Kitty looked shocked. ‘Twelve?’ she repeated.
He couldn’t help but share her distaste. ‘I didn’t know, but I should have. Looking back, I was so pleased to finally find somebody who would talk that I didn’t think about anything else. Didn’t think about the fact he was a kid, didn’t think about the fact talking to me would have repercussions. I was too busy looking for the truth to see the train wreck waiting to happen.’
She stirred her spoon in the empty cup. ‘And it did happen?’ she asked. ‘The train wreck, I mean.’
Adam slowly nodded his head. His stomach was clenching like a fist, tight then loose. ‘It was inevitable. Over there, if you squeal you get dealt with. The only things Mat had on his side was the fact he was a kid, and that his mom was related to Garcia. If it wasn’t for that he would be dead by now.’
Kitty leaned in closer still. ‘So he’s not dead?’
Adam sighed, closing his eyes to the light streaming through the windows. But behind his lids all he could see was that day. The windowless room lit only by the makeshift lamps he and his assistant had rigged up. The camera rolling. Garcia’s smug smile. ‘He’s OK.’ Adam’s voice was gruff. ‘But no thanks to me.’
Kitty slid her hand across the table, grabbing his. He could feel the warmth as she threaded her fingers between his. ‘What happened, Adam? What happened out there?’
He squeezed her hand as though nothing was more important than the connection between them. A few more words from him and she might pull away altogether. And who could blame her? After what he’d done, he could hardly bear to look at himself.
‘Garcia agreed to meet with us. I should have known right then that something was up. But I had protection over there, a couple of guys with guns who weren’t afraid to use them. I thought we were safe. So we arrived at this warehouse in the mountains and set up inside. Then Garcia arrived with his caravan of security, and sat down opposite me and told me to roll the camera.’ Adam swallowed the last of his coffee. ‘From the start, he was in charge. When I tried to ask my first question he told me to wait, that he had a gift for me. That’s when two of his guys dragged Mat inside, and made him come and stand next to me.’
‘He pulled a gun,’ Kitty whispered.
‘What?’
‘He pulled a gun on you. I saw it in the script.’ She was still holding his hand, her thumb resting on his palm. Somehow it felt as though she was grounding him.
‘Yeah, except it wasn’t me he pulled the gun on. It was Mat. He pulled out his pistol and shot Mat in both knees, then stood up and left the room. The kid was screaming – God only knew how painful it was. I was trying to stem the blood loss, shouting out for help, and in the end one of Garcia’s doctors came in and took Matty away. Then they made us leave – and confiscated all our equipment – telling us that if we carried on with the documentary then they’d make sure we’d all pay. Including Mat.’
‘They shot a twelve-year-old kid in the knees?’ She looked horrified. ‘Jesus, that’s awful. What happened to him after that?’
‘He recovered from the gunshot wounds, but he has a permanent limp. He spent the last few months hiding with his family somewhere near Bogota.’
‘You’ve seen him?’
Adam shrugged, though he still looked conflicted. ‘He’s here in LA.’
‘He is?’ She couldn’t hide her surprise. ‘What’s he doing here?’
Adam shrugged. ‘He’s been having some meetings with the doctors at County General, to see if there’s anything they can do to help.’
‘That’s good.’ Her voice was soft. ‘That he’s here, that is. It must be a weight off your mind.’
He nodded, but said no more. She frowned, as though a thousand questions rushed into her mind, but she couldn’t find a way to ask any of them. Slowly, she licked her lips. He watched as her tongue trailed along, his eyes following its progress.
He wondered if she understood. If she knew how he still had nightmares of Mat screaming as he held his bleeding legs. ‘It was the least I could do.’ He looked down, at their intertwined fingers. Hers were long, elegant, and his just big and strong.
There was silence for a moment, more awkward than the last one. She opened her mouth a couple of times to say something, then silenced herself. Adam wondered what she was thinking. He was desperate to know.
‘And Everett?’ she finally asked. ‘How did he get involved in this?’
‘With the movie?’
She nodded. ‘Yeah, that. I’m guessing that’s what led to your bust-up in LA.’ She squeezed his fingers.
He swallowed, his mouth drier than ever. ‘I discovered he’d had a script written. He gave it to me, asked me to be a consultant on the movie. I went c
razy. At that time Mat was still missing, somewhere in Colombia. If Garcia had found out about it, there could have been huge repercussions.’
Kitty squeezed her eyes tight. ‘And now? Is he still making that movie? I saw the script at Christmas, didn’t I? Has he learned nothing?’
Adam licked his lips. The way she was looking at him made his chest feel tight as hell. It hurt and it soothed him. ‘We’ve talked about that.’ He knew she’d hate the way he sounded so guarded. ‘It’s under control.’