Double Vision Read Online Free PDF Page B

what she was looking for. A rare photo of Marco Chavez filled the screen. She skimmed the brief article and the suspicion that had kept her awake all night coalesced into reality. The reason she hadn’t been able to remember where she had seen Alex Lopez was easy—she hadn’t ever seen him before, but she had seen his father. Alex’s name wasn’t Lopez; it was Chavez.
    Minutes later another article followed and Esther’s skin went cold, the chill sinking deep as she read. At first she thought it was a recap of the Los Mendez story. She checked the date, in case the newspaper had been incorrectly archived, but the article was correctly placed. Less than three weeks after the initial massacre in Los Mendez, men, women, children— babies— had been slaughtered indiscriminately; lined up and shot. The pattern had been repeated in three villages all along the Guaviare River, an isolated region inland from Bogotá. Four villages decimated. Then, abruptly, the killing had stopped.
    Mind working feverishly, Esther began to search for any other news reports from Colombia within that period. It didn’t take long. The killings had stopped the same day a murderer had been released from prison, pardoned in recognition of the prisoner’s juvenile status and the significant charitable contributions his father had made in donating a hospital to the poorest region of the country. The name of the prisoner was Alejandro Chavez.
    Esther stared at the grainy black and whites that accompanied the story, one a standard mug shot, another of Alex handcuffed as he was taken into custody under armed guard. She noted the small tattoo visible on the back of his right hand and her blood ran cold. Alejandro Chavez had been a baby-faced twelve-year-old when he had been jailed for the murder of his own bodyguard.
    Alex Lopez was the only son of Marco Chavez, the head of Colombia’s paramount drug cartel. Marco was a clever, astute businessman, his operation smooth by any standards and fronted by a raft of legitimate business enterprises. Its tendrils reached into the highest echelons of South American government. Normally, the powerful and influential Chavez family never made the front pages of any paper unless it was for a charitable donation—until Alejandro Chavez had removed his bodyguard’s gun from his shoulder holster and shot him at point-blank range in a busy mall.
    Alex Lopez didn’t dislike women; he didn’t like humanity, period. The emptiness she had seen in his eyes was utter amorality.
    Â 
    An hour later, Esther picked Rina up from school. When she reached home, Cesar wasn’t there, but she hadn’t expected him to be. Normally, he spent the day working from his downtown office. Six o’clock, when Cesar normally returned home, came and went. Carmita served dinner. Afterward Esther helped Rina with her homework and saw her to bed, then went to the sitting room to wait. Cesar didn’t walk in until after ten. His lateness was as uncharacteristic as his bad manners in not phoning to say he wouldn’t be home for dinner, but Esther no longer expected normality.
    Stomach tight, she followed him into the office, watching as he set his briefcase down on his desk and removed his jacket. “I know about the Pembroke deal, and I know about Lopez.”
    He went still, his expression oddly blank, and she had to wonder if he’d been drinking again.
    â€œIt’s too late. I’ve accepted the deal. The money’s in the bank.”
    â€œWhat money?” She hadn’t seen anything on the computer file that indicated that cash had changed hands.
    Cesar shrugged. “It’s not directly connected with the deal. It’s his money. I just facilitated the transfer.”
    Panic surged. Esther flipped the catch on his briefcase and began to search. The implications made her blood run cold. Money laundering, fraud, possibly even treason. She hadn’t