“Certainly, Miss Allersby,” he said. “If you ask me, it’s not a favor. It’s my job.”

“I would like you to run credit checks on an American couple. The names are Samuel and Remi Fargo. They live on Goldfish Point in La Jolla, California, which is a section of San Diego. I want to know exactly what charges they’re making on their credit cards and where.”

“Do you have any identifiers? Social Security numbers, dates of birth? Anything like that?”

“No. But you can buy them from their banks, can’t you?”

“Of course, Miss Allersby, or from middlemen.”

“Then go ahead. They were here in Guatemala a couple of weeks ago. Their hotel will probably have made copies of their passports and will certainly have their credit card numbers.”

“Yes, Miss Allersby,” he said. “I’ll find out where they are and what they’re doing and call you.”

“Good. Wait a few hours after that and run their credit again once each day so we can pick up any changes.”

“Certainly, Miss Allersby.”

She hung up and turned her attention to planning her expedition. She made long lists of things that needed to be done and, under them, the people she would order to do them. After about two hours, her cell phone rang again.

“Hello.”

“Miss Allersby, it’s Ricardo Escorial. Samuel and Remi Fargo charged some airline tickets a few hours ago. They flew from Madrid to New York. In the afternoon, they’ll arrive and take a flight from New York to San Diego.”

“Are you sure they got on the flight at Madrid?”

“Quite sure,” he said. “Otherwise, by now there would be a refund or an additional charge for a change in reservations.”

“All right. Call me with an update tomorrow.” She hung up, then dialed another number.

“Hello?” It was Russell’s voice again. He sounded as though he had been asleep.

“Hello, Russell. It’s me. After the Fargos painted you blue, they took a plane to New York. They’re booked on a second flight to San Diego in the late afternoon. So don’t waste your time searching the tapas bars, looking for revenge. Go home and take care of this problem.”

Chapter 19

LA JOLLA