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Worrying his teeth over his dry lips, Ronnie looked everywhere but at Liam. Any other time, he might’ve felt a tinge of guilt for leaning so heavily on the lowlife, but he couldn’t afford that feeling. Drury was directly responsible for Myron’s death. Catching the slug was one last thing he could do for him.
Plus, getting him out of circulation meant one less human trafficker. It would be a good day for all when he took the maggot down.
“I’m running out of patience, Ronnie.”
“How’d you even find me? I’ve been lying low. Hadn’t seen or talked to nobody but Drury.” His eyes narrowed. “You ain’t in cahoots with that arms-dealing guy, are you?”
“Arms? You selling illegal weapons, Ronnie? Maybe I should just take you in, let somebody else find Drury and tell him how you ratted him out. You’ll be locked up in prison, nowhere to go. I bet Drury’s got lots of friends there, just looking to do him a solid.”
“No, no,” Ronnie said rapidly. “It ain’t nothing like that. I’m just a go-between. I don’t do the bad, not like Drury.”
“Yeah, you keep thinking that, Ronnie. And now your time is up. You’ve got five seconds to tell me where he is or life is going to get pretty damn bleak for you.”
“You said you can protect me, right?”
“I keep my word. Now spill.”
“He’s in Bogota. I’m supposed to hook him up with the broker.”
“That right? Guess that’s not gonna happen. Where in Bogota?”
Eyes darting left then right as if he expected Drury to appear before him, Ronnie swallowed hard and said, “He’s got a woman he stays with there.”
“Her name?”
“Lucretia. Lou for short. She’s a bartender at Las Casa Mi. She’s a nice woman. I met her a couple of years ago. I don’t know what she sees in the man.”
Liam had to give the guy credit. Once Ronnie made up his mind to spill, he did that and more.
“You know,” Ronnie went on conversationally, “he’s only been in the trafficking business a few months, but he’s making tons of money. I told him for years he should. He’s got the gift for it.”
“And you don’t?”
“Ain’t my style. Too much work. People are real sensitive about that shit these days.”
“Imagine that.”
The sarcasm went right over Ronnie’s head. “Yeah, I know. Weird. Anyways, to each his own, I always say. Live and let live.”
“Yeah, you’re a real philosopher.”
“How much you gonna give me?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I gave you some good info. It’s gotta be worth something.”
“It is. It’s worth your life. I told you I’d protect you. That’s your payment.”
“That ain’t right.”
“No. What’s not right is that people are being sold all around the world, and the only reason you don’t do it yourself is because it’s too much trouble. Now, take the protection, or get out of my sight.”
“Okay, okay. Whatever. Can you at least send me somewhere nice?”
“Oh, it’ll be nice all right.” Liam spoke into the mic on his lapel. “Come on in. He’s ready.”
Liam nodded at the two local men who’d come along to take Ronnie to his new digs. Who knew? Ronnie might turn out to be a changed man. The sisters of Perpetual Blessings had arrived in Uganda last week and had sent out an urgent plea for help. Ronnie might not appreciate the irony but Liam definitely did. No way would Drury think to look for Ronnie at a humanitarian rescue site in Uganda.