Maggie had the passenger door open even before Jasso had applied the handbrake. She ran down the street and rounded the corner to the restaurant. Walker was already waiting, with Shah, Paulson and George. But Maggie ignored them, and went across to the holm oak she’d been standing beneath earlier, when she was feeling unwell.
‘What is she doing?’ she heard Paulson ask.
‘Quiet,’ Walker ordered him.
It took her five paces to find it. There, screwed up on the floor where Ruiz had tossed it earlier, was a chewing-gum wrapper. Cinnamon flavour.
The bastard. He’d dropped it right under their noses.
‘Hey, you got a bag?’ she called out to Shah. He hurried over, pulling a plastic evidence bag out of his pocket, Walker and Paulson in close pursuit.
‘Ruiz dropped this when he was here earlier. It’s like he wants to be caught.’
‘I don’t know how we didn’t notice how similar he and Johnnie are,’ said Paulson.
‘When they were younger perhaps, but Johnnie’s long hair makes it harder now,’ said Shah.
‘Yeah, but all it took was a red baseball cap and a false ponytail and Ruiz was the spit of his old friend again. I bet that’s who’s really on that photo with the hire car,’ said Maggie. ‘I bet it’s also him who attacked those women in Es Cana – Annika said he and Johnnie regularly went clubbing in Ibiza together. Johnnie’s been the gift of a patsy for him – not only do they look alike, but Ruiz knew Johnnie had lied to the police about being in Saros in 2009. Thanks to Johnnie’s own stupidity, it hasn’t taken much effort for Ruiz to point the finger at him. I’ll bet you anything there’s a paper trail for the lease of the disused cafe that leads right to Johnnie’s door, because Ruiz will have set it up that way.’
Jasso, who’d joined the group, grimaced. ‘I suspect she’s right.’
‘So where the fuck is Ruiz now?’ asked Paulson.
Maggie stood up. ‘George can help us with that.’
The group went over to where George stood. She had no time to dwell on the look he gave her, or the shiver she felt from standing so close to him.
‘Have you still got that card from that villa company?’ she asked him.
He fished it out of his wallet and handed it to her. She pulled out her phone and began dialling Valeria the sales rep’s number.
‘You said Johnnie gave you this.’
George nodded. ‘Yes, he said someone he knew in Saros had been talking about investing in property out here and Johnnie thought we should look into it. The friend recommended this company.’
‘I bet that someone was Ruiz,’ said Maggie. ‘It’ll be another part of his paper trail.’
As the call was about to connect, she handed her mobile to Jasso.
‘My Spanish is terrible, so you should do this. If I’m right, Ruiz will have bought the villa in Johnnie’s name.’
The rest of them stood silently while Jasso addressed Valeria in rapid Spanish. They all exchanged looks as he said ‘Johnnie Hickman-Ferguson’, then he abruptly motioned the action of scribbling in the air.
‘Someone needs to write this down,’ he hissed. Shah obliged, pulling out his notebook and pen.
‘Can you repeat that please?’ Jasso said in English. ‘Villa Concorde, 2818 Camí de la Ladera. Right, got it. Gracias.’
He hung up.
‘You were right,’ he said, passing back the phone. ‘It is in Johnnie’s name. I need to arrange tactical support. Julien Ruiz is a very dangerous individual and may be armed.’
‘How long will that take?’ Walker demanded.
‘Thirty minutes, maybe more.’
‘We can’t wait that long,’ said Maggie. ‘If Jade’s not already dead, she could be soon.’
Jasso hesitated.
‘You know, she’s right,’ said Walker. ‘I don’t want a dead girl on my conscience just because we waited for the cavalry. We’ve got this.’
‘Okay, but I’m in charge and I decide how we do this,’ said Jasso firmly. ‘I’ll have some uniform officers join us. You can go with them,’ he ordered Walker, Shah and Paulson. ‘Maggie, you come with me.’
As they went to leave, George grabbed her arm. She glanced at the others, fearful they might notice, but they were already walking ahead.
‘Be careful, Maggie,’ said George. ‘This Ruiz bloke sounds really scary.’
She nodded. ‘I will.’
His next words tumbled out in a rush. ‘I know I said we could forget about last night, but I don’t want to. I want to see you again. I don’t know where things stand with your boyfriend, but if there’s a chance for us . . .’
‘I have to go,’ she said. ‘I can’t talk about this now.’
She felt like she was betraying Umpire all over again even talking to George. But as she walked away, she knew it wouldn’t be the last conversation they had.