Her Latin Lover (Contemporary Romance) (16 page)

Finally the judge spoke. He said that a terrible crime had been committed. Mary froze. How could he possibly accuse her of murder on the basis of a few flimsy questions? Maybe she should have said more.

The judge drank some more water. His glass was almost empty now. The assistant refilled it from a large carafe. The judge then said that the use of guns in Corazon was something that he “deploro”. Mary didn’t recognise the word. She’d learnt a lot of Spanish very quickly, but she hadn’t had time to learn the entire dictionary. However, she guessed it meant “deplored”, or something similar given the grimace that was now on the judge’s little face.

She didn’t quite catch the rest of what he said, but it seemed that the judge felt guns and the shooting of them was something he wanted to see an end of in the town. He hoped that with the death of El Leon, he would see a reduction of such activity in the area. Although the police had done their best, sadly, a foreigner, and a woman at that, had been caught up in the situation, which ended in yet more violence. The judge hoped that the foreigner wouldn’t leave South America thinking that such things were typical of the region. The judge then nodded to her, wished her a pleasant journey home and walked out of the room.

Paulo rushed over and hugged her. Isabella praised God and hugged her. The farmers came up and congratulated her. Señor Marcos walked over and looked as if he wanted to hug her, but refrained. The Chief of Police came over and shook hands with her. Paulo announced that everyone was invited over to the bar as the drinks were on him and everyone left the hot, crowded room as quickly as possible.

Chapter 15

In the bar there was no end to the number of bottles of champagne that were opened and the number of toasts that were made. They toasted the judge, who came in to join them, they toasted the Chief of Police who seemed to be drinking twice as fast as anyone else, they toasted Don Paulo, who hardly drank anything at all and they toasted Maria de La Ne.

“The name suits you,” Paulo said, refilling her glass. “What do you think?”

“I think I shouldn’t drink too much at lunch time. And all this champagne must be costing you a fortune!”

“Think nothing of it. It’s a very special occasion after all.” Paulo called out to the bartender to fetch some more bottles and to offer everybody any other drinks they might want.

Mary didn’t pursue the subject, but she knew from talking to Isabella, Javier and Carlos that Paulo was struggling financially. In order to make a profit from the coffee that he grew he would have to update all the machinery that he used for processing it, but that would cost money and despite living in a grand house, he didn’t have any real cash. He’d gone to the bank, but they were unwilling to take the risk of lending him the necessary funds. They, like Paulo, knew that if the price of coffee continued to fall, or if there was a bad harvest, the estate would run at a huge loss, even with new equipment. Mary wished there was something she could do to help him, but all she seemed capable of doing was adding to his expenses. Thankfully they no longer had to hire a lawyer; at least she didn’t think so.

“Is it really all over? Will I have to go back to court?” she asked Paulo.

“No, you won’t. The judge declared it to be a case of, what you might call ‘justifiable homicide’, so there won’t be a trial now. You did a fantastic job of answering his questions. I am very proud of you.” He clinked his glass against hers and took a small sip.

 “But I hardly said anything.” Mary was glad that she only had to answer a few questions, but she thought that the judge might have asked her a few more and called a few more witnesses. She also wondered why no one objected to the Chief of Police’s story which certainly seemed to be stretching the truth, though maybe she misunderstood what he said in court.

“For someone who’s just escaped a murder trial, you don’t look very happy.” Paulo said.

“Paulo, can I ask you how much you had to do with it?”

“I had a lot to do with it. I placed bail for you and did everything I could to have the pre-trial moved to Corazon, which it was and look at the result! What an excellent verdict!”

“But how much did you have to do with the verdict? The Chief of Police’s story didn’t seem very accurate.”

“That was nothing to do with me. The Chief of Police was just trying to save face,” Paulo said quietly, as the policeman was standing nearby. “How could he admit in a public courtroom that a foreign woman, who’s been in the country for only a few weeks, managed to bring down a man that had evaded him for years?”

“But it was all over so fast. The judge asked hardly anyone any questions,” Mary replied. She wondered if Paulo had paid off the judge, adding to the list of expenses he’d incurred because of her.

“Now that was because of you. You did that.”

“Me? I don’t understand.” Mary had never seen the judge before in her life. How could she have influenced the case?

“I believe you told Isabella one evening that you were expected at a party that night at the Royal Palace, as a guest of your best friends, the newlywed Prince and Princess, but that you were happier to be here, helping her to prepare dinner in the kitchen.”

“Yes I remember that conversation.” It was a while back, on the Saturday night that Nick was expecting her to accompany him to the party at the Palace. Mary had laughed and told Isabella that she would rather be making dinner for Paulo and the rest of them than going to the Palace with Nick, wearing whatever dress Nick had told her to put on.

“However, I didn’t tell Isabella that I was best friends with the Royals,” she clarified. “I said that Nick’s best friend had got the invite to the party, though I can see how Isabella might have misunderstood. My Spanish was a bit basic at the time. But what has all this got to do with my pre-trial.”

Paulo laughed as he explained that Isabella had told her family what she thought Mary had said to her and then her relatives told all of Corazon. It was now common belief in the town that Mary had some very prestigious connections in London.

“Why didn’t you tell me this? Did you know all along that I was going to get off?” Mary demanded.

“No. Rumours and gossip don’t necessarily secure a release. It all depended on what type of man the judge was. We needed a man who was scared of causing a potential diplomatic incident and, more importantly, a Royalist. I don’t know the judge at all, as he is a man who keeps to himself, but luckily, he appears to be that kind of man. If he had been a socialist, we might all still be there now, answering questions in the courtroom.”

Mary couldn’t believe it. At the end of the day it had been her and no one else who had secured her release and not through bribes or threats, but through an innocent conversation and a misunderstanding! Mary looked at the judge further down the bar. He was sitting on a bar stool which raised his height significantly. She gave him a smile and a small wave. He interpreted this as a signal to come over and join her and Paulo.

“Thank you Señor,” the judge said in Spanish looking up to Paulo. “Thank you for the drink and your very generous hospitality, but I must be getting back to work. Sadly, not all of my cases are as straight-forward as the one this morning.”

“Señora,” he said, tuning to Mary, “on behalf of the people of Corazon, please accept my apologies for the fact that you were involved in such an ugly incident. I hope I made the whole procedure as easy and as comfortable as possible for you this morning.”

Mary did her best to assure him that he had.

“And Señora,” he continued, “when you go back to London, I would be grateful if you could send my most sincere regards to the Royal Family.” The judge handed her his card, made a short bow and strutted out.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do that,” Mary said, once the little man had left. “Firstly, I’m hardly on first-name terms with the Royals, and secondly, I have no idea when I’ll be back in London.” She didn’t have an air-ticket anymore and no money to pay for one.

“I will buy you an air ticket, if that is what you want. When would you like to go?”

“Never,” Mary replied. “Why would I want to leave you?”

“I was hoping you would say that, but I have to give you the choice. I can’t keep you here against your will.”

“I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be than be here with you, though we’ll have to do something about the sleeping arrangements. We can’t spend all our time sneaking off to roll around in the grass when no one’s looking.”

“There is a very simple solution.” Paulo smiled.

“There is? Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I was waiting until we knew the result of your court case.” Paulo said. He put his arms around her tiny waist and looked deep into her eyes. “Maria de La Ne, will you marry me?”

“Yes! Yes!” she cried. She was thrilled. First she’d been acquitted of murder and now this wonderful, kind, sexy man was asking her to be his wife. She pulled Paulo towards her and kissed him full on the mouth. However, she was interrupted by Isabella who wanted to know what on earth they both thought they were doing, carrying on like that in a public bar and at lunchtime too.

Paulo kept his arms around Mary, but turned to Isabella and said, “My dear Isabella, meet my future wife.”

Isabella threw her hands up in joy and kissed both of them several times on the cheek. Several people in the bar were now staring at them. Paulo announced his news to everyone in the room and ordered more champagne. The entire bar erupted into further celebrations and people rushed up to congratulate them.

“More champagne? Can you afford this?” Mary asked.

“Would you still marry me if you knew how poor I was?”

“Of course,” Mary replied, kissing him.

A tall, lanky man interrupted them and said, “Don Paulo, I could not help but overhear you mention your finances.”

“Please, Señor Vega, not now. I am celebrating my engagement,” Paulo said. “Señor Vega is my bank manager,” he explained to Mary before introducing them to each other.

“I’m sorry, but I have something important, very important to discuss with you,” Señor Vega continued, fiddling with the stem of his champagne glass.

“I see, but could you make it brief,” Paulo replied.

“Maybe we can go outside, or through to the back room and speak privately?” Señor Vega suggested.

“Whatever you would like to say to me about my finances, you can say in front of my fiancée.”

Mary felt a further surge of happiness when she heard Paulo say this. Whatever his monetary situation was, at least he was willing to be open with her about it.

“Very well,” Señor Vega conceded. “It is about El Leon’s account.”

“Leon’s finances are nothing to do with me.” Paulo said. Mary could see his face harden.

“But they are. When El Leon died, he left no other living relatives apart from you. I have just been talking to the judge about this and he is quite in agreement with me about the situation.”

“What situation? Are you trying to tell me that I am accountable for my brother’s actions? I want nothing more to do with him. He did enough damage while he was alive.” Paulo threw back an almost full glass of champagne and poured himself another one from a bottle that stood on the bar. Mary had never seen him drink so much, so quickly.

“I think you might want something to do with this,” Señor Vega also helped himself to another glass. “Your brother was a wealthy man and this wealth has now passed to you. The judge is in full agreement that I should transfer your brother’s money directly into your account.”

“How much money?” Paulo asked.

“Most of it is in US dollars. Your brother did not trust the local currency. That was maybe not a bad thing. The peso can gain, but it can also lose a lot. US dollars are certainly safer.”

“How much?” Paulo repeated.

“We can go to the bank and check the exact amount, but more or less, give or take a few hundred dollars, depending on current interest rates, about two million American dollars.”

“Two million?”

“Yes, but like I say, it could be a few hundred either way.”

Very slowly, Paulo put down his glass.

“Did you hear that?” he asked Mary, “My brother has left me . . .”

“. . . two million dollars,” Mary finished for him. She couldn’t believe it.

“I don’t want it,” Paulo said. “It’s blood money that Leon stole from other people. I want nothing to do with it”

“If you don’t take it, it will pass to the government,” Señor Vega said. “Please, take it. You will use it more wisely than the government will. Buy the equipment you need for your coffee estate.”

“I would rather starve and let my coffee rot than have Leon’s money,” Paulo insisted.

“Think of your farmers. Do you want to see them starve too? We both know it’s been several years since anyone has had a pay rise.”

Mary could see Paulo’s resolve weaken. The bank manager continued to try and persuade Paulo. He said that Paulo could use the money to help all the people that Leon had hurt. For example, he could give some of it to Señor Marcos so he could renovate his hotel. He could also give some of it to the Church. Señor Vega knew that the priest wanted to set up a fund to help widows and orphans who were at risk of becoming beggars and prostitutes in La Puesta. Paulo could also help his friends, like Isabella and her nieces and nephews.

“Who will pay for Juan to go to college to study to be a doctor?” Señor Vega asked. “Think of how much good you could do with this money. And remember, you now have a wedding to pay for.”

“Take it, Paulo,” Mary said. “Use it to make up for all the terrible things that your brother did.”

 “If you think I should Maria, then I will,” Paulo said. “I will take it, but only so that I can repair some of the damage that my brother caused, but first we will use it to fly out your family and friends, and have the biggest wedding fiesta that Corazon has ever seen!”

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