“I’m Alex, but my friends call me Ex. Yeah, I’ve mostly lived in the US, so I come by the accent honestly.”

“Ex for excellent? Extraordinary?” I hoped my dimples were on display, even if my clever repartee was on vacation.

“All the above. Is this your first time here?”

“Matt’s been to Costa Rica, but this is a first for me.”

“Have a wonderful time then. Make sure you schedule some of our nature walks.” Ex was already glancing toward the next table. He wished us a good evening and said if we needed anything, to let him know.

I needed plenty, and I planned to do exactly that.

If Teo and I hadn’t been keeping track of our friendly bartender, the evening would have been perfect. Still, I was sitting in paradise with the man I’d nearly lost. Even with a confrontation hanging over our heads, our surroundings were magical.

The guitarist finally called it quits for the night, and I went to tip and thank him. I stopped by the bar. “When do you close?”

“We’ll call the last round soon. But you’re welcome to sit here as long as you’d like. We do turn out the lights at midnight. And we dim the ones along the walkways, so be careful going back. Artificial light confuses the wildlife.”

I thanked him and went to tell Teo. “Not long now,” I said.

“In a little while I’m going to disappear. I’ll be in the shadows watching. When he leaves, you look at your watch, like you’re ready to call it quits for the night, and follow.”

When the call came for final drinks, I signed our check. Ten minutes later, Teo got up, kissed me and headed toward the reception area.

The server cleared what was left on all the tables, and I punched a text into my phone, as if waiting for Teo to return. In a few minutes the other bartenders wheeled bottles of liquor toward the dining room for storage, and just ten minutes later, after clearing and cleaning the bar, Ex called it quits for the night. I watched him unfold louvered shutters over what remained of the liquor supply and fasten them with a lock. He dimmed the lights before he took off, but I was more interested in his direction. I stood, looked at my watch and headed the same way.

I would bet on Teo—missing leg and all—if a fight was in the works. Still, we were in somebody else’s country. What would we tell the authorities if a fight ensued? That we’d waylaid a Costa Rican citizen because we thought he might be involved in a murder, even though we had no proof and very few facts?

By now Ex was thirty yards ahead of me, and I walked faster.

Just as I wondered where Teo was, Ex stopped in the middle of the path to remove a shoe. He held it up and shook it, as if he’d picked up a briar or stone, and at the same moment Teo appeared, coming toward him from the other direction. As I approached, I pulled out my phone and held it up when I was close enough that Ex had spotted me.