Chapter 10 Daniela
DANIELA
Vinnie’s eyebrows nearly fly off his forehead.
“Hernando Reyes?”
I gulp as I nod.
Vinnie grabs his iPad. “When I first went to Colombia on my grandfather’s orders, he gave me a PDF.
It was encrypted, but I took screenshots just in case the original file was pulled from the encrypted drive.
I did a lot of research on all the people named in the document. Hernando Reyes was one of them.”
“And?” Robin asks.
“He’s a sitting senator in the Colombian Congress and he has a slew of unexplained deaths related to him.”
I gulp again. “Maybe forget I said his name then.”
Vinnie shakes his head. “Oh no. We can’t forget it, Daniela. Someone gave you that teddy bear with a live grenade inside. This isn’t anything to mess around with.”
I nod shakily. He’s right of course.
“You okay?” Robin asks me.
I stare blankly at all of them.
“Of course she’s not okay,” Vinnie says. “She’s been through hell, and just when she thought she was safe, here it all goes again.” He continues tapping on his iPad.
“Anything?” Robin asks.
“Not yet,” he says. “But a simple Google search isn’t going to give me what I need. I’ll need to try a…different search engine.”
The dark web. I don’t ask, but I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on.
“Make sure you hide your IP address,” Robin says.
“I’m one step ahead of you,” Vinnie says.
He continues to type, his brow furrowed.
Then—
“Okay. I’ve got something. Seems that Hernando Reyes—at least I think the one we’re talking about; it’s not an uncommon name in Spanish circles—is related to a local artist. Juno Reyes.”
I drop my jaw.
“You know the artist?” Robin asks.
“I don’t know her personally, but Hawk has one of her paintings in his home. It’s a really cool painting with stars and planets and stuff.” I tap at my chin. “I can’t remember the name of it off the top of my head.”
“In Hawk’s house?” Vinnie asks.
“Yeah,” Robin says. “I know the one you’re talking about. I don’t recall the name of it either, but it’s gorgeous. I was with Hawk when he bought it.”
“He said he likes space and the stars,” I say.
“He does,” Robin confirms. “Plus he likes art. Hawk is actually a very deep person. A deep thinker.”
“Okay,” Vinnie says. “I’ve got something. Juno Reyes’s real name is Julia Alejandra Reyes. Apparently Juno is a pseudonym she uses for her artwork. And she happens to be the niece of Hernando Reyes.”
“But what does all this mean?” I ask.
“It could mean nothing,” Vinnie says. “But it does give Hernando a reason to be here in Texas. Maybe he was visiting his niece. And while he was here, maybe he stumbled on you and decided to cause trouble.”
“I guess I should’ve allowed you to get me private security,” I say.
“I should’ve pushed harder,” Vinnie says. “But I wanted so much for you to live a normal life.”
“Hawk says he’s got private security on me now.” I frown. “I mean, he’s going to do it. Whether it’s started, I don’t know.”
“None of that is even relevant,” Robin says. “If Hernando was here and got wind of you, it would’ve been before now, before you had security.”
“True.” Vinnie rubs his forehead and then turns to Robin. “How are your acting skills?”
“High school drama,” Robin says. “That’s about it.”
“All right.” Vinnie tents his fingers. “Let’s say you give this artist a call. Say you’re an editor of a new fine arts magazine here in Texas. You’re interested in doing a story on her and maybe you can dig up some information on her uncle and whether he’s recently been here.”
Robin nods. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“No,” I say adamantly. “I don’t want to put anybody in danger because of me.”
“I’m not going to be in danger from a phone call,” Robin says.
“She can use a burner phone,” Vinnie says. “I’ve got dozens of them sitting around just for this kind of purpose. There will be no way to track the call back to Robin, especially if she uses a pseudonym and adjusts her voice.”
Robin puts her hand over mine. “Let me do this for you, Daniela. Please. I hate what you’ve been through, and I hate what you’re going through. Plus, it’ll help me get my mind off Eagle and Dad.” She pats my hand gently. “And I know Hawk would want me to do anything I can for you.”
I take a deep breath in, look Robin in the eyes. “Fine. Thank you for caring so much about me.”
Vinnie leaves and returns with the burner phone. “You’re on,” he says to Robin.
Robin leans over to Vinnie’s iPad, which is open to Juno Reyes’s website. She punches in the number.
“Yes, hello. My name is Robin Bernard, and I’m an editor with Texas Arts Monthly, a new e-zine. My associate and I would love to get an interview with Ms. Reyes.”
Pause.
“Tomorrow? That would be perfect.”
Pause.
“Yes, we can meet at Bean There, Done That. Great. We will be there. And thank you so much. I’m so looking forward to meeting Ms. Reyes.” Robin ends the call. “All set.”
“I’ll be going with you,” Vinnie says.
“Daniela and I will be fine.”
“Wait, you want me to go?” I ask.
“You’re Colombian,” Robin says. “So is Juno. That will give us an organic way to move the conversation to her family abroad.”
I nod. “That does make sense.”
“I don’t think so, Robin,” Vinnie says.
“Fine. Then you come too.”
Vinnie nods. “All right. We’ll do it that way.”
My heart is thudding.
It’s a feeling I know all too well…
The feeling you’re about to step into something that you can’t ever take back.
I have it.
And I don’t like it.