When Miranda showed up, another man followed her and kept walking, then met up with Beltran down the block.
“I think it’s safe to say she’s clueless,” Alvarez said. “She thinks she’s not being followed. She looked around, but didn’t clock anyone, or get responses.”
“Yup,” Peyton said. “Jake, you ready?”
“As ready as I’m ever gonna be,” he said. “Let’s do this shit.”
Miranda Segura
Miranda sat at an outside table at the cafe in Tampico and read a local newspaper while she waited. Except she couldn’t tell a soul what she was reading. She was too distracted.
The man was supposed to arrive in ten minutes, and she knew it was dangerous to be seen talking with him.
Which was why she was in Tampico today and not doing this anywhere close to home.
She had to be here for business meetings tomorrow, and scheduled today’s meeting with that in mind, told her father she was coming early to visit a spa she enjoyed here.
She spotted the man almost immediately when he approached the cafe on foot. His clothes looked a little out of place, like he was trying too hard to dress the way he thought a local would.
He walked up and tipped his head toward her. “Ms. Segura, I presume?” he said in English with a very thick Russian accent.
“That’s me.”
He held out his hand. “Ilya.”
She folded her paper, shook with him, and indicated for him to take a seat at the table.
“Are you comfortable speaking in English?” he asked. “Because my Spanish is…” He fumbled for the word. “Shit,” he said.
She smiled. “Yes, I am fluent in English, Ilya.”
Once the waiter took Ilya’s drink order, Miranda leaned in and dropped her voice. “I wish to get right to the point. I understand that, among your particular business ventures, there are certain unusual… bio-engineering research interests.”
He slowly nodded. “That perhaps might be true.”
“I also understand that it has been difficult for you to obtain subjects.”
Another slow nod. “That might perhaps also be true.” He held up a finger. “I am sorry, but I was under the belief that we are here to discuss your uncle’s disappearance and the power vacuum in his particular… family business venture.”
“We are. And the two are, I believe, closely related.”
They waited until the server delivered Ilya’s coffee, took their food orders, and left again.
“Related how?” Ilya asked.
“I believe my uncle discovered that which you seek. But he was a foolish man. Dare I say stupid. Too enamored of his own abilities, and refused to believe his skills and success in his primary profession did not…laterally translate in this situation. I believe he ran afoul of a certain party, which led to his demise.”
The Russian scowled. “You have proof he is dead?”
“Only that if he were alive, he would have checked in long before now. Two of my father’s best security men disappeared with him, and their skills were exceptional, both former military. So whatever the truth is regarding what we’re dealing with—and I do believe it’s something beyond current scientific knowledge—it is something very strong that could easily dispose of two highly trained and capable men.”
“And dispose of your uncle?”
“He was neither strong nor capable. He was weak and, despite all odds, perpetually lucky. That luck finally ran out.”
Ilya sat back and re-evaluated her. “You did not think very highly of him, I take it?”
“You take it correctly.” She smirked. “The deal I propose is simple. I will help your organization take over my uncle’s…business. I will lead you through everything I know, make the introductions, and from that point forward, I want nothing else to do with those operations.”
