“I feel angry and upset. If that empathy thing really worked, you’d know that. You’re not believing what I say. And you’re too damn calm. You should feel the same way.”
She was feeling all those emotions, but she couldn’t let them free. Control. She had to be controlled and keep a tight rein on what she was thinking, remembering. “You don’t want me to be upset. It would be counterproductive. You’re usually so cool and composed yourself. I wouldn’t have thought I’d have to remind you of that.”
“I haven’t been cool and composed since the night I saw you climb into that tiger cage. It was a harbinger of things to come.”
“For me, too.” She suddenly chuckled. “But you fooled me, Lassiter. I always seemed to be the one treading water.”
“‘Treading water’?” He smiled grudgingly. “That’s entirely too reminiscent. You always seemed to be in the water, literally and figuratively.”
Memories were flooding back to her. So short a time with him to have so many memories.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile since you came on deck this morning,” he said quietly, his gaze on her face. “You told me you had an optimistic nature. Be optimistic now. I promise I’ll make it right for you and for Patrick.”
“I’m working on it.” She forced herself to keep her smile in place. “I’m having trouble with shock right now. I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with Nicos again.”
“And what were you going to do? Keep running? Moving from place to place. Changing your name and job every few months until you were a little gray-haired senior citizen?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I didn’t think much about anything but staying out of Nicos’s way. Perhaps that would have changed in a year or so.”
“You won’t have to worry about staying out of his way after we get Patrick away from him. It will no longer be an issue.”
Her eyes swung quickly to look at him. It was clear what he meant. “People have tried to take Nicos out before. His protection is impregnable. You haven’t even been able to get on his island.”
“Because I had to be careful as long as Patrick was being held by him. Once I get Patrick away from him, I’ll bring him down.” His voice was cold. “I’ve had a plan in place for months. Six hours after I take Patrick from whatever hellhole they’ve stuck him in, Nicos and his men will be history.”
Six hours. Nothing would have convinced her more surely of Lassiter’s intentions and planning than his precision in the exact timing for destroying Nicos and his men.
“You’re not saying anything,” Lassiter said. “It’s the only way, Margaret. He’ll just keep coming after you. Though I imagine I’ll be first on his list after I take his favorite toy away from him.” He paused. “I’ve learned you instinctively lean toward life in everything around you. But this is different. Nicos isn’t even human. He couldn’t be and do what he’s doing to Patrick.”
“You think I don’t know that? You’re right: I hate death. I applaud life. But both exist in nature and have to be accepted.” She shook her head. “That sounds sickeningly noble, doesn’t it? I’m not at all philosophic where Nicos is concerned. There was a time I thought I’d kill him myself. There’s not a chance I’d condemn anyone for doing what I wasn’t able to do.”
“It was that bad for you?” His lean face had hardened; his pale eyes glittered. “Then I may make it take a little longer than I planned to put Nicos down.”
“No. Don’t use me as an excuse. You have plenty with your friend Patrick. But death should be clean even if the victim is filthy.” She turned back to the shore. “Isn’t it time we got moving? The longer we stay here, the more on edge I get.”
“In a couple minutes.” He reached down and picked up a canvas tote that he’d set on the deck when he’d come up from the cabin. “I need to give you this first.”
“What is it?” She rifled through it. “A shirt? A bandanna. Sunglasses. I guess I can use them. The shirt is too big for me, though, and I’ve got—” She broke off as she saw a gray graphite case gleaming at the bottom of the tote. “A phone?” She pulled it out to look at it. “Very fancy. But you could have just returned the one you took from me.”
“It was a basic burner. I had an extra phone. There may come a time when you need all the bells and whistles.”
She looked down at the phone. “Well, it’s clear you don’t believe I’m going to call any of my friends or the FBI if you’ve upgraded me to satellite.”
“No, I think we’re beyond that.” He smiled faintly. “Friends were the only threat. I was never afraid you’d call on government agencies. They ask too many questions.” His smile faded. “There’s one question I’d like to ask. No, that I have to ask.”
She gazed at him warily.
“You told me how well you knew Nicos. Much better than I did, you said.” He looked her in the eye. “If you knew him that well, did you have any knowledge of that camp where Nicos keeps those prisoners he wants to give special attention? Maybe he said something and you didn’t know what it meant at the time. Maybe you blocked it out and didn’t want to know.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “My God, Lassiter.”
“I had to ask it,” he said hoarsely. “I owe it to Patrick.”
“No, you did not. Do you think that I wouldn’t have said something the minute you told me about Patrick and that camp?”
“I don’t know what your life was like with Nicos. It had to have been hell. I know how afraid you still are. There’s no way I’d blame you. I’d understand if you were struggling to come—”
“You don’t understand anything about me.” She was fighting the hurt and anger. “And I don’t understand you. Every time I think I do, you come up with some bullshit like this. No, I knew nothing about that camp. And it goes to show that we know nothing about each other. We’re still strangers.” She turned away from him. “Maybe we’ll always be strangers.”
“Wait. Does this mean that we’re back to square one?”
“Why?” she asked over her shoulder. “Do you want your phone back? You think because you’re being an ass that I’ll just back away? I wish I could. But it doesn’t work that way, Lassiter. Not with me. If I walked away, I’d never forget that photo you showed me. I’d never forget the pain. Now it’s not only your pain; it’s Sean Patrick’s, too. He’s the one who’s important to me right now.” She strode down the deck toward Cambry. “Now get me the hell off this ship.”
*
“Definitely not like the company jet,” Cambry said as he ran toward the Cessna from the brush surrounding the small inlet. “You told me to beat it up a little, but it offends me that I have to ride in such a heap of junk.” He jumped into the backseat and slammed the door. “I have my status to maintain.” He grinned at Margaret. “Hi, how are you doing? You were a little miffed when I last saw you.”