Page 45 of The Perfect Stranger

“Doesn’t trust us, hey?” He almost looked offended. “The Mariner. I take care of everything coming in and going out. Including everything for Santos.”

“Well, Mariner, I’m just here following procedure.”

Was I?

The man seemed inconvenienced by the holdup and I wondered why, given that this sort of thing should have happened before, on a regular basis. Unless, of course, this was a sting.

“Go on then.” He gave a dismissive wave of the hand.

Taking extra precaution, I filmed the boxes as I moved around them counting each one. As I kept tally, I wondered if this batch of cocaine was made from my father’s coca crop in La Balsa. The boxes were labeled with a landscape motif as the logo. To customs, they looked legit.

I counted sixty boxes, and satisfied with the evidence, I messaged Gabriel the footage.

My job here was done, and as my cell vibrated in my hand from an incoming call, something else became far more pressing than a shipment of dragon fruit.

The number belonged to Ana.

I instructed Anton to pull into a space down a road opposite city square.

“I’ll be ten minutes.”

“Where are you going?” His frustration was evident.

Ignoring, I closed the door and navigated the busy square looking for my destination. It was twilight and people were looking for dinner.

Across from the bronze bull sculpture, and next to the ice cream parlor, the custom-built sculpture came into view and within seconds I was at my destination. Walking through the front door of the restaurant, I bypassed the tables and curious staff and entered the kitchen. It was organized chaos as food was being prepared and chef’s demands sounding every second. Through the dull tones I saw a splash of red.

Ana.

She sat at the back of the kitchen dressed in jeans and a red sweatshirt. Her hair was pulled back and she wore only a smear of lip gloss. She looked the best I’d ever seen her. That was until I noticed her worried eyes.

“What’s happened?” I asked, gently gripping her shoulders until she straightened.

“Gabriel came in soon after you left.” She bit her lip anxiously.

“What did he want?”

“I’m not sure to be honest. He just sat and started rambling on about how much his father relies on the discretion from his employees. That those who talk or engage with spies face a public and humiliating death.”

“Does he know about the phone?”

She shook her head, her brows creasing together. “He said he had just come from having to show someone the importance of being quiet. I don’t think it was necessarily directed at me but thought you should know.”

“It was.”

Ana looked grim and I began to worry I had placed her in a very real danger. Perhaps the glass box was bugged. Perhaps it was just Gabriel’s paranoia. I hadn’t been working for him long and he was still testing the waters as far as my allegiance went.

“But we’ve hardly spoken. Only when he practically dumped you in the room.”

“It’s a possible set up. Ana, I won’t see you again. So far he doesn’t know about the cell or about me meeting you just now. He only knows of yesterday and possibly this morning, and that was with his permission. He’s waiting for us to slip and for that reason we need to stop. Your safety is paramount. I can source information in other ways that won’t affect you. You will only see me when I’m accompanying Gabriel. Hopefully, that should quell some of his suspicion. Did he say or do anything else?”

“He demanded a show and then left.”

“Okay… just go about life as normal. Only contact me if you know you’re in danger.”

She nodded, wrapping her arms around my neck. I returned the embrace while sending a silent prayer she would be safe.

“I’m leaving the club,” she said, her hands resting on my chest. “When I can make my escape. Carlos, my cousin…” she pointed to the chef, “…said I always have a job here.”

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