Chapter 44 Let’s Make a Deal
“Let’s Make a Deal”
They dashed over to a cluster of low bushes. The trio crouched down in silence, hardly daring to breathe.
“Are you sure somebody’s coming?” Antía whispered. “I can’t hear anything . . .”
“Shh,” Roberto said, “here they come!”
Just then, two familiar figures appeared on the road.
álvaro Ibaibarriaga was leading the way, with his hunting rifle slung over one shoulder and with the two heavy duffel bags in his hands.
Borja Pazos came stumbling along beside him.
The younger man was gripping his stomach, and with each stride he gave a pained groan.
He was very pale and, from his blood-soaked clothes, appeared to have taken a bullet.
“Come on, Borja, we’re almost there!” Ibaibarriaga urged. “Hang in there, damn it!”
“I can’t make it,” moaned the younger man. “Think I’m about to . . . pass out. Need to . . . rest.”
“We can’t stop now,” Ibaibarriaga urged him on. “Those gunmen could be back at any moment. As soon as we’re safe in the lighthouse, you can lie down. No one can get us in there!”
“What about Varatorta, where’s he?”
“That’s exactly what I’d like to know. The bastard bolted just when we needed him. As soon as I see him, I’ll give him both barrels.”
But Pazos had stopped in the middle of the road and was staring up ahead. Ibaibarriaga followed his gaze and, seeing what his assistant was seeing, smiled.
A little way ahead, the rangers’ battered SUV—the same one the Docampos had used to chase Roberto—was parked on the roadside, and it was empty.
“Finally,” Ibaibarriaga cried. “A bit of luck! We don’t have to walk all the way to the lighthouse. We’ll be there in no time.”
The two lighthouse keepers walked over to the SUV. From the hiding place, Roberto saw that Pazos was leaving a trail of blood in his wake and was extremely pale. Undoubtedly, the wound was more serious than he had imagined.
“What now?” hissed Antía as the pair went over to the SUV, and Ibaibarriaga opened the trunk and flung the duffel bags in. “There goes the money! We can’t keep up with them in the SUV! By the time we get to the lighthouse, there’ll be no getting them out, and it’ll be too late for your plan . . .”
“Don’t worry,” Roberto said, taking a bundle of keys out of his pocket. “I came across the SUV before they did, on my way to the graveyard. They won’t be going far.”
Meanwhile, Pazos had collapsed against one of the rear wheels of the SUV. He was shaking slightly all over, and on the verge of going into hypovolemic shock. Ibaibarriaga, who was coming around that side of the vehicle, saw him and frowned.
“Come on, kid,” he said, a note of concern in his voice, “not long to go now. Let me help you, come on.”
Ibaibarriaga lifted him and gently eased him into the passenger seat. As Ibaibarriaga leaned over to fasten Pazos’s seat belt, Pazos let out a gasp of pain and promptly passed out.
“Listen to me, Diego.” Roberto turned to the boy, who was looking on in fascination. “I need you to do something for me—something very important. You have to be very, very brave. Can I count on you?”
“Is it a superhero job?” He beamed.
“Of course it is.” Roberto squeezed his shoulder, and then proceeded to whisper conspiratorially in his ear. “Got it?”
“Yeah, of course!”
“Okay, well, off you go now, and make sure no one sees you.”
But Diego was already on the move. Grinning excitedly, he slipped off through the undergrowth. A couple of seconds later, the only trace of the boy was the swaying of the tall grasses as he went away.
“What are you doing?” Antía said, scandalized. “He’s just a kid!”
“There’s nobody better at moving around this island unseen. He’ll be fine. Now for our part . . .” He stepped out from behind the bushes.
“Get down,” Antía said. “They’ll see you!”
“Exactly.”
He moved serenely along the road, like a visitor taking the morning air. Ibaibarriaga, who was furiously rummaging around for the keys, looked up, his eyes widening in surprise.
“You!” he exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Looking for these, álvaro?” Roberto brandished the keys.
Ibaibarriaga’s look of confusion shifted to one of cold determination. He got out of the vehicle and pointed his shotgun at Roberto.
“Yes, as it happens,” he said. “And you’d better hand them over, or you’re dead meat.”
“Not so fast!” Roberto took a step to the side and kneeled down. There at the roadside was a manhole, with the cover off—Roberto’s doing, on his way up from the beach. He dangled the keys just above the opening. “Not unless you want to spend the next few hours swimming around in shit.”
Ibaibarriaga’s eyes sparkled with fury.
“Just hear me out,” Roberto said.
“What is it?” Ibaibarriaga grunted.
“First, stop pointing that thing at me,” Roberto said.
“Fuck you.”
“Your decision.” Roberto moved the keys a little closer to the manhole.
“Okay, okay, wait!” Ibaibarriaga snorted, lowering the rifle.
“Antía, come over here, please,” Roberto said, watching Ibaibarriaga all the while.
Antía emerged from behind the bushes and stood beside him. The lighthouse keeper’s gaze flicked back and forth between them.
“What’s she doing here?”
“She’s coming with me. With us.”
“Us? What are you talking about?”
“It’s very simple,” Roberto said calmly. “There are some pretty pissed Colombians on the island, and they’re looking for the money you’ve just loaded in that SUV. They’ll stop at nothing to get it back.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“The authorities will be here soon.” He pointed at the black plume in the sky. “I don’t think they’ll be long, but in the meantime, we need a safe haven to avoid unexpected encounters. And I can think of no better place than the lighthouse. So let’s make a deal.”
Ibaibarriaga narrowed his eyes. “Okay. You’re offering me the keys in exchange for letting you into the lighthouse. Why would I agree to that?”
“Because if you don’t, they’ll get you first.” Roberto shrugged. “You won’t even make it as far as the lighthouse. You’ve got the money to carry, and your partner doesn’t look in great shape. You’re no match for a team of professional hit men.”
Ibaibarriaga squirmed, clearly furious. Roberto, a knot in his stomach, did his best not to give away what he was really keeping an eye on.
For the love of God, don’t turn around. Keep on looking at me, please . . .
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Diego emerged behind the SUV, tiptoeing closer to it.
All their hopes rested on him.
Though with Diego you could never be sure, he seemed to have understood the instructions perfectly. Furtively, without making the slightest noise, he appeared to be doing precisely as Roberto had asked.
He needs more time. Keep this bastard talking.
“You lied to me at the lighthouse,” Roberto piped up. “You locked me in that room.”
“You weren’t exactly truthful with me,” Ibaibarriaga said. “There’s far more than three million in those bags.”
“I guess we’re even.”
“As long as you aren’t expecting an apology . . .”
“No, not at all. A lot’s happened since then.”
“Right.” Ibaibarriaga looked Roberto up and down, one eyebrow raised quizzically. “You look like shit. What happened to you?”
“I fell off a cliff.”
“Sure! You’d be fish food by now.”
“They may not like the taste of me.” Roberto watched as Diego completed his task and slipped away again. “So . . . what do you say?”
“The money’s mine,” said Ibaibarriaga finally. “And I don’t intend to share it.”
“We don’t want one cent of that money, don’t worry,” Roberto said. “All I care about is getting to safety.”
“Fine,” Ibaibarriaga said after a few moments’ reflection. “But let’s bury the hatchet, okay? I know you and I haven’t exactly gotten along.”
“Consider it buried.” Roberto nodded. “I just want to get us out of here before the Colombians show up.”
“Well then, let’s go.” Ibaibarriaga nodded to the SUV. “You drive, and I’ll go in back with the lady and the money. I don’t want any funny business.”
“He’s coming too.” Roberto pointed to Diego, who had just appeared behind him, with a shy expression, as if he had been hiding behind the bushes all along.
“Another one?” Ibaibarriaga snorted.
“Yes, just the three of us. Shall we?”
The lighthouse keeper nodded and turned back toward the van. Roberto got up, doing his best to control his shaking legs.
Three minutes later, at the wheel of the SUV, Roberto was driving at full speed along the road to the lighthouse, with Borja Pazos unconscious beside him and Ibaibarriaga in back, watching Diego and Antía like a hawk.
He allowed himself a smile. It was all going according to plan.
But the hardest part was still to come.
And if it went wrong, the consequences would be enormous.