and had their passports and tickets ready to go.
While Tim had once again only brought carry-on, Nick had brought a checked bag as well, which delayed matters little bit more. Even still, the airport was much less busy than traffic and so they were able to make it onto the plane in time.
Once on board, they both managed to relax. After the plane took off they both ordered a bottle of tiny wine, as much for novelty as for enjoyment, and settled in. They were finally on their way to Mexico and although both were looking forward to it, they had rather different reasons. Nick had surprisingly not ask any questions regarding why Tim had chosen this particular time and why he was on such short notice. While Tim was surprised by this, he wasn't going to answer any questions before he was asked.
They talked a little bit initially, just catch up on their lives in the last few months, but eventually both settled into their own activities. Nick was immersed in a book he was reading, and Tim took out his laptop to do some research of his own. He didn't know very much about Puerto Vallarta and intended to be more knowledgeable by the time they landed. The little he did know was that it was a resort town and always advertised in last minute flight deals.
He had made sure to download the wikipedia article, along with whatever other brief tidbits he could find before they left so as to be prepared when they landed. After skimming through the information, he discovered a few things.
As expected, being August, it would be hot, but also potentially wet. Apparently August is the main monsoon season in the region and so they were at risk of being rained upon heavily for short bursts in the evening. Tim though to himself it might have been better to read this prior to packing, but it was now too late. His particular favourite quote on wikipedia, “The high temperature and variations in humidity can make July through September nearly intolerable.” Fantastic. Additionally, poverty was apparently a pressing issue and that coupled with the high volume of tourists would probably lead to crime.
Tim took out his note pad and wrote down a few points under the heading of Puerto Vallarta: 1. Be prepared for torrential rain. 2. Be prepared for insufferable heat and humidity. 3. Be prepared to have your pocket picked in the torrential rain and heat and humidity. 3b.Next time, plan to have lawyer mysteriously disappear at a more seasonable time of year.
After finishing the list, a thought occurred to him. James seemed like the kind of guy to have done his research, so why did he choose to go to Mexico at this time of year? He must surely have had many other vacation possibilities, or at least been able to go at a different time of year.
Tim glanced over at Nick and found him smiling and quietly chuckling to himself. He was enjoying his book and didn't seem in the least concerned that they were flying into a monsoon-ridden den of pick-pockets. As much as it went against his nature, Tim decided to do the same.
He had also brought a book with him in case he got caught without anything to do. However, perhaps ill-advisedly, his book was War and Peace. If Tim were to have taken a poll, he would have discovered that, in the history of travelling, precisely no one had been foolish enough to bring War and Peace with them on vacation before. However, Tim had taken no such poll and therefore thought nothing of bringing it.
He had actually been trying to read it for the last three years, getting various lengths into it before getting distracted for a few months and starting over. On this occasion, he was about two hundred words into it and optimistic that he would finally finish it, as he had been the last six times. It is hard to say what exactly compelled him to read it, whether some sense of feeling educated, perhaps some notion of accomplishment were he to finish such a substantial piece of literature. Whatever the reason, his determination was unquestionable, even if his results so far were unimpressive.
He got another hundred or so pages into the book before feeling tired. He decided to try to get a little bit of sleep before the plane landed, as he couldn’t count on a restful night in the heat and humidity that awaited him. He got to sleep quite quickly and slept soundly, right until being awakened by Nick poking him in the shoulder, “We are going to be landing in a couple minutes, you might want to wake up and wipe the drool off your face. Tim did precisely that, and, on regaining alertness, endeavoured to seek out a coffee once they landed.
For all that the weather might be unpleasant; the view out the plane window was spectacular. As it descended along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, the clear, blue water was still visible, shimmering under the bright moon. The coast was dotted with resorts and villas, looking out onto a pristine beach. While inland the city became denser and presumably poorer, the resorts and shoreline really did look like the travel brochures.
The plane landed gently on the runway and taxied into the airport. It appeared that they were one of the only planes coming in at this time which made deplaning quick and without hassle. They waited for Nick’s bag at the carousel and eventually caught a cab to their hotel. The ride was pleasant and the driver was obviously accustomed to tourists, though he did ask questioningly why they had chosen this time of year. When they arrived at the hotel, Tim paid the driver and he took their bags up to the front desk. Tim had chosen a place called the Pacific Blue Vallarta which seemed to have fairly good reviews. It was quite large and had all the usual resort amenities which seemed good enough for his purposes.
When they went to check in there were hardly any other guests around. It was hard to know if this was because they were out on the town or if the hotel was really empty. At this point, neither of them much cared, and after taking their things up to their room, Tim was ready for bed. Nick, on the other hand, wanted to go explore for a bit so he took one of the room keys and left Tim to sleep.
There wasn’t too much to see at this hour, most of the amenities had closed for the night. Nick decided to go walk along the beach for a little while and explore the shore line. He found himself to be practically alone. Short of a few locals drinking and talking loudly, there was almost no one else on the entire beach. He walked along a mile or so and looked at the various beach-facing hotels and villas. He wondered how many of them were actually populated by locals.
Most of the resorts were indistinguishable from one another; it seemed that the western tourist was not a creature of diverse interests. All of them had pools surrounded by deck chairs and in some cases, a poolside bar. Typically there was either a volleyball court or else a miniature golf course somewhere nearby and almost invariably, the suites were positioned so that they could all boast an oceanfront view.
Occasionally, in between the towering monoliths, there would be a smaller boutique hotel or a timeshare property, but for the most part, as beachfront real estate was at a premium, it catered to those able to spend at least a couple hundred dollars a night After a little while, Nick decided to head back to hotel, having grown tired of the repetition. Perhaps in the daylight it would feel more lively and interesting.
Before heading up to the room he went to the bar and ordered a rum and coke in order to feel like he was on vacation. While he was still curious about his brother’s motivations for the trip, he had learned over the years that patience in these matters usually benefited him. He enjoyed his drink and the silence of being the only patron at the bar before thanking the bartender and heading to bed.
The next morning, Tim wasn't up until about 9:30, not having set an alarm. His brother was still asleep when he took a shower and then went downstairs to find a cup of coffee and some breakfast. When he got to the lobby, there were a number of people about and he found his way to the breakfast buffet. Once there, he got himself some bacon, eggs and toast along with a cup of black coffee. While he could already feel the heat coming in for the day, he was considerably more optimistic about things in the light of the morning. He sat down at a table and enjoyed his breakfast while he looked at his surroundings.
The hotel was situated right on the beach at the North-West edge of the city. He had briefly scanned a map that was in the hotel room the night before and decided it would be quite easy to get over to the hotel that James had been staying at. The other guests at the hotel seemed to predominantly be families with school age kids, likely both because rates were cheaper at this time of year and because the kids were still out of school for the summer. The hotel offered many activities including an assortment of water sports, but the one that interested Tim was a city tour with a guide that explained the historical monuments while allowing ample opportunity for shopping as well.
Tim went back up to the room to find Nick awake and getting ready. After chatting about the available options, Nick seemed more inclined to spend the day out on the beach rather than in the sweltering heat exploring the town so they decided to meet up at 7 for dinner and drinks at the hotel restaurant and would go their own ways until then. This suited Tim quite well as it would allow him to explore James’ hotel without having to answer too many questions. The tour didn’t leave until 11 so he spent the next little while familiarizing himself with a map and trying to plot out where James might have been headed.
He found that the actual city itself was relatively small, much of the tourist section being focused around the beach. When the tour started, he found himself with a young family, an older couple and a pair of college students. The tour guide attempted to take everyone’s interests into account, promising fun for all. He appeared to be in his early twenties and had excellent English, with only a slight hint of accent. His knowledge of the city proved to be equally inspired and as he led them down the city streets he pointed out historic buildings and monuments at every turn.
From what Tim could understand, most of the monuments seemed to be celebrating victory in various wars and uprisings to the extent that even the main streets had names like Revolution, Independence, and the 21st of March (presumably an important date of some kind). After winding through the city centre, they came back out onto the beachfront in an area called The Malecon. This was apparently one of the tourist highlights and it offered performers and merchants of various kinds hocking “authentic” Mexican souvenirs. To be fair, Tim did find the area charming, if a little commercial. The tour eventually ended just a little way from the hotel at a beachfront café. Tim took the opportunity to grab a quick lunch, thank the tour guide, and head back into town on his own.
The tour had actually passed within a block of James’ hotel, but Tim had decided to come back to it rather than abandon the tour at that point. It was just after 2:00 when he arrived at the Casa Revolution, a small boutique hotel in the centre of town. Unlike the resorts on the beach, the woman at the front desk spoke rather little English and Tim had a hard time explaining what he was after. He said the name James Conroy many times with seemingly no recognition. He wondered for a moment if he had the wrong place before a boy of about 16 came out of another room and intervened.
“Sorry, my mother doesn’t speak English very well, what can I do for you sir?” he asked Tim.
Tim was relieved to find someone he could communicate with, as his Spanish was limited to a poorly written phrase book and a vague recollection of Speedy Gonzales cartoons that were not of much use.
“I am wondering about a friend of mine, James Conroy. He was staying here a few days ago and then apparently disappeared. Did you see him?”
The boy thought for a moment, “James Conroy…yes, I remember, he wore a nice suit and tipped us very well. He must have had to leave early or something. He left the hotel a couple days ago and didn’t come back. He had paid for a week but I guess something came up,” the boy responded.
“Do you know, was he here doing business? You mentioned he was wearing a suit.”
“I don’t think so, he seemed to just be enjoying himself, but I didn’t ask too many questions. Is there anything I can do for you, Senior?”
Tim thought a moment, “Yes actually, could I see the room Mr. Conroy’s room for a moment?”
The boy looked a little uneasy at the idea, so Tim handed him an American $20 bill and found his apprehension quickly vanished. He led Tim up two flights of stairs to a small room on the top floor. Though the building was quite modest, the view out the window allowed him to see almost unobstructed all the way to the beach. Tim looked around and saw the usual hotel room set up: a double bed in the center of the room, a small bedside table, a television and a closet.
The boy left after showing Tim to the room, allowing him to look around undisturbed. Tim looked through the closet, under the bed and in the desk drawers. It appeared that everything had already been cleared out, if James hadn’t taken it with him himself. However, Tim accidentally pulled the bottom drawer out entirely and saw that there was a sealed manilla envelope wedged behind the drawer. It had nothing on it except for a couple words hastily written: Veracruz, 12 de Octubre.
No comments:
Post a Comment