Milton stepped outside and noticed a man and a woman who had not been there before. He assumed that they had been inside one of the other huts. They were not Colombian. They were tanned and dirty with the grime of the jungle, but Milton could see that they were white. They were wearing jungle camouflage and carrying AR-15 rifles. Eidur crossed the clearing, intercepting the two newcomers.

Milton watched them for a moment. It was obvious that the three of them were familiar with one another: the woman said something and the two men laughed. They had an obvious ease, both with each other and with the surroundings within which they found themselves. They were far from home, deep within the jungle at an illegal drugs kitchen, surrounded by armed traficantes. The Scandinavian worked for La Bruja; the newcomers evidently did, too. He wondered what they were. Ex-military, certainly. Mercenaries. Personal security for the cartel leadership?

The woman noticed that Milton was watching them.

“What are you looking at?” she said.

Milton had to fight the urge to gape: the woman spoke with a broad Newcastle accent.

“Sorry?” Milton said.

“What’s the matter? You deaf? I said what are you looking at?”

“I wasn’t looking at anything.”

The woman stared him out. Milton didn’t want an altercation and looked down.

“I need a beer,” the woman said. She turned to the man next to her. “Your turn. Chop-chop.”

The man grumbled about something, but made his way across the camp to one of the huts and disappeared inside. The woman gave Milton a final hard stare and then went over to take a place by the fire. Eidur followed.

La Bruja had been watching from inside the hut. She wore a sly smile.

“Who are they?” Milton said, nodding to the departing mercenaries.

“My job has certain… challenges.”

“I can imagine. They’re security?”

“They are.”

She offered nothing else and Milton got the message: she didn’t want to discuss them. Instead, she told Milton to follow her to a small wooden structure that had been weatherproofed with a sheet of tarpaulin. She pulled the tarp back to reveal a course of wrapped oblong packages stacked along the wall. She went over to the bricks and took one down. She hefted it and then tossed it over to Milton. He caught it.