Obsession. Kay David
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“No, of course not,” she answered.
He took out a cigar and pointed it at her champagne glass. “You finish that, and I’ll be right back.”
She’d hoped he hadn’t noticed, but obviously he had. Emma watched him disappear toward the rear of the restaurant, then she picked up the flute of champagne and stared at the bubbling wine. She had one goal in life right now: to make as much money as she possibly could so she could hire the best lawyer she could find. That was the only way she’d ever see her children again. And making money meant keeping William Kelman happy.
But she couldn’t drink this wine. Alcohol had ruined her life already, stolen from her the very things she valued the most. If Kelman was insulted by her refusal to drink, then he’d just have to be insulted. She needed the money, but she couldn’t risk the progress she’d made so far. Nothing was worth that.
Reaching over to a nearby plant, she dumped the glass of expensive champagne into the container. At the very same time, a shadow fell over the table. She looked up to see Raul Santos.
SHE WAS WEARING a sleeveless black dress with a rounded collar. It was as simple and plain as the dress she’d worn on Saturday night, but she’d added pearl earrings and a necklace. In the candlelight, they gleamed almost as richly as her hair. She looked startled to see him.
“Mr. Santos!”
“Please call me Raul,” he said. He tilted his head toward the glass in her hand. “Bad wine?”
She glanced down at the empty glass, then back up at him. Her look was steady. “Yes,” she lied. “I didn’t want to embarrass Estefan.”
“Of course.” He didn’t question her further. It was none of his business, anyway.
“Are you here for dinner?”
“Yes, thanks to your secretary. She recommended this place, you know.” After I read the note in your calendar…
“I didn’t realize that. I’ll tell her you approved.” Her gaze went to the woman standing beside him, and he knew immediately what she was thinking. Had he already made plans with her when he’d asked Emma out, or had he asked her after Emma had turned him down?
The truth was much simpler. Wendy Fortune was an old friend, and they’d worked together in Washington on several different cases. To everyone else in Bolivia, she was an assistant to the local consul, but her real job was to keep an eye on people who needed watching. She and Raul went back a long way, and part of the path had been personal, too.
He explained none of this, but simply gave Emma her name. The two women shook hands.
“Are you alone?” he asked. “Would you like to join us?”
“I’m with someone,” she answered. “But thank you.”
They talked a bit more, then the maître d’ took them to their own table, a secluded one on the other side of the luxurious dining area, just visible from Emma’s own table. Two minutes later, her dining companion returned, pulled out his chair and sat down. This time when William Kelman’s eyes met Raul’s, instant recognition filled their depths.
From across the room, Raul smiled.
CHAPTER THREE
“DO YOU KNOW HIM?”
William Kelman’s voice was cold as he tilted his head to the other side of the room. Without even looking, Emma knew instantly whom he meant.
“Yes, I do,” she answered. “His name is Raul Santos.”
“Is he a client of yours?”
It wasn’t a question she could answer; the people whose money she handled valued their privacy. “My client list is confidential, Mr. Kelman. Surely you appreciate that fact as much as anyone.”
He grunted his reply and sipped his brandy, his eyes boring a tunnel across the dimly lit dining room.
After a second, she sneaked a look, too. Raul was meeting William Kelman’s stare, and he wasn’t blinking. She could almost feel the tension crackling between the two men. Raul’s friend Wendy seemed as aware of the silent confrontation as Emma. She reached out and put her hand on his arm and said something quietly. He leaned over to listen, but he didn’t break eye contact.
William Kelman looked away first.
“Tell me more about this currency thing,” he commanded.
Relieved by his change of subject, Emma took a deep breath. “The local currency is called a boliviano and it’s equal to one hundred centavos.”
“What’s that in American money?”
“It changes, but on Friday, a boliviano was worth about fifty cents, give or take a bit.”
“And you make money for your clients by trading this currency, right?”
“That’s part of what I do.”
“How does that work, exactly?”
“The official exchange rate floats, but it’s reviewed periodically. The government has five to ten million dollars they handle every day. I sell bolivianos for dollars or vice versa, and if I do it right, I make money on the margin—the difference between the two amounts.”
“How do you know how many dollars they’ll offer?”
“I don’t know,” she answered. “But that’s not really important. The rate is what counts.”
“How much do you make for your clients doing this?”
“It varies from day to day.”
“On?”
“On a lot of things. The markets the day before, the movement of the other currencies being traded, the local economy…”
He leaned his elbows on the table, and at the same time Emma felt a hot gaze on her back. Raul Santos was still staring at them, she could tell.
“Do you know the rate ahead of time?”
She looked at him in surprise. “The rate is examined by a government committee. If there is a change, it’s secret until it’s announced a few days later. For obvious reasons.”
“But if you did know the figure in advance, you’d make more money for your clients, right?”
His question was unsettling, but Emma tried to make light of it. “Only until I got caught—which would probably be immediately. If I knew the information in advance and acted on it, that would be insider trading. It’s as illegal here as it is in the United States.”
He paused, and for some reason, her uneasiness grew. “And you don’t break the law, do you, Ms. Toussaint?”
“No,” she said, “I don’t.”
He nodded slowly, but she had the feeling he didn’t believe her. “Not for anything?”
She opened her mouth to answer the same way, then she hesitated. She’d make a deal with the devil if it meant getting her kids back. She’d do anything for them, wouldn’t she? Even break the law?
Over the middle of the table, she lifted her eyes and their gazes locked. Then he smiled.
RAUL WATCHED William Kelman and Emma depart the restaurant. He’d thought Kelman was going to come over and speak to him, but he hadn’t, and Raul had felt a flash of disappointment. He’d almost welcome a direct confrontation, to settle things as he’d done when he was younger and knew less—with fists and bloodied noses. It was a more honest way, but Kelman didn’t operate like that. He was sneaky and underhanded, and when this was all over, bloody noses would not be the end result.
Rising from the table, Raul motioned to Wendy to do the same. “Let’s go,”