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CHAPTER 10

AS I SIPPED one final gin and tonic on the plane, I ran through my story. I didn’t want to accuse Eduardo of anything, but at the same time, I needed to push him enough to get a genuine reaction when I told him one of the attackers gave my team his name. That was how I’d know whether he was mixed up in this.

The aircraft landed with a gentle bump, shaking me from my thoughts, and after disembarking, I went to find a connecting flight to Cali. The city lay three hundred miles from Bogotà, so flying there was faster than driving. An hour later, I clambered onto a small plane with Nate and seven other passengers for the final leg of the journey.

By the time we’d landed at the snappily named Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Palmira, I’d shed several layers of clothing as the temperature climbed into the low thirties. In the terminal, I bought a bottle of water then strolled outside to find a cab, leaving Nate to do his own thing. As I rode to the hotel in a battered Toyota, the city was coming alive with the hustle and bustle of daily life.

The air-conditioned lobby of the Coralia Club provided a welcome respite from the heat. Luxurious, quiet, classy. They’d changed the decor since I was last there, and a pair of newlyweds posed for photos next to a cluster of palm trees in one corner.

“Maria Delgado. I don’t have a reservation, but—”

“One second, ma’am.”

The instant I gave my name, the manager came and took over my booking, sending the receptionist who’d greeted me to fetch a cold drink as he offered me a seat. He tapped away at the computer before shaking his head.

“I must apologise. We only have the second largest suite available. The largest is occupied by a couple on their honeymoon.”

“It’s fine. I don’t need a suite at all. A regular room will be fine.”

“No, no, you will have the suite, please, Ms. Delgado.”

As I left the lobby with a porter carrying my small bag and the manager marching in front of me with the room key, I saw Nate coming in the front door out of the corner of my eye. At least he’d arrived okay.

I’d been in my room ten minutes when the phone rang. What did my uninvited companion want?

“You got here, then,” I said.

“Emmy, I only had to find a hotel. It really wasn’t difficult. Give me a little credit.”

“Sorry. I mean thanks for coming.”

“That’s better. What room are you in?”

“The Palm Suite.”

“A suite? Don’t you think that’s overkill for the amount of time we’re going to be here? I just asked for a basic double.”

“So did I. There’s a standing instruction to put me in the best room available whatever I say.”

I could almost see his eyes roll.

“I spoke to Nick. He needed to know where we were before people started getting worried. Needless to say, he’s not happy. With either of us.”

“I’ll tell him it was all my fault when I next talk to him, that I made you go. He’ll believe that.”

“No, he won’t. Because I told him I trusted you, and I thought this was the best way forward.”

He did? It was rare for Nate to stick up for me like that. He hadn’t been my biggest fan when we’d first met, and we’d had a number of differences of opinion over the years.

“Thanks for having so much faith in me.”

“You’ve earned it. So, what do we do now? Call Eduardo?”

“I don’t have to. The hotel manager will have phoned him the second he got back downstairs.”

“You mean it’s just a case of waiting? There’s nothing else we can do?”

“Nope. I’m going to the gym.”

I did an hour on the treadmill, running until the nervous energy inside me settled before moving onto weights. Nate came in after half an hour, and we studiously ignored each other until I left. With little else to do, I spent the afternoon sitting by the pool, reading through the case notes on my tablet and turning over every so often so I didn’t burn.

Relaxing in the sun felt odd with all the horrors going on back home. Wrong. But fifty bucks said the authorities monitored this hotel because of who owned it, and who knew how many ears were listening?

Come on, Eduardo .

Just before six, there was a knock at my door, and I opened it to find one of Eduardo’s men standing there. Usually, I’d just follow him to the car, but this time, he motioned me back inside and closed the door behind us.

Silently, he handed me a mobile phone, and I held it up to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Emerson?”

“Well, yes. Who else would it be?”

“I got word that you’d died in a home invasion. I need to make sure it’s really you before inviting you to my estate.”

“Fair enough. I can understand you might have a few questions, so shoot. Not literally,” I hastened to add, eyeing the bulge under his pet gorilla’s jacket.

Eduardo’s proof-of-life questions were like those asked in a kidnapping—things that would only be known by us or our closest acquaintances.

“What is the other name you use when you come to visit me?”

“Lauren Bailey.” No hesitation on my part.

“And what was the problem you helped me with many years ago?”

“Frost.”

“Good answers. Can you pass me back to Javier?”

I passed the phone over, and after listening to further instructions from his boss, Javier led me down to the waiting limousine. I was used to this now, so I settled in for the ride.

After a small delay due to an accident ahead of us, we arrived at Eduardo’s. I knew my way around after all this time, so I walked ahead of Javier into the entrance hall. The golden elephant was long gone, as was Eduardo’s fourth wife. I didn’t know what happened to her. I didn’t want to know. Eduardo was on his sixth now, and this one had an obsession with fresh flowers. The almost overwhelming smell of roses permeated the room, and I stifled a sneeze.

One night when we’d drunk too much aguardiente, he’d confessed the only woman he’d ever truly loved was Camilla’s mother, but he thought she was too good for the type of life he led. Once he completed his education, he’d left her and Camilla behind in the United States and returned to Colombia, where his father required him to take over the family business.

“This wasn’t a life for her,” he said. “I thought America would be safer for them both.” Years later, his voice still caught when he spoke about her, and it was evident how much he cared. Now, he tended to marry shallow women who he quickly tired of and traded in for a new model.

Would wife number six be any different? Only time would tell.

A few seconds after I arrived, the man himself walked out to the car and embraced me in a tight hug.

“My sweet angel, I thought you were gone,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

I’d always been ‘angel’ to Eduardo. I’d never asked why. Was it because I helped him with Frost? Or because of my normally blonde hair?

“Someone tried to kill me. They didn’t succeed, needless to say. That’s what I want to talk to you about. I need your help.”

“Anything for you, angel. We will have dinner, and you can tell me everything. It was short notice, but Alejandro is making something nice.”

We ate outside on a softly lit terrace, classical music playing quietly in the background. Once the food was laid out, Eduardo’s staff melted away, leaving just the two of us.

“What happened, child?”

I started from the beginning with Black’s death, glossing slightly over my little break—or rather breakdown—in England and finishing off with the events of two nights before.

“What makes you believe I can help?” he asked.

I laid out my theory about the attacks being connected to the drugs trade, and then it came to the moment of truth. “Before the last member of the team died the other night, he gave one of my colleagues the name of the man who sent them.”

“Under duress?”

“Yes.”

“And what was the name?”

“Yours.”

I watched closely as shock and disbelief crossed Eduardo’s face. “Angel, I assure you it was not me. I would never do anything to hurt you, and I would never have hurt your husband either. I know how much he meant to you, and you know how much you mean to me.”

“I didn’t think it could be true, but I had to see your reaction. You understand that?” And based on the way he grasped my hand, my instincts were right.

“Yes, child, I understand. You would not be doing your job if you didn’t ask. So, how can I help you to find this person? By trying to frame me, he has invited my retaliation as well.”

That was kind of what I’d been hoping he’d say. “I think our visitor gave your name with the expectation that I would seek revenge against you. He couldn’t have known we’re friends. So my theory is his boss is somebody who wants you out of the picture, which means he’s most likely a rival of yours in the cocaine trade.”

“And you were investigating tainted coke coming into the East Coast?”

“Yes, contaminated with levamisole.”

“There was a theory that adding levamisole would help keep drugs fresh during transportation, but it didn’t work very well, so most people have stopped using it. It was not something I ever did, though. Call me old-fashioned, but I like to stick with my tried and tested methods.”

Just as I thought.

“Sometimes the old ways are the best ways. Do you know who the big players are on that side of the States?”

“There are a number of them. I can provide you with a list, but we will need to find a way to narrow it down.”

“I brought photos of all the dead mercenaries. I’m hoping you might recognise some of them.”

“Certainly I will take a look. Actually, wait a minute. Let us find Sebastien and Marco first. They get out and about more than me, and they may also have seen these men.”

As well as Eduardo, I’d got to know his two sons over the years, half-brothers by his first and second wives. At twenty-eight, Seb was the eldest by three years. Both chips off the old block, they’d followed in their father’s footsteps in every way, and we’d had some fun times together over the past decade.

Seb in particular shared my wilder traits. I smiled to myself as I recalled the game of dare we’d played one night that led to us almost drowning. It happened the day one of Eduardo’s rivals had been particularly rude to him at a charity soccer match. They’d been supporting opposing teams, words were exchanged, and Eduardo was still seething about it all the way through dinner.

After a few beers, Seb and I decided it would be an excellent idea to break into the other guy’s house and decorate his lounge in the colours of Eduardo’s team. Spray cans in hand, we’d evaded a team of armed guards and snuck through the hallways until we reached our target. Pristine walls stretched in front of us, but when I said I couldn’t draw, I meant I couldn’t draw.

“What is that supposed to be?” Seb asked after my initial effort.

“A football player.”

“Why does he have a chicken’s head?”

“That’s his nose.”

“No, it is a beak. And where is his mouth?”

Okay, he had me there. Seb came over to help, and we were laughing about the buckteeth he gave the player when a maid walked in.

With the sound of her screams echoing behind us, we jumped out the window hand in hand, and the resulting chase wasn’t something I’d want to include on my professional résumé. We’d ended up at the bottom of the dude’s boating lake, holding onto each other and our breath as torches swept overhead. My lungs had been ready to burst by the time we made it to the surface, and worse, my top had gone see-through.

Gentleman that he was, Seb gave me his T-shirt, and I’d got to enjoy the glorious sight of his muscled torso all the way home.

Sigh. I missed those days.

Both boys still lived at home—it was safer and easier for the family to live in one compound, and there was plenty of space. Eduardo dispatched a servant to find them, and in the meantime, another member of staff served dessert.

The boys arrived as I swallowed my last mouthful of crème br?lée. Seb greeted me with a grin and a tight hug, looking fit and tanned as usual.

“It’s been a while, Emmy,” he whispered as his lips brushed my ear. “Too long.”

“You’re right.”

Marco, who’d always been kind of shy around the ladies, gave me a little wave.

Greetings over, we went inside to the lounge where the lighting was better. I took the sketchbook from my bag and passed the pack of photos over to Eduardo.

“Sorry about the quality of some of those. We did our best.”

“It cannot be helped, angel. These things happen when you shoot someone in the head.”

His pragmatism was refreshing.

Eduardo started flipping through them, slowly, his expression giving nothing away. Would he recognise anyone? I caught myself digging my fingernails into my palms and forced myself to relax. Hands in your lap, Emmy .

He got to the end of the pile then passed them on to Seb.

“Anything?” I noticed Eduardo had paused for longer on one of the pictures.

“Maybe. I want Sebastien to have a look before I speak my thoughts.”

Seb flicked through, stopping on one particular photo as well. The same one? He showed it to his father and murmured something I couldn’t make out.

“Yes, I think so too,” Eduardo said. “I have only ever seen him with a beard though, and the hair is different.”

My pulse sped up as he passed that picture to Marco, who also nodded his confirmation. I leaned forward, heart thumping against my ribcage. Which of the men had they recognised?

“You’ve got something?”

Seb nodded and slid the photo over. “That one is Carlos.”