Chapter 69
We slid along the streets, furtively looking around to capture any suspicious presence, anxiously following the path Ronny had traced on the map for us to follow.
“Why are we going with this stranger in an unknown place?”, I said, half talking to myself
“At least the place is full of people”, Jack said
“What if we just run back to the hotel?”
“I don’t think there would be any use in doing this. The guy found us already, and he will catch up with us again”
I nodded, feeling like a pawn moved along a checkerboard by the hand of a ruthless player. The realization that, no matter what I did, I had almost no control over what was happening oddly relieved me.
When we reached the spot Ronny described it all seemed so unreal I could have been in a movie. Seen from the outside the nightclub had an underground feeling it to it, half-hidden as it was, with the neon lights on the charcoal coloured façade half lit-half blinking and the black paint peeling off it. And yet when I stepped inside the ambience was almost cozy, with the music kept at a reasonable volume and the vintage flavour of the crimson furniture. A waitress sat us at a table, and we plunged into the cushioned chair, distractedly leafing through the drink menu while scanning the room for Ronny.
Ten minutes elapsed and I was becoming impatient. Jack’s face looked strained from the long day and I felt my own strength running low. I wondered if something had happened or if this was a sort of trap, but I was too tired to think, so I sipped my drink slowly, closing my eyes every now and then. And my eyes where closed when I heard the chair next to mine being moved, and when I opened them Ronny was there. We hadn’t been standing so close before, and now I realized he had a faint smell of perspiration concealed by a man’s fragrance, with pungent notes I did not like.
Jack nodded to acknowledge his presence, and I said, “I wasn’t sure you’d come anymore”
“I had to be careful”, he replied
“So what is it that you wanted to tell us?”, asked Jack when the waitress came along with a kinky smile.
“Scotch and water, with no ice”, said Ronny without looking at the menu. He had a light accent when speaking either English or Italian, and I wondered where he was from.
When the waitress was gone he paused, observing us for a moment, then said, “You should not go see Mori tomorrow”
“Why? And how do you know we’ll be seeing Mori tomorrow?”, I asked
“I have my ways to know things”, Ronny replied calmly, and paused again
“So why are you telling us not to see Mori tomorrow?”, I insisted
“You gave your trust away too soon in the past, haven’t you?”
I didn’t reply, but after a moment Ronny continued without waiting for my answer
“And what have you achieved?”
Another pause.
“You tell me since you have your ways to know things”, I said, too worn out for self-control and hating this game of rhetorical questions
“You let your polymer fall in the hands of the wrong people, who are now using it in ways you cannot control”, he concluded, with the same monotonous voice he had since he spoke the first sentence on the patio
“In which ways are they using it? And who is doing this? Who is the cleaning lady?”, I asked, the adrenaline suddenly rushing through my veins and roughening my voice
“It is not safe for me to tell you the details, you are too shaken to be trusted”
“Mori can help me understand what is happening”
“Or maybe he can start using the polymer for his purposes. You cannot be sure. Right?”
I was at a loss and didn’t know what to say anymore, when Jack spoke.
“What would Mori do with our polymer?”
“Use it for his purposes, as I said”
“Which are?”, Jack urged him, calmly but relentlessly
“I cannot reveal information, but trust me, I am well informed”
“No doubt you are, but we aren’t. So fill us in with what will happen if we go see Mori and neglect your good advises”
“I am not sure”, Ronny said
Jack bugged his eyes, slightly tipping his head
“I thought you just said you are well informed”, Jack replied ironically
“What do you mean you are not sure?”, I asked, unable to decide if Ronny was menacing us with his calmest tone
“I mean that I am not able to predict now what will be the consequences of handing your polymer to Mori”
“You mean he can misuse it”, I said
“For instance”
I felt he wouldn’t go much further than that. I wanted to go back to the hotel, wash myself, sleep.
“Will you come after us if we give the polymer to Mori?”, Jack asked
“I want to prevent you from doing it, rather than come after you after the damage is made”
“So you will sequester us before we speak to him again”, I said
“I am not a criminal”, Ronny said, looking at me for a long while. I held his gaze, and for a moment I felt he would be true to his words and would not harm us. He must have perceived the breach in my defenses because he said, “I am here to prevent the worst from happening. Ponder what has already happened and take the right decision”
I looked at him, thoughts racing painfully fast through my febrile mind. Then Ronny did something unexpected. He reached for my hand and said, while holding it, “We’ll talk again, and this is not a menace. I will not hurt you”.
Then he placed a bill under his glass and walked away.