“Who wants to know?”
“My name’s Felipe.” He didn’t offer a handshake. “I work for Mayor Mendoza.”
Jack said, “Did the mayor send you?”
Felipe didn’t even acknowledge the question. “I need to talk to Theo.”
“He’s cool,” said Theo, speaking about Jack. “These days, I don’t talk to anyone without my lawyer at my side.”
Felipe wouldn’t even look at Jack, seemingly determined to keep the lawyer out of the picture. “The mayor just wants to talk to Theo.”
“What about?” said Jack.
Felipe’s gaze finally shifted toward Jack, but the look in his eyes made it clear that only big hunks of humanity named Theo were welcome. “The mayor said that Theo would know what it’s about.”
“Fine,” said Theo. “Let’s talk. Where is he?”
“On his boat.”
“That’s rough. Dixie Highway’s a bitch by boat.”
“He wants you to come to him, asshole.”
Theo glanced at Jack. “He must have been talking to you, counselor. Because the last guy who talked to me like that ended up swallowing his teeth.”
Jack raised his hands like a boxing referee. “Time out, guys. Can we take the testosterone level down just a wee bit here?”
Theo locked eyes with Felipe. Jack didn’t like the way the conversation was going, but he respected Theo’s street smarts. If the big guy took an immediate dislike to someone, it was usually for good reason. Jack said, “How do we get to the mayor’s boat?”
“There’s no we,” said Felipe. “It’s just Theo.”
“If he doesn’t go, I don’t go,” said Theo.
Had it been up to Felipe, Jack would have expected to hear something along the more profane lines of “Go take a flying leap.” But Felipe obviously had his orders, and returning without Theo was not an option. “Fine,” said Felipe. “The both of you can come.”
“I need five minutes,” said Theo. “Let me close out the cash register.”
“I’ll meet you in the parking lot,” said Felipe. He turned and headed toward the door.
Theo removed the cash drawer from the register and went to the back room. Jack followed him. An elderly woman was seated at Theo’s desk. She looked up hopefully, then reacted quickly to the expression on Jack’s face. It was as if she’d seen that same look of disappointment too many times before.
“I told you she wouldn’t come,” she said.
“It has nothing to do with you,” said Jack. “She just doesn’t want to get involved in the whole Bahamian bank-account mess. Alicia didn’t even know you were going to be here waiting for her.”
“So, if I invite her myself, do you think she will agree to see me?”
Jack and Theo exchanged glances, neither of them sure how to answer that question. “I think we’ll know more after we talk to the mayor,” said Jack.
chapter 65
I t was after midnight before Jack and Theo reached the Coconut Grove Marina. A gentle breeze blew in from the bay, and Jack’s ears tingled from the steady ping of halyards slapping against the tall, barren masts of countless sailboats. Motorboats and yachts of every size and description slept silently in their slips, though a few figurative snorers gurgled from their bilge pumps. Somewhere in the distance, a diesel engine rumbled toward home, and the lonely sound in the darkness only added to the moonlit marina’s eerie aura. Felipe spoke not a word as he escorted Jack and Theo to the end of the long, floating pier, where they boarded a forty-six-foot Hatteras Convertible.
For a career politician, Mayor Mendoza did not lack for the finer things in life. His house, though not a mansion, was loaded with Old Spanish character; his yacht, though more than two decades old, was still a floating lap of luxury. It was technically a fishing boat, but the mayor had rigged the salon for entertainment, complete with club chairs, a wet bar, handcrafted teak cabinetry, and even a flat-screen television. The mayor invited his guests to take a seat at the old wooden wheel of a ship that had been turned into a round, glass-top table-floating proof that money doesn’t buy taste. Felipe stepped aside, removing himself from the main circle of conversation, but he remained in the salon.
“Something to drink, gentlemen?” said the mayor, standing at the bar. He made the offer with a smile, but it seemed strained to Jack. The bags under his eyes had almost doubled in size since Jack had first spoken to him in the privacy of his limo. His skin had taken on an unhealthy, ashen hue. Had Jack been forced to guess, he would have said that the mayor hadn’t slept in at least three days.
“Nothing for me, thanks,” said Jack.
“You got any smoothies?” said Theo.
Jack tried not to roll his eyes.
“Uh, no,” said the mayor.
Theo looked around and said, “I ever trade in my little open fisherman for one of these babies, it’s gonna have smoothies. Strawberry. Banana. Mamey.”
Jack resisted the urge to strangle him.
“Papaya, carambola, kumquat-”
“Theo, we get it, all right?” said Jack. “The man doesn’t have any smoothies.”
“Funny,” said Theo. “Falcon didn’t have any either. It’s weird, the things you crave when you’re being held hostage. I couldn’t stop thinking about smoothies. But Falcon didn’t want to hear anything about it. Said I was just making him hungry, all this talk about food. So you know what we did?”
The mayor filled his glass with ice and scotch. “I can’t even imagine.”
“We talked about money.”
Jack detected a rise of concern in the mayor’s eyes. “Is that so?” said the mayor.
“Yeah,” said Theo. “But I guess you already knew that. Alicia must have told you about our phone conversation.”
The mayor used his finger to stir the ice around in his scotch.
Jack said, “Alicia didn’t tell her father anything.”
“She had to tell him,” said Theo. “Why else would Felipe show up at my bar in her place?”
Jack glanced at Felipe and said, “Because somebody tapped her phone.”
“That’s a lie,” said Felipe.
Jack was bluffing, but Felipe’s quick denial was as good as an admission. Over the past five days, he’d heard and seen enough to formulate his own theories. The old Argentine woman with her DNA files-the work of modern-day scientists trying to solve the crimes of the Dirty War-had confirmed his darkest suspicions. “Alicia doesn’t want to know the truth. That’s why she didn’t show up tonight. That’s why she didn’t dare tell her father anything about her conversation with Theo. She simply doesn’t want to know that her dad is Sikes.”
Felipe stepped closer, his tone threatening. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s okay,” the mayor told his bodyguard, “I want to hear what he has to say. Go ahead, Mr. Swyteck. I’m finding this very interesting.”
“Interesting,” said Theo, scoffing. “One of those great fudge words. Sex is interesting. The Holocaust is interesting.”
“So is blackmail,” said Jack.
“Meaning?” said the mayor.
“That’s what it was, right? Two hundred thousand dollars cash deposited in a Bahamian safe deposit box. You make the drop under a fictitious name. Falcon agrees never to tell anyone that you took a baby from one of his disappeared prisoners. It’s blackmail, with a little twist at the end. Falcon doesn’t keep the money for himself. He apologizes to the daughter of the woman he murdered, and he gives the money to the grandmother, who has spent over a quarter-century searching for her.”
“Justice from the Dirty War,” said Theo.
“Dirty Justice,” said Jack.
“Is this the best you morons can come up with?” said Felipe, his anger rising. “You come up with this totally bogus story to get a little blackmail of your own going?”
“We’re not here for money,” said Jack.