“Is that a legal warning, Mr.

Garza?” I asked.

“It’s friendly professional advice,” Oscar said.

“Alejandro is working on a major corporate expansion.

Unfounded questions only create friction where none belongs.”

He straightened his tie, picked up his briefcase, and walked out into the sunlight on Avenida Vallarta.

I stood alone at the counter while the teller looked down at her polished desk without another word.

I wondered whose signature Oscar had put on the corporate lease extension forms three weeks earlier.