Ryker gritted his teeth at Winter’s forthright tone. ‘Yeah. I get it.’
‘Good. I’ll let you know if I find anything on Kozlov.’
‘Thanks.’
Ryker ended the call. He made a point of calling Lisa but she didn’t answer. He left a brief voice message assuring her he was okay.
An hour later, he turned his car off the road into a small park on the outskirts of the town of Ronda. He continued along the yellow-gravelled path and parked his car under the canopy of the many carob trees.
Even though he’d had the air conditioning on full blast the whole way, the shade from the fierce sun was still a welcome relief. Ryker had travelled inland to reach Ronda and the temperature had risen every few miles as he left behind the cooling sea breeze. The thermometer on the car dashboard was reading thirty-nine Celsius. When Ryker opened his door and felt the blast of super-heated air against his skin it took him a couple of seconds to adjust.
But thoughts of the debilitating conditions were soon at the back of his mind when he spotted Eva just ten yards away, hanging off the rear-end of a black SUV that was no longer shining but covered in yellow dust from its journey from Marbella.
She wore a tight-fitting summer dress, the same designer sunglasses as the previous day, and a large sunhat that shaded her head and shoulders. She strode up to Ryker, her hips swaying seductively. Ryker remained unimpressed with what he saw. Eva was a trickster, her look designed to tempt and deceive. Ryker wouldn’t fall for it, no matter how hard she kept trying.
‘You alone?’ Ryker asked. ‘No chaperone today.’
‘I’m alone right now.’
Ryker noted the ambiguity in the answer. There was no sign of Sergei or anyone else. But he wouldn’t trust that she’d really come out here by herself.
‘What’s this about?’
Eva smiled. ‘This way. I want to show you something.’
They walked side by side across the park. Coming out of the treeline, Ryker squinted as the sun hit his skin. Soon they came upon a black metal railing beyond which was a sheer drop down a cliff-face to the valley below.
‘It’s incredible isn’t it,’ Eva said. ‘You can see why this place was settled, with views like that.’
‘Yep,’ Ryker said, without feeling.
Privately, he admitted that the vista across the valley and beyond was spectacular. From their prominent perch, they had an unobstructed view over miles of farms and olive groves that trailed into the distance, enclosed by sweeping hills and mountains. The whole landscape was scorched yellow and orange from the unrelenting sun.
‘It was Celts who first put a town here,’ Eva said as they began walking again. ‘Maybe your ancestors.’
‘Maybe.’
‘They didn’t last long though. The Romans soon took over. Then the Suebi, then Visigoths. Finally the Arabs conquered it. This town has incredible history. Such a clash of cultures over the centuries.’
Ryker was finding it hard to read Eva. He was sure she wasn’t simply all about seducing men – she was too intelligent and complex for that. But quite what her true agenda was with him, he didn’t know. She seemed to flip so suddenly from sultry to sweet, from chatty to withheld.
‘Why are we here?’ Ryker said, starting to sound as irritated as he felt.
‘You’ll see.’
They walked on in silence, passing through streets, until they came to an old stone bridge spanning a deep gorge that cut the town in half. The two sides of the town were perched dramatically on the edges of the canyon, and it looked as though the buildings could crumble into the abyss at any second.
Ryker peered over the side of the bridge as they crossed, down into the depths below. The spiked rocks lining the canyons walls – which stretched down at least a hundred yards – made it feel like he was staring into the wide open mouth of a gigantic monster.
‘The El Tajo canyon,’ Eva said.
‘Impressive,’ Ryker couldn’t help but say.
‘Ernest Hemingway wrote about this town.’ When Eva got no response from Ryker she added, ‘You’ve heard of him, yeah?’
‘I’ve heard of him.’
‘There’s a scene in one of his books where the town’s people throw fascist sympathisers off a cliff to their deaths. Many believe it relates to actual events he saw in Ronda at the time.’
Ryker knew the book well. For Whom the Bell Tolls. As he looked downwards he could well imagine the horror of the people who had been so ruthlessly hauled over the side.
‘Did you bring me here for a history lesson?’ Ryker asked.
‘No. But I thought you might be interested. I told you before: I’m passionate about this region. I like to share my passion.’
‘Okay. Let’s stop the games now. You said you wanted to talk about Inspector Cardo. He’s dead, you know.’
Eva tutted. ‘Yes. I heard.’ Eva appeared to be finding it hard to keep eye contact with Ryker.
‘So let me ask you this. Do you know why he was killed?’
Without any word of response, the glint Ryker saw in Eva’s eyes told him the answer.
CHAPTER 38
Eva remained tight-lipped as they carried on their walk. Ryker was becoming more suspicious of her intentions by the second, but he was also intrigued to see what would unfold. Was she really about to reach out to him about what she knew of Inspector Cardo’s murder? Ryker hoped so. It wasn’t unthinkable that Eva was caught up in a murky and dangerous world simply because of who her father was, and that she was looking for a way out.
But it was equally likely that Eva was simply leading Ryker straight into an ambush.
One thing he knew for sure: he was glad he was now armed.
They came to a stop outside a back entrance to the town’s bullring.
‘Bullfighting?’ Ryker asked. ‘Let me guess, you want me to experience some more culture.’
‘There’s no bullfighting at this time of day. It’s too hot. But I do want to show you around. Maybe you could stop being such an arsehole?’
She really was a piece of work. Here he was in the midst of a murder investigation that was very likely in some way linked to her family, and she wanted to chat about the history of Andalusia.
‘Whatever you think my father is involved in, that’s not me,’ Eva said, her tone harder. ‘It’s really not. I didn’t ask for any of it.’
‘Maybe not. But if you really want to help, you can stop playing games and tell me what you know.’
‘It’s not that easy.’
‘Why not.’
‘Don’t you think there are consequences?’
‘You mean like Cardo?’
Eva stared at Ryker for a few seconds and he saw a sliver of vulnerability in her eyes. Perhaps this escapade really was a cry for help.