Cuban Sun Read Online Free PDF

friend of her father who had gotten into a “legal situation” as her father called it. She had only been fourteen years old at the time but she remembered that it had to do with a fairly high value piece of Civil War military paraphernalia. Then it clicked. “I would pay off the records clerk to ‘misplace’ the title and not file it. Then I would bribe someone at the auction house not to post the sale correctly, just take the item off the listings. That way, all the records are still there for insurance, but if someone else starts looking, I would at least get an alert when the registrar or auction house calls about the missing record.”
    Joe smiled “Exacto!”
    “Paper booby-trapping” said Helena nodding.
    Quint smiled and shot Sofia a side long wink. Sofia knew she had passed the first test but she had a feeling this only got her into the high stakes round. Helena glanced at her rose gold Bulgari inlaid with diamonds around the face. “Sofia, I’m so sorry to have kept you up this late. I’m sure you’ve had quite enough for one day and will need to process some of this before tomorrow.”
    “I admit it has been a long day. Thank you so much for this evening and the opportunity to interview, so far I’m very intrigued.” She conveyed her ‘goodnights’ and Quint turned to escort her to her cabin.
    Helena called after her making Sofia turn. “Tomorrow, we’ll go into town after breakfast so wear something for lunch.” Sofia nodded and gratefully headed to her cabin.
    When they reached her cabin Quint laughed and said, “Don’t you like how she calls a trip into one of the biggest, most vibrant cities in the U.S. ‘going to town’? Part of her Irish charm. So, what do you think so far?”
    She gave him a narrow look, “It’s not exactly what I expected.”
    He sighed, “I thought as much. I could see your wheels turning a mile a minute.” Sofia looked away unnerved at his perceptiveness. “It’s only because I know you. To anyone else you appeared as though you sit on yachts discussing rare cars and criminal deception all the time.”
    That made Sofia’s laugh bubble up to the surface and relieve some of the tension in her body. After a moment, Quint became aware that he was looking at her too long and speaking too little. He averted his gaze and cleared his throat before continuing. “Look, nobody expects you to be a pro overnight. We’ll go into the assignment details more tomorrow and Joe and Helena will give you some guidance and direction. They want you to succeed as much as I do.”
    “Why? Isn’t this where they’re supposed to test me?”
    Quint ticked off his fingers, “First, they aren’t assholes, and of course they’re going to help you a bit. Second, this information is important to them and their business. If you don’t find out where the 500K is, it means significant delays for their case and ultimately their paycheck. Third, because you’re talented and they admire talent.”
    Sofia rolled her eyes which made them flash like a cat in the dark, “Well, thanks so much for taking the pressure off.”
    Quint had the good grace to look abashed. “Sorry, but you’re the one who asked.”
    “Guess I shouldn’t have.”
    “As Homer would say ‘ and what he greatly thought, he nobly dared .’”
    Sofia gave him a lopsided smile. “And that’s my cue. Good night Quint, thanks.”
    “Night.” Quint watched her door close and walked back to discuss the next day with Joe and Helena.
    Sofia closed the door of her state room and leaned against it. It was strange, she felt even more exhausted than after exams, but also completely exhilarated. The mix of emotion reminded her of how her mother had tried to explain motherhood.
    She had said “It’s a scary and wonderful adventure. All at once you feel as though you will drop from weariness but can’t sleep because you’re so excited just to be there holding this new life, dreaming of what it could hold for your