Raymond Benson: Doubleshot

Le Gérant angrily crumpled the photograph with one hand and tossed it across the room, where he knew it would drop neatly into a dustbin.

As others spoke about him, James Bond didn’t feel his ears burning as he lay in bed in the sea-view room in the Rock Hotel in Gibraltar. He wouldn’t have been able to scratch them anyway—the bandage on his head covered them completely.

CNN was reporting that the Spanish/British crisis was over. The two governments had put aside their differences and had held a conference in Brussels to quash any further misunderstandings. The Spanish Prime Minister had, for the first time, publicly denounced Domingo Espada and his tenets. Espada’s followers had staged a protest march in Madrid, but they quickly realized that it was a lost cause. The majority of the population quickly came to the opinion that Espada was a madman. When many prominent matadors saw fit to denigrate Espada’s actions and speak out against him, the people completely turned against him. When it was reported that he had been linked to the deaths of the Rojo brothers and had kept kidnapped sex slaves on his estate, Espada was forever cast as one of the country’s most notorious villains.

There was a knock on the door. Bond switched off the television with the remote but didn’t get up. He called, “If you have a key, come in.”

The only people who had a key to his room were a nurse … and the Taunt twins.

“We’re the candy stripe girls and it’s time to party!” Heidi sang cheerfully as they entered his bedroom. Hedy was carrying a bottle of Taittinger. They were both dressed identically again, in white blouses and tight-fitting designer jeans. Heidi’s arm was in a sling.

“We’re here to make you well,” Hedy said.

Bond indicated the champagne. “I’m not supposed to drink, you know.”

“We know that,” she answered. “This is for us! ”

“Remember that first night at dinner in Tangier? You made a suggestion about sharing,” Heidi said with a smile.

Hedy began working on the bottle. The girls laughed at Bond’s suspicious glare, poured glasses of champagne, and then sat on either side of him.

“Who’s first, Hedy?” Heidi asked. “Or do we have to flip for it?”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

DOUBLESHOT

The author and publishers wish to thank the following individuals and organizations for their assistance in the writing of this book—

IN GIBRALTAR

Andrew Bonfante; His Excellency the Governor, Sir Richard Luce and Lady Luce; Gail Francis—Gibraltar Tourist Board; Pepe Rosado

IN LONDON

Carolyn Caughey; Peter Janson-Smith; Corinne B. Turner; ZoëWatkins; The Heirs of Ian Lancaster Fleming

IN MOROCCO

Said Arif, Bazid LaHoussine; Philippe Seigle and Reto Grass—Le Royal Mansour Meridien Hotel (Casablanca); Khalil Tass—Magic Carpet Adventures S. A. (Tangier); Rizki Mohamed Zouhir

IN SPAIN

Victoriano Borrego Aguayo; Javier Conde; Felipe Paramio Alonso, Francisco Amorós Bernabéu, Agustin Lomeña, and Diana Serop—Costa del Sol Patronato de Turismo (Torremolinos); Pepillo de Málaga—El Ranchito Equestrian School (Torremolinos); Iwan and Margareta Morelius; Antonio Carlos Muñoz (“El Cuqui”); Francisco Rivera Ordoñez and Maria Eugenia, Duquesa de Montoro; José Antonio Guerrero Pedraza, and D. Alberto Urzaiz—Plaza de Toros (Ronda); Peña Juan Breva (Málaga); Restaurante El Chinitas (Málaga); Javier Rosenberg and Frederick A. Parody, Marbella Club Hotel (Marbella); José Navio Serrano—Parador de Ronda Hotel (Ronda)

IN THE U.S.

Paul Baack; Tom Colgan; Paul F. Dantuono, EC Tours; Sandy Groark—Bannockburn Travel (Chicago); James McMahon; Moana Re Robertson; Gary Rosenfeld; Dr. Michael Sergeant; Patricia Winn—Tourist Office of Spain (Chicago)