David Lindsey - The Rules of Silence

“His expertise in secuestro grew during the eighties as Escobar's need to discipline and persuade his competitors increased. But Tano, demonstrating a rare wisdom in that line of work, never worked directly for Pablo. He always made sure he was a couple of connections removed, letting others take the credit… and the heat if something went wrong.”

Titus only needed to move his eyes a flicker to shift them from Burden to the photograph, which was becoming a distraction as it continued to emerge from the surrounding shadows.

“So, when Escobar's empire began to rattle apart in the late eighties, ”Burden went on, “Tano could see the end coming and got out of Colombia. He spent the early nineties in Brazil and had been living in Rio de Janeiro for several years when Escobar was finally killed in Medellin in December of 1993.

“But Tano had been busy in Rio, honing his skills. According to the Ministerio da Justica, Tano's MO was all over four of the largest high-end kidnappings that occurred in Rio between 1991 and 1997. All of the targets were foreign executives, and these four incidents brought Tano a very nice income of nearly fifty-three million dollars in ransoms.”

“What were the size of the ransoms?”

Burden nodded. “Interesting. They increased steadily over the four events. Tano was beginning to study his targets with more deliberation, and what he learned about them shaped the way he handled their abductions and ransom demands. It determined the way he designed their ordeals.”

All of this was stated in a gentle way, as if Burden were a mild-mannered psychiatrist explaining the rationale for a therapy regimen. Occasionally he gestured gracefully with his hands, which Titus now noticed were unexpectedly elegant. Sometimes he would run his fingers through his hair to get a wavy lock of it away from his eyes.

“Tano's technique improved, too, ”Burden continued with a hint of pleasure in his eyes, as if he were relishing what he was about to reveal. “I'll run through the four cases for you. It's important that you understand what's about to happen to you.

“Number one. The target was a French executive with a multinational corporation. Corporation brings in their insurance company's recommended K and R team. Negotiations take three months. Kidnappers come down to one-half of their original demand. K and R people bungle the negotiations. Victim dies in the process, but Tano gets 5.3 million dollars.

“Number two. German CEO. Kidnappers contact the family this time, not the corporation. Kidnappers let the family apply the pressure to the corporation, while the kidnappers save themselves a lot of sweat. But the family consults with Rio's Policia Civil kidnap squad. Things slow down, victim's hand arrives special delivery. Family has a meltdown. Puts pressure on corporation, which eventually agrees to pay seventy percent of the original demand: 8.5 million dollars.

“Number three. Spanish executive. But this time the kidnappers know that the executive and his family are the major stockholders in the corporation. No K and R people allowed to participate. Victim will be killed if Policia Civil are brought in. Family agrees, but then they drive a hard bargain. So a brother-in-law, representing the company in Buenos Aires, is kidnapped also. Not for additional ransom, but to put pressure on the original negotiation. Pay up or he dies. The family continues to belabor the amount of the demand. Brother-in-law, hands and feet bound with wire, is set on fire in the long private drive that leads up to the family's estate. Family pays ninety percent of the original demand: 16.8 million dollars.

“Number four. British CEO. Also wealthy major stockholder. Kidnappers are clear: No K and R, no Policia Civil. Huge ransom demand. Several of the corporation board members have pull in British government. Supersecret Special Event Team flown in under the radar of Brazilian government. But they're out of their league, lose a couple of guys, muck up the negotiations. They're pulled out just as secretly as they came in, tails between their legs. But they've caused a hell of a lot of trouble for the kidnappers. Immediately two other corporation employees die-in an automobile accident. Kidnappers notify family that other employees will die (accidentally) if ransom isn't paid. They pay up. The kidnappers got one hundred percent of the ransom they had asked for: 22 million dollars.”

When Burden stopped, Titus thought he saw a pleased expression that indicated that the case synopses he'd just been through drew some telling conclusions. But with the recounting of each incident, Titus only grew more depressed. In fact, Burden's serene demeanor was beginning to get on his nerves. Titus's entire life had been uprooted not more than fifteen hours earlier, and it was far from clear whether it could be salvaged. In light of that, he found Burden's composure and apparent lack of a sense of urgency offensive.

“I don't see any damn reason for optimism here, ”Titus said. His stomach was knotting. “I want to know where the hell you think you're going with all this.”

Burden's calm expression gave way to something more sober, and he reached over to a side table and picked up a remote control. The light rose on the long photograph on the wall, illuminating it slowly, subtly. The picture was stunning.

The nude woman reclined on her right side against a charcoal background and looked directly at the camera with a sad, penetrating gaze. Her hair, darker than the background, fell over her left shoulder and stopped just above her left breast. Her left arm lay languidly along the fluid line of her waist, hip, and thigh, while she supported herself on the elbow of her right arm. In her upturned right hand, which rested in a position equidistant between her breasts and the dark delta between her thighs, she held a tiny, huddling, jet black monkey so incredibly small that it was completely contained within her palm. This queer, startled little creature gaped at the camera with outsized eyes, as if he were seeing the most astonishing thing that a monkey could ever behold. Its silky, ebony tail was coiled desperately around the woman's pale wrist, his wee hands pressed together in an attitude of prayerful concern.

“She, ”Burden said, “is the sister of the Spanish executive in Tano's case number three, the widow of the man who was set afire in the driveway of the family home.”

“Jesus! ”Titus stared at the woman. “When was this taken?”

“Two weeks after her husband's funeral.”

“What?”

“Her idea. Every detail.”

“Why?”

Burden looked at the picture, studying it as if it were an image of infinite fascination for him, as if he could turn his attention to it at any time and find it provocative and of enduring curiosity.

“Often, ”he said, “with women, the why of how they express their grief over the violent death of someone they love is inexplicable. I mean, the ‘logic’of how they express it. It's an intensely inward thing. Deeply embedded. The fact that she seems, here, to be acting in a way that's the absolute opposite of private or personal”-he shrugged-“well, it only seems so. We misunderstand her.”

Titus looked at Burden studying the photograph and wondered what was going through his mind. He glanced around the room. There were framed black-and-white photographs in a variety of sizes hanging on the walls, propped against bookshelves, resting against the sides of his desk, sometimes two or three stacked one in front of the other. All of them, all that Titus could see, were of women, mostly portraits.

“It's my guess, however, ”Burden went on, “that if this woman's husband could know today what she has done in her grief, he would be shocked. The incident in extremis that prompted her behavior was his death, so as long as he was alive he would never have seen this… unusual aspect of her psyche.”