Page 19 of Wicked Suspicion

The vibe in the room changed dramatically and immediately. The old men shared a glance. The oldest of the three nodded and the other two nodded back. When Alvarez looked at him, he had a feeling the innkeeper knew who Oz really was. US Army Special Forces. Shit, hell, and damn.

“I will give you a room, but first, join us.” Alvarez gestured toward the empty chair at the round table.

Reluctantly, Oz sat down. Something was up and he wasn’t sure what it was. “What did you want to discuss with me?”

The men exchanged another glance, but it was Alvarez who spoke. “What has Vargas been up to today?”

“I don’t know. I was assigned to make a delivery in Rio Blanco this morning. I returned less than an hour ago.”

“Señor…” Alvarez let his voice trail off.

“Waters,” Oz said, using his alias. “Oz Waters.”

“Señor Waters, you should be spending the night in Vargas’s compound, not searching for a room. Why are you here and not his hacienda?”

Something in his voice had Oz sitting up straighter in his chair. This wasn’t an idle question. “What happened?”

There was a long hesitation, before Alvarez said, “I have a guest. An archaeologist. She went to the Huarona ruins this morning and hasn’t returned.”

Shit, Lurch was supposed to meet Vargas there today. Oz’s mind spun through scenarios, but what he said aloud was, “She might be injured at the site or in the rainforest.”

“Sí, that’s most likely the situation.”

“Except?”

“Except your boss has used the ruins to conduct business in the past.”

“He rarely goes there.” But he’d visited there today. If they’d found her at the ruins, would an archaeologist cause the lockdown at the hacienda? Oz didn’t know.

“Rarely does not mean never,” the oldest of the three men said.

Oz nodded. If Vargas had brought the archaeologist to the compound, the question was why? If she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, they’d simply kill her and leave her body in the rainforest for the scavengers. There was no reason to haul her to the estate and go into full lockdown.

His stomach roiled. What if she was inside the compound?

“Why are you here?” Alvarez asked. “Why are you not at Vargas’s hacienda?”

Taking a moment to weigh his options, Oz decided to go with the truth. “It’s locked down. No one is allowed in or out.”

The three old men shared another glance.

“That doesn’t mean she’s on the property,” Oz said quickly. These men had rescued Alvarez’s wife from the compound last year.

“No, of course not. You’re correct when you say she’s most likely injured. I suggested she not go to the ruins alone, but I could not stop her.”

“You would have talked her out of it if she didn’t seem capable.”

Alvarez nodded. “Sí, I would have. I believed she’d be fine.”

Oz didn’t ask why. The man had been in the presidential brigade, Puerto Jardin’s special forces. He’d be a good judge of who could and couldn’t handle the trek to the ruins. Accidents could always happen even to the savviest and most skilled outdoors person, but when Oz considered the lockdown… He let the thought trail off. Yeah, his instincts were pounding on the walls of his stomach.

“Do you know where she went in?” Oz asked.

“Sí, I gave her directions.”

“In the morning, I’ll drive out there and look for her.” It went without saying that Stony would want Oz to protect the innkeeper and that meant keeping him out of the rainforest.

“We’ll go with you,” the oldest man interjected.

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