Page 15 of Rio (Knight Empire #3)

RAQUEL

I arrive in Belize, full of expectation and hoping that this is more like a vacation than a fact-finding trip.

I’m expecting the work to be light. I still can’t figure out why Pierce agreed to this, but maybe it’s true. Maybe he senses my growing desire to flee Tovey the scent of salt, and something sweet and overripe floats in the air. The humidity is thick, clinging to my skin like an extra layer of sweat.

I walk out from the tiny customs area, my gaze darting around the small crowd, trying to match the mental image I have of Alma Flores. When she told me she’d be waiting for me, I was surprised. She’s the head of the NGO, EcoGuardians, and I would have expected someone else to be here, not the head.

A flash of lettering catches my eye and I see EcoGuardians printed in neat black on a hand-painted sign.

Holding it is an older woman with white hair pulled into a tidy bun and deep brown skin creased into a face that probably smiles a lot.

She’s hard to miss in her loose cotton dress patterned with bright flowers.

Her posture is straight but unhurried, and she’s wearing sensible sandals,.

Everything about her signals that she’s probably never rushed for anything.

Her eyes catch mine, warm and assessing all at once, and before I’ve even reached her, I feel like she already knows exactly who I am. It’s a relief to have someone in the office who I don’t have to dodge. Feeling relaxed, I walk up to her. “Alma, hi, I’m Raquel, from—”

“Ah, yes, Raquel. We meet at last. Welcome.”

“Thank you. Nice to meet you.”

She has the warmest of smiles as she shakes my hand. Her dark brown eyes are ringed with grey and fanlike wrinkles spread out from the corners.

“Did you have a pleasant flight?”

“I did, thank you.” She is all warmth and softness, and I like her instantly. She’s a breath of fresh air compared to Pierce.

“Are you hungry? I can pick up some wraps, or some sushi food along the way, before we head to the office.”

“I’m fine, Alma. Thank you.” I’m not hungry. The flight was under five hours, and I want to get on with the work.

We get in her car, and set off. It’s only a short drive she tells me, then adds that she wasn’t sure how much luggage I might have, hence why she drove here.

“Would you like to rest up first?” she offers. “I can take you straight to the office or wherever you’re staying.”

“I’m happy to dive right into the work.” I don’t have many days to wrap this up. A week at most.

“That’s what I was hoping to hear.”

I look out of the window in awe. Clusters of brightly colored hibiscus bloom vibrantly everywhere. “Your country is beautiful.”

“Thank you. We’d like to keep it that way. It’s why we do what we do. Unfortunately, big corporations don’t see it that way.”

I understand completely. Breaking a sigh, I tell her. “That’s why I love what I do.”

She glances at me. “We’ve had new evidence come in.

New photos and local testimony which shows urgent and ongoing damage.

All of this natural beauty, it can’t be preserved if big corporations keep interfering.

We need more people like you, Raquel. Companies like to set up their hotels and their eco resorts under the guise that they’re good for the environment.

” Alma hurrumps her disapproval. “They want their money. They want their profits. They might start off with good intentions, maybe, but when it comes to damaging protected ecosystems, coral reef destruction, illegal deforestation, displacing indigenous communities, violating international environmental agreements … the list is endless, as you know.”

“I’m well aware of the damage, most of it irreversible.”

“They prefer to disregard these things in their thirst for more money. These big corporations will do whatever it takes to protect their profits.”

I nod, agreeing with everything she said.

“It makes me so angry. I’m sorry this is happening to you,” I tell her.

I despair sometimes, but despair won’t fix anything.

I’ve seen it happen before, how a lush environment, with its inhabitants going about peacefully in their normal lives have their world upended by wealthy, foreign companies.

“Money is everything to them,” I continue, getting more riled up.

“Greed motivates them. Runs their life. Directs every thought and action they take.” I think of Paul Knight and his cunning, devious ways.

And then I remember Rio.

Not good. Why can’t I get that man out of my head? I came here to get away not just from work and Pierce, but from Rio and from Miami which, for now, is tainted with his memory.

“We think alike, Raquel. You remind me of a younger me.”

“I do?”

“You have that air of determination about you. I like it. I get the feeling that you don’t trust people easily.”

She’s right. I don’t. “Are you psychic?” I ask, her words making me uneasy. This makes her smile.

“I have sixty-eight years on me, and by that time, you learn to read people and situations easier the older you get.”

“Not everyone does.” I’m reminded of Paul Knight again.

“Am I right?” she asks. “That you don’t trust?”

“You are. Frighteningly so.”

I like that Alma is calm and insightful, and she’s not afraid to call things as she sees them.

“How long have you been with EcoGuardians?” I ask.

“About twenty years. I was put in charge to head it up, a few years after I joined.”

“You have branches in other countries. I’ve heard of you before.”

“Big money and big corporations are everywhere, doing damage. We need to be everywhere to match them. To do what we can.”

“How much longer do you intend to carry on working?”

Alma chuckles softly. “You mean because I’m a grandmother?”

“No. Are you a grandmother?”

Her face softens, and I instantly know she is, and that she loves it.

“I have three grandchildren,” she says, pride and love infusing her voice.

“Two boys and a girl. The youngest just turned four last week. Smart as a whip, and already bossing her brothers around. Her older brothers are five, soon to be six, and the oldest is eight.” She goes on to tell me that she’s been married for forty-four years to Samuel, the love of her life who she met in school when they were thirteen.

He carried her books home every day. “He said it was because my bag looked heavy, but I knew it was because he liked me. It took him three years to work up the courage to hold my hand, and by then, I had already decided he was the one.”

I listen to her with the biggest smile on my face, imagining the thirteen year old Alma and her Samuel, walking home from school, to grow older decades later and leave a legacy behind them.

She tells me how they built their house themselves, on a small plot of land his father gave them.

“I want to keep this planet for my children to grow up in, and I want their grandchildren to enjoy it too.”

I like her so much.

“How about you? Do you have anyone important in your life?”

I let out an exhale. I dislike personal questions, but I don’t mind opening up to her.

“Not really.” I wish I’d said “No.” I hate that I’ve left myself open to more questioning.

She pauses, for a beat in which I pray she doesn’t probe.

“You work in Miami, for a law firm and as a lawyer I am assuming that you lead a very hectic life. We’ve never used your law firm before, but we were told that you’re good.”

“I don’t recall personally working on anything for EcoGuardians before,” I tell her.

“Somebody recommended you. I can’t remember who.”

“Hmmmm.” We have a global newsletter where lawyers and successful cases are highlighted. Maybe that’s how the recommendation came about.

“Your reputation precedes you.” Alma looks at me as if I am the one. “As I mentioned, we have branches all over the world, and we are constantly fighting for our planet, and for people’s rights. It can be exhausting.”

“I’m sure it is, but we’re fighting the good fight, you and me, and I’m glad to be here.”

“Are you up to speed with the Blue Star Eco Resort?”

“I am.” It made for light reading on the plane.

“Two years under construction,” she says, her voice tight, like she’s trying to stay calm.

“They’re selling it as though it will help us, as though it will be good for our environment and our people.

As though they’re doing us a favor by building it here.

In an ideal world it would be true, perhaps.

But this isn’t an ideal world, is it? And this eco resort is built for rich tourists from abroad.

There is nothing in it for the locals. Lot of low-paying jobs, of course.

” She gives a dry laugh. “The mangroves are already thinning, fish numbers dropping, and the community is not happy.” She glances toward the horizon and shakes her head.

“All this beauty … it won’t last if big corporations keep carving it up. ”

“I hate it when that happens. I’ve seen this before, numerous times. It makes my blood boil.”

We fall silent for a while. I feel a sense of moral righteousness, and feel blessed that I’m doing the job I am.

“You were born and raised in Miami?” she asks.

“I work in Miami, but I’m from Brazil, from S?o Paulo.”

“Ah,” her voice warms to me even more.

I tell her about how I got my law degree in Brazil, then spent a year at college in Washington.

“My boss,” I say, “he doesn’t like me doing this work.”

“No?”