She’d clearly seen him.
“Time to deal with her,” the ambassador said.
And he watched as the woman walked away, back toward the cemetery’s main entrance.
He headed for the iron gate and the exit.
———
TOM WATCHED AS SIMON LEFT THE CEMETERY GROUNDS, WALKING down the street toward Alle.
The woman.
That’s who he wanted.
From his vantage point he saw her follow a path through the graves, going against the grain of tourists entering in a steady pace.
He turned back toward Alle. Simon approached her, grasped her arm, and they headed away from the ceremonial hall, on the street that led back toward the house where they’d been held.
More visitors were climbing the stairs around him.
He quickly descended and rushed toward a glass-enclosed placard that detailed the quarter. He located the cemetery and saw that the entrance point was a block over.
Where the woman was headed.
A quick glance and he saw Alle and Simon, their backs to him, still moving away.
If he hurried, he could catch his one chance to right the wrong.
CHAPTER SIXTY
BENE RAISED THE BLOODIED KNIFE TO FRANK CLARKE. “I SHOULD slit your lying throat, too.”
“Don’t you find it odd, Bene, how you so detest lying, but don’t mind doing it to your own mother?”
Not what he expected Frank to say.
“And the point?”
“Only that you did exactly what I knew you’d do.”
Not a hint of fear laced Clarke’s words. In the light from the remaining lamp and the glow of the dimming fire from the broken one, he saw no concern in the hard eyes.
“The gang came,” Frank said, “offered money, and some of the colonels took it. When you called earlier and told me that you had found the mine, I had to report that information.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I’m Maroon, Bene. I take my oath of allegiance to my brothers in a serious way. Is their don dead?”
“He’s scum. My dogs hunted him down.”
“You killed both of them?” Tre asked, pointing at the bleeding bodies.
He raised the knife. “They got what they deserved, too.” He turned to Frank. “And why shouldn’t I kill you?”
“This had to happen. You know that, Bene.”
The voice never rose above a whisper.
“And what will the colonels say when I emerge from this cave?”
“That you’re a man to be feared.”
He liked that. “And there will be debts to be paid. By them.”
And he meant it.
“Why did you come back?” he asked Clarke.
“You need to see why this place was special to the Spanish.” Frank pointed to the upper portion of the chamber. “We have to climb up there.”
“Lead the way.”
He was going to keep this man in his sights and he wasn’t about to discard the knife. Halliburton was still shaken by the corpses.
“Forget them,” he told Tre.
“It’s not easy.”
“Welcome to my world.”
He motioned for them to follow Frank up rough boulders that acted as a makeshift stairway to the next level. There he spotted three exits from the chamber, each a dark yawn in the rock wall.
“Which one?” Bene asked Clarke.
“You choose.”
