Page 69 of Rio

I haven’t seen the reef.I haven’t walked the far end of the mangrove basin.I’ve been too damn busy in meetings and reading polished reports from Delport and smooth-talking execs, no doubt handpicked by the old man.

Which is exactly how he wanted it.

“I’m thinking we sit tight, for a few hours.”Because once the old man finds out, all hell will break loose.I get up and walk away, heart pounding, and when I’m out of earshot, I call him.He picks up immediately.

“Tell me everything’s fine and you’re about to come back,” he says.He already knows something’s wrong.I can hear it in his smug and oily tone, like he’s been waiting for my call.

“I just wanted to give you a heads-up.We got served.”

“What?”

“An injunction.EcoGuardians filed it.We’ve been ordered to halt construction effective immediately.”

“How the fuck did this happen?”he thunders.“You were supposed to use your fucking charm and get this fixed.”

“I tried.”I clear my throat and brace myself.“There’s more going on here than we were told.”

“I trust Delport to handle things.”

“I don’t think Delport are being transparent.”

“You don’t need to worry about Delport,” he says, smoothly.“Just leave that to me.”

“But you sent me here to get a handle on the situation.”

“And you haven’t, have you?”he snaps.“Now we’ll have lawyers crawling all over the site soon, and headlines waiting to explode.You should have had this locked down by now.Fix it.”

I grit my teeth.What the fuck does he expect me to do?“I’m not going to overlook an injunction.”

“You’ll do what needs to be done.”

“There could be real damage out here,” I push.“People are upset.Locals at the community hall are talking.No one can tell me what happened to the last foreman.”

“Don’t worry about him.”

“This whole thing smells off.”

The old man is silent for a beat.Then he says, low and lethal, “If there’s a problem, we’ll bury it.Just like we always do.”

A pain slices through my chest.“Bury it?”

“You’re too close to it, boy.That’s your problem.You’re letting that lawyer cloud your judgment.”

I resent him talking about Raquel.

“The eco resort needs to open on time, boy.You make sure it does.”

He hangs up before I can respond.

And now I’m in a real fucking mess, because now I’m more certain than ever that something isn’t right here.

Chapter 21

RAQUEL

I haven’t slept well at all, for the second night.I feel groggy and tired having tossed and turned all night.

My muscles feel tight, and I feel restless, maybe it’s sheer exhaustion from insomnia, or maybe it’s guilt because I feel like I betrayed Rio when I handed the foreman the injunction yesterday.I shouldn’t feel guilty.I was just doing my job, but somehow, I do.