Jasmine Cresswell - Payback

She gave her head a little shake. “Anyway, it seems Adam and Megan were rescued from a life-threatening situation in Belize by Julio Castellano. Adam is anything but a soft touch, and yet he’s convinced not only that he and Megan would have died without Castellano’s help, but also that the man isn’t a murderer.”

“But Castellano’s been accused of killing three different people,” Luke protested. “And he’s been convicted of the first two murders! I’m sure I remember reading that at the time the police in Miami named him as their only suspect.”

“I know.” Avery’s shoulders lifted in a slight shrug. “According to Adam, Castellano claims the first death was an accident and that the police were covering up a crime by one of their own when they pinned the second murder on him.”

“Well, yeah, Castellano would claim something like that, wouldn’t he?” Luke didn’t bother to hide his skepticism. “If you want to find a thousand innocent men all in one place, go visit your local prison.” The idea that a convicted felon implicated in three murders might be innocent of all of them struck Luke as barely this side of absurd. Then he remembered that if Ron Raven was alive, Julio Castellano was categorically innocent of at least one of the crimes he’d been accused of committing.

“Has your brother informed the cops that their prime suspect in Ron Raven’s murder is hiding out in Belize?” He gave a wry smile. “Where the heck is Belize, anyway?”

Avery almost managed an answering smile. “I’m glad you don’t know, either. I had to look it up myself. It’s a tiny country that shares borders with Guatemala and Mexico.”

“Is it one of those places where criminals go to hide?” Luke asked. “Is that why Castellano is there?”

“I don’t believe so. It’s a former British colony and the total population is around half a million, so it’s not exactly a place where you can disappear into the teeming masses.”

“So why would Castellano be there?” Luke found the story of Adam’s encounter increasingly odd the more he heard.

“According to my brother, Castellano was born in Belize and the police here were mistaken when they identified him as Mexican.”

“Can that possibly be right?” Luke shook his head. “Man, I’m willing to buy a certain level of police incompetence, but your brother is basically suggesting that the cops have the entire story on three separate killings screwed up in every detail, right down to the citizenship of the guy accused of the murders!”

“My initial reaction was the same as yours, that Castellano had every reason to lie to my brother. The police in Miami conducted a thorough investigation, so why not accept their conclusions? But Adam was pretty convincing. On top of that, you’re telling me now that you may have seen Ron. If you’re correct, that means Castellano can’t possibly have murdered him. Since he isn’t guilty this time around, it does give cause to wonder if the police might have been wrong on the previous occasions, as well.”

“Even if Ron is alive, we don’t know what happened the night he disappeared,” Luke pointed out. “There’s no reason to give Castellano a free pass. Ron might have managed to trick him and escape. In which case Castellano would be guilty of attempted murder at the very least.”

Avery was silent for a moment. Then she shook her head. “If Castellano tried to kill Ron and didn’t succeed, why is Ron still hiding? Why didn’t he come home and identify Castellano as the would-be killer? Even if Ron was injured or suffering from amnesia for a while, it seems his memory is in full working order now. You yourself said that he ran away when you saw him. That means he recognized you and didn’t want to talk to you. Why doesn’t Ron want to be discovered? Who is he hiding from?”

“Castellano is the logical suggestion,” Luke said. “He’s a convicted criminal and his blood was in the hotel room, so there must have been a fight.”

“Not necessarily. The fact that Castellano’s blood was in the hotel room doesn’t provide any information about why he was there.”

“Why else would he have gone to Ron’s hotel room if not for robbery or some other crime?”

“He might have been there for the simple reason that he was an accomplice of Ron’s,” Avery suggested. “If Ron wanted to disappear, what could be more convincing than staging a room to look as if he’d been fighting for his life against a known killer?”

Avery seemed as determined to believe Ron was alive as the police were determined to believe he was dead. Luke found himself in the bizarre position of trying to rein in her willing acceptance of his own story. “But if Ron isn’t hiding from Castellano, who is he hiding from?”

“His families,” Avery said quietly. “Both of them.”

“That can’t be the explanation.” Luke hoped he sounded convincing. “Avery, if Ron was tired of his families, why not say so? You don’t go to the huge trouble of faking your own death just to avoid the hassle of getting divorced!”

“Most men don’t go to the huge hassle of maintaining two marriages, two homes, two completely separate lives. Most men aren’t bigamists. Ron apparently doesn’t react like most people.” With a sudden, jerky movement Avery pushed back her chair. “The more you try to dress it up and make it look pretty, the more convinced I become that Ron wanted out of his life—and so he ran.”

“I don’t agree with you,” Luke said.

“Then give me a better interpretation of the facts.”

“We don’t have enough facts to speculate in any meaningful way. Right now, though, I suspect professional gamblers would say the odds are in favor of me being mistaken and Ron being dead.” Luke felt obligated to provide Avery with that out if she wanted to take it. Hell, everyone else who’d heard his story had taken the route of assuming he was an idiot, so she was entitled.

She tilted her head back, searching his face. “You don’t think you’re mistaken, do you?”

He debated for a second and then gave her the truth. “No. I’m sorry, Avery. I’m almost as certain as I can be that I saw Ron Raven.”

“Then I’m grateful to you for telling me what you saw. Now all that’s left is for me to decide how to deal with this. I just finished telling you how competent and self-sufficient I am. I need to prove it.”

“Even the strongest and most independent person sometimes needs a friendly listener. Anytime you want to discuss your options with me, Avery, I’ll be happy to listen and offer any advice I can. After all, I’m the person who opened up this can of worms.”

“Right now, I’ve just about exhausted my capacity for rational discussion. I need some time alone to think. Thanks for the offer, though, Luke. Later on, I’ll probably take you up on it.” She got up and walked in the direction of his office door, bumping into the corner of his credenza as she passed by. For graceful, controlled Avery, the clumsy movement demonstrated a distress level that was the equivalent of a normal person tumbling flat on her face.

Luke escorted her to the restaurant door, his hand beneath her elbow. “You’re upset. Let me call you a cab.”

“Thanks, Luke, but I’d rather walk. Fresh air seems very appealing right now. Goodbye.”

Luke watched Avery weave a not-quite-straight path to the corner of the block. When she turned out of view, he didn’t even attempt to return to his office and his chore of checking invoices. Instead he made his way to the kitchens and silently began preparing a port wine reduction to garnish the beef tenderloin that would be on tonight’s menu. Cooking was usually absorbing enough that he could lose himself in the process. But today, his brain remained disengaged from his hands. Despite the heavy weight in the pit of his stomach, he was fairly sure he’d done the right thing in contacting Avery. Unfortunately, doing the right thing apparently could leave you feeling like hell.