Ruins by Kevin Anderson Read Free Book Online

in place, blocking their way, his rifle on his shoulder. He shook his head in warning. "Not yet. It is not wise."
    A moment later the strains of an opera emerged from a large stereo system inside the room. A shrieking soprano voice that sounded, if anything, worse than the peacock's cries outside in the courtyard, sang of some unimaginable human misery in a language Aguilar could not comprehend.
    He knew the drug lord couldn't understand the words either, but Salida loved to put on airs, to wear the mask of cultured enlightenment. The opera went on for five nearly unbearable minutes, and then it was abruptly switched off to be replaced by a much more relaxing classical piece with orchestral instruments playing rich and complex melodies.
    Hearing the change in music, the guard nodded and gestured for them to enter.
    He pulled open the heavy mahogany door on the right side.
    Aguilar and Carlos Barreio entered side by side, but Aguilar knew that he had the upper hand. Behind them, Pepe struggled to carry the crate containing the precious and exotic artifact.
    Xavier Salida turned to look at them, folding his hands in front of him and smiling a patient smile with a warmth that looked almost genuine. Aguilar was amazed at how rapidly the drug lord had transformed his mood from the shouting fury they had heard only moments before.
    "Greetings, my friends," Salida said. His clothes were fine, his shirt made of white silk, his pants precisely tai-lored. He wore a nice vest with a gold watch chain dan-gling from its pocket.
    Aguilar nodded and took off his ocelot-skin cap, holding it in front of him in the posture of a supplicant. "We are pleased you would see us, Excellency," he said. "We have another fine artifact to show you. Something so marvelous you have never seen anything like it."
    Salida chuckled. "Fernando Victorio Aguilar, you say that every time you bring something to my home."
    Aguilar smiled. "And aren't I usually correct? Don't you usually buy what I offer you, eh?" He gestured for Pepe to come forward and set the crate down on a glass table near the drug lord's desk.
    Carlos Barreio stood at attention, trying to look imposing in his police uniform, while Aguilar glanced around the room: the familiar collection of fine art prints, professionally matted with heavy gilt-covered frames, the Maya sculptures on pedestals, some examples of pre-Colombian art in glass cases, others sitting on win-dowsills. Salida showcased the ones he liked the most, since he had no idea which were truly valuable and which were merely gaudy trinkets. A wine rack filled with the most expensive wines sat in one corner of the room.

    Aguilar knew that although Xavier Salida flaunted his wealth and power, the drug lord had been illiterate until he became wealthy and powerful. The story was told of how he had brought in a tutor to teach him to read. The man had done a good enough job at it, but unfortunately the hapless tutor, after consuming too much tequila in a local cantina, had joked about the drug lord's lack of education ... and so Salida had had him removed.
    There had been a succession of other tutors who had taught Salida courses in art and music appreciation, transforming him into a fine upstanding citizen.
    He ate his expensive Sevruga caviar. He drank his fine wines.
    He played his old music on the newest stereo systems. And he pretended to know what he was doing when he collected expensive art objects.
    Aguilar had taken advantage of this, fawning on him, playing on the drug lord's lack of expertise. Rather than admit he didn't know what he was doing, Xavier Salida nearly always bought the objects Aguilar offered.
    But this time the prize was indeed something special. No question about it.
    Pepe stood back from the glass table, sweating, swal-lowing, shuffling his feet. He wiped his palms on his pants, and waited for further instructions.
    The drug lord gestured to the crate. "Well, go on, Fernando—open it, let me see what you have