“Then . . . then why couldn’t you sneak up without him finding you?”
“Do you mind?” he snapped, clearly irritated, as if this was somehow her fault, “Just give me some quiet a moment and let me do this.”
“Well, hurry, will you? I don’t feel like having my brains blown out today.”
“And whose fault is that?” Michael asked irritably.
Leah gasped, tried to jerk around to see him, and wrenched her neck in the process. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It’s supposed to mean, why in God’s name were you trying to hook up with a guy like Juan Carlo? He’s a sleazy bastard that goes through women like water.”
“Wait just a minute, mister! First of all, his name is Adolfo—”
“His name is Juan Carlo Sanchez. He is a highly successful arms dealer, and by that I mean he once armed most of the terrorists in the Middle East. I spent the better part of three years infiltrating his circle.”
“Arms?” she squeaked weakly. “You mean like rifles?”
“Not exactly,” Michael said, panting now. “I mean like rocket-to-ground missiles and rocket-propelled grenades. The sort of stuff you see on TV.”
The sound of a car door shutting startled them both. “Okay,” Michael said, popping up and managing to propel himself through air and land half-on, half-off the bed. “Whatever you do, keep him talking. The man likes nothing better than to talk about himself and impart his wisdom to everyone,” he said. He got his legs up, held his body up for a moment to look at her. “And baby . . . nothing is going to happen. Trust me. Just stay calm. Help is on the way—Juan Carlo is too stupid to pull off something like this.”
“Funny, he said the same thing about you,” she muttered just as the screen door shut and the devil himself strolled in, looking very pleased with himself.
He held up a bottle of wine. “Spanish wine. The best in the world. I brought it from my home in Costa del Sol. Would you like?”
“You’re not seriously going to serve wine,” Leah said, incredulous.
“Yes, why not?” he asked with a bit of a shrug. “You should enjoy your last few hours on Earth.”
Really, all the talk of dying and killing was seriously vexing. She smiled up at Juan Carlo as she felt for the knot at her hands. He had tied the rope tightly at her wrist, but Michael had worked to loosen it a little. If she could just get her fingers on one of the loops . . .
“I will find a straw,” Juan Carlo offered. “Then you can enjoy it with me while we wait for him to wake.”
“I know this will come as a big shock to you, since you obviously do this sort of thing all the time, but I don’t want any wine,” Leah said. “You don’t have the best track record when it comes to serving drinks.”
“But you must. It would not do to let your host drink alone, si?”
“You’re not exactly my host, pal. That would imply that I came here of my own free will instead of being drugged and dragged here.”
“You drugged her?”
Michael’s voice startled Juan Carlo. He whirled around and laughed tightly as Michael slowly lifted himself up.
“Sleeping beauty has joined us,” he said, and made a grand sweeping bow. “Welcome to the last place on this earth you will ever see.”
“If you wanted me, why not just come after me?” Michael asked. “Why involve her?”
“It is true; I could very easily have killed you on the streets of Los Angeles. But you know the answer, my friend. You know you have something I want.”
“Is this about Maribel?” Michael asked genially. “Because she was with everyone, not just me. Ricardo, Modesto, Pa—”
Juan Carlo roared, surged forward, and kicked Michael in the back. “Do not be coy, se?or. You forget that I know you well. Just give it to me, and perhaps I will let your whore go.”
“Hey!” Leah shouted.
“I don’t know what you want, Juan Carlo,” Michael said. “It’s a mystery to me what you’re talking about.”
Juan Carlo frowned darkly. “Now you are estúpido. I want the key.”
“A key? I don’t have any key,” Michael said, smiling. “And even if I did, do you think I would carry it on me to remind me of old times?”
“What key?” Leah asked, but both men ignored her.
“You are barking up the wrong tree.”
Juan Carlo sighed, put his hands to his waist, and walked to the window. “Tell me where I will find it, and you will live another hour.” He turned around, looked at Michael. “Play this silly game with me, and you will not live to even drink your wine.”
Michael laughed as if that amused him. “I’m saying I don’t know where it is. Maybe you should ask Maribel?”