La Bruja did not know Number One’s details, not even his name. She referred to him as Eidur, a name that the big Icelander had suggested as his legend in a nod to Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen, the country’s most famous footballing export.

La Bruja gestured to Eight and Six. “Who are your friends?”

“They work with me,” he said. “Like Eidur.”

“And you have need of them here?”

“I don’t,” he said. “But you do. Shall we go inside?”

32

They opened the shack and went in. The planks of wood that made up the walls were rotting in some places and did not fit together neatly in others. Shafts of sunlight arrowed their way inside, lancing through the gloom and highlighting the motes of dust that had been disturbed by their arrival.

Weaver took off his dark glasses. “It went well?”

“Simple enough. Cochrane was an arrogant man—a typical gringo. They think, because they are Americans, that they can treat Colombia as they wish. They think that they can seek to dictate its future without fear of consequence. He learned the error of his ways.”

“It won’t be the end of the matter,” Weaver said. “The accord might not have been signed, but the DEA is sending more agents. And the president will be making a speech tomorrow, in which he will make it clear that putting an end to the cartels is now a declared aim of his administration.”

“We have heard that many times before from many different presidents.”

“I know you have,” he said. “But the assassination of a sitting ambassador demands a very public response. The Colombian government has no option but to cooperate.”

“None of this is unexpected. We discussed it.”

“We did. But our friends in the CIA wanted you to know that there is going to be a lot of additional heat down here. The advice I have been asked to pass on by our friends in Langley is that it would be wise to keep a low profile for a while.”

She smiled. “Do I look like Don Pablo, señor? I do not have a ranch. I do not have a dozen fincas or mansions in Bogotá. I live here.” She waved her hand to encompass the dense trees outside the shack. “In the plantations. In the jungle. I can only be found by those who I wish to find me.”

“Don’t underestimate the attention that you’re going to get. They will be putting drones in the air.”

“And we will shoot them down.”

“These drones fly at sixty thousand feet and stay in the air for days at a time. You wouldn’t see them even if you knew where to look, and you won’t. You might even warrant a satellite.”

“What do you advise?”