The Darkest Heart (10 page)

‘This got something to do with the Costa job?' the old man persisted. ‘You want to tell me about it?'

‘I didn't take it.'

‘Really? They let you say no?'

‘Forget about it. Come on, we need to get going if we're gonna make this collection.'

‘You don't say no to people like Costa. Is there something on your mind?'

‘I turned him down. That's it. Stop talking about it.'

Raul watched me, his eyes scouring my face. He was only a touch shorter than me, an inch maybe, so we were more or less eye to eye. ‘You sure there's nothing you want to tell me about, Zico?'

‘I'm sure,' I said, hefting my pack on my shoulder. ‘Come on.'

‘So what about him?'

‘He has to come?'

‘Part of the deal.'

‘OK. Leave him to me.' I left Raul standing where he was and went over to Leonardo, watching him turn around as I approached.

I offered him my right hand and he glanced at it before taking it, both of us shaking with a firm grip.

‘You all done?' he said.

‘Just like to know who everyone is,' I told him.

Leonardo nodded.

‘And you're going to have to give me whatever you got under there,' I reached out with my left hand and touched the handle of the revolver hidden under his shirt. I pressed it hard against his waist, so he couldn't reach for it, and I kept his right hand occupied within my firm handshake.

Leonardo's free hand hovered for a moment as he decided how he was going to react, then he relaxed, and nodded, fixing me with those green eyes.

‘Good choice,' I said, taking a second to glance around before I slipped my hand under his shirt and removed the
pistola.
I kept my movements hidden, seeing that Carolina was still behind the house, hanging washing on the line. She had her back to us, pinning one of Raul's shirts.

‘You always this nervous?' Leonardo spoke close to my ear. ‘Mind you, looking at that boat we're going on, I'm starting to get a bit nervous myself. Will it even get there?'

‘You got anything else I should know about?' I asked, tucking the weapon into my waistband.

Leonardo shook his head but I wasn't going to take his word for it, so I kept hold of his right hand while my left felt for all the usual and unusual places a man might hide a weapon.

‘You country people really know how to make a man feel welcome,' Leonardo said.

Satisfied he was no longer armed, I released his hand and stepped back. ‘The only people allowed to carry weapons on this boat are me and him,' I said.

‘OK by me,' he replied with a shrug.

‘Good. Then I think we'll get along just fine.'

‘So.' Leonardo cocked his head and stared at me. ‘Are we going
to stand around all day touching each other or should we get going? If we're not there when that plane arrives, then it's bye-bye money. For all of us. And there are people who will be very upset about that.'

13

We loaded everything onto the aluminium boat which Raul kept tied to a dry mooring on the shore, and pushed it into the water.

‘After you,' I said to Leonardo.

‘You can't bring the big boat closer?' he asked.

‘It's safer out there,' Raul told him. ‘Harder to steal.'

‘Who'd want to steal that?'

‘Just get in,' I said. ‘Time's wasting.'

He paused, touching the
figa
around his neck, then waded into the river, threw his backpack into the boat and tried to look casual about climbing in after it.

Gripping the near side of the small boat, he steadied it as he lifted one leg.

‘I'm guessing you're new to this,' I said as the boat tipped towards him and he stumbled backwards, only just keeping upright. ‘Let me help you.'

I held the small boat with both hands while he climbed in, but even then, his face was set firm with concentration and his body reeled with the tiniest sway of the vessel. He stood with both arms outstretched for balance, then bent at the waist to hold the sides and prevent himself from tipping into the water.

‘Just sit down,' I told him.

Leonardo wobbled a few more times, his legs stiff, not rolling with the movement, then he dropped onto the seat and stared at me.

Rocky came into the water, wading out until the surface was lapping at her chin, so I scooped my arms under her and lifted her into the boat.

She was moving right away, the water pouring from her coat before she stopped to shake it off. The sun shone rainbows through the fine spray that misted the air, then she was moving again, excited by the activity.

Leonardo pushed back in his seat, torn between wanting to get away from the dog and being afraid of the boat tipping over.

‘What's the matter with you?'

‘Get the dog away from me,'

‘Rocky always comes with us,' I said. ‘She's part of the crew. What's wrong? You got a thing about dogs?'

‘I don't like them,' he said.

‘Don't be such a coward.' I looked over at Rocky who had gone to the other end of the boat and was sitting upright, watching Leonardo. ‘And guess what? I don't think she likes you either.'

I stepped back and moved to one side to let Raul go next, turning my head, catching sight of movement up on top of the bank. Someone was jogging towards us, a hand in the air.

‘Zico,' Daniella called as she came. ‘Zico, wait!'

She was wearing a skirt that fell short of her knees, ruffled around the hem. A white T-shirt without sleeves. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail like it had been yesterday when I visited her in the shop, and she was carrying a bag over her shoulder.

When she reached me, her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily but she wasn't out of breath. ‘Zico, Raul, I'm glad I caught you.' She looked upset.

‘What is it? What's happened?'

‘My mother,' she said. ‘It's my mother.'

‘What's happened to her?'

‘What's
happened
to her?' Daniella dropped her bag to the ground. ‘What do you mean what's
happened
to her? Nothing's happened to her.'

‘Well, what's the matter, then?' I looked at the old man standing close by. Outside his house, Carolina had put down the washing and was watching, one hand on her hip, the other raised to her brow to shade the sun.

Leonardo was sitting in the aluminium boat, his attention shifting from me to Rocky and then back again.

‘She's a bitch, that's what's the matter with her.'

‘What now?' I took Daniella's arm and led her further along the shore. Leonardo didn't have to hear any of this. My business was not his.

‘I can't live with her any more ...' Daniella was saying, and I nodded, only half listening as I made sure we were away from the others.

‘OK. You want to tell me what this is about? I thought you were going to go talk to her.'

‘Have you heard anything I've just said?' She pulled her arm from my hand; a sudden movement, sharp and forceful without needing to be.

‘Well, I—'

‘For God's sake, Zico, listen to me. I
did
talk to her, at least I tried, but she wouldn't let me say anything. She was waiting at the shop, standing on the step, yelling at me the moment I came close. Calling me a
puta
, saying I'd be punished for staying at your place, for sleeping with a ... She called you ... Well, it doesn't matter what she called you.'

‘You're right,' I told her. ‘It doesn't matter, so I don't know what you're angry about. Your mother's always saying things about me, you should be used to it by now.'

‘I can't work for her any more, Zico, and I won't live with her. I want to stay with you.'

‘My place is so small. It's not good enough for—'

‘It's good enough for
you.'
She came closer, trying to soften her manner, but there was a fire burning behind her eyes. ‘If it's good for you, it's good for me.' She took my hands and looked up at me, working her charm.

‘You need something better, cleaner. I don't even have hot water.'

‘So I'll use cold.'

‘You say that now, Daniella, but—'

‘Zico, I want to stay with you. It's what I want. And then we'll look for somewhere better.'

‘That's not so easy. I'll need money for that.' An image of the woman in the newspaper cutting came to mind; a collection of grey and black dots that was worth five thousand dollars and a piece of land. We'd need the money even more now that Daniella was saying she'd quit her job.

Just one more life.

‘Please,' she said.

I sighed and closed my eyes. She knew she'd beaten me. She always did. She could get what she wanted from me every time. ‘Here.' I fished a key from my pocket and held it out to her. ‘If Juliana asks, tell her it's only for a couple of days. I'll be back soon and we'll see what happens then.'

Daniella looked at the key, not understanding.

‘Take it,' I urged her.

‘A couple of days?' She still didn't take the key. ‘But we're supposed to be going out tonight. The
festa.'

I sighed. ‘Shit. Look. I'm sorry. There's a job. I can't turn it down.'

‘You forgot.' She stepped back and put her hands on her waist, dropping one hip, her head tilting the opposite way. ‘I leave my home, my job, I tell my mother she can rot in hell and now you're going to piss off and leave me on my own? Where are you going?'

‘A long way.' I glanced at the old man.

‘Don't look at him,' she said. ‘Look at me and tell me why you forgot about me.'

‘I didn't forget about you ... Well, about the
festa
, yeah, but I need the money, Daniella.
We
need the money. It's for
us.
So we can be together.'

Daniella sighed and looked down. She was swallowing her temper, dousing the flames. She must have sensed that this time she might not get her way if she didn't try a more sensitive route. ‘I don't want to be on my own, Zico. What am I going to do on my own?'

‘You'll think of something. It's not for long.'

Her expression softened further and she reached out for me. ‘Stay here,' she said, taking my hand but not the key. ‘With me. Forget about the money, we'll have some fun.' She ran her fingers along my forearm.

‘I can't just forget about it, it's too much money.'

‘How much?'

‘And anyway, Raul needs me.'

‘So do I.' She stepped closer, looking up at me, one hand on my chest.

‘Come on, Daniella, I have to go.' I looked at my watch again. ‘I'll be back in a few days, a week at the most.' As soon as I said it, I knew I shouldn't have.

‘A week?' I felt her hand tense on my chest.

‘No. It won't be that long.
Shouldn't
be.'

And then an idea came to her. I watched it light up her face, her eyes widening, a smile touching the corner of her mouth. ‘I'll come with you,' she said. ‘It'll be—'

‘No. You can't come with us.'

‘Why not? I've been out with you before. I can fish.'

‘We're not catching fish, Daniella, this is work.'

‘That's OK, I know what kind of work you and Raul do. I can keep quiet, you know that.'

There was a fraction of a second when I imagined saying ‘yes' to her. I could see us on the boat together and something about it felt good. To be with Daniella, on the river, away from Costa and his people, away from her mother and my need for money. A surge of emotion welled in me and I knew I loved her and wanted to be with her and would do anything to make that happen. That's why I was doing this job for Costa – so that Daniella and I could be together. But that was also why she couldn't come with us.

Hiding the killing from the old man would be easy enough, but not from Daniella. She would be with me every moment, and she would see a side to me I didn't want her to see.

‘What about all your things?' I said. ‘We're going to be at least four or five days. You won't have—'

‘Everything I need is right here.' She toed the bag by her feet.

‘Daniella, it's not safe.' I lowered my voice. ‘You know the kind of stuff Raul carries. There are people up and down the river who might try to take it. And that man back there? He's a killer.'

Daniella turned around to see Leonardo sitting still in the boat.

‘I know him,' she said, thinking for a second. ‘Yeah. That's the guy Manuela met at Kaiana's the other night.'

‘What?'

‘Seemed all right to me,' she said. ‘And Manuela liked him. In fact, she liked him a
lot.
He's actually quite good-looking, in a rough way. Doesn't look like a killer.'

‘And what does a killer look like?' I asked her.

‘Like you, maybe.' She let her eyes linger on mine for a moment, speaking without words.

‘Zico, we need to go,' Raul said, coming over. I could see he didn't want to interrupt, but he knew better than I did how long it was going to take us to get to the place where we were meeting the plane. And if we weren't there at the right time, Leonardo had made it clear the plane would leave without us.

‘It's OK,' I said to him. ‘Daniella's—'

‘I'm coming with you,' she interrupted.

Raul threw me a questioning look and I shook my head at him. ‘No. I already told her it's not a good idea.'

‘You're right,' he agreed. ‘Zico's right, Daniella, this is no place for a woman.'

Immediately I touched a hand to my forehead. Of all the things Raul could have said.

‘No place for a woman?' Daniella turned on him, making him take a step back and hold up his hands. ‘You saying I'm not strong enough?'

‘And your parents will worry,' Raul back-pedalled. ‘They don't know where you are.'