Mission For God

A foreign sensation distracted Adolph. He looked backwards to see Britta messaging his thrusting butt with one hand and he assumed her other hand had grasped his flailing balls. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes in the ecstasy of climax was Lise's pretty young face smiling with satisfaction. The ball of pleasure electrified his whole body and then caused him to go numb.

Shortly after ejaculation, Lise motioned for Adolph to move his dead weight off of her. He rolled over onto his back and, to fight the overwhelming urge to sleep, he asked the idle Britta to pour three glasses of Champaign. The ladies, naked but for their stockings, gathered around the small hotel table.

"Let me propose a toast; here's to new friends and great sex," cheer Adolph with his strength flagging. After consuming the libation, he bade them, "Ladies it is time to clean up and get dressed. You will go home and tomorrow Britta you will return at 10 AM for another sight seeing trip. Now, ladies you may speak freely to one another. Lock the door on your way out." Adolph retreated to the side of the bed and lay on his stomach. Before the women were dressed, Adolph as sound asleep.

"Are you sure it's safe?" she asked. "I don't want to hurt our baby."

"Antonia," he replied. "I looked it up on the Internet. If you don't believe me, ask your mother."

Antonia shrugged, "Mama will ask, 'when is the wedding?'" She gathered the slack bed sheet to her full, naked breasts.

"Four weeks," Jose replied impatiently and turned from his back to face her. "Four weeks. I have a big excursion coming soon and then I will have the money to marry you. Just be patient, Antonia. I love you." Under the thin sheet he slid his hands down to the places that controlled her body.

"I love you, too," replied Antonia. "Do you love our baby?"

"Yes, almost as much as I love you, Antonia," replied Jose. "If she is a girl I pray that she is just as beautiful as her mother." He began with a peck on the lips and when she began to speak he gave her the tongue and a wet kiss. When it seemed she abandoned her questions he removed his hand from between her legs and rose to kneel between her legs. He knew once his penis was deep inside her, she would stop talking and begin moaning.

Jose opened the locked door with his key and entered. "Where have you been?" she demanded. "Have you been with her, that whore?" Her face flushed with rage.

"No. No, my princess," consoled Jose. "I have been working again. I have another rich American tourist and I hope to get a large tip for us." He smiled at Esperanza. "I am working for you. For our wedding!" Jose grasped Esperanza and held her tightly.

She clutched him back, nestled her head into his chest, and began to weep. "I am so sorry, Jose. Why do I doubt you? I am cursed with jealousy, I guess. I am sorry. You must hate me," she said and lifter her head to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"No, my princess," replied Jose. "I should be jealous of you. You are such a beautiful woman that any young man in town would kill to have you. You are the only treasure of this poor man." She raised her head to invite his kiss. The inside of her mouth was salty from her tears. Jose reached down to her thighs, grasped and lifted the dress over her head, and gave her what she wanted.

The next morning the sun peeked into the bedroom window. Esperanza woke to the ringing telephone. "Hello?" she said.

"Jose," Esperanza called to sleeping Jose as she pushed him repeatedly in the ribs. "Jose, it is Suzannah. Wake up Jose."

Jose rolled over and took the phone. He cracked a gratuitous smile for his boss. "Good Morning Suzannah."

"Jose, I am sorry to call you on your day off but I have had a fever all night. Please get up and get dressed. I want you to catch the 8:40 train to Cuzcu to meet a wealthy American tourist flying in at 12:30. He has prepaid his three day excursion and you are to go with him as a guide," she reported.

"Oh Suzannah, I am so tired," replied Jose.

"Oh, Suzannah nothing, amigo," retorted Suzannah, "you get dressed and go. The entire commission is yours and I know you need the money. Understand?"

Jose had worked for Suzannah long enough to know "Understand" meant she was a serious as the business end of a double barreled shotgun. "Sure boss," he replied assertively, "I'll go and I will make you proud."

"Thank you, Jose," replied Suzannah. "Use the company credit card and draw out 1,000 Nuevo Sol. Go to the airport to meet Mr. Adolph Gelthaus. Ask him what he wants and take him to Machu Picchu."

"I hate that damned place," replied Jose just to increase the value of the favor she would owe him.

"Show him a good time," answered Suzannah. "I'm counting on my best man. Call me if you need me. I am sure I'll be in bed for another three days. Good Bye, Jose," she said and hung up the phone without waiting for his response.

"How long, Jose?" asked the worried Esperanza.

"Three day," replied Jose with reluctance. "Another damned American who wants to visit the ghosts at Machu Picchu. I hate that place; it's so boring." He paused and then continued, "Well, I have to get dressed and go." He kissed Esperanza, put on his robe, and walked to the shower down the hall.

"I am Adolph," said the gentleman at the airport arrival. Adolph pointed to the sign and then to himself.

Jose broke from a bored poise to enthusiastic pose and lowered his sign. "Nice to meet you, sir. I am Jose, your travel guide."

"Jose, your English is almost perfect," Adolph briefly admired. "Where did you learn it? And, more importantly, where is Suzannah?"

"First things first, sir. Suzannah sends her apologies but she has come down with the flu last night," Jose studied Adolph. "And for my English, I was an architecture student at the University of Miami for three years but I had some immigration problems and now I have been banned for life."

"Banned for life?" replied Adolph. "That sounds severe."

"I walked out of a party on night and the police found a small bag of pot on me," answered Jose with a modicum of humility. "They took it very seriously."

"Apparently, they did," replied Adolph. "If you're going to be my guide, please call me Adolph." Jose signaled a porter to scoop up Adolph's bags and they took a taxi to Adolph's reserved hotel.

"What would you like to see, Adolph? Would you like to go to fine dining or clubs? Are you a good photographer?" Jose asked as the taxi banked for a sharp turn. The shocks and suspension of the taxi were clearly worn out and seemed to amplify the poorly maintained streets.

Despite the rough bouncing, Jose observed that Adolph looking at all the faces he could. Adolph seemed to hold his gaze perceptibly longer for attractive women than others.

"Let's talk about it over lunch, shall we?" replied Adolph.

Over a lunch of freshwater trout and local vegetables, Adolph brought up the subject. "Humor me for a minute, Jose," Adolph began. "Close your eyes and think of the place you most like to visit here. Do you have it in your mind's eye? Relax. See it in detail. Relax in tranquility. What is the name of your place, Jose?"

"That's easy, Adolph," replied Jose. "It's Ollantaytambo or Sacred Valley. It is not far away and easy to get to. Why do you ask?"

"Relax, Jose. See the place. You are so relaxed," continued Adolph.

Jose opened his eyes and sat up straight. "You're not going to induce me into a trance. I do that stuff to others sometimes and I know what you're doing," said Jose sternly. "Just tell me the truth, Adolph. What are you up to? I don't think you care about the ghosts of Machu Piccu. What do you really want?"

Clearly thrown off his game, Adolph sat up straight. "I'll tell you, man to man," began Adolph. "I like to fuck women. All kinds but not ugly ones. Usually, I get a woman guide and together we look like a couple. She helps me picking up specimens and interprets for me. It is simple really. I get the guide under and then she helps me get girl under by translating."

"So the guide helps you induce a third person? I've never heard of that being done," replied Jose, trying to calculate a benefit for himself. "Any way, I'll get the girls for you and you can put them under the same way. We can even get two."

"We'll see," replied Adolph with so much indifference that Jose could not help but understand it was never to be. "How are you so sure that you can get me what I want?" asked Adolph.

"You will see, senor," replied Jose. "I guarantee it."

"What is your guarantee?" retorted Adolph. When Jose did not immediately answer Adolph stated,"Your firm will refund all of my money if I don't get laid by tomorrow night. Agreed?"

"Si," immediately replied Jose. "I will tell Suzannah to issue you a full refund if you do not get laid by tomorrow night." Jose knew that Suzannah was probably the second stingiest person on the planet, after Adolph.

"Let's go to the bank. I need to get some local currency," ordered Adolph.

Soon Adolph and Jose were called by the next available teller. When Jose followed Adolph to the counter, Adolph just stared at Jose. Jose backed so Adolph could conduct business in private. But, the teller did not speak English and Adolph politely requested Jose to join him and translate. After providing identification and account numbers, Adolph slipped the cash into his pocket.

Back at the hotel, Jose excused himself for two hours and promised to return for dinner and a night of bar hopping.

Jose excitedly opened the door and approached Esperanza preparing dinner for one.

"Jose, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Take a shower, Esperanza, and get dressed for a night out. A rich American..." he began.

"Really? You want to take me this time?" replied the astonished Esperanza.

"Turn the stove off," he answered. "Do you remember our dreams of starting over? Well, I think this could be our big opportunity."

"What do you mean?" she asked quizzically.

"Vitorrio!" Jose said. At the command, she closed her eyes and went limp.

"Esperanza, you are resting again. Go deeper and relax. We are going to meet a man and you will find him very handsome and sexy," began Jose. "If you are very friendly with him, then he will give us a lot of money. Do you want money so we can marry and move back to Paraguay?"

"Yes," was all she said.

"I want that, too. This rich man loves to play sexy games. You like to play sexy games. If you make him feel good then he will make you feel real good and we will have the money to get married, okay?" asked Jose.

"Okay," she replied robotically.

"Good," he answered. "Good. You are good. This man does not sleep well so I want you to give him two sleeping pills but don't let him know, okay?"

"Okay," Esperanza replied automatically. She took the two pills into her hand.

"At the count of three," commanded Jose, "you will wake up relaxed and refreshed. You will not remember this conversation but you are eagerly looking forward to meeting this rich man. Three. Two. One. Awake."

Esperanza stood blinking her eyes and wore an expression as if she had forgotten why she entered a room for some errand. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yes, we were talking about meeting a rich American tonight, remember?" he paused while she nodded her head affirmatively. "Here is 100 Nuevo Sol. Go buy him a fancy knife. Something that looks fancy because he is a knife collector, okay?"

After a night of drinking Adolph decided to return to his hotel room. Esperanza, Adolph, and Jose got out of the parked car and walked up the steps to the hotel lobby.

"Oh," Jose stopped walking, "I forgot the Jack Daniels. You two go ahead and I will be up in a minute."

Adolph and Esperanza continued into the lobby as Jose went back to the car. He opened the sleeping pill bottle and crushed three pills and poured the contents into the bottle. Then he followed them up to the hotel room.

The housemaid impatiently looked at the "do not disturb" sign and looked at her watch. It was 9:30 AM. She had standing orders to make up the DND rooms last so she knocked on the door. There was no answer. She called out and waited. There was no answer. After a few minutes she unlocked the hotel door and called out inside. There was no answer. She stepped inside and immediate covered her mouth from convulsing.

Minutes later, the police assembled outside the hotel room, with a female officer trying to comfort the sobbing housemaid. Three police officers entered the room. One snapped pictures of everything. Esperanza lay on her back staring blankly at the ceiling. Her sanguine blood made a stark contrast to the white hotel sheets. Her throat was cut and her head almost severed from her body.

A policeman bent to feel for a pulse on Adolph's neck. He was warm and breathing. The policeman threw a glance at his comrades, pulled his sidearm, and pulled the bed sheet down. As Esperanza lay faced up, Adolph lay nude faced down. The police officer yelled at Adolph, "Get up! Get up, senor!" He shook Adolph's shoulder violently. Adolph opened his foggy eyes and rolled over.

Adolph sat up and looked confused at the three policemen with drawn weapons pointed at him. He looked around and spied the bloody knife by his feet and turned to see Esperanza's nude and bloody body.

That afternoon an American visited Adolph in the Cuzco jail. He forced a smile, "I am James Brennan of the U.S. embassy. How are you, Mr. Gelthaus?"

Adolph wore a washed out countenance and wet clothes. "Fine," he answered mechanically. "This was not the vacation I signed up for, I can tell you that."

"I got here as soon as I could," replied Brennan. "I told them not to torture you, that you are an American. Your wet shirt says that you have already visited their 'well of truth'. I am sorry. I will be back once a week until your trial or your release." Adolph slowly took in the words. "Any way, I don't want you to discuss your case with me or any one else. I am not an attorney. I know this sounds stupid but do you have a Chilean criminal attorney?" Adolph shook his head negatively. James Brennan reached into his pocket and produced a list of attorneys with phone numbers. "Do you have any family or friends that I can notify?"

"My wife died about 14 months ago but I have some friends that I would like you to contact. Please also send this list to my attorney," replied Adolph. "May I have some paper?"

"May I have a private word with my friend?" demanded the exasperated attorney. The others obligingly rose and departed the jail cell. "Look, Adolph, I know that you have paid $250,000 for this attorney and he is supposed to be the best there is but, my friend, he is shit. He would never make it past junior partner in my firm.

"No bribes can ignore your prints on the knife and your semen in her. And she was pregnant, probably with Jose's baby. But it doesn't matter. You say you're innocent and I believe you, but that Jose character, no one can find. Yes, he took your cash and took money from your account as you slept that morning but even if we found him, that is not enough to pin the murder on him. You are just too big a target, my friend. I truly wish I had better news," said Erika Mackay, the US attorney.

"I was supposed to do a great thing for God in two more months but now I am going to the gallows. How can that be?" asked Adolph.

"I don't know," replied Erika with tears spilling from her eyes. "I've hired a different attorney for you, one that specializes in appeals. In Chili, you get only one appeal. I've asked a friend to come down and help out because he specializes in appeals back in the states. This is the best we can do, my friend. Now, you must pray to your God."

After a long, arduous bus ride Adolph and some other prisoners arrived at the maximum security prisonLuna Andula, which was perched on an Andean ridge top. The air was thin and cool. It took a week before the high altitude headache left Adolph.

Inside the prison, speakers of English were few and poor. Captain Manuel Marquez, the warden, was a well educated man as were inmates Ernesto Machado and Geraldo Montez, both Marxists and former U.S. college students. Most of the day, the inmates were free to associate with one another if they were not performing duties. Ernesto and Geraldo attracted a ring of followers, mostly uneducated peasants, who were in prison for one stupid reason or another. The men seemed to be fascinated with the American with the money. Ernesto and Geraldo regaled in bashing the U.S.

"Senor Adolph, why don't you just bribe the warden to get out?" the men asked through Ernesto repeatedly. "He is a simple man and poor man." Captain Marquez had laid down the law to Adolph when he first arrived. He would take no bribes and tolerate no foolishness. Because Adolph was already sentenced to death, Marquez could only threaten him with beatings by Lt. Pablo Sanchez, the former local football hero. That is soccer to Americans.

"Why does Captain Marquez keep two guards with machine guns in his office?" asked Adolph. "Has anyone attacked him?"

"No," replied Ernesto. "I've never seen that. He leaves the door open with a guard on the outside."

"Don't get me wrong Ernesto," continued Adolph, "but I have never seen such gray eyes before. They are very striking."

"My family trait from all the way back to Andalusia, Spain," replied Ernesto. "It is a blessing when seducing women and a curse trying to be anonymous."

"Why are those cells on the north side closed?" asked Adolph.

"Because the greedy Marquez packs us together like rats to save on manpower. He is greedy. Prison is big business in Chile. The politicians make lots of money off of us peasants," answered Geraldo. "You should tell your American friends. Money is power and cash is king. When the revolution comes..."

"Ernesto comes from a rich family. How is it, that he is still captive?" asked Adolph.

"It's politics. He supports the peasants and not the capitalists that run our country and exploit us," replied Geraldo.

Adolph tired of the negative thinking and rose to request a meeting with the warden. After waiting for an hour and a half, two guards appeared with machine guns. Adolph was ushered in before Captain Marquez and the guards took their position behind Captain Marquez.

"It is good to see you, Mr. Gelthaus," opened Warden Marquez. "What can I do for you today?"

"I have an idea which can greatly benefit all of us," began Adolph. "While my appeal is running I would like to make a suggestion about the accommodations here. I noticed that the eight cells on the north side are closed. I understand this is done to save money, right?"

"You could say that," replied the warden wary of a trap.

"Hear me out, please. Suppose that I rent them, all eight cells," continued Adolph. "I would like to order food and cook for those who live with me. I am prepared to pay you $50,000 per month for this privilege. You can divide the money any way you like. I have money and if the appeal does not go the right way, the money won't help me."

"That's a lot of money. My men could use a bonus," paused Marquez, holding back a smile. "Well, it is not a security issue. How many?"

"Ernesto Machado and Geraldo Montez. Let's say one man, one room," answered Adolph.

"The communists? Well, I don't care," replied the warden, still calculating how to divide the loot. "Have you given any thought to how the other inmates will react? I can't have a riot and I really don't want any criticism in the press."

"Good point; I am just developing this idea," answered Adolph. "How about if we bought better food for the men?"