Sin still said nothing.
“I also heard that Veloz had left money in the condominium. A friend of a friend knew someone who was there so we went to see if we could find anything.”
“The condominium is abandoned, yes?” Sin asked.
“Si, it is abandoned except for the scavengers.”
“And?” Sin finally said.
“There have been men there for weeks trying to find what they cannot find.”
Sin saw a sparkle in his eyes. “But you know where the money is, don’t you?”
“Si, Angel.” He tapped his skull with his finger. “Everyone from Puerto Cabezas thinks they are so smart, but Manuel knows something they don’t.”
“Which is?”
“The money is not at the condominium.” He paused and grinned. “It is in the condominium.”
Sin didn’t break her cold stare. She didn’t want to let on that she believed him. “So what is all the talk about a slave ring?”
Manuel shook his hand from side to side in rhythm with his head. “There is no slave ring, but it is what the men at the building are saying because they know it will keep others away.”
Sin stood up and walked toward the front door. “How much money is there?”
“No one knows, but I have heard that there are close to ten million Euros hidden at the building.”
“What would you do with the money, Manuel?”
Manuel’s eyes opened wide and his face lit up as he spoke. “I would build a home up on the mountain and send Serena to a private school so she could grow up with a future.”
“That doesn’t take millions,” Sin said. “What else would you do?”
“I would go to the villages where the parents sell their own children to the slave dealers and I would give them the money they need.”
“It sounds like you have thought a lot about this.”
“Si.”
Sin moved away from the door and sat back down. “I will make a deal with you, Manuel. If I find the money, we will split it.”
Manuel looked confused. “You are not the type to take anything from anyone. Why do you want the money?”
“For some needy people back home, but first we need some people who can get my unit into the building. Do you know four such people? I will offer them three thousand dollars apiece for their trouble.”
Manuel smiled. “That should not be a problem.”
“One more thing,” Sin said, “you are to stay here with Serena. I don’t want you anywhere near Puerto Cabezas. Is that understood?”
“Si, Angel, now why don’t you introduce me to your friends.”
“How did you know I had people outside?”
“The ‘woods’ have been quiet tonight. They are only quiet when there are predators around.”
Sin laughed as she opened the front door. “I have a lot to learn from you, Manuel—a lot to learn.”
Sin brought everyone up to speed and then addressed Manuel. “Where is the package that was sent here?”
“Ah,” Manuel said, “the package is why Serena was so, how you say, skittish. She helped me bury it in the backyard. She thought it might be a body.”
“Damn,” Garcia said, “how and what exactly was delivered?”
“I don’t know what was delivered,” he shrugged, “Two men burst into my house two nights ago at gunpoint. They dropped off a box and said The Angel would be coming for it. They told me if I opened it, or tried anything foolish, they would come back for Serena.”
“No one knew if you were part of a new ring,” Sin said. “They scared you as a precaution.”
“Si,” Manuel replied.
“Show us where you buried the package.”
Three of the men went with Manuel. They returned ten minutes later, sweaty and carrying a large wooden box.
Sin moved the table out of the way so the men could place it on the floor. “No wonder Serena thought it might be a body.”
Opening it, there was a smaller box for each of them with their name on it. Their personal weapons were inside the smaller boxes. Under those was a steel box with a skull and crossbones engraved on the top and two longer, heavier boxes next to it.
“What is in that one?” Manuel pointed to the skull and crossbones.
Sin lifted the small box and placed it on the table. Using a key that was tied around her neck, she opened the box so all could see its contents.
A whistle could be heard from one of her men. “That’s a shitload of C4, what the hell we blowin’ up?”
Sin never broke eye contact from the box. “Us.”
“Everyone check and double check your weapons. Garcia and Wilson, grab the last two boxes. Those are your sniper rifles, make sure they’re calibrated correctly. I want you to be able to shoot the wings off a fly.”
Sin opened the box with her name on it and pulled out her 45s as well as her razor and Balisong. There was also a laptop with a satellite connection in her box. Turning it on, she saw eighteen messages marked urgent. Every one of them was from Charlie.
Manuel saw her expression harden as she read the messages. “What is wrong, Angel?”
She ignored his question and typed in a code Charlie had given her. As soon as she had a connection, Charlie’s face appeared on the screen.
“We just opened the box,” she said. “What’s with all the urgent messages?”
“I’m glad you made it there without incident,” Charlie answered. “I was getting worried—very worried.”
“You’re not making sense. Start from the beginning.”
“First things first, what’s the story with Manuel?”
Sin glanced at her friend with a sense of pride. “There is no slave ring. Word was put on the streets that a new one was being run out of the hotel to keep people away. Manuel and others think Veloz
