FIVE

Julio Vincente checked his watch and looked right and left, heaving a sigh. Nick van Owen and his associate, a young businessman who Vincente had never met, were supposed to meet him at exactly 1 PM. It was 1.10pm and now he was getting pissed off. What was it with people that couldn't keep appointments? Especially people who wanted to engage his services. They above all should know that time means money.

He waved down a waitress and ordered a glass of water, watching the road that sliced in front of the outdoor cafe' where he was seated. There was an open courtyard to the right, a waist high wall separating the diners from the human traffic that the open space seemed to generate, and a directly behind him was the squat building that passed as a coffee house for indoor latte sipping. He had chosen his seat in the middle of the outdoor area so as to watch everything.

His glass of water arrived and he fought the desire to check his watch again. He smiled up at the pretty young waitress and she tittered and smiled a broad, toothy smile. Vincente was handsome at 35, with a crooked charm about him that drove the ladies wild. He had dark brown eyes that appeared quite black, a broad nose that had been broken more than once and a full mouth that seemed to be designed for someone else. His black hair was close cropped and peaked high on his forehead. Though he spent much time in the sun, his face showed little evidence of it, save the telltale spiderweb of lines radiating from the corners of each eye and at the corners of his mouth.

As he considered asking for the young ladies' phone number when he paid the check, Nick Van Owen sat down opposite him, accompanied by a younger man in a suit, who Vincente had assumed was the famous Tim Hammond. "You're late," he said as he watched the waitress swish back into the coffee house.

"Yeah, traffic was terrible," Nick said by way of apology as he reached across the table for a menu.

Vincente turned to look at Nick. They had known each other for a long time, and he had never heard such utter crap come out of Nick's mouth. There were rumors that Nick had sold out after his adventure in Costa Rica, but Vincente had not believed them. The Nick Van Owen he knew ten years ago would never have become the person he saw before him, wearing a suit and tie and looking too comfortable inside them, another harrowed city dweller who thought the worst thing that could happen was consecutive red lights on the way to a brunch date. Nick had aged terribly, stress etching lines across his forehead and causing the bags under his eyes. Vincente felt a stab of pity and decided against berating him further. He just grunted and flicked his gaze to Tim Hammond. "And you must be Hammond the Younger."

Tim flinched and smiled gamely as he extended his hand. "Mr Vincente, it's good of you to meet us. I'm sorry we kept you waiting."

Vincente accepted Tim's outstretched palm and shook it. "So I hear you and Nicky here are mounting some kind of hunting expedition." he said, his eyes roaming the crowds that slowed behind Hammond and Van Owen.

Tim nodded. "It's probably one of the more unusual assignments you'll be offered."

"I doubt that," Vincente said with a humorless laugh. "A businessman in Indianapolis wants me to go over to Africa and trap lions, tigers and every other man eating predator you care to name and bring them over to his ranch in Texas, where he wants them set loose so he can shoot them."

Nick leaned forward, fixing Vincente with a hard look. "I know you think we're wasting your time here, Julio, but I can guarantee that you will want to hear what we have to say."

Vincente grumbled and blew out a breath through his bared teeth. He sipped his water and looked at Tim. "He does have a flair for the dramatic, doesn't he?" he said with a smirk.

Tim smiled and nodded his head, his smile broadening at Nick's deepening scowl. "Do you remember the incident in San Diego involving a Tyrannosaurus Rex?" He asked Vincente.

Vincente nodded slowly. "I saw the whole thing on CNN. I was in Johannesburg at the time. Watched it in my hotel room."

"A lot of people died that night because my grandfather made a mistake," Tim said, locking eyes with Vincente. "His mistake was not killing the creatures after what happened at his failed amusement park. I was in awe of those things as a kid. I loved learning about how they may have lived and how they became extinct. But what I saw on that island and what I saw happen in San Diego, I do not want repeated. These great creatures served their time on our planet and they died out. Nature, God, whatever decided that they should be wiped out. However you want to put it, dinosaurs were never meant to co exist with man. And right now, we have an island teeming with them and a company eager to exploit them again. We cannot allow this company to repeat the mistakes of the past."

"If we don't do this, our entire ecosystem could change," Nick said. "We don't know what the ramifications are. These animals don't deserve to be sideshow attractions for a gawking public, and they don't deserve to be playthings for some billionaire who thinks they will make a nice addition to his private collection."

"So you want me to help you kill them, that's what you are saying to me."

Van Owen nodded. "I couldn't think of anyone else who might come close to understanding what we are trying to achieve here."

Vincente stared at something in the distance, his face unreadable. He took a deep breath and smiled at Nick. "I've been all over the world helping rich men kill animals for sport." his eyes slid to Tim, and the pair stared at each other for a few interminable moments. His distaste for men of Tim's ilk was apparent. "I've done some things I'm not proud of in the name of the almighty dollar, but I've never been asked to kill an already extinct species in the name of a balanced ecosystem."

"So you will do it?"

Vincente held up a hand. "I want a night to sleep on it."

"We are on a very tight schedule here mister Vincente..."

"I want a night to think about it," Vincente said more forcefully. "And if you want my services then you will wait."

"He's not going to do it," Tim said as they entered the hotel lobby. "He thinks we will exploit him in some evil scheme."

Nick shrugged. "If the situation were reversed, would you trust someone spinning a story like that?"

Tim had to admit that he probably would have laughed and walked off. He couldn't begrudge Vincente's hesitation despite the fact that the man had clearly taken a dislike to him. "So if he agrees, we have one expert on board. Sarah Harding is emailing me a dossier on the animals, and we need to get ourselves a field technician."

"Got that covered," Nick said as they entered the elevator.

"Another one of your ex – Greenpeace commandos?"

Nick smiled. "You could say that." Tim looked sideways at him. He didn't like the edge to Nick's voice. Nick sighed and impatiently stabbed at the button for their floor. "She's my ex- fiance."

Nick had called Kate Delaney after his initial meeting with Hammond, seeking to enlist her help as a field technician. They had met in college and she introduced him to the power of protest and sabotage as a member of Greenpeace. She was committed and focused at first, but became disillusioned with the group. She was dismayed that Nick had aligned himself with some of the more extreme elements of the cause, people who were willing to cause damage, even kill, for the sake of the environment. She had set Nick on the path that had given him purpose, and left him adrift when she saw that her path diverged from his.

She was hostile when he called, angry that he had tracked her down and angrier still that he wanted to bring up the demons of their past. She was a different person now, she told him. She wanted no part in whatever he was planning. It was only when he convinced her that he had separated from the group, that he was living a more conventional life, whatever that was, that she let him speak.

He laid it all on the line: his friendship with Tim, his mission for John Hammond, and Tim's plan for the future. She could have ended the call at any point during his story, but she stayed on the line until he was finished. He heard her sigh and the line hummed with her thoughts. "You are going to need some hard-core weaponry, some tough all terrain vehicles and a lot of money to cover it all," she said.

"Draw up some plans and be ready with them in four days." he replied.

"Four days!"

"It's all the time we have. So we're not looking to build things from the ground up, just modify whatever you already have available. I know you can work fast, I've seen you do this."

Kate was silent for so long that Nick thought she had hung up. "Your friend Timmy better have deep pockets," she said darkly, and gave him directions to her garage before hanging up in his ear.