said Venn. “He’s a friend.”She looked at Venn. “What went down in there?”“I met your guy. Brull. He’s the one who I encountered last night, all right. But he didn’t give away a thing.”“And this guy?”Venn saw that Fuentes was frightened once again. He cringed away from Estrada’s unflinching gaze.“Carlos, this is Detective Lieutenant Estrada from the Miami PD,” Venn said.Fuentes look horrified. “No! No police. I cannot -”“Relax,” said Venn. “She’s not gonna make this official. She’s off the grid, like me. This is like a personal investigation.”Fuentes looked from Venn to Estrada and back again, unsure.Estrada said, “Will you tell me what’s going on?”Venn motioned gently to Fuentes. “Come on, man. You’re safe here. You can talk to us. Take all the time you need.” He noticed a half-empty bottle of water tucked into the cubbyhole in one of the doors and pulled it out. “Have some of this.”Fuentes drank greedily, spilling some and choking a little.
