Titanoboa by Victor Methos Read Free Book Online

Defender.
    “You better call the chief. I think we have a crime scene.”

8
     
     
     
     
    Mark was walking back from the café when he heard shouting. He stopped in his tracks and instinctively went for the firearm tucked in the holster in the small of his back. Then he stopped himself and withdrew his hand. This wasn’t Los Angeles. No need for that.
    O ne man was chasing another through the streets. The men were yelling at each other, not much more than profanity in the Fijian tongue. One of them finally got a hold of the other and tackled him to the ground. They began punching each other. One even tried strangling the other. With so few police on the island, they didn’t have to fear arrest.
    Mark let them brawl another half a minute. Their punches were weak, as though they didn’t know how to make fists, and their squeals of anger drew a crowd. But despite their weakness, they were landing enough blows to hurt each other. Mark had seen enough.
    He marched up to them, pulled the one on top off, and pushed him back so he couldn’t attack the guy on the bottom again. “That’s enough!”
    The one standing looked su rprised, and his eyes locked on Mark. The one taking punches looked surprised as well. Something wasn’t right. As Mark scanned the crowd, he saw the real purpose of the brawl. Two young kids, maybe twelve, were slipping in and out from behind the crowd and reaching into people’s wallets and purses. The men shouted, “ Cumba Ja! ” and took off. The boys followed.
    Though tourists were the lifeblood of the island and well protected, some people didn’t see it that way. They saw them as foreign invaders on their soil that deserved to be taken advantage of. Or, as in any society, some people were just assholes.
    As the crowd dis persed, completely unaware they’d just been taken, Mark saw Riki sitting at the café. She was sipping tea, and her sunglasses were over her eyes. She smiled to him, shyly, then turned back to her tea.
    The only thing Mark could think about when he looked at her was sadness. He couldn’t relate to that. His own brothers had never meant much to him. In fact, they hadn’t spoken in six years. So it was puzzling for him to watch her and know the loss of a sibling caused her melancholy.
    What the hell , he thought. He didn’t have a whole lot of other things on his plate right now.
    Mark hopped the three-foot fence around the café’s veranda and sat down across from her. On the table was a small bowl of pastries and her cell phone , with a picture of a man as the screensaver. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll look into your brother’s case for you.”
    H er entire presence changed. She was no longer sitting in a slumped position with her shoulders down, her lips twisted into a frown. She lit up like a kid on Christmas. And Mark had to wonder whether the sad act was solely for his benefit or the real deal.
    “Thank you,” she said.
    “You’re welcome.”
    She placed her teacup back on the saucer. “So where do we start?”
    “I’ll need all the information you have about him. What hotel he stayed at, who he knew out here, what he liked to do on the island, the last place anyone saw him, things like that. It’s just a matter of running down every lead. But you need to understand, there are no guarantees. I might not turn anything up. But I still get paid the same. Up front, by the way. Twenty-five bucks an hour, with a thousand dollar retainer.”
    She took out her purse and pulled out a wad of cash as thick as a book.
    “No, not here. Put your money away before some pickpocket follows you to your hotel. Come to my office. My secretary will have some documents for you to fill out first.”
    “I really appreciate you doing this.”
    “Well,” he said, taking one of the pastries off the plate and popping it into his mouth, “let’s just hope we don’t end up regretting it.”
     
     
    Mark sat in his office while Riki signed up. He could hear her soft voice,