Episode 15

...THREE DAYS LATER...

HUGO WOKE UP STARTLED. The first thing he looked at was the ceiling, which wasn't the same as the one in his room. It was a wooden ceiling now. After half a second, he remembered he was staying in an apartment he had rented on Airbnb. He wasn't in Rio anymore, nor had he set foot in Sao Paulo. He had arrived in Fortaleza a few hours ago. He checked the time on his cell phone. Three thirty in the morning. He insisted on keeping the habit of writing in his little notebook. He remembered that he had left it on the bedside table.

"I dreamed about him again. Him, who I have no idea who he is, or what his name is. I just know he's a little taller than me. How did I find that out? It was in the dream itself. I can't believe I have the last dream written down here…"

Hugo flipped through the pages until he found the third to last description he had made. He reread it, having a feeling that it was no longer enough to know about this specific dream. The most recent dream was the one that mattered most. It was the one he felt the most. He went back to writing:

"I just read the last dream. It was ten days ago. I didn't feel anything, honestly. It seems like it lost its importance. Every dream I write down, loses its importance. But this one now scared me. I dreamed I was with the same man. It was night and it was kind of dark outside. I think we were entering the hotel. Where was that place? And why was I going to a hotel with him? Intriguing. All I remember is the part where we were going up some stairs that gave access to the hotel lobby and I heard a gunshot. On my side, I saw a bloodstain on his chest. He fell to the floor, right at my feet. Then I woke up."

Hugo closed the notebook, thoughtful. He was thinking about stopping writing down his own dreams because he didn't expect to feel indifferent reading something he wrote as soon as he woke up. This current dream would probably be just another dream written on paper. He finds this experience interesting \- but deep down, he knew it wouldn't lead to anything. On the one hand, there are dreams so good that they are worth talking about; on the other, Hugo had only been having strange and sporadic dreams, practically with the same person.

Tired, he left the notebook on the bedside table and went back to sleep.

...****************...

HE ARRANGED TO MEET Joyce at Praia do Futuro at eleven in the morning. As he walked along the boardwalk, towards the beachfront restaurant, he saw that the morning was hot and fresh. Joyce had sent a message. She was waiting for him.

As soon as Hugo passed the reception, informing that he was being awaited by his sister, it wasn't difficult to find her. She was under the umbrella, on a lounge chair. Her bag rested on another lounge chair next to her. Hugo approached.

"Hey…"

"Hey, my dear…" Joyce stood up.

They hugged.

"Long time no see…" Hugo kissed the top of her head. "You haven't changed a bit, girl."

"Neither have you." she laughed. "Sit down."

They settled down on the lounge chair.

"I've already ordered a snack and beer for us." Joyce put her sunglasses back on. "Now tell me: how was this whole thing about moving to Sao Paulo out of the blue?"

"It just happened…"

Hugo gave more details about his job change to Investigator at the Federal Police and the transfer order to take up the position in Sao Paulo.

"So, girl, it was crazy. I had to sell some things that weren't worth taking, because it was easier to buy another…" he continued. "And the rest I put in a moving truck to the new apartment… I ended up checking with Tande, my friend, who helped me organize this move…"

"And you managed all that from afar?" Joyce interrupted him.

"Of course, my dear." Hugo shrugged. "I followed up with photos, video calls… It wasn't complicated. I kept it minimalist."

"I see…" Joyce looked at the waiter arriving with the snacks and beer. "Thank you, sir."

The man nodded, wished them "bon appetit" and left.

"How are the flings going?"

"That question again…" Hugo shook his head. "I don't have any flings, girl. I have an unresolved story."

"What?" Joyce frowned.

"That's what you heard…" Hugo took a sip of his beer, as if he had enjoyed leaving something in the air.

"Tell me this story right. I have anxiety!"

Hugo laughed. He opened his cell phone gallery, showing Joyce a picture. It was David.

"So this is the unresolved story?"

He just nodded.

"Then resolve it." Joyce took another sip of her beer.

"I wish I could." Hugo leaned back in the lounge chair and looked at the sea.

"And why don't you?"

"You know the whole thing with my ex-boyfriend, right? He was arrested, but then released… Anyway. He was the lawyer who got that bastard Aron released."

"You're kidding…" Joyce was impressed with this part of the story. "This thing between you two has been going on for a while?"

Hugo told her everything: how he met David through Aron; the friendship Aron and David had; and the thing between them that happened after the troubled end of his relationship with Aron.

"Have you two already… you know…?" She was dumbfounded, and let out a little laugh. "This story just gets better."

"No, and there's more…" He also told her about Aron finding out about the hook up between the two of them and beating up David. "Anyway, and that resulted in that horrible day that the creep broke into my house already wanting to kill me."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Life is so crazy, right…?" Joyce commented between sips. "But, after all, this defense he did for Aron was a"debt of play,"right?"

"Basically that." Hugo was accompanying her in the sips, continuing: "Aron had the power to screw up someone's life. A guy who has influence, even though he's not a public figure. He's a creep. David only did that to preserve his reputation."

"Complicated."

"Right."

"And what's stopping you from being with this guy?" Joyce leaned on her arms, looking at Hugo. "He didn't do it out of malice. In this case, defending your enemy. I think. Now that I understand his side…"

"I don't know…" Hugo was looking at nothing. "I don't know… I think I was so pissed off about the situation that I ended up developing a"block."As much as I like him, I wouldn't feel safe. Not because of him, but because of Aron…"

Hugo thought of the black car that was parked, strategically, in the direction of the window of his old apartment.

"Do this." Joyce activated her practical mode, saying: "At the first opportunity, you see what's what. If you're going to do it or not. If it's now or never… It has to be like this. Better to decide once and for all than to be left with this cruel doubt in your head."

Hugo nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

"Yeah. You're right."

...****************...

AURA ENJOYED JUST one more day in Rio de Janeiro. The three days were coming to an end and she needed to go to Sao Paulo tonight. She guaranteed that to Hank, by phone:

"My flight leaves at eight thirty." she was playing with a strand of her hair. "No. You're not going to track my flight, Hank. You need to trust my word more. Yes, you are a pain in the ass. And I have the right to spend as many days as I want in the place I want, but… But…" She was being interrupted on the other end of the line. "Let me finish my reasoning. Are you done? Ok. I chose to spend three days in Rio because I wanted to, you understand? It wasn't because of you. Okay, Hank. We'll talk again only in Sao Paulo. Bye!" She hung up the call.

She leaned on her arms, legs outstretched, on the towel. She shook her red hair, looking up from under her sunglasses. The breeze ruffled the strands almost hypnotically. Aura was a beauty and having beauty made many doors open.

"Hi…"

She opened her eyes upon hearing the voice, which she wished she hadn't recognized. She grimaced. It was Irina, with a sly smile.

"…darling."

"I'm not your darling." Aura snapped back.

"So you're here…" Irina ignored the girl's rebuke, sitting down next to her on the sand. "Enjoying Barra beach while Hank's over in the Netherlands smoking…"

"Did he send you here?"

"…and busting my balls to know if you're even going to do what he said." Irina finished, with a hard look. She didn't even realize she had been interrupted.

"Who told you to be his subordinate?" She gave a little laugh.

"Damn, your brother is a drag."

"I imagine you didn't come to Brazil just to chase after me." Aura put her sunglasses on her forehead, looking at Irina.

"I came to get more girls. With Ruy, of course."

"Here in Rio?"

"No way." Irina rested her arms on her knees, staring at the sea. "He sent me to the Northeast."

"The Northeast has nine states."

"Recife." Irina's tone was dry.

"I understand." Aura stood up, taking the beach towel, using it around her waist. "Well, good luck. See you…"

Irina just stared at the girl sideways, then turned her attention back to the sea. She let out a breath, putting her sunglasses back on.

...****************...

THE JOB OPENING, which Camila read in the ad, seemed to have fallen from the sky. She didn't think twice about applying for the Industrial Seamstress position - production of pieces for a large clothing brand in the market. Starting salary of two thousand five hundred reais, 12x36 shift, meal vouchers and other benefits. It seemed like a dream. With that salary, Camila would be able to pay off her debts and help with the household bills. She even went to the kitchen to show her mother.

"What a great opportunity!" Lucimar said, while washing the dishes. "I hope it works out, Camila. You have a lot of experience in sewing."

"I feel like it's going to work out." Camila was optimistic, dreamy. "Wow, this opportunity was a godsend. I'm going to be able to help with so many things with this money…"

"You will." Lucimar dried a pan. "That's the only way your father will stop complaining when he sees you standing around here."

"I'm not standing around. I do my gigs on that machine over there." she pointed to the sewing machine.

"I know, my daughter."

The two sat down at the kitchen table.

"For your own well-being." her mother began "I advise you to save up some money and go back to living on your own. It will be good."

"True, Mom. But everything will be fine. With calm and patience, things will work out…" Camila looked at the vacancy again."She said to herself:" Industrial Seamstress, with that salary… My God. It's really something.

...****************...

"ALEX?" PEDRO WAS AT the hotel in Barcelona. He was calling the chief to update him on his progress in the investigation. "After going through a lot of bureaucracy, I got the footage I wanted. The ones that are important to this case. Internal and external circuit."

"Good. And what did you analyze there?"

"I was able to see the license plate of the taxi that Janine got into, when she left the airport. I even found out the company and who the driver is."

"And your next step?"

"Talk to him personally." he paused. And concluded: "It's going to be tonight."

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