Page 24 of Liaising Kai

He took a shuddering breath and sighed. “Eduardo has been going out alone more than he’s been taking his crew, clocking a lot of miles with no fish to show for his efforts. I don’t know what he’s doing, I swear that. But I’m not blind. He was stressed and worried most of the time.” He leaned in closer, shooting a glance toward the two-way glass, lowering his voice. “Fishing isn’t as profitable as it used to be,” he said. “And there’s so many impediments—piracy, illegal fishing, corruption of the laws, and fish scarcity.” He shifted, his eyes widening, the fear settling there like ice. He lowered his voice even more. “Then there’s drug trafficking. They tell you to bring your boat somewhere, and if you don’t, they hurt you or your family. Many fishermen are forced to do things. I have friends who are in prison because of it.” He closed his eyes, his hands trembling, worrying the ring some more. “Most fishermen do what they have to do out there. Out there on the sea.”

“The last time you saw him?” Davis asked.

“Three days ago. He said he would be back yesterday, but he hasn’t come back. I think something bad has happened to him.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Kai stood at the glass and could barely make out what Roberto was saying, he was speaking so low the microphones in the room couldn’t pick up much. She would have to rely on Davis to fill her in when he was done with the interrogation. Dario was agitated. He kept shooting sidelong glances at Cesar, who stood there like a statue watching every move Roberto made. The colonel’s intensity was unnerving, and the undercurrents of something nefarious made every muscle in her body tense.

There could be a million reasons cops got tense. But Cesar’s behavior regarding Roberto was disturbing. She meant it when she said they couldn’t trust anyone, including law enforcement. The fact that Dario had tried to warn her was enough evidence that corruption reached every corner of the country, including and especially the police.

But progress was progress. They at least got some information from Roberto. What their next step would be was uncertain. It was frustrating as hell. It could be that she was distracted…too distracted by Davis to be thinking straight. Maybe coming down here to Ecuador had been a mistake and she should have sent one of her completely grounded, level-headed agents.

She wasn’t sure if her hindsight was 20/20, or if she never even considered assigning someone else to this case because, not only was it personal, but she wanted to work with Davis. She wanted to see him in action, see him clearly and without the fantasy of her daydreaming clouding up the real man with her idealized version of him.

Except she wasn’t seeing much of a difference. He was steadfast, brave, smart, dependable…and charismatic, sexy with a body to die for, and she was struggling to maintain her professional demeanor and keep her hands off him. Not to mention, he seemed to put Roberto at ease, which was good for the case. He turned her upside down and inside out, and the fear that assaulted her whenever she thought about getting close to him returned tenfold. Did she trust him? Yes, she did with this case, with her life but did she trust him with her heart, every fucked-up thing with her? She shoved her trembling hands into the pockets of her jeans, admitting to herself that Davis was the only man, other than Nate, she had ever considered revealing all her secrets and pain.

The fear still lived in her that she could be wrong, that her judgment was tangled up in her body’s response to him, clouding her rationalizations and messing with her clarity. What if he let her down, let her fall, and she also admitted that would be one terrible, awful hard landing, possibly breaking anything that was left intact.

Davis rose from his chair and Roberto grasped his arm tightly, whispering something to him before Davis nodded and exited the room.

When he came back into the observation room, the three of them crowded around him. “Eduardo was supposed to be back yesterday. Roberto doesn’t know where he is or what he’s doing, but his catch has been sparse to nonexistent. He worries that his boss found another route or was pressured into?—

“Smuggling,” Dario said.

Davis nodded. “Roberto said that it’s been difficult the last few years due to the restrictions on fishing, and the pressure from foreign countries like China who are fishing near the Galapagos, even in the protected area.”

“That’s not all they have to contend with,” Dario said. “There’s an issue of extortion. If the fishermen don’t pay a fee of protection, the gangs steal their engines.”

“At least ten to twelve engines are stolen each month. Most fishermen pay since the cost of an engine is around ten thousand dollars. We don’t condone it, but it’s understandable why they turn to smuggling to make a living, but it’s come at a high price with a few thousand artisanal fishermen imprisoned in many countries, including the United States.”

“Eduardo’s disappearance coincided with his daughter’s murder and the murder of a whole task force. Regardless of what has happened to Eduardo, the US won’t stop until we find who’s responsible for their deaths. You understand what that means.”

“You’re just the first wave?”

“We are, and we hope to be effective, but Homeland and other agencies lost good members of that team.”

Cesar looked at his watch, then said, “Why don’t you get yourselves some lunch? There’s a great place across the street. We’ll get Roberto and his family into protective custody and drop the charges against him.”

Kai looked at Davis and he nodded. “All right. We’ll be back in an hour.”

As soon as they were comfortably out of earshot of anyone in the police department, Kai said, “Well that went so much better than I thought it would.” They headed toward a round restaurant instead of the one across the street. The name was Round on the Water as it curved around, most of the view facing out to the river.

“Yeah, but we aren’t any closer to finding Eduardo than we were when we landed.” Davis’s jaw hardened.

“Maybe once Roberto and his family are safe, he’ll be more forthcoming.” They went inside and it was beautiful, with wood and bamboo walls, hanging plants, and a living wall of greenery, even a waterfall. The sound of water was soothing.

“He thinks that something bad happened to Eduardo, and I’m inclined to agree. He’s either in deep hiding or dead. I’m on the side of dead.” Davis lowered his voice as he chose a table close to the door.

“That would be unfortunate, but we’ve gotten some good intel.” Kai cut off the conversation when the waitress approached. She handed them the menu and they both chose water to drink. “We know that Los Esmeraldas are most likely involved,” Kai continued. “Which means we can go after them. I bet they have a San Diego arm of the organization, and they’re the ones who carried out the attacks. We have all the resources we need per US Attorney Leigh Waterford.” She looked at the menu and everything looked delicious. “Ooh, sushi.”

Davis smiled, looking up from the menu, his smoky gray eyes soft and dreamy. “Yeah, but I want anyone and everyone who was involved in this murder spree,” he said, his eyes hardening into stone. “They damn well aren’t going to get away with this. Once we find out who the cartel is, it’s open season on them.”

She didn’t blame Davis for his somewhat bloodthirsty view. First off, it was the only language the cartel understood, and secondly, they had personal losses that made this case much more than professional for both of them. When the waitress came back, they both ordered sushi. She got the lemon teriyaki roll, and Davis got spicy crab.

She took a long drink of her water. It was cold and quenched her thirst. “Do you think we were wrong about Cesar?” The waitress dropped off their orders and they both dug in.

“I’m not sure,” Davis said after chewing and wiping his sensual lips with a napkin. “I still think it’s a miracle that Roberto is still alive. I fear for him and his family, Kai.”

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