“It’s no trouble,” she said. “I’ll go and tell Ramón to fix you up a bed.”

She turned and walked away, humming quietly to herself, scooping up a cat, and placing her empty glass on the terrace as she went.

López watched her behind in retreat for longer than I did. I had time to observe him doing it. He watched her with the eyes of an admirer and possibly the mouth as well: he licked his lips while he was doing it, which made me wonder if their common ground wasn’t just political but sexual, too. And, thinking I might prompt him to reveal something of his feelings for her, I said, “Quite a woman, isn’t she?”

“Yes,” he said, absently. “She is.” Smiling, he added, quickly, “A wonderful writer.”

“I wasn’t looking at her backlist.”

López chuckled. “I’m not quite so ready to believe the worst of you. Despite what Noreen said back there.”

“Did she say something?” I shrugged. “I wasn’t listening when she insulted me.”

“What I mean to say is, thank you, my friend. Thank you indeed. Tonight you have undoubtedly saved my life.” He fetched the briefcase off the seat of the Oldsmobile. “If I had been caught with this, they would certainly have murdered me.”

“Will you be safe driving home?”

“Without this? Yes. I’m a lawyer, after all. A respectable lawyer, too, in spite of what you might think of me. No, really. I have lots of famous and wealthy clients here in Havana. Including Noreen. I drew up her will. And Ernest Hemingway’s. It was he who introduced the two of us. If you ever have need of a good lawyer, I would be happy to act for you, señor.”

“Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind.”

“Tell me. I’m curious.”

“In Cuba? That might not be healthy.”

“The pamphlet I gave you. The militia didn’t find it?”

“I threw it away in the bushes at the bottom of the drive,” I said. “Like I told you before. I’m not interested in local politics.”

“I can see Noreen was correct about you, Señor Hausner. You have a great instinct for survival.”

“Has she been talking about me again?”

“Only a little. Despite any earlier evidence to the contrary, she has a high opinion of you.”

I laughed. “That was maybe true twenty years ago. She wanted something then.”

“You underestimate yourself,” he said. “Quite considerably.”

“It’s been a while since anyone said that to me.”

He glanced down at the briefcase in his arms. “Perhaps . . . perhaps I could prevail on your kindness and courage one more time.”

“You can give it a try.”

“Perhaps you would be good enough to bring this briefcase to my office. It’s in the Bacardi Building.”

“I know it. There’s a café there I go to sometimes.”

“You like it, too?”