36

Finn arrived back in Cancun from the capital the following morning. He hadn’t heard from Mariana since the previous night and his phone had run out of battery on the way to Mexico City airport. There remained an unspoken strain between them since the argument on his arrival back from Atlanta several days ago. They hadn’t cleared the air with each other, had simply gone about their own business since, bumping into each other in the apartment for half an hour here and there. Occasionally spending the night together in bed, even if they slept about as far away from each other as possible.

Where it would all lead to, he really didn’t know, but his mind churned with thoughts of what he’d find at the apartment on his return. Evidence of Victor’s presence once more? Or maybe Mariana would be wilier from now on.

Or maybe Finn had simply got the whole situation wrong.

Might she even have taken the opportunity to clear out and leave him?

He opened the door. ‘Mariana?’

No response, and the apartment was quiet and cooler than normal as though no one had been there for a while.

No. That wasn’t the reason for it being cool, he realized, stepping forward.

‘Shit,’ he said, as he looked across the trashed lounge. Furniture lay upended and torn and cool air blasted in through the open balcony door.

He moved over and shut it. Tried to shut it. The lock had been obliterated.

He glanced at the kitchen. Doors were opened or broken off or hanging from their hinges, the contents of the cabinets spilled and smashed across the work surfaces and floor. Finn put a hand to his head. He didn’t know whether to rage or⁠—

Noise, out in the corridor. Finn strode to the kitchen and picked up the first thing he laid eyes on. A rolling pin. Decent enough. He reached the hall, makeshift weapon held aloft, ready to strike…

Front door. He’d thought the noise was intruders, but instead the door opened and Mariana stood there. She jolted when she saw Finn ready to attack.

‘Finn, what the…’

He slowly brought the rolling pin down.

‘We’ve been… robbed,’ he said.

‘What? How? When?’ She kicked the door shut and rushed forward and past him.

‘You weren’t here last night?’ he said.

‘No, I… What’s going on?’

A very good question – both about the break-in and her whereabouts. And Finn was about to grill her on that except she stepped around him and pushed open the bedroom door. He saw the mess in there and the look of despair on her face.

‘Our things,’ she said. ‘Our home.’

Despite everything else he felt, his heart stung as he watched her. He dropped the rolling pin and moved to her and wrapped his arms around her. She nuzzled into him and sobbed.

* * *

‘Who did this?’ Mariana asked, as they sat next to one another on the torn sofa.

Finn didn’t answer. He had a good idea.

‘We should call the police,’ she said.

‘No.’

‘Finn, they⁠—’

‘This was Victor.’

She looked at him like he’d just spoken the most heinous words imaginable.

‘Think about it,’ he said. ‘Who would know we were both gone? And look at what’s been taken?’

They’d spent the last twenty minutes figuring that out.

‘All of my jewelry,’ Mariana said. ‘Over five thousand dollars in cash. I don’t think Victor needs that.’

‘And our passports are gone. Why would a thief take our passports?’

‘Because they cleared out the safe.’

Finn shook his head. ‘That’s too convenient. This wasn’t random; this is a message. And the missing passports? Keeping us here, in Mexico.’ He hadn’t taken his passport to the capital because he hadn’t needed it, his driving license enough for the internal flight. He regretted that decision now. Regretted a lot of things.

‘Not long ago you were claiming Victor didn’t want you here at all. Now he wants to keep us here?’

‘Yes.’

‘That makes no sense.’

‘It does to me, given what I know.’

She looked confused and he really wanted to tell her more. He couldn’t. He simply didn’t know one hundred percent if he could trust her. And even if he could, would telling her about Victor’s links to Lozano, the head of a drug cartel, expose her to danger? The break-in could be only the start. A warning to back-off. What happened if Finn didn’t?

But how would Victor even know what Finn had been up to?

‘We should call the police,’ Mariana said again.

‘I already said no.’

‘And whatever you say goes, right?’ she said.

He took her hand. ‘Mariana, Victor isn’t the man you think he is.’

She scoffed. ‘Or perhaps it’s the other way around. He isn’t the man you think he is.’

The conversation was going nowhere.

‘We live on the ninth floor,’ Finn said. ‘They came in through the balcony, but I doubt we were robbed by Spider-Man, which means they came from an adjacent apartment. Up, down, left, right. We should tell security. Get them to check the other apartments. Review CCTV, as most likely whoever did this walked straight in through the main lobby first.’

‘The police could help do all that,’ Mariana said.

‘We’re not calling the police.’

She tutted and shuffled away from him. He would have tried to further convince her, but his charging phone started dancing on the kitchen top with an incoming call.

He went over to it.

‘Victor,’ he said, looking at the screen.

Mariana gazed at him questioningly.

‘Morning,’ Finn said, trying his best to sound relaxed as he answered.

‘Finn, nice to hear from you. You’ve been busy, I hear.’

Finn clutched the phone a little more tightly. ‘Yeah. What can I do for you?’

‘Are you free?’

‘I can be.’

‘Good. Come over to the villa. There’s something important we need to discuss.’

‘Yeah, OK, I’ll⁠—’

‘I’ll see you shortly.’

The call ended. Finn stared over at Mariana.

‘So?’ she prompted.

‘He wants to see me.’

‘About?’

‘He didn’t say.’

‘I didn’t get the impression he sounded pissed off about anything,’ she said.

‘No.’

‘Finn, what is going on with you?’

‘You should stay here,’ he said to her.

‘I’ve got to⁠—’

‘Mariana, please, stay here. Lock the front door. Don’t answer it to anyone until I get back. We’ll talk more then. Promise me.’

‘Finn, you’re scaring me.’

‘Good. Do you understand?’

She nodded, though he wasn’t overly convinced by the response.

‘I’ll be back soon.’

* * *

Finn stepped toward the door to Victor’s villa with one eye on the Porsche parked up in the turning circle. Not one of Victor’s cars, he didn’t think.

Lozano?

He knocked and waited, and the maid opened up and ushered Finn toward the reception room at the back of the villa. A room Finn hadn’t been to before, which had a couple of sofas, some huge pot plants, a wall taken up by a built-in bookcase, and a big, old-fashioned writing desk, behind which Victor sat in a padded leather office chair.

‘Finn,’ he said matter-of-factly, staying in his seat.

‘Just you?’ Finn asked.

A raised eyebrow.

‘The Porsche,’ Finn said.

‘Good detective skills as ever,’ he mocked.

Finn heard water running somewhere out across the hall; downstairs toilet, he presumed.

Footsteps. Finn tensed, waiting to see who would come in. A suited man appeared in the doorway. Rather, he took up the entire doorway. He was tall, bulky too, although with his suit on it was hard to tell how much was fat and how much was muscle.

‘Finn, I’d like you to meet Chester Yoxall. He’s my… lawyer.’

Chester grunted as he approached Finn and gave a bone-crushing handshake. ‘Pleased to make your acquaintance,’ he said, in a gruff, emotionless voice that matched his appearance.

He trudged off and plonked himself down onto a sofa.

‘Lawyer? What kind of lawyer?’ Finn asked him.

‘The legal kind,’ Chester said.

Victor laughed. ‘Finn, please, come sit down.’

‘You’re American,’ Finn said, focus still on Chester. ‘Where’d you study law?’

‘Finn, we’re not here to dissect Chester’s legal experience. Please, take a seat.’

Finn sat on the chair opposite Victor, but angled himself so he wasn’t fully facing away from the big guy on the sofa.

Lawyer? Yeah, and Finn was a fucking astronaut.

‘What can I do for you?’ Finn asked the boss.

‘It’s a good question, Finn. How’re things at home?’

‘We were robbed, actually. Last night, or this morning, I’m not sure yet. Either way, things at home are pretty bad, I’d say.’

‘Robbed? You mean…’

Oh, he was a pretty damn good actor.

‘Some bastard broke into our apartment. Trashed it. Forced the safe open. All our valuables are gone.’

‘That’s horrible,’ Victor said.

‘You should call the police,’ Chester said.

Finn turned around in his chair. ‘Is that your expert legal advice?’

Chester didn’t look impressed by the sarcastic comment, but didn’t respond.

‘I’m really sorry to hear about that,’ Victor said. ‘What a horrible thing, to have your privacy violated like that.’

‘It really is.’

‘But that wasn’t what I meant by my initial question at all. I meant, how’re things between you and Mariana? She’s been really down the last few days.’

‘You know what?’ Finn said. ‘How about you stay the hell out of my business with Mariana? I don’t come here asking you about your relationship with your wife, do I?’

Victor glared. ‘Perhaps it’d be courteous if you did every now and then, to make it clear you don’t think the world revolves around you. And I’m not sure why you’re directing anger at me.’

They sat through a few moments of silence and Finn tried his best to relax a little. A gnawing at the back of his mind grew stronger. What if Victor really didn’t have anything to do with the robbery? What if there was nothing going on with him and Mariana? The prospect of him and her screwing were the key driver in Finn wanting to get revenge after all.

‘I hear you’ve been a busy boy,’ Victor said. ‘Tell me about Mexico City.’

Finn tensed again but tried his best not to let it show. ‘It’s big, noisy. A little bit dangerous, although I had no problems.’

‘Everywhere’s dangerous if you get on the wrong side of the wrong people,’ Chester said.

‘There he goes again with his legal expertise,’ Finn said. ‘He’s a real asset.’

‘Don’t take me a for a fool, Finn,’ Victor said. ‘Just tell me what you were doing there.’

‘I feel like you’ve already made your mind up that it was something nefarious.’

‘I have?’

‘The truth? I met Gonzalez there.’

‘Gonzalez? Why?’

‘To discuss the outstanding trade licenses. He’s still pretty hung up on the corporate structure, if you remember. The Caribbean entities and all that.’

Victor’s eyes pinched as he stared at Finn as though he didn’t know how to take the explanation.

‘I didn’t ask you to follow up on that,’ he said.

‘I should only do something if you’ve specifically asked me to?’

Victor shook his head. ‘Finn, let’s drop the act now. I know what you’ve been doing.’

Finn didn’t say anything but tensed up further as he glanced between Victor and Chester. If the big guy attacked… what would Finn do? Discreetly as possible he flicked his gaze across the room, scoping for weapons, exit routes.

‘You have nothing to say?’ Victor added.

Finn didn’t.

Victor reached under the desk to a drawer and pulled out some papers which he slapped onto the wood.

‘ABC Partners. Helda. The financial transactions. You didn’t think I’d find out?’ he said. ‘All the questions you’ve been asking, all the digging. I know what you’re doing, Finn. What you always do. Looking for dirt. Leverage. On me. Even though you were told very clearly to keep your nose out of this.’

Leverage? Is that really all Victor thought this was? Perhaps Finn had overestimated the man sitting opposite.

‘I’m disappointed in you, Finn, but I presume… You could say I brought this on myself. Employing a man with your reputation.’

Finn still said nothing.

‘The thing is… you’re good at digging, but so am I.’

Finn shuffled a little in his seat.

‘Your old friend in Qatar. Al Qarni, was it?’

‘He wasn’t a friend.’

‘No. I gather that. Apparently you made off with quite a lot of money of his. What was it? Two hundred thousand dollars?’

‘It wasn’t his money.’

‘It came from his business.’

‘He was a fraudster. The scammer got scammed.’

‘So you’re a noble warrior, is that what you see? Robbing the rich to give to the poor.’

‘I never said that.’

‘No. At least you’re not that deluded. But the game, the con, ends for you here. Whatever dirt you think you have on me… I have it on you too. Qatar. London…’

‘Wait. You set me up in London?’ He sounded surprised.

‘Leverage, Finn.’

Except that was before Finn had even started his digging into Victor. Which meant Victor had always planned to screw him – or at least have the ability to do so.

‘There’s nothing you’ve found out about me that doesn’t implicate you too,’ Victor said, looking and sounding smug.

‘I only ever did what you asked me. What you told me to do.’

‘Really?’

Victor flicked through the papers. Finn caught a glimpse of them. Mostly they were some of the same documents he’d uncovered and showed to Gonzalez about the corporate entities. But not all. Not the one Victor pushed across the desk to him.

‘What’s this?’ Finn asked.

‘You tell me.’

‘A bank transfer. Ten million euros.’

‘Into an account of which one Finn Delaney is the beneficial owner.’

‘How did you even…’

‘What? Set up an account in your name?’

Victor tapped his nose. Finn stared at the paper, the amount, not knowing what to say or think. Was Victor… paying him off?

The boss laughed. More like, cackled.

‘Oh dear. Finn, are you that shallow? You actually thought for a moment I’d made all your dreams come true. Ten million. Enough for you and Mariana to both sail off into the sunset. But that’s not what you’re looking at.’

‘Then what?’

‘This is my failsafe. You so much as think about turning on me, about the re-finance, the electronics business, whatever, and you can be damn sure I’ll take you down too. Qatar. Henning. Gonzalez. This ten mill? You’ve got your dirty fingers absolutely everywhere.’

Finn bit his tongue. Literally. So hard he tasted blood. He really wanted to launch himself across the desk.

‘So here’s what will happen,’ Victor said. ‘I’m done with you, as of right now.’

‘You still owe me for Europe.’

‘I owe you shit. I’ve helped you out more than enough already. I’m giving you a chance to walk away. Take it. For your sake. For Mariana.’

Finn sat there, holding Victor’s eye, but he didn’t know what to say.

Chester rose to his feet. ‘How about some words of acknowledgment. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Something like that.’

‘So?’ Victor prompted Finn.

‘OK,’ Finn said, holding his hands up. ‘I understand. It’s sad we got here. I don’t know why we did. Now we both have the ability to hurt the other. But I can assure you, I have no intention of going to jail. Especially not because of you.’

Victor looked offended. Good.

‘So I’ll back off. I’ll drop everything I was doing. I’ll walk away. For good. If you promise me you’ll leave me, and Mariana, alone.’

He waited for Victor’s response. He didn’t get one.

‘Time for you to go,’ Chester said.

* * *

Chester, a lawyer? Fuck that. More likely he was just some heavy. Or perhaps he was even involved with the cartel. But if Victor had suspected that Finn had already uncovered the evidence of that, surely he wouldn’t have let him just walk out of the villa.

It didn’t matter. Finn was exposed, and he had to act quickly. He might only get one chance.

He called Gonzalez’s office as he drove. Hit resistance, the staffer on the other end fobbing him off with Gonzalez’s busyness.

‘Just tell him it’s Finn Delaney! It’s urgent.’

The staffer reluctantly agreed and Gonzalez came on the line within a few seconds.

‘I need that name,’ Finn said. ‘I need it now.’

‘Whoa, Mr Delaney. What’s the problem?’

‘This is your one and only chance. I need that name. Did you speak to anyone?’

‘I did. I told you I would. And I gave him your details. He said⁠—’

‘Who is it? I’ll contact him myself.’

A pause. A sigh. ‘Comisario Martinez. National Guard. He’s in charge of the⁠—’

‘Thanks. That’s all I need.’

Finn raced through the apartment building and up to his floor. The apartment door was closed and locked.

Please.

What was he pleading for, exactly?

He opened the door. ‘Mariana?’

‘In here.’

Lounge. Pretty much where he’d left her. He rushed over, fell to his knees in front of her.

‘What are⁠—’

‘Babe, we need to go.’

‘Finn? What⁠—’

He grabbed her hands. ‘Just listen. We need to go. Now. We need to leave Cancun while we still can.’

She pulled her hands away. ‘No! I’m not leaving. Why?’

‘Because… Victor… He’s going to come for me. Please, Mariana, he’s dangerous. The people he works for.’

‘Works for?’

‘We don’t have time for this. Victor is a crook, he always has been. Embezzlement, money laundering. You want to know who he’s working for here in Mexico? The Cortes cartel.’

She shook her head, but she didn’t look surprised or shocked, just… angry. With him.

‘No,’ she said. ‘This is insane.’

He’d given too much, too soon. She couldn’t process.

‘It’s not insane. Look, trust me. I’m going to Mexico City. I’m going to expose everything. You can come with me. We do this, then we’re free. We do what we want, go wherever we want.’

‘I… I can’t just leave my life here⁠—’

‘I’m your life here! It’s time to choose, Mariana. I don’t even care what there is, or has been, between you two in the past. Right now, it’s me or Victor. It’s that simple. Make your choice, because there’s no going back.’

She shook her head. ‘Simple? It’s not that simple for me. You’re… You can’t just…’

He rose up. ‘Last chance,’ he said to her. ‘And I really mean that. Please, come with me. I love you.’

A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away and inhaled deeply as though trying to compose herself.

‘I’m so sorry, Finn.’

She turned away from him, and he didn’t wait for anything more.

Minutes later, bags packed, he left without saying goodbye.