Sleight of Hand Sample
The sequel to Villains’ Reunion dives deeper into the shadow worlds of Venice and Brazil. Below are selected pages from the first chapter of Sleight of Hand, where Matilde and Wes face their first real betrayal.
Her Dream Come True
09:58, Tuesday
Dão Lafões, Portugal
Look at that view, Matilde Urbano thinks as she rises from a crouch. Dust falls off her knees. This is what it’s all about.
She cracks her back and her left hand goes to the sweat on the nape of her neck. She pockets her pruning shears with her right. And that view…it’s exactly what she wanted—rows of vines of Touriga Nacional grapes stretched across a green hillside. This grape variety has thick, dark skin, a high tannin level, high acidity, and is concentrated with fruity flavors. One of the best for making Port wines. They are at the fruit set stage, flowering has concluded and the grape berries are on their way to ripening.
From a row behind her, between the dense leaves, a critter comes her way, bouncing in a failed sneak attack. A sideways walk, with a hunched back and fur standing up, it tries to appear big and scary. But it’s the ragamuffin, Ms. Marples. With a swift scoop of her hands, Matilde draws the cat into her arms. Not so scary anymore.
“There you are!” Matilde coos.
The cat gives it away with a purr. “You are precious, Ms. Marples.”
She drops the cat and returns to the task at hand. Matilde was advised to prune around the fruit clusters to prevent diseases such as botrytis. Stripping away the leaves would introduce more UV light and more wind, all to make it much harder for diseases to attach themselves to the grapes.
“Hey!” somebody shouts, hidden in the dense foliage. And then he appears, a big grin on his face. Wes, who’s been working an adjacent row.
“Hey, yourself,” Matilde responds with a twirl.
“Does that mean it’s break time?” he asks.
“I think so,” she responds. “Your cat called it.”
Wes steps up and squishes Ms. Marples as he comes in for a hug and a kiss. The cat, unhappy, bounds from his arms. Matilde laughs. He wraps his arms around her instead. They kiss, and she laughs again. “This is perfect, isn’t it?”
He can only nod. “It is.”
The Danger
13:05, Tuesday
Mercado da Ribeira, Lisbon
“It’s true, both cachaça and rum are derived from sugarcane.” Isadora Rosa holds aloft a bottle of Rainha da Caipirinha Cachaça. “But differences abound.”
Isadora is alone, and that’s okay, as she is at ease with herself. She stands on stage with bottles of cachaça and a tilted mirror behind her. To the side, there’s a cameraman. A host. Isadora’s live at Estudio Time Out—located on the first floor of the Time Out Market Lisboa. Charming, stunning, and seemingly never nervous—she hides it well—Isadora is the daughter and face of the Rainha da Caipirinha brand. Plantation cachaça at its finest.
She pours a glass and holds it aloft. “This one, as you can see, is amber in color. That comes from the wood barrels it was stored in. Cachaça not stored in barrels can be clear.” She smells it. “Grassy, earthy, sweet.” She sips it. “Ah…” Ponders. “That’s cachaça made by Rainha da Caipirinha.”
With a huge smile she adds, “It’s my cachaça, and I am proud of it. Brazilian, as all cachaças are. Now, we won’t mention rhum agricole, now, will we?” The audience laughs, and she does too.
She places the glass on the counter. “The differences from rum: Number one, and it’s a big difference, cachaça is only made from fresh sugarcane juice. Rum can be made similarly or mixed with sugarcane molasses and other products. Therefore, cachaça has very different characteristics from rum. An ABV, or alcohol by volume, of 38 to 48 percent, by law, and this translates to 76 to 96 proof.”
She holds up her bottle, looking at the label and tilting it towards the camera. It’s true, her cachaça’s ABV falls within this range. She continues, “Rum has a process where the juice is cooked and turns into molasses. This molasses undergoes fermentation, then distillation, and one makes rum.”
A guy interrupts. “And outside of Brazil, say in the Caribbean, a rum made just from fresh sugarcane juice is a—”
She waves her hand. He stops. “Yes, good question, sir!” She continues, “I didn’t mean to interrupt, I’m just so excited.”
The man blushes and nods for her to go on.
“That’s the rhum agricole I mentioned, which I didn’t want to mention.”
The audience guffaws. The man apologizes as a bit of sweat forms on his
brow.
With a wink at him, she continues, “For it is a point of contention. I am very passionate about this. So, I will stop here, or you will be here all day.” She laughs and the audience laughs too. “Thank you for listening to the presentation and I hope you all buy a bottle. But remember if it’s made in Brazil, it’s called cachaça.
And the best cachaça is?”
They answer in unison, “Rainha da Caipirinha Cachaça.”
