legal shit you can think of, just hold them up for as long as you can.’
‘This . . . isn’t really what you hired us for,’ said Goldberg.
‘I hired you to keep me out of prison, and I pay you a lot of money to do it. So do it. Consider it part of your client service.’ The bodyguard entered, carrying Bloom’s briefcase. ‘Take your case and go. Keep them busy.’ When they didn’t move immediately, he barked: ‘Now!’
Affronted, Bloom collected his case and the lawyers departed. The bodyguard waited until they were gone, then went to the bar. ‘Did you do it?’ de Quesada asked.
‘Yes, jefe.’ He handed the drug lord a small remote control unit. ‘Everything is set.’
‘Good. Tell the others to arm up. And bring Alicia and Sylvie here – I want them as my last line of defence.’ A cruel smirk. ‘No man would dare shoot them.’ He returned to the hidden vault. ‘I have to destroy the hard drives. Get ready – they will be coming!’
‘The guy may be a criminal,’ admitted Nina, ‘but he’s got a gorgeous house.’
The combined force from Interpol, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Colombian police – and the two representatives of the International Heritage Agency – was concealed amongst the trees along the clifftop, looking at the little island below. De Quesada’s villa had been impressive enough in photos, but in reality it was magnificent; white walls gleaming in the sunlight.
‘Nice taste in bodyguards, too,’ said Eddie, taking a closer look through binoculars.
Nina could guess at what – or whom – he was looking. ‘Give me those,’ she snapped, wresting the binoculars from his grip as the two young women emerged from the infinity pool and padded, still topless, into the building. ‘And I’m pretty sure they’re way below your “half the man’s age plus seven years” rule.’
Eddie grinned. ‘No harm in looking.’
‘There will be if I catch you doing it again.’ She panned along the house to the crossing. While it seemed solidly built, it was still merely a footbridge, too narrow to accommodate vehicles. The drug lord’s cars were kept in a garage on the mainland, outside which an SUV had stopped and disgorged a suited man and woman about twenty minutes earlier.
She moved her view back to the island. At each end of the bridge were tall and stout wooden poles, a cable that she guessed was a power line hanging between them. Near the far pole was the house’s main entrance – the doors of which suddenly opened. ‘Someone’s coming out.’
It was the suited couple. ‘De Quesada’s lawyers,’ said Baker.
‘They don’t look happy.’ The pair were in the midst of an agitated discussion.
‘I think I know why.’ Nina looked round to see Kit, holding several sheets of paper, and Probst slipping through the bushes. ‘This just came through over the mobile fax.’
Baker took the pages. ‘Outstanding.’
‘The warrant?’ Eddie asked.
‘Signed, sealed and delivered. We now have full authority to go in and get that son of a bitch. Okay, Mr Jindal, Dr Wilde, Mr Chase, wait here until we’re done. Walther, are the snipers covering the jetty?’
Probst nodded. ‘We can take out the boats any time.’
‘Great. Okay, time to kick ass . . . ’ He stopped, seeing that the lawyers had come to a standstill three-quarters of the way across the bridge. ‘Now what the hell are those two doing?’
The answer came as the man called out in American-accented Spanish. ‘Well, shit!’ exclaimed Baker.
‘What’s he saying?’ Eddie asked.
The DEA agent shook his head in disgust. ‘They want to talk to us. Guess they heard about the warrant.’
‘So much for the element of surprise,’ Nina said gloomily. ‘Now what do we do?’
Probst surveyed the house. ‘I don’t like it. It could be a trap.’
‘We outnumber them three to one,’ Baker said dismissively, ‘we’ve got an elevated position and superior firepower, and all their escape routes are cut off. That son of a bitch is just trying to buy time so he can destroy anything incriminating. Mr Cruz!’ he called. The head of the Colombian SWAT team, who had been standing beside a six-wheeled truck giving last-minute instructions to his men, hurried over. ‘You and four of your guys, come with me. We’ll see what these clowns have to say. Get the rest ready to move in. Walther, keep your guys on lookout.’
Cruz signalled to his unit, and four black-clad cops joined him. Baker summoned four more DEA agents, and the ten men, weapons at the ready,