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“Is she alright?” Bright asked the moment he reached Meteiros.
“That’s hard to say,” Meteiros said without turning away from the house, where fire-fighters were attempting to put out the blaze started by Noir’s gunmen. “From what Inspector Jovellanos told me before he was taken to hospital, Miss Torres was not upstairs with the men he had there. He said Sergeant Cortez was with her, but whether they were still downstairs or if Cortez got her out of the house after the shooting started, he doesn’t know.”
“So, there’s a chance she could be alright.”
Meteiros shrugged. “There’s a chance, but I doubt it. If Cortez managed to get her out of the house and to safety, we’d surely have heard from him by now to tell us that. That suggests she was still in the house, and according to Jovellanos the attackers had control of the downstairs when they started the fire, which means she’s almost certainly dead. I imagine her body will be found by the fire-fighters as they make their way through the house, and that will be the end of this case,” he said regretfully.
No sooner had he said that than a car sped into the cul-de-sac. A dozen officers spun around to aim their weapons at the car as it braked sharply to a halt a short distance from Meteiros and Bright.
“I think you’d better tell your men to relax,” Bright said when he saw how tense everyone was. He was sure it would only take a sneeze to startle one of them into firing, and the others would almost certainly follow suit. “He probably lives in one of these houses and is now wondering what the hell is going on and wishing he hadn’t come home.”
“He doesn’t live anywhere near here,” Meteiros said, his gaze intent as he watched the man who had got out of the car, his hands held out to show he was unarmed. “And it wouldn’t be the best idea to have my men relax, not while he’s around.”
“Why? He doesn’t look as if he’s here to cause trouble, and even if he is, I doubt he’d be able to do much with a dozen armed men around him. Not unless he’s a suicide bomber.” Bright didn’t imagine that was the case, the man didn’t have the look of someone who was prepared to die.
“He’s more dangerous than a suicide bomber,” Meteiros said as he continued to watch the man cautiously, while wondering what he was doing there at the time. He doubted his arrival was a coincidence. “He’s one of the most dangerous men in the city.”
“I gather you know him.” Bright followed Meteiros as he slowly approached the man, who seemed oblivious to the submachine guns aimed at him. Bright couldn’t help but admire the man’s cool. He was sure he wouldn’t be half as relaxed if he had that many weapons trained on him.
“Not personally, but I know who he is. At this time, he’s probably the second most powerful criminal in the city, if not the country. If he’s here, we might have a bigger problem than we originally thought. I can’t imagine why he’s here if it isn’t to make things worse for us. I just hope we don’t have cause to be glad of all the guns we’ve got here.
“Good morning, Mr Vega,” he greeted the man in a carefully controlled voice.
“DCI Meteiros,” Vega returned the greeting. He was pleased to see the consternation on Meteiros’ face at being recognised by him. “This saves me the effort of tracking you down. Am I right in thinking this is Special Agent Bright from Interpol?” he asked.
“I am,” Bright said, surprised the man knew his name. “Is there a reason you were looking for us?” He couldn’t think what such an apparently dangerous Spanish criminal could want with him, or why he would turn up at the scene of a gunfight between police and a group of French hitmen in search of him. The timing and the location couldn’t be a coincidence, he was sure of that.
“Yes. Miguel Cortez asked me to,” Vega said, as if there was nothing unusual in a police sergeant asking a criminal to find a DCI and an Interpol agent. “He said one or both of you would be here, and if you weren’t I should track you both down and get the two of you together.”
“Why did Sergeant Cortez tell you to do that?” Meteiros wanted to know. “For that matter, why did Sergeant Cortez contact you at all? He could have contacted us both himself. Where is he anyway?”
“I have no idea,” Vega said. “When I spoke to him, he was being chased through the streets by a van containing several armed men. I believe he did attempt to contact you both but was unable to reach either of you. As for why Sergeant Cortez contacted me, I believe it was because he needed someone he could trust.”
“Why would he feel he could trust you with whatever he needs the two of us for?”
Vega smiled. “I guess you could say we have matters of mutual interest at this time. At least, the two of you, along with Sergeant Cortez and my employer do.”
“What is this matter of mutual interest?” Bright asked, though he thought he knew.
“Sofia Torres.”
“I think you’d better talk quickly,” Meteiros said sharply, resisting the urge to yell for his men to arrest Diego Vega. “I want to know everything you know about Sofia Torres.”
“Why would Sofia Torres be a matter of interest between us?” Bright asked, trying to inject some calm into the situation.
“I doubt Mr Vega has any interest at all, but he works for Tomas Abrantes, who is the brother of Roberto Abrantes, so the question is, why is Tomas Abrantes interested in Miss Torres? I suggest you start talking, Mr Vega, or the situation could turn very unpleasant for you.”
“He is interested in Sofia Torres because he is as keen as you to see his brother’s killers brought to justice, if not more so.”
“Okay.” Meteiros was sure Vega wasn’t telling the whole truth, if he was telling the truth at all, but he accepted it for the time being. “So why did Sergeant Cortez tell you to find us?”
“Because he wanted to make sure Sofia Torres is safe.”
“Maybe he should have thought of that before he went driving off, because Miss Torres is dead,” Meteiros said.
“Are you sure?” Vega asked.
“As sure as we can be,” Bright said. “She was either killed by the men who attacked the house or by the fire. We won’t know which until the fire’s out.”
“You’re going to be disappointed, or more probably relieved, if you think you’re going to find Miss Torres’ body in that house,” Vega said indicating the burning building.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because that’s not where she is.”
“How do you know?”
“How do you think I know. Sergeant Cortez told me where he hid her before he drove off to distract Philippe Noir’s hitmen.”
Meteiros started at the mention of Noir. “You seem to know a lot about this situation. I think we should take you in for questioning, see just how much you know.”
“I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I’m not. In fact, my lawyer is waiting for my call to say you’ve taken me in,” Vega said, making it clear he had planned ahead. “Before you do that, though, don’t you think it would be sensible to let me take you to Miss Torres. I’m sure you’re more interested in getting her somewhere safe than you are in talking to me.”
“Fine, but no funny business.” Meteiros signalled his men to keep their eyes and their guns on Diego Vega.
Vega looked around for a moment to find the location he had been given and then he set off towards the house where Cortez had left Sofia Torres.
“Are you suggesting that Miss Torres is here?” Bright asked when Vega knocked loudly on the front door of the house neighbouring the still burning safehouse.
“I’m not suggesting anything, Agent Bright,” Vega said without turning away from the door. “This is where Miguel told me he put Miss Torres before he drove off to divert the attackers.”
“And is she still alive?” Meteiros asked.
“I wouldn’t have a clue. She was when Sergeant Cortez left her, according to him. Anything could have happened after that. Miss Torres,” Vega called out loudly after banging on the door a second time, before taking a couple of steps back so he was visible from the windows of the house. “Miguel Cortez sent me to find you.”
**
CROUCHED IN THE MASTER bedroom, Sofia listened to the banging on the door and the man calling out to her. She made no attempt to go down and open the door, however.
She hadn’t moved from the bedroom, where Cortez had told her to hide, since he left to draw off the men Noir had sent to kill her. Even when the backup for her protection detail and the firefighters had arrived, she hadn’t left the bedroom.
She had crept to the window so she could look out on the cul-de-sac and see what was going on, but had been mindful of the instructions Cortez had given her and had simply watched the firefighters struggle to get the blaze next door under control while resolutely staying out of sight.
“Miguel said you would understand the phrase ‘pastry wizard’,” Vega called out. He didn’t have a clue what the code phrase meant, but he imagined it had some significance to both Sofia Torres and Miguel Cortez, and that was why it had been chosen.
Sofia felt relief wash over her when she heard the phrase Miguel had told her to listen out for. She hadn’t been told who would be coming to tell her it was safe, only that someone would, and she should trust no-one unless they knew the phrase he had given her. That was why she hadn’t revealed herself when she saw Special Agent Bright arrive.
Leaving the window, she crawled to the door of the bedroom. She couldn’t bring herself to get to her feet while she was still in sight of the window, just in case someone was still out there, waiting to shoot her.
Once she was out in the passage and couldn’t be seen through the window, Sofia got to her feet and slowly descended the stairs to the front door. When she reached it, she hesitated. She had heard the code phrase she had been told to listen out for, but in the space of just a couple of weeks there had been multiple attempts on her life, and she found herself unwilling to open the door.
“What did you say?” she called through the door finally, one hand on the catch.
“Miguel Cortez told me to tell you that he is the pastry wizard,” Vega said. He waited to see if there was going to be a response, and when there wasn’t he spoke again, “I’m here to take you somewhere safe, or at least to make sure you are looked after by people who can keep you safe.” He had his doubts about that since the two men he had been told to take her to had been responsible for her protection from the start, and under their care she had almost been killed on three occasions.
“Miguel sent you?” Sofia asked uncertainly once she had the door open.
“Yes,” Vega said. When he couldn’t get hold of either DCI Meteiros or Special Agent Bright, he asked me to come and get you out of this house. I was supposed to keep you safe until I could find these two, but they were already here when I arrived. They’ll see to your safety now.”
“Where’s Miguel?” Sofia asked as she looked dubiously at Bright and Meteiros.
“I’m afraid I don’t know,” Vega said apologetically. “I only know that he was leading several of the men who were sent to kill you away from here when he contacted me. I don’t know where he was when he called, or where he was going, only that he was doing his best to protect you.”
Meteiros stepped in then. “I don’t think we have the time to talk about this right now, Miss Torres, we need to get you somewhere safe.”
“But what about Miguel?” Sofia asked insistently.
“I’ll have officers looking for him just as soon as I can arrange them,” Meteiros promised. “You have to come with us now, though, we need to get you to safety.”
“I haven’t been safe since I told you people what I saw and heard at Mr Abrantes’ estate,” Sofia said. “Three times they’ve tried to kill me. Three times. Despite you protecting me. I won’t be safe until you put Noir behind bars. Assuming you’re able to do that.” Her anger and disbelief, caused in part by the stress of what she had been through, were obvious. “The only reason I’m alive right now is because of Miguel. If it wasn’t for him, I’d have been killed several times, but you’ll only get people looking for him when you can arrange it.”
“I appreciate that you’re unhappy and concerned about how things have gone, and you feel we haven’t done a very good job of protecting you up to this point. You cannot change your situation now, though. Mr Noir knows about you, and he will continue to send people to try and kill you so long as you are a threat to him. If you don’t come with us and accept our continued protection, they’ll find it easy to do so, and when you’re dead he’ll walk free. You owe it to the officers who have died protecting you to do everything possible to stay alive and testify against Noir and put him behind bars.”
Reluctantly, Sofia accepted that Meteiros was right. Whether she liked it or not, she had little choice but to accept the continued, dubious, protection of the Barcelona Police and Interpol.