by Ivy Banks
Chapter 1
The lush greenery of the Central American landscape slid by so calmly that the man driving the jeep didn’t notice the obstacle in the road until Miguel’s voice rang out in fear.
“Cuidado, Reef!”
The jeep tipped to the right as Reef Hanover jerked the wheel to avoid the sea turtle plodding through the center of the coastal highway.
Miguel’s face turned ashen as Reef skillfully righted the vehicle, flashing an unworried grin.
“What the hell is that thing doing out here?” Reef demanded lightly as the truck regained its balance. Miguel had his dark eyes glued to the back of the open-air truck, shaking his head.
“Porbrecito. I do no know why he is there but we should go pick him up and bring him to the sea. He will die out here. He is going the wrong way!”
Reef grinned, watching at the creature heading towards the thick Nicaraguan rainforest.
“You and your bleeding heart, amigo,” Reef said affectionately, as he slowly turned the jeep around.
As they carefully moved the turtle off the road and on his path back to the sea, Reef teased Miguel “Maybe there is a reason he was heading away from the water; perhaps he knows something we don’t.”
Once they started driving again, Miguel turned to look at his long-time friend and business partner. He opened his mouth, forming words before uttering them. “Maybe you are right about the turtle. It could be a sign,” he said ominously, his face registering concern. “Perhaps we should not go to the shop today.”
Reef cast him a sidelong look. This was not the first time he had heard a similar argument from Miguel in the past weeks.
Something is bothering him. He has been avoiding this for days. First it was the storm, then he claimed his abuela was sick. Now he is babbling about omens…
“Maybe we should…” the shorter man started.
“Go another day?” Reef finished. “I am happy to turn around and drop you back off in Léon if you are having a bad day… again.”
Miguel fell silent, turning his face so that Reef could not see, but the old soul knew. He could smell the worry seeping from Miguel’s pores.
There is no point in pressing the matter, he thought as they continued their drive toward the Pacific Ocean. Sooner or later, I will discover what is spooking him.
The remainder of the drive was silent, but in a short time, the sands of Poneloya Beach came into view.
Perhaps it was Miguel’s state of concern or just a gut-feeling, but Reef could sense something amiss as they drove into the charming town.
Reef glanced at Miguel. The swarthy-complexioned man had gone almost waxen as they drew near the sandy shores surrounding their surf shop.
Reef felt the same pride every time he saw the blue and white hand painted sign of El Tiburon Surf Shop.
It had been a joint venture of Miguel and Reef, one which both had entered with gusto. Each man had become wealthy by other means, but the surf shop had been something they had both wanted for a long while.
Reef quite a bit longer than Miguel.
“It is very quiet here today,” Reef commented, parking the Jeep outside of the surf shack. The unease in his bones grew.
It is nothing. Miguel is affecting you, he tried to reason but he was not so sure.
Miguel did not speak and Reef suddenly found his blazing-green eyes scanning the beach. There was not a single soul on the sand nor, in the topaz, Pacific waters.
Squinting in the sun, he made out two fishing boats, but there was no one else on the water as far as his eyes could see.
Slowly, he turned, his gaze glancing from storefront to café and his mind began to race.
Where is everyone?
Suddenly, Miguel’s strange behavior made sense. Obviously, his long-time friend knew what was happening in the sleepy town of Poneloya.
I wonder what he is hiding.
“Miguel…” he growled, turning to stare at his partner. “What is going on?”
The black-haired Latino swallowed nervously and shook his head, raising his shoulders in ignorance.
“I do not know what you mean,” he told Reef, opening the shop as if it was another normal day.
The shop had been closed for the past two weeks due to a small hurricane that had passed through. But it was long gone, so the storm could no longer explain the eerie silence. No tourists. No locals peddling their wares. Just the sun, water, sand, and all encompassing quiet.
“Do I look like a fool to you?” Reef demanded, but Miguel was busying himself pulling down surfboards. He reached beneath the cupboard for wax and began to hum a nervous tune.
“Miguel!”
“I do not know anything!” Miguel yelled and Reef was slightly surprised by the man’s tone.
Miguel was not one to raise his voice in defensiveness. It was one of the reasons the two had maintained such a long friendship; both were mild-mannered.
He fears something, Reef realized. Something has happened here. That is why he is terrified and no one is nearby. But why won’t he tell me anything? Why the secrecy?
Reef had heard nothing, but even a murder would not keep people away from the popular beach.
Is it one of us? Have our kind been here? Does Miguel suspect something of me?
“Let us get out there,” Miguel urged, trying to alter Reef’s thoughts. “Look at the waves today!”
Reef nodded slowly, accepting his favorite board from Miguel before removing his shirt. His six pack of perfect abs rippled against the sunlight, and for a fleeting moment, the heat scorched him.
I have been inside the estate for too long. I am not used to the sunlight, he realized, his mind temporarily shifting from the abandoned sands. Although he could handle the rays well, he knew he should not stay in the sun for too long; doing so could have devastating effects eventually.
“I will race you, amigo,” Miguel called playfully, but Reef could still hear the stress in his voice.
Reef did not answer, instead bolting toward the crystalline waters of the ocean, Miguel hot on his heels.
If he does not wish to speak, no amount of prodding will encourage him… especially if he believes I am that danger.
Reef willed himself not to jump to conclusions and instead stared at the water.
In unison, they dove into the waves, their boards beneath their bellies as the paddled out.
“There!” Miguel cried after a moment and together they watched as a large wave began to emerge from the sea.
Like synchronized swimmers, they paddled for the wave with remarkable grace. As soon as they could feel the wave’s power beginning to take hold, they quickly popped up, balancing themselves evenly on their smooth fiberglass boards, as they followed the line of the wave, effortlessly carving up and down the face.
After catching four more waves, Miguel and Reef were hundreds of yards apart, but each could read the expression of contentment on the other’s face.
He doesn’t look so stressed out now, Reef thought, straddling his board and paddling back toward the shore. If this was about me, he would not be so easily placated. Would he?
Reef loathed to think that he would be forced to kill Miguel. He had been such a loyal companion for so many years.
Yet, if it is for the good of the code…
Miguel stayed in the water. As Reef – the blonde, bronzed surfer – rode a wave into shore. As he drew near, he saw someone standing at the water’s edge.
Look at that. Whatever has the locals spooked hasn’t kept everyone away. One woman has left the sanctuary of her own house today.
Lazily, he let the current wash him toward his shop, not paying special attention to the dark-haired woman who seemed to be watching him as he made his way in.
Do I know her? Reef wondered, but he could not reconcile the long dark hair and sullen expression with anyone he had met.
Perhaps she was a tourist?
Her clothes were much too expensive for the coastal town of Poneloya and Reef h
ad a bad feeling about her being there on that day especially. There was not another breathing person in sight.
The town has become a virtual cemetery and the only person who surfaces is a suit type?
His feet touching the shallow shores, Reef scooped up his board and squinted. The woman continued to stare at him coldly, but it was then that Reef realized something was familiar about her after all.
She appears to be Latina, he thought idly, but he made no move to address her. Does she live in Poneloya? She could buy the entire town with what she spent on that outfit.
Purposefully, he turned his head away from where she stood and moved toward the surf shop but her voice rang out in the silent air.
“Reef Hanover!”
Surprised, he turned back toward her, his dark blonde eyebrow raised.
“Yes? Do I know you?” he asked. Even with the distance between them, Reef could see the cold smirk on her face.
“I don’t think you have ever had the pleasure personally, but I imagine Mr. Martinez has mentioned my name.”
Inadvertently, Reef turned to look back at Miguel, who was still out in the water, but was clearly watching.
Reef sighed internally. He should have insisted Miguel tell him what was wrong.
Oh, Miguel, what have you done this time? Reef thought dryly.
Nonchalantly, Reef shrugged his shoulders, turning away from her without showing interest.
“Unless you are his dying abuela, I’m afraid I have no idea who you are,” he replied flippantly.
There was something about this woman he instinctively did not trust, and Reef always trusted his instincts. They had served him well for centuries, after all.
Yet there was something undeniably alluring about her.
Perhaps it was the way her gray eyes seemed to hold so much contempt, or her too rigid stature, as if she needed to be taken down a notch.
How can someone exude that much loathing toward another they have never met. Is she one of ours?
“I am Luna Cruz.”
Reef extended a dripping hand, but she only stared at it as if it was toxic.
“It’s seawater, not acid,” he told her lightly. “But you are wearing five thousand-dollar shoes on a beach so…”
“Why have you come here?” Luna Cruz demanded furiously.
Reef was taken aback by her surprising aggression. “Señorita Cruz, with all due respect, who the hell are you and why do you know my name?”
Come to me, he willed Miguel silently. Reef suspected that his business partner could unravel the mystery of Luna Cruz.
She paused for a minute, cocking her head to the side and Reef was suddenly fascinated by her mouth.
What a pity she is such a sullen wench. She is quite lovely in a man-eating sort of way.
Unexpectedly, he wondered what she would taste like. He had never had such a seemingly bitter soul; would she leave a bitter sensation on his tongue?
Her slate-gray eyes narrowed as if she was contemplating what course of action to take and Reef could hear splashing at this back.
Miguel slowly came toward them out of the ocean.
“Señorita Cruz!” Miguel called nervously. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing, Señor Martinez. I have been speaking with Señor Hanover and he appears to have no idea who I am.”
Reef studied her before turning to his wet business partner.
“Miguel? Is there something you forgot to tell me?” Reef asked in a singsong voice.
It did not matter what Miguel had done. Reef did not lose his temper. He had long ago forsaken the worldly traits of angers and annoyance and replaced it with a much more Zen mentality.
Reef had rescued Miguel from gambling debts, drug lords and once from an ex-wife who had tried to castrate him when learning of his affection for low-end working girls.
It was all in a day’s work when friends with – the sometimes unruly – Miguel Martinez. Yet not once had it come to a place where Miguel had been too afraid to tell Reef of an impending issue.
I cannot wait to hear this one, Reef thought with a slight bit of perverse glee, watching his friend turn opaque with worry.
“Since it appears that Señor Martinez cannot seem to get the words out, I will do the honors. The Nicaraguan government is seizing all of the land on this beach, and none of these businesses are allowed to operate here anymore.
The words hung in the air until Reef broke out into a smile.
“Is something amusing, Mr. Hanover?” Luna Cruz snapped.
“Everything about that is amusing,” he chuckled.
“There is an entire judicial process the government would have to go through to seize this property. It would take months, or even years.” Reef retorted.
“Miguel, did you not tell her I am a lawyer?” I can’t believe you fell for this nonsense.” Miguel glanced helplessly at Reef and then at Luna.
Reef whipped his head around to glare at the underhanded woman. “Did you simply think that we were too poor and uneducated to see through your story?” he snapped, feeling an unexpected spark of anger toward the woman. “Who are you really?”
While she maintained her sour expression, Reef could read a flash of uncertainty in her eye.
“Reef, she has already evicted all the other businesses,” Miguel whispered.
Reef shrugged his shoulders.
“Well since she had no right to do so, they are free to return.” Reef assured him. Turning back to Luna, he interrogated, “Who do you actually work for?”
Reef and Luna clashed eyes. He was impressed at how firmly she held her ground despite the predicament she was in.
“They cannot come back. When I told them that the government planned to seize their parcels of land, and that they could either sign the deeds over in return for a small payment, or have it taken with no compensation and be evicted – well, they all signed very quickly,” she replied smugly.
“Just like Señor Martinez did,” she added.
Reef stared at his partner slowly, shaking his head.
“Oh, Miguel, one of these days, amigo, after I have saved your ass again, I am going to murder you with my bare hands.”
Reef smiled at the woman, his expression seeming to irritate Luna Cruz.
“He doesn’t have the authority to sign away the land our shop is on.”
“It is in both of your names and one partner is able—”
“I know the law, señorita,” he cut her off. “Though clearly you don’t.”
“Miguel is a partner in the surf shop, but the shop just leases the land from a different company, of which I am the sole owner. Now get off my land.”
Chapter 2
“Who is she?” Reef demanded again as the two drove back toward Léon that night.
“I only know what she told me, Reef! She said she worked for the government and that—”
“Miguel, that makes no sense,” Reef interrupted. “What was the name of the company on the paperwork you signed? It didn’t say ‘Government of the Republic of Nicaragua’ on it, did it?”
“Well, no,” Miguel stammered. “It said the land was being transferred to the Sanford Corporation.”
“Then why the hell did you think she worked for the government,” an exasperated Reef exclaimed.
“Sanford is a very powerful company here. They are one of the largest, most ruthless land developers in Central America. I thought they must have bribed some high-ranking politicians, and gotten the government to have the land seized and transferred to them. It seemed best to go ahead and sign the documents and transfer it directly to them and at least get a little money for it, rather than have the government actually seize it and us get nothing.”
“Why didn’t you just talk to me about it,” Reef inquired. “I could have told you it was just a scam by Sanford to try to buy everyone’s land on the cheap.”
“I didn’t tell you would just want to fight it—whether it was actually the govern
ment working with Sanford, or if it was just Sanford. But these are not people you should fight; they are too dangerous.”
“Well it seems they were counting on not having anyone fight back. But it turns out they chose the wrong beach if that is what they wanted.” Reef responded.
As Reef had suspected, the vandalism began the very next day.
Miguel decided to stay in Léon despite Reef’s assurances that they were safe.
“Nothing is going to happen to us at the shop,” he promised Miguel.
“But my abuela…she’s not feeling so good again…” Miguel hemmed.
Reef rolled his eyes and headed toward the beach.
One day I am going to tell him that I know both his grandmothers are dead and have been for years, Reef vowed, but he knew he was lying to himself. If it made Miguel feel better to hide behind those lies, who was Reef to stop him?
Reef knew that he had not seen the end of Luna Cruz, but instead of being angered by it, he felt himself strangely aroused by the thought of seeing her again. He had met many beautiful women, but none who carried themselves as she did. He was almost eager to see what she would do next.
We are beginning a game of chess and we have each exposed our queens. Let us see who will make the more brazen move.
It was Luna. When he arrived at the surf shop, someone had taken an axe to the small shack. Reef almost laughed.
“Is that the best you’ve got?”
In turn, he went to meet Ever and Marisol who owned the nearby café. Like all the others, they had signed the deed over to Sanford for a pittance, thinking if they did not the government would seize their property and give it to Sanford.
Reef explained to them that the tactics Sanford had used to obtain the deed were illegal, and he offered to take the couple to the local police station to report the crime, but they were too afraid to do so.
That evening Reef filled Miguel in on all that had happened. Miguel was terrified that Reef was getting involved and encouraging others to accuse Sanford of criminal activity.
Miguel pleaded with him. “You cannot go up against a company like Sanford.”
