“Hi, you guys,” he said. “I saw you escaping out here.”
Ivan gazed up at him. “Hey, Joe. How’s it going in there?”
“Amazing. Jake’s discovering how it feels to be famous. You two alright?”
“Yeah, we’re alright, huh, sweetheart?”
“We’re alright,” Samira said with a nod.
“Good.” Joseph sat down on the stone steps with them. “So what are we going to do about these drug dealers, then?”
Ivan shifted uncomfortably. “What drug dealers? And what do you mean ‘we’?”
“Ivan, you’ve got a suitcase full of cocaine under your bed, and I’m pretty sure you didn’t bring it back for personal use. My guess is you took it from a bad guy and now you’re trying to figure out how best to deal with the situation. Am I right?”
Ivan stared at his little brother. “You might be.”
Samira swept her hair out of her eyes as a gentle breeze caressed her skin. “The ‘bad guy’ has my passport, which I desperately need back, otherwise I’m facing deportation. Well, I’m facing it anyway, but without my passport, there’s no hope.”
“Well then,” Joseph said. “It’s just a game of swapsies, right?”
Ivan frowned. “Huh?”
“You’ve got his coke; he’s got Samira’s passport. So you offer him a swap, then you’re both happy.”
“Simple as that, huh?” Ivan said. “Joseph, sometimes you’re so…” he trailed off and shook his head.
“What, naïve?” He flashed a mischievous grin. “Genius?”
Ivan smirked. “Alright, so it might work. I’ll go back to Texas tomorrow to get Samira’s passport and take the coke as a way to force his hand.”
“I’ll help,” Joseph said. “I’ve got a particular dislike of drug dealers.”
“No way. I don’t want you involved in this.”
“I’ve dealt with worse… But, how come you don’t just tell the police?”
Ivan raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You really think they’ll believe we just happened to pick up the wrong suitcase?” He fell pensive for a beat, then he gasped. “Jesus, we were pulled over by a cop on our drive to the airport… imagine if he’d checked in the case...”
Samira chuckled. “That would’ve been a surprise for us all. Thank god customs didn’t check!”
Joseph frowned. “Oh come on, Ivan, you can’t seriously be telling me you think the cops wouldn’t believe you. I mean, if you just told them about Langdon, surely –”
“No cops, Joe.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t breathe a word of this, but Samira was trafficking drugs for him, and she can’t really hand-on-heart say she had no clue she was breaking the law. Right, sweetheart?”
Samira’s face flashed with guilt. “I never looked in the suitcases or asked any questions. I just wanted what was best for Quin.”
Ivan draped his arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay, sweetheart, you haven’t done anything wrong – Langdon’s exploited you. But after we get your passport back and get rid of the coke, he’ll be out of our lives forever.”
Samira leaned into his warm body. “I’m definitely looking forward to getting him out of our lives. But it’s a shame in a way, because I would’ve liked to get justice for his late-wife after what he apparently did to her. And he should be charged with planning to murder me, too.”
“I know what you mean,” Ivan said. “But let’s just get his coke back to him and your passport back to you before we start meddling in justice.”
“Alright.”
Joseph clapped his hands decisively. “So we just need to return the coke and use it as a bartering tool to get your passport back, Samira, right?”
Ivan shook his head. “I told you, Joe, I don’t want you getting involved in this. I’ll get Adam’s pilot to fly me back to Texas first thing. Jake can come with me – he seems like a good guy to have on your side in a fight – and he already knows Langdon. As long as he doesn’t pull any double-crossing selfish asshole shit.”