Payback

51

“What are you doing?” Fernandez asked Lia. He had found another set of work lamps similar to those strung along the ceiling.

“I figured I could get going, get done, and get out of here,” she said. She reached down and took the authentic envelope from under the replacement, slitting it open with her fingernail.

“Don’t you want something to sit on?” he asked.

“That would be nice,” said Lia.

“There are some chairs in the trucks. Do you have enough power in your battery?”

Lia remembered the excuse she had given him at the bank.

“For one or two tests, I can get away with it,” she told him. “But if not, I think I can reach the overhead cords. That’s OK, right?”

“Sure.” He glanced to her right, looking at the box of cards. Then he went to get the chair.

Once he was gone, Lia finished switching the envelopes. After the original was sealed inside the briefcase, she took another envelope from the middle of the pile and slit it open to “test” the cards. The diagnostics were just starting when Fernandez returned.

Besides the chair, he had a bottle of water and two green leaves in his fingers.

“Chew these. They’re coca leaves. The natives around here use them for energy. They carry them in little bags. I got a couple from one of the workers.”

Dubious, Lia took one of the leaves and nibbled at the corner.

Fernandez laughed. “It won’t make you a drug addict; don’t worry.”

“Maybe I’ll try it later,” she said, taking a sip of water.