Hider/Seeker by Hider-Seeker (epub)

Author:Hider-Seeker (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: urn:ean:9781784629434
Publisher: Matador
Published: 2015-04-20T04:00:00+00:00

Twenty-five

Harry came to on a sumptuous couch in a sun-drenched living room. His head was splitting and the back of his throat was sickly sweet from whatever Gabriela sprinkled into the food. The wooden rafters came first into focus, then the white walls with old oil paintings. By his side was a baroque wooden table with a silver framed photograph of Ernesto’s mother. The polished tiled floor was covered by a jigsaw of silk Persian rugs, and in the corner of the room was a baby-grand draped in a paisley Kashmir piano shawl. He knew where he was. Inside Ernesto’s country home, just outside Antigua Guatemala.

The marble bust on the stone mantelpiece of Enresto, looking heroic and noble, was a sixtieth birthday present from Gabriela, he recalled. It was sculpted from a photograph when Ernesto was much younger – when he had thick wavy hair and a bristly moustache. Above the bust was a painting of the assumption of Mary that had been in the family for over a century.

Then Harry realised he wasn’t alone in the room. Ernesto was sitting in an armchair in the corner, waiting for him to come around. ‘I wish I could sleep like that,’ he said, getting up to examine Harry. ‘You’ve been out fourteen hours.’

Ernesto’s silver-grey head looked down at Harry as he helped him sit upright on the couch, making him more comfortable with a couple of cushions. He was wearing a navy shirt and trousers, divided at the waist by a brown belt that matched his shoes. Although he’d aged slightly since Harry last saw him and looked more portly, it was the same smiling moustachioed face from all those years ago.

Ernesto looked at Harry’s pale face and shook his head. ‘What was Gabriela thinking? She can be crazy sometimes. I can only apologise – she’s just over protective.’ Fifteen years as a lawyer in Miami had not entirely expunged his Spanish accent. He poured two brandies from the credenza and handed Harry a glass.

Harry gulped it down to help rid the taste of the poison and immediately handed the empty glass back to Ernesto who placed it on the coffee table.

‘Who brought me here?’ asked Harry, feeling the warmth of the brandy spreading in his stomach.

‘My private security. Nowadays I need twenty-four hour protection from my own government.’ The sarcasm came with a smile. ‘I’m driven everywhere in an armour plated car just like a president. Outside this room are two armed men, another two on the roof top with Uzis, and four guarding the grounds.’

‘Gabriela told me you were having trouble.’

‘She’s nervous because I received an anonymous letter that there would be an attempt on my life. It’s just to frighten me, but Gabriela? Well you know how she is.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘Nothing. No one can do anything in this country of mine, not even the UN.’

‘So you’re still going to take up the post on the commission?’

‘What do you think?’

‘Is it worth losing your life over?’

‘You have to be brave if you want justice.

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