He needs more time. Keep this bastard talking.
“You lied to me at the lighthouse,” Roberto piped up. “You locked me in that room.”
“You weren’t exactly truthful with me,” Ibaibarriaga said. “There’s far more than three million in those bags.”
“I guess we’re even.”
“As long as you aren’t expecting an apology ...”
“No, not at all. A lot’s happened since then.”
“Right.” Ibaibarriaga looked Roberto up and down, one eyebrow raised quizzically. “You look like shit. What happened to you?”
“I fell off a cliff.”
“Sure! You’d be fish food by now.”
“They may not like the taste of me.” Roberto watched as Diego completed his task and slipped away again. “So ... what do you say?”
“The money’s mine,” said Ibaibarriaga finally. “And I don’t intend to share it.”
“We don’t want one cent of that money, don’t worry,” Roberto said. “All I care about is getting to safety.”
“Fine,” Ibaibarriaga said after a few moments’ reflection. “But let’s bury the hatchet, okay? I know you and I haven’t exactly gotten along.”
“Consider it buried.” Roberto nodded. “I just want to get us out of here before the Colombians show up.”
“Well then, let’s go.” Ibaibarriaga nodded to the SUV. “You drive, and I’ll go in back with the lady and the money. I don’t want any funny business.”
“He’s coming too.” Roberto pointed to Diego, who had just appeared behind him, with a shy expression, as if he had been hiding behind the bushes all along.
“Another one?” Ibaibarriaga snorted.
“Yes, just the three of us. Shall we?”
The lighthouse keeper nodded and turned back toward the van. Roberto got up, doing his best to control his shaking legs.
Three minutes later, at the wheel of the SUV, Roberto was driving at full speed along the road to the lighthouse, with Borja Pazos unconscious beside him and Ibaibarriaga in back, watching Diego and Antía like a hawk.
He allowed himself a smile. It was all going according to plan.
But the hardest part was still to come.
And if it went wrong, the consequences would be enormous.
45
Always Another Way Out
When they reached the esplanade in front of the lighthouse, the column of smoke behind them was already hundreds of feet high, a thick dark line bisecting the clear morning sky. The sun bounced blindingly off the mirror at the top of the lighthouse, and there was an absolute stillness to the air, broken when the SUV came to a screeching halt outside the building.
“Get him inside!” Ibaibarriaga jumped out almost before Roberto had stopped. “I’ll go open the door!” He dashed ahead with the duffel bags. He hadn’t let them out of his sight for a moment and didn’t appear to intend to do so even now.
“Pretty clear where his priorities lie,” Antía said as she and Roberto struggled with the inert Pazos.
“The money’s gotten hold of him,” Roberto said, lifting Pazos by the shoulder. “Like everyone else on this island. But that’s a good thing.”
“Why?”
