Chapter two starts by introducing Navy Admiral Luis Avila. He is sitting in a deserted pub in an unfamiliar town drinking a tonic water. He thinks about how it's been almost a year since he has had a drink. At sixty-three years old, he still has a lean and toned body. His olive skin has started to crease with wrinkles and his beard has salt-and-peppered, but he stills able to catch the eyes of women like the young barmaid. She offers him another tonic water, but he declines.
Avila thinks back to five years prior when his life changed forever. It was Easter morning at the Cathedral de Seville, and he was knelt at the Communion rail. He glanced back at his pregnant wife, Maria, and their three year old son, Pepe. When he turns back around to receive his Communion a deafening explosion rips through the Cathedral. When he finally regains consciousness, he stumbles to where he had last seen his family. Only thing left was bloody debris.
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He is shaken from his nightmare by two burly men entering the bar. Seeing the men, Avila takes it as his cue to leave. As he tries to leave, the men start mocking him and forcefully insisting he stay and have a drink with them. They ask about one of his medals which he tells them it is for Special Operations. They ask about a tattoo on his palm to which he gives no reply.
Photo taken from the book
The men turn their attention to the barmaid, making crude jokes, so Avila decides to stay as a protector of sorts. He buys the men each a drink and himself another tonic water. After his drink he tries leaving again, but the men force him back into his seat. After more crude comments, Avila pulls out his phone telling the men he was calling his wife letting her know he would be late. He speaks in Spanish, which the men do not understand, but the barmaid does.
Before she could comprehend his meaning of two wounded men, Avila bolts into action. He slams an elbow into the first thugs nose, sending a shower of blood everywhere. Before the second man could react, Avila connect with another elbow to the man's windpipe. He stands up, gives the barmaid a one hundred Euro note for damages, and a promise authorities will be there shortly, then leaves.
Outside, Avila sticks to the shadows allowing authorities to pass so as to not notice him. A man he refers to as the Regent had given him a mission after being told a secret most compelling. Avila had committed some brutal act the night before and thinks that more death would come before the night was over. He emerges from the shadows into a large plaza. He crossed the courtyard and straightens his naval uniform before entering a metallic monstrosity of a building, the Guggenheim Museum.
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Brown has introduced another character that I cant help but believe will be a antagonist of some sort. He introduced the protagonist in chapter one so he needs to introduce and adversary. Brown has a tendency to keep the main antogonist hidden until the end, so this Avila seems to be a fit for a minor bad guy.
If he does turn out to be a bad individual, Brown does an excellent job of humanizing him with the back story of his family.
That's about it for me today, thank you for your time as always,
-Bran the Builder
