Page 70 of The Shadow Friends

“There.” Lloyd snapped straight in his chair. “That’s her.”

They couldn’t see the woman’s face clearly, but there was no mistaking the waterfall of thick black hair that cascaded to her shoulders. Beatriz had just emerged from the building and was now walking toward the center of Plaza de Agustín Lara, moving with the languid sway of a full-figured woman.

Lloyd pushed to his feet, ready to pursue her.

“Hold back,” Maggie cautioned. “Don’t alert her. Or anyone else.”

There was certainly no danger of losing sight of her. Not only did Beatriz move at a leisurely pace, but she also wore a brightly patterned dress that practically screamed for attention. She did not look like someone trying to avoid being noticed, which was yet another detail that bothered Maggie. The whole situation seemed wrong. The woman in the bright dress. Her slow, unconcerned pace. Not once did Beatriz pause to look over her shoulder, to scan her surroundings. Instead, she seemed determined to be noticed. As if . . .

“Lloyd,” she said. “Stop. This is a setup.”

“What?”

“She’s baiting us.”

“Or she’s baiting him,” he said, his gaze suddenly fixed on a man at the opposite side of the plaza.

The man was moving parallel to Beatriz, his pace steady and unrelenting. Dressed in blue jeans and a gray hoodie, he was an unobtrusive figure, easily missed among the crowd of tourists. Now he veered diagonally across the plaza, moving in a line that would intersect with the woman.

At the far end of the plaza, a dark blue van swooped into position. The side door slid open.

In that instant, Maggie saw the plan, as clearly as if a blueprint had been rolled out in front of her. Gray Hoodie would close in on Beatriz. It would take only a shove, and she’d be forced into the waiting van. The abduction would happen so swiftly that no one in the plaza would even notice what had happened. The abductors would drive off with their prize, to a location where the knives would come out, where her screams wouldn’t be heard. In a day or two, her body would be found, bearing obvious evidence of torture. The punishment that every traitor to the motherland deserved.

Time to move.

Maggie had no chance to think, to consider their options. A woman’s life was at stake, and they could no longer stand aside as mere observers. This was the operational tipping point, when surveillance demanded action.

Maggie sprinted ahead of Lloyd, past clueless tourists ambling in the plaza, past a woman pushing a baby stroller.

Beatriz moved closer and closer to the waiting van. Straight toward the trap.

Out of the corner of her eye, Maggie saw Gray Hoodie closing in from the side. She heard Lloyd’s footfalls pounding somewhere behind her. What chance did two senior citizens have to foil a kidnapping? The men were almost certainly armed, but with so many witnesses in the plaza, would they risk attracting attention with gunfire?

Beatriz was only a few yards from the van. So was Gray Hoodie. In a matter of seconds, it would all be over.

“Zoya!” Maggie shouted. “Watch out!”

The woman halted. Turned, just as Lloyd threw himself at Gray Hoodie in a flying tackle. Both men slammed to the pavement. Lloyd struggled clumsily to pick himself off the ground, but Gray Hoodie was back on his feet in an instant. He glanced around at the spectators now surrounding him, all of them staring. So many eyes, so many witnesses.

Time to abort.

He dove into the van, and the door slid shut. With a screech of tires, the vehicle took off and vanished around the corner.

Beatriz stood frozen, staring at Lloyd as he limped toward her, brushing himself off. “It’s all right! Everything’s fine!” he said. “But madam, you really need to—”

“What the bloody hell are you two doing here?” the woman snapped.

Lloyd’s jaw fell open. “Ingrid? Is that you?”

Chapter 27

“Both of you, get off the plaza. Now,” the woman said. The voice was definitely Ingrid’s, but the face—the face was Beatriz Guerrero’s. Or a latex version of her.

“We had no idea,” said Lloyd.

“Of course you didn’t. You weren’t supposed to.” She glanced sideways as a man approached, a man Maggie recognized. It was Rodrigo Estrada.

“Our drone’s following the van,” said Rodrigo.