My body had been compressed in an invisible barrier that constrained movement. I couldn’t blink, I couldn’t hear anything but his words, I couldn’t get up or run away. I was barely able to rationalize. My next words blurted out.
“Did they plan to behead me on a live stream?” I asked.
“Not their first option,” Renato said. “You would be used as a lever to pressure Brazil’s government to release Rio’s greatest drug lord from behind bars, Flávio Beirario. There are some evil geniuses paid with drug money, and these minds have set up a plan to create a diplomatic incident involving the US and Brazil. Threatening the life of an American citizen would certainly bring the US government’s attention to Brazilian politicians, and that might pressure them to release Flávio Beirario from prison.”
I felt dumb struck and stood over the dinner table.
Renato said in an apologetic tone, “but you have to understand that it was not my option to participate in this affair. I only took the job because—well—they killed the former guy who denied it.”
I jolted back into the conversation.
“They killed Carlos?” I said.
Renato rubbed his hand against this forehead.
“Carlos made the mistake of telling everyone he would drive an American woman to a fancy hotel. He said he had done that before, but never to such a beautiful lady like you. That’s when I saw your picture. The problem is that the word got to drug lords’ ears, and suddenly your arrival became the magic trigger of their long planned scheme. But Carlos denied to take part in their plans, and so he ended up with seventeen bullets to his head. Had I not accepted the job, I’d have been turned into a corps too.”
What a terrible way to die.
“You can still be killed, can’t you? I mean, you didn’t do your job.” I said, my neurons going back to their regular connections after the initial shock.
“Yes, and I don’t regret it. I’ve seen many people die while growing up, Emily. Childhood friends are always the hardest griefs. That’s why I’ve nurtured this sense of life not getting too far into the twenties, of never squandering time with fears and insecurities, because I might never have another opportunity to make use of life.” Renato shifted in his seat. “But then I found you at the airport, and at that very moment I wanted to kiss you inside that car. Because they might have us separated before I ever had the opportunity to taste your lips. But then I failed. I was fucking frozen. Now, I promise I’ll do my best to protect you.”
I wished grandma Norma wasn’t inside that cramped room, because the way Renato spoke, looked at me, moved his lips, jerked his shoulders and gestured his hands made me want to tear my clothes off.
I had no idea of our next steps—someone might still tear the door down and shoot us—but I was sure that a passion for me had bloomed inside Renato’s heart, and that felt delicious.
I looked out the window. A hot evening descended on the city. Hours had passed inside that house. Grandma Norma, still on her sofa, fell asleep.
I was without a phone, unable to ask for help. The presence of Renato around me was a curse and a delight. He was the one who got me into this mess, but he was also the one who would offer me an escape—or so I hoped.
“What about those officers pursuing me?” I said.
“They represent another rotten portion of the city: police corruption. They had been informed of my failure in accomplishing the job, and ordered to undertake and finish it. I thought you would be better protected inside Praia Palace Hotel, but of course I was wrong. Those officers have poisonous tentacles everywhere.”
“Do they work for the same guys that told you to pick me up at the airport?” I asked, mouth dry.
“Yes. But officers Pinto and Rôla work on their own interests, either the constant influx of money or the release of power that connections to drug dealers provide to them.”
I took that as a sign of their persistence. Drug lords wouldn’t give up this easily. Renato might be dead by now, and those two officers would still be sniffing around for me, willing to deliver my head on a tray to their employers.
“All right,” I said, exhausted. So much information. So much malice. “What should we do next?”
Renato stretched his shoulders.
“I’ve already gotten rid of my phone, and most people don’t even know my grandma lives in Gloria Santa. Officers Pinto and Rôla have probably been patrolling the surroundings of US Embassy in search for you. The car I’ve used to bring you here from Copacabana is already far away from Rio. I left it open with car keys in the ignition, and robbers around here don’t take much to notice an easy profit. Now I’m a target just as you are, but I have faith in finding a way out for you.”
He swallowed hard. The danger to his life was probably higher than the danger to mine. Had we been captured, I’d still be kept alive to barter for the release of Flávio Beirario. But Renato would be killed instantly. Thinking about that made me shudder.
“How are you going to protect yourself?” I said.
“Rio is an enormous city, but no one can hide here for long, not even in its narrowest and dimmest alleys. I must find a new life far from here, perhaps in the south of Brazil, or somewhere else—but only after I help you.”
He pushed his chair back, scratching the uncoated cement floor with its
