Free The Darkest Heart by Dan Smith Page B

one of yours, then—’
    â€˜I haven’t come here to talk about ghosts in the night, Zico.’ Costa came to a halt and turned to face me. There was an impatient edge to his voice. ‘Do you want to hear the offer or not?’
    â€˜Sure,’ I said.
    â€˜Then walk with me.’ Costa scanned the road but there was hardly anyone about. Just a few cafés and shops opening up, their owners winding out the awnings.
    I stayed as I was, thinking about the man on the beach. Maybe he was just a fisherman returning from the river, but something about it didn’t feel right. It had been too late, and he’d been afraid of Rocky. All the fishermen knew the old man and that meant they all knew Rocky.
    â€˜Zico?’
    â€˜Yeah. OK.’ I picked up my pace, letting my flip-flops slap in the red dust that had piled at the side of the road. We passed the whitewashed buildings, the smell of coffee and fried steak drifting out from a café, making my stomach groan.
    Luis and Wilson continued to follow, always a few metres behind so they couldn’t hear what we were saying but would be on hand if Costa needed them.
    â€˜They won’t go to ten.’ He lowered his voice. ‘It’s too much.’
    â€˜I thought you wanted this to be agreeable to everyone’
    â€˜Don’t get ahead of yourself, Zico. I said they won’t go to ten, that’s all.’
    We were walking past the school now, the whole place quiet because all the kids were in class, doing things I never did.
    â€˜How much then?’ I thought about Daniella – about how much money I’d need to marry her, build or buy a place of our own.
    â€˜Five.’ It sounded almost painful for him. ‘They’ll go to five.’
    â€˜They can afford it. Five thousand dollars is nothing to them.’
    â€˜And they’ll give you a piece of land. Just outside town, close to where the old man lives.’
    I stopped again and looked at Costa, trying not to show any emotion. ‘A place? Of my own?’
    â€˜There’s an old house there, it’s not much, needs fixing up, but you can have it.’
    â€˜They must really hate this nun.’
    Costa widened his eyes and glanced over at Luis and Wilson. ‘Keep your voice down, Zico, nobody can know about this.’ He stepped closer to me. ‘If this gets out ... if anybody but you and I know about this, and I mean anybody, then everything changes.’
    â€˜Meaning what?’
    â€˜Just keep it to yourself.’
    â€˜OK.’
    â€˜So you’ll do it?’
    On the other side of the road, a horse ambled past, hooves thumping in the dirt, its rider swaying in the saddle. I watched them and thought about Costa’s offer. It was a lot of money, the land and the house meant more, but it was nothing if something went wrong; and God knows there was enough that could go wrong.
    I looked at him, his face dotted with perspiration, his nose moving as he pursed his lips, sucking them together.
    â€˜You already know I’ll do it. You knew it from the moment you made the offer. I don’t have any choice and that makes me so damn angry with you, Costa.’
    â€˜But the money’s good, right?’ He grinned.
    â€˜Yeah.’ I had to agree. ‘The money’s good.’
    â€˜You’re a smart man, Zico.’
    â€˜Not smart enough,’ I said. ‘Not by far.’
    Costa put his arm round me and I could smell his aftershave. His familiarity with me, his dominance, came only from the protection his employers offered him and from his understanding of what this place meant to me.
    We walked for a while in silence, before he started telling me the detail, saying, ‘She’s coming in by plane the day after tomorrow.’
    â€˜To Piratinga?’
    â€˜Um-hm. Gets here early. Seven o’clock. She’s going to meet with the bishop and then she’s taking a boat down Rio das