Free The Darkest Heart by Dan Smith Page A

here in Piratinga. And I had the old man to think about too. Costa had threatened him just like he’d threatened Daniella. If I disappeared, Raul and Carolina would not be safe.

11
    When the time came, I propped myself on one elbow to watch Daniella dress. She kissed me, the long kiss of a lover who didn’t want to leave, and then closed the door behind her, going out to face her mother at work.
    For a while, I lay there and listened to the creak of a loud and irritating cicada that had landed on the mosquito netting behind the shutter. He stopped only when there was a loud bang from somewhere on the street, but it wasn’t long before he started again so I opened the shutter and tapped the green mesh to make him fly away.
    I washed and prepared myself for the oncoming day, retrieving my revolvers from beneath the drawer and clipping one to my belt. The other, I secured in a small canvas backpack which I kept under the bed along with a good knife and replacement cartridges.
    I put the backpack on the floor by the wall and took a warm can of Coke and cracked it open. Sitting on the end of my bed, I listened to the town come to life and waited for Costa’s men to come, as I knew they would. Costa wasn’t a patient man, he wanted this job done, so he would be back with his offer. He’d have people standing over him – powerful people who needed to be pleased.
    About nine thirty, I heard voices in the corridor, Juliana talking fast and loud, footsteps approaching. She was still talking when there was a knock at the door.
    â€˜Costa,’ I said, opening up and doing little to disguise my distaste as I looked him up and down.
    â€˜Zico.’ Despite the heat and his inability to cope with it, Costa was wearing a pressed shirt and a tie.
    I’m honoured. You want to come in?’ I pulled the door wide and looked over his shoulder at Luis and Wilson. ‘Those two can wait outside; there’s something they need to do. Upstairs, I mean.’ I let my eyes meet theirs so they would know I was not afraid of them.
    â€˜We’ll get to that when we’re ready,’ Luis said.
    Costa put out a hand to stop me as I took a step forward. ‘Enough,’ he said. ‘We’ve got things to talk about, Zico. Luis and Wilson will clear up their mess.’ He turned to look at them. ‘Won’t you?’
    The two men had more to say, but they tightened their lips and nodded like children.
    â€˜Right.’ Costa cast his eye around my room then turned up his nose. ‘You know what?’ he said. ‘Maybe we should talk outside. Your place stinks even more than my office.’
    â€˜So,’ I asked as we left the building and headed towards the waterfront. ‘You got some news for me?’
    Luis and Wilson walked a few metres behind us, out of earshot.
    â€˜She’s pretty, your girlfriend. Daniella, right? She stayed the night.’ After just a few steps, Costa’s face was shining.
    â€˜So now you’re watching my place?’
    â€˜Just keeping you safe.’ He grinned like a devil.
    â€˜More like making sure 1 don’t leave town. Just keep those idiots away from Daniella,’ I told him, glancing back at the two men shadowing us. ‘And any other idiots you have.’
    Costa smiled. ‘They’ll check on her from time to time, that’s all. They’ve been told not to harm her until I allow it.’
    The thought of Costa having that much power threatened to overwhelm me. I wished I could take my friends out of Piratinga and I wished I didn’t want his money. If those two things were different, I could settle this right now. ‘And who was that last night? By the old man’s place?’
    â€˜Last night?’ Costa looked surprised.
    â€˜Have you got someone watching the old man?’
    â€˜No one was there last night.’
    I stopped. ‘You sure about that? Someone was there and if it wasn’t