Losham had installed it ostensibly because the sound of running water was soothing and because the garden needed a focal point, but the real reason was that the waterfall produced ambient noise that made it difficult for long-range listening devices to pick up anything intelligible, and made enhanced hearing work harder even if someone managed to get close enough to the house to eavesdrop. Not that anyone would, because he had trusted guards monitoring his place around the clock and especially at night.
It also looked nice, which was a bonus.
He leaned back in his chair and exhaled a slow plume of cigar smoke. It drifted up toward the bougainvillea and then dispersed into the warm night air. The cigar was Cuban, hand-rolled, from a private supplier in Havana who knew that his most loyal customer was an important weapons dealer, but who had no idea that Losham was an immortal warlord on an island in the Indian Ocean. The whiskey in the glass beside him was aMacallan that he had been saving for an occasion that warranted it.
Tonight qualified.
"To the new order," he said, raising his glass in Rami's direction.
"To the new order," Rami echoed, lifting his own glass.
They were sitting in the two chairs that had been arranged near the water feature. A small side table sat between them holding the bottle, an ashtray, and a plate of olives that Rami had brought out earlier and that neither of them had touched.
The night was cool by island standards, and the breeze carried the scent of frangipani with a salty undertone.
Losham had sent the women back to the brothel a couple of hours ago, after they'd fulfilled their task, serving as his alibi at the time his brothers had met their demise.
It had been Rami's idea to bring them in on Saturday night and keep them through most of Sunday. Losham had agreed and requested two women for himself.
It was usually his preference to have more than one seeing to his needs, and since he hadn't partaken in such activities in weeks, he had enough stamina to keep both girls occupied throughout the long hours they had been sharing his bed.
Now, he felt pleasantly depleted, or maybe it was just the immense relief of having gotten rid of his nemeses. His brothers were dead, and his position as the island's undisputed ruler was secure.
Rami took a long drink from his glass and set it down with an audible clunk. He wasn't much of a drinker, but the good newscalled for celebration, and Rami had been matching Losham glass for glass. His cheeks were getting red, and his fine motor coordination was worsening, which wasn't a good look for an immortal.
"You should slow down," Losham said.
"I'm celebrating."
"I don't want you falling out of your chair or throwing up."
"I am not going to do either." Rami lifted his glass in a salute and drank it in one go. "Yet." He put the glass down.
He reached for the bottle and refilled both of their glasses.
"You are right, though," Rami said. "Perhaps I should slow down. After this one."
He laughed, which was a rare sound. Rami didn't laugh easily. He smiled sometimes, but this full laugh was a different animal, and it had emerged for the second time tonight.
Rami took another sip, smaller this time, and set the glass down with more care. He picked up his cigar from the ashtray and rolled it between his fingers, examining the ash that had built up at the tip.
"I keep expecting to wake up and find out that I dreamt it," he said.
Losham smiled. "It's not a dream. We did it. Well, Dave did it, but under our direction."
That was a little twisting of the truth because it had been Dave's idea to frame the assassination as an execution by Navuh.
Losham took a slow pull from his cigar and let the smoke roll across his tongue before exhaling. The taste was rich and slightly sweet. Perfect.
"It will feel real tomorrow," he said. "When the messages start arriving from the junior brothers expressing their condolences and their continued loyalty, it will feel very real, and very good."
"You think they will all fall in line?" Rami asked.
"I know they will. There is nowhere else for them to fall. Kolhood was the only one with the standing to challenge my authority. Hocken and Hazok provided the appearance of a coalition, but neither of them could have prevailed against Kolhood or me. With all three gone, the junior brothers have no leader to rally behind. Each of them will be privately calculating what their best move is, and the calculation will lead each of them to the same conclusion. Support me. Wait for the situation to clarify and position himself for whatever opportunities emerge." He took another puff of his cigar. "Naturally, I will make sure that no such opportunities emerge."
"You make it sound easy, and I want to believe that it will be."
"I didn't say it would be a walk in the park. It will be a great deal of work, and most of it will be tedious. But the hardest part was achieved today."
