Heaven Is High (24 page)

“Heavy cream, Stilton cheese melted together, something else he won't reveal,” Gabe said as Franklin walked away, whistling.

“It isn't fair,” Barbara said. “Killer food is always irresistible.”

They talked very little as they ate crabs and salad. After the table was cleared and coffee had been poured, Gabe said, “Barbara, will you answer a few questions for me?”

She nodded. “But first, let me speculate a little. This operation you're involved in started some years ago, long enough ago for you to establish yourself as a familiar figure in Belize, an idle American who has the means to come and go as he chooses, and long enough ago to get to know various people, and to make reliable contacts. David allowed the broncos to hire him long enough ago to make it clear he worked for them. You, your people, have known about the Santos marijuana for a number of years, and possibly helped to ensure that those fields were never sprayed. To all appearances there are a significant number of people involved in the whole operation, enough that if you, your people, had wanted to take down Julius Santos you could have done it one way or another. You didn't want to do that even though it put Anaia at risk with the possibility that Julius could gain control of the estate, which you also don't want to happen. Pure speculation, of course, but it seems quite obvious to me that you want Julius to lose, but in such a way that he becomes useful to you. He is bait for something bigger.”

She had kept her gaze out on the ocean as she talked. Now she looked at Gabe, who was watching her intently. “One more thing,” she said. “You have kept this operation so secretive and well coordinated that Santos doesn't have a clue that it's ongoing. However, by rescuing Robert and me, there is also the possibility that he now suspects something is in the air, and he may change whatever his strategy was and do something totally unexpected.”

“Barbara, you are one scary woman,” Gabe said softly when she lifted her coffee cup and fell silent. “You would be a most formidable opponent in court, one I would not like to go up against.” He poured more coffee for himself. “All the above is close enough,” he said. “If there were a little more time for Santos to react, your last point would be a main concern, but there isn't. Yes, he's bait, and we believe he'll cooperate with us, starting quite soon. At midnight tonight, Anaia will become mistress of the Santos estate, and tomorrow he will be notified by the court of that, and he will be ordered off the property. And we think that at that time, he will become a marked man. Not by us, but by a much more dangerous enemy. Our operation has been going on for a number of years, as you surmised, but so has another one. And that one is by a very big drug cartel who saw the perfect setup in the Santos estate. Fields adjacent to a river, in a small country butting up against both Mexico and Guatemala, and very, very close to Colombia. And one with a hundred or more inlets, coves, waterways to hide fairly large ships, as pirates discovered and used centuries ago. Moreover, with an estate that includes a legitimate shipping business already well established and apparently with a political fix in place. Santos was to seize that estate and it would have become a major shipping center for cocaine and marijuana. Although he's just a pawn in the game, he knows the principals, and where and how to find them. He knows names. He believes he's one of the big shots, but he isn't. When he fails to gain possession of the estate, he will no longer be useful, and he will be quite dangerous for them.”

“What if he simply runs and hides?”

“He knows he can't hide from them,” Gabe said flatly. “We will be his only chance to stay alive.”

“There's major corruption in Belize, of course,” Barbara said, “but it has to extend to other countries as well.” She was thinking of Nicholson, who had Drug Enforcement Agency identification.

“Several other countries,” Gabe said.

“Of course. The question isn't whether there's corruption in … other countries, but rather how high up it goes.”

Gabe had been speaking softly, and his voice was even lower when he said, “Leave it alone, Barbara.”

“To make things clear,” she said, “I have a client, and my only concern is for her welfare, her particular problem.”

He nodded. “You have the broad outline, the details are irrelevant for now. It's your turn to tell me things I don't know. For instance, how did you get involved? We thought things were going more or less as expected, and out of the blue here came a wild card, in the form of a lovely young attorney from that mysterious state of Oregon, a wild card that no one could account for.”

Barbara smiled. “I like ‘that mysterious state of Oregon.' I stumbled into it.” She told him about Martin and Binnie, and Shala's enslavement without mentioning the letter Shala had left in the sealed tube. “There were too many things that didn't make sense,” she said. “Why hadn't that pirate Domonic Guteriez pressed his kidnap charge against Martin? Apparently he simply let it drop and that's hard to believe. A rich, well-known sports figure such as Martin Owens would be an irresistible target for a large settlement. I think now he must have been silenced by people he was afraid of. I thought for a time that those responsible for his silence were people who did not want the risk of an investigation if the name Santos came up in connection with the country of Belize. After talking with Anaia I wonder if that's right. It could have been Augustus himself that silenced Guteriez. Shala had made her bed and she and the child had to lie in it as punishment, so he made no attempt to save them. On the other hand, when Binnie escaped, he did not try to harm her and he could have done so. He let her go to her own fate, whatever it was to be. A month ago Augustus was killed, and soon afterward Binnie was singled out for deportation. It would not have been hard to find Martin Owens. I think when Julius seized the finca, he must have found something that told him for the first time that a child, a direct heir, was alive and he immediately took steps to eliminate her. None of that was apparent at the beginning.”

She paused, waiting for a comment from Gabe. When he remained silent she continued. “Then, hours after Martin and Binnie's first visit, another caller came. He showed me ID from the DEA and said his name was Nicholson.” After describing that visit, she added, “If it hadn't made sense in the beginning, it was making even less as I thought about it. How had he known about them, their visit, and so on? I brought in a detective, who found a listening device in the restaurant, and I knew something bigger than a simple deportation was in the works. I put Mr. and Mrs. Owens in a place that would be safe for them until I knew more. Nicholson returned to learn where they were or how to reach them. My own investigation revealed the date of the piracy and I went on from there. No response from Augustus Santos when I tried to call, and Binnie didn't know Lawrence Thurston's name. I couldn't call Anaia. I came instead, and you gave me her name on the day we met.”

Gabe laughed. “I tossed out several possibilities. The broncos. One of the rich daddies might have sent you to keep tabs on them, rein them in if necessary. The local official with too many women. One of that bunch could have brought in a savvy attorney. Or the Shakespearean drama. You played it cool. As far as I could tell you didn't bite on any of my hooks. But you went to the finca, which made me wonder if you were part of the Santos plan. Then you gave the broncos some good advice, and I had to think maybe that was it, that you were a designated babysitter. But David said you saw something at the Santos finca that startled you, spooked you. You see, every time we thought we had you placed on the board, you moved somewhere else. And you even vanished for one whole day, Saturday. What spooked you at the finca?”

“I saw Nicholson, the man who said he was from the DEA.”

“At the finca?” His eyes narrowed and he leaned forward almost imperceptibly, but she had seen that reaction in court when a witness was confounded by an unexpected bit of evidence. Nicholson must represent a second wild card, she thought.

“Yes, I saw him, and he saw me. That's why Santos had me grabbed and taken out there.” She paused a moment thinking, then said, “More, Gabe. When Nicholson came to my house a second time, he was driving a car that belongs to a man named Emerson, who is a partner in a shop in Eugene. Marcos Import. Marcos is suspected of being a drug supplier, or so I've been told.”

Gabe regarded her for a long moment, then rose and walked to the rail of the deck, where he stood with his back to her. She helped herself to more coffee.

When Gabe returned to take his seat again, he asked, “You think Nicholson was the one who tipped off the immigration people?” At her nod, he said, “How did he learn about her is the question, isn't it? After so many years, how did they know about her?”

“Early on, that pirate, Domonic Guteriez, made Shala write to her father, pleading for ransom money. Someone went to Haiti, but he denounced Shala as an imposter and left.” Barbara hesitated, then said, “Anaia thinks Shala saved Binnie by claiming her as her own child, threatening suicide if the child was harmed or killed. I don't know why Shala didn't speak up when the emissary arrived, and Binnie knows only as much as Shala told her. She escaped believing Shala was her mother, and she still thinks that. I went to Belize believing that. But, as I said previously, Santos knew his daughter was being held captive in Haiti, and if he thought she'd had an illegitimate child, Anaia said he would have abandoned her to preserve his honor. I also don't know about that.”

“The revision sounds most likely,” Gabe said, then added, “This is a puzzle with many missing pieces, Barbara. It may never make a complete picture.”

“Incomplete for both of us,” she said. They both became silent for an extended time until Barbara said in low voice, “Gabe, one of the unexpected things that Santos might try is to redouble his efforts to find Anaia in the coming days, before she has a chance to deliver her will to her attorney. He could stake out her attorney's office, his home, approaches to Belize City, who knows what else, and have Anaia shot on sight by one of his men. If her handwritten will is destroyed, he'll inherit everything, according to Anaia's account of her father's will, which would again become relevant.”

“But you have a copy of Anaia's will,” he said.

“It's not a legal document. The original could have been amended many times after a copy was made.”

“And Binnie Owens? Wouldn't the parent-child relationship determine who inherits?”

“It would be contested, and Binnie's name appears nowhere in any official document signed by Augustus Santos. If Anaia is dead, no longer there to defend and verify her identification of Binnie as her lost daughter, that would come under dispute. Besides,” she said slowly, “Binnie is as much at risk as Anaia is. Even without Anaia's will, once her identity is established, she is next in line to inherit under Augustus Santos's will. Anaia's will, the birth certificate, and marriage license will go a long way to make verification justifiable, of course, but they don't have the same force as a mother's testimony. But if both Anaia and Binnie are dead, the whole matter is moot. No lengthy court battles. Julius would simply be declared the heir.”

“I was thinking that the daughter might provide some insurance for Anaia,” Gabe said after a moment. “No point in killing the mother since her child would then come forward to claim the estate. Barbara, you've brought us a new can of worms, I'm afraid. And we never even heard of Binnie Owens before. Or you, either.” He stood. “I have a few things to attend to. Please feel free to explore the boat, walk about, look inside wherever you'd like. Some doors will be locked, but for the most part it isn't.”

“One last thing,” Barbara said, rising. “You said we're going to Cancún. What am I to do there? I have to get home as quickly as possible. I don't know if I was granted an extension of time for Binnie's appearance, or if she is now considered to be a fugitive. And I have to make certain that she is safe, and remains safe.”

“Cancún,” he said. “Ah, yes. We'll arrive late tonight, and you will be driven to an airplane that eventually will fly to New Orleans. A reservation at the airport Hilton is in your name, and there will be a message for you, an envelope containing a ticket for your flight to Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday. You should be back in your state tomorrow night.”

“Thank you,” she said.

He regarded her soberly, then said, “You realize, of course, that not only is your client at grave risk, but so are you. Santos probably doesn't know what all you accomplished here, but he won't want your identification of the man you call Nicholson to interfere with other plans.”

“I know,” she said. “Anaia plans to tell him about Binnie as soon as she is legally heir to the estate. He'll know then what I have.”

“Shit!” Gabe said. “I'll try to get a message to her to hold off on that for a time, at least until he's turned.”

Barbara suspected that he doubted his ability to get a message to Anaia speedily, especially now that Robert had been injured and was no longer available, and Papa Pat was probably in that remote jungle village once more. How many others would be likely to know where to find Anaia? She suspected the answer was none.

She also suspected that Julius Santos would not be “turned” as long as he thought he had the slightest chance of getting Anaia and Binnie out of the picture before his drug lords took their own measures against him.

22

Fluffy mountainous clouds ringed the boat where sea met sky, while overhead, it looked as if she could see forever. As the yacht cut through the water, the cloud ring kept pace, kept the same distance, all of a piece. She paused her walking at the prow of the boat, pretending … pretending what? Explorer? First one to glimpse an undiscovered shore? Pirate searching for prey? Masthead, forever looking forward? Voyager eager to return home? Pretending she knew what faced her at home, what she had to do? Nothing, she told herself sharply. Pretending nothing. She continued to walk.