Page 14 of Dustin
Mr. Vierra doesn’t look dangerous. He looks like an ordinary Portuguese man. A head full of brown hair, brown eyes, and standing well under six feet. He’s dressed in an expensive navy Italian suit, but apart from that, he looks pretty ordinary.
I watch for a few more minutes as he orders his meal and starts to eat. When he asks for some water, though, his true colors come out. My friend Catalina has the misfortune of serving him, but then she makes the mistake of spilling the water onto the table. It drips onto Vierra’s pants, and he’s immediately furious.
He bangs his hands on the table before standing up.
“Por favor, Mr. Vierra,” Catalina says with wide eyes. “Please forgive me.”
Vierra flicks a hand in the direction of his bodyguards, and a second later, they yank Catalina away. She tries to reason with him, but he doesn’t even turn in her direction. My fists clench, but I know there’s nothing I can do.
Face screwed in disgust, Vierra turns to another waiter. They have a conversation during which the waiter points toward the bathroom. I take that as my golden opportunity. I carefully head into the bathroom and hide in one of the stalls. Hopefully, Vierra doesn’t need a bodyguard to escort him in.
I’ll probably have to bump into him or something to attach the tracking device discreetly onto his phone. He walks in while I’m still thinking of a way to do this without seeming suspicious. My tentative plan is ruined when I hear someone else follow him. I grab the glasses to see who it is. It doesn’t look like a bodyguard. Vierra wipes at his pants before saying something angrily in Portuguese.
I roll my eyes.
It was just a little water. He’s the embodiment of an entitled rich asshole.
I’m recording his conversation with the other man so I can head back to the hotel and ask Madison to translate. I don’t understand most of their rapid conversation until the men suddenly switch to English.
“It’ll be okay, Alexis. You have an important ball tomorrow. Don’t let anyone or anything ruin that,” the other man says, placing a hand on Vierra’s shoulder.
Vierra nods, and a minute later, the men exit. My brain whirs with the new information. First off, I need to get their conversation translated. Then I need to figure out how to get into the ball they mentioned.
It may be my best chance to get the device on the target.
Chapter 6
(Madison)
______
“They’re talking about a meeting that’s happening this weekend. Something about a warehouse and goods delivery: it sounds like this meeting is a really big deal. They also mentioned bribing some officers to look the other way,” I say, translating the conversation Dustin asked me to listen to.
He walked in an hour ago and went straight to have a shower. He ignored me completely until he eventually handed me his phone while making himself some coffee. He played the recorder and asked me to translate the conversation. Without aplease. I know I’ve upset him, so I let it go.
“Interesting,” Dustin says, his expression thoughtful.
“You think the meeting could be with the terrorists?” I question.
He doesn’t reply. He stands up to grab his phone from the table in the room. Then he dials someone's number.
“Hey. I need you to find out about a particular ball happening here in Lisbon tomorrow night. And I need an invitation.”
I’m guessing he’s talking to Sam. As soon as he gets a reply, Dustin hangs up the phone. He sits on the couch and continues pretending to be the only person in the room.
“You can’t keep ignoring me, Dustin,” I tell him, a little annoyed.
“Of course I can,” he says sweetly.
I roll my eyes.
“What do you want from me?”
He sighs before looking at me properly for the first thing this evening.
“Don’t you have places to be? A house? Friends to hang out with. This is supposed to be your city, but you haven’t left this hotel room today.”
“Like I told you before, I’m staying put and helping you. I’ll go back to my life after your mission’s done.”
