Page 127 of Code 6
Chapter 58
Diego picked up Kate and Enrique at the Hotel InterContinental to take them to the planning meeting with Jeremy Peel in Ciudad Jardín.
“Safety on?” asked Enrique. He was talking about the gun in her purse, and it was the third time he’d reminded her since leaving the hotel room.
“On,” she said.
South Cali had some sketchy areas, but Ciudad Jardín was not one of them. Caleños called it a “city within a city” or, perhaps more accurately, a city apart from the city. Mansions lined the lush green avenues. The best high schools and universities were nearby, and an array of fancy restaurants and upscale bars made this wealthy neighborhood a pleasant and safe place to live. On the downside, Ciudad Jardín was a long way from the livelier and equally safe areas along the river to the west and north, where Kate was staying, and it was closer to the massive hillside neighborhood known as Siloé. Diego pointed it out on the ride south.
“Never go there,” he said, pointing from the driver’s seat. “If you get into trouble, even the police are afraid to go there.”
The rule of thumb in Cali was to avoid the east, but gangs also controlled Siloé and other pockets of turf to the south.
They reached the hotel in plenty of time to talk strategy before the 8:00 p.m. call. Diego waited with the car. Peel’s bodyguard was in the lobby and took them to a suite on the third floor so they could speak in private. It was Kate and Enrique on one side of the rectangular table, with Peel and his bodyguard on the other. The encrypted phoneon which Kate received the kidnapper’s calls was resting beside the centerpiece of white and purple orchids.
“Did you bring the flash drive?” asked Kate.
Peel laid it on the table. “Coke Zero,” he said, confirming that he wasn’t giving up the “secret formula,” as Kate had called it.
“In terms of communications,” said Kate, “I don’t like you having separate phone calls with Javier. I need to be part of all negotiations going forward.”
“I didn’t initiate the last call. He called me. After you hung up.”
“I was asserting control.”
“You may have watched one too manyDie Hardmovies.”
Kate had been second-guessing herself all day, so she couldn’t push back too hard. “What’s done is done. Going forward, we should speak with one voice, and that voice should be mine.”
Kate’s encrypted phone vibrated on the table. It was not yet time for the 8:00 p.m. call, but it wasn’t a call anyway. It was a text that contained no message, just a voice recording. Kate played the voice message on speaker. It was Patrick.
“Kate, it’s me, Patrick. I’m fine. Do exactly as the man says.”
Kate looked at Enrique, who seemed equally bemused. “That’s our proof of life? A voice recording? How do we know that’s not from a week ago?”
Her phone vibrated again. This time, the text bubble contained a message:
Negotiations are over. No more voice calls. My orders to follow.
Kate stared at the message bubble, then looked at Peel. “This doesn’t sound like Javier.”
Peel didn’t answer, but Kate didn’t drop the matter.
“Who did you actually speak to on the phone earlier, Mr. Peel?”
“I told you it was Javier.”
“I know what you told me. But I want the truth. Who did you talk to?” she asked, her voice rising. “I need to know who has Patrick!”
The phone vibrated. Another text message:
Mr. Peel: Take the flash drive to Café deMariscoson Calle Obispo at 9 p.m. A table is reserved in your name. Sit and wait. One bodyguard is allowed. No one else.
Enrique googled the location. “He chose a public place in a good neighborhood to make you feel safe. That’s a constructive first step.”
“But what about Patrick?” asked Kate. “This has to be a simultaneous exchange.”
The telltale moving ellipses appeared below the previous bubble message on Kate’s phone, indicating another text was on the way.