“What the hell are you doing?” Chad said.
“That pop gun is going to get us killed,” Hawkins yelled. “Take a look under those wings.”
He moved his body to one side to allow an unimpeded view of the missiles under each wing of the drone. Chad swallowed hard, lowered the gun, and carefully folded the machine rifle back into its bag.
“Your call.” He sounded as if he had swallowed a mouthful of sand.
Keeping his eye fixed on the hovering drone, Hawkins stretched his lips so wide it hurt. “The camera’s probably picking up our faces, Cal. Give it big smile. You too, Chad boy. Look like a toothpaste commercial.”
Calvin and Chad forced toothy grins.
“That’s more fiendish than friendly,” Hawkins said.
“That’s the best I’ve got, Hawk. What next?”
Speaking through half-clenched teeth, Hawkins raised his hand. “Give our little friend a wave. Pray that our HelioTours cover does what it is supposed to do. Count to thirty, and if we haven’t been blown out of the sky, slowly start to back up.”
Hawkins mentally kept count. Calvin moved the chopper with the caution of a new driver backing a car out of a garage. The drone made no move to follow. When they had a couple of hundred yards of air between them, he instructed Calvin to keep on going.
They were still fair game. The drone could pick them off at any second. Which is why he almost shouted for joy when the drone did a pivot and headed back to the castle like a dog who had successfully chased away a trespasser. Hawkins let out the breath he’d been holding and told Calvin to take them back to Cadiz.
He called Abby to let her know they were safe. She sounded relieved and said she would meet them at the airport. The helicopter touched down less than an hour later. Abby was waiting by the hangar. She gave Hawkins and Calvin big hugs. Chad, who’d been standing off at a distance watching their reunion, came over and said, “I’ve been thinking maybe I don’t want this gig.”
“You pulling out?” Calvin said.
Chad nodded. “I know when I’m outmatched. Salazar’s too big to take on.”
“I thought you wanted a shot at Salazar because of your girlfriend,” Hawkins said.
“I don’t want to die trying. Besides, she was only a prostitute.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Dunno. I’ll figure it out later. In the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you’d drop me off at a taxi stand.”
Hawkins decided there was no use arguing. He was of two minds. Chad offered additional needed firepower, but Hawkins didn’t trust him in a pinch. Chad had been too eager to shoot at the drone without sizing up its overwhelming fire power. They gave him a ride to the main airport terminal where he got out, handed Hawkins the camera, and said it was a pleasure meeting them. Then he walked off to hail a taxi.
Abby watched him go and said, “He’s lying. He’s still in love with that girl Salazar killed. He’s up to something.”
“I’ve got a feeling that not a minute goes by when Chad isn’t up to something,” Hawkins said.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
The explosion that had melted Chad’s handsome features into a mass of scars had cauterized the emotional center of his brain. But he had been touched by Hawkins’ reaction to his disfigurement. Hawkins hadn’t been revolted, nor did he show pity. He had been scarred as well; the only difference being that his wounds weren’t visible.
Hawkins had said little on the flight back to Cadiz. Chad figured he was analyzing the recon. The news wasn’t good. The unseen castle defenders were alert and ready to deal with any intrusion. Even if infiltrators made it past the double defensive walls, they would be operating blindly. If Salazar had Kalliste prisoner there, she was dead meat.
Back in his hotel room, he liberated a bottle of single-malt whiskey from the courtesy refrigerator, poured a glass straight up and settled into a chair. He took a few sips of whiskey, enjoying the smooth burn of the liquid trickling down his throat, then punched a number on his phone. The call was patched through a series of connections to the top floor of the Auroch Industries building. An unmistakable voice came on the line.
“Salazar.”
“Hello, Mr. Salazar. This is Leonidas. Hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
Silence. Then, “I told you not to call me.”
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry I was nasty to the two guys you sent over to see me.”
“You’re not really sorry, Leonidas, but I’m curious how you managed to kill two professionals?”
“They got sloppy.”
“In that case they deserved to die.”
“They were sloppy about delivering my money, too. Wondered if we could try again without the fireworks.”
“Count yourself lucky that I’m too busy to follow up, Leonidas. Consider your life as payment enough. Don’t call me again. Ever.”
Slam.
Chad stared at the phone in his hand. “I guess that was a no.”
He drained his glass, went to his bedroom and opened his make-up kit. Peeling off his handsome California surf bum face, he replaced it with a new layer of fake skin that was several shades darker. He tucked foam under the skin and darkened the eye pouches with touch-up. Then he added fleshy cheeks and jowls. He hid his hair under a fake bald scalp and touched up the edges with make-up so they would blend into the skin. Next came the beetling eyebrows. He smiled at himself in the full-length mirror and practiced Salazar’s silky voice. After several tries he got it within range.
He phoned a men’s clothing store he had seen in the hotel lobby, said he needed a suit immediately and was willing to pay for it. He gave the clerk his measurements and said he wanted black, with a light blue shirt and yellow tie. Black dress shoes, too.
“Can you find me a briefcase?”
“No problem. There’s a leather shop in the lobby.”
“Make it alligator skin. Remember. One hour.”
Thirty-five minutes later the clerk arrived carrying a cardboard box and an alligator briefcase. Chad took the box from the clerk and gave him a fat tip.
He stripped off his jeans and sweater and slipped into the suit. Salazar was heavier in the shoulders. He cut up strips of towel and used them as shoulder pads. A little lumpy but they’d have to do. Then he went back in front of the mirror, lowered his head and practiced Salazar’s menacing glower. Satisfied, he imitated Salazar’s purposeful walk on the way to the elevator and across the lobby to the entrance where he gave the door attendant a substantial tip and asked him to hail a limo.
Ten minutes later the limo dropped him off in front of the Auroch Industries tower. He had been there once before when Salazar had hired him. He remembered Salazar presiding in a long room decorated with photos of mining operations.
On the other side of the revolving door was a vast lobby, circular in shape, with highly polished marble walls and floors. At the center of the lobby, balanced on a platform of dark granite, was a perforated greenish-black hunk of copper ore as big as a car. According to a bronze plaque, the nugget was unearthed at an Auroch mine in Bolivia.
On his last visit to the building, a limo brought him to an underground garage. A private elevator whisked him to Salazar’s office. He guessed that Salazar rarely came in the front door. He hoped the novelty of seeing Auroch’s CEO in the flesh would bring down a veil of confusion he could exploit.
The uniformed security man standing next to the reception desk was the first to recognize him. His jaw dropped. As Chad strode directly toward the guard, he pulled out his cell phone and stuck it to his ear. Playing the role of the distracted executive, he gestured toward the bank of elevators.