Page 331 of The Black Trilogy

And as the sun began to set, Sebastien brought information as well.

“I tracked down a chemist who used to work for Ramos.”

“Used to? He got out alive?”

“Only because he has terminal cancer. He’s on his death bed now, which is probably the only reason he agreed to speak to me.”

I felt a flicker of guilt for disturbing a dying man, but I tamped it down. Needs must.

“What did he say about the levamisole?”

“Hector was very fond of it. Insisted it went in everything. The man worked for Ramos for almost a decade, poor guy.” Seb shook his head in disbelief. “He said Hector was closer to Diego. Treated him like the son he was, whereas Hector rarely saw Carlos and when he did, he ordered Carlos around like any other employee.”

“Interesting family dynamic.”

“Isn’t it? Why would he favour one son over the other?”

That was a question neither of us could answer. Seb hoped to have more news over the coming days, but he didn’t want to arouse suspicions with his questions, so progress wasn’t going to be as fast as we’d like.

A fact I bemoaned to Nate in my room that evening.

“I just wish there was more we could do.”

“Itchy trigger finger?”

“Something like that.”

“Softly, softly, catchee monkey, Ems.” He took a sip of the fancy drink Eduardo’s butler had made him. “I’ll admit, Eduardo isn’t the threat I thought he’d be.”

“I hate to say I told you so, but I did.”

I couldn’t help grinning, because who doesn’t like being right? Nate only glared at me. Ouch.

“How about you stay here and work with the Garcias, and I’ll coordinate things in the States? I can stop off in Maryland on the way home to visit Arthur and see if he’s able to shed any light on Black’s childhood.”

“You know I’m going to kill Ramos, right?”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less of you.” Nate slung an arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “And if it wasn’t you, it would be me.”

So I stayed in Colombia. After all, I was dead, and what better way to enjoy the afterlife than with good food and sunshine? It had the added advantage that if Ramos began to suspect I wasn’t as lifeless as I made out, Eduardo’s hacienda was the last place he’d imagine me hanging out.

When we told Eduardo of our plans, he just nodded. “You realise if we continue down this path, we will be starting a war?”

“No, Eduardo, we won’t be starting a war. Ramos already started the war when he came out of nowhere and killed my husband. We’ll be finishing a war.”

“Good answer, my angel.”

CHAPTER 13

AT LAST, WE were getting to the bottom of this whole mess. I was convinced of it. But the turmoil in my head? That still had a way to go. After overcoming my shock at finding Black’s double, I tried to work out why the Ramos family wanted my husband dead in the first place.

“They probably thought Black was trying to put them out of business,” Seb said as he watched me pacing from his position on a floral-print chaise longue, stretched out with his arms folded behind his head.

“But he’d barely got anywhere. I saw his notes.”

“If they found out his reputation, they’d have been worried that would change.”

“I guess.” I dropped the rounds out of the revolver I’d borrowed from Eduardo, spun the chamber, and reloaded them. “Do you reckon they knew what he looked like? That he was Carlos’s double?”

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