Evidently, Lassiter was in full battle mode.
Mandell and two other men were standing around a map laid out on the kitchen bar. Mandell looked up from the map and nodded as Cambry walked into the room. “Cambry.” Then he looked back down at the map again and was totally absorbed. Mandell’s concentration was always absolute when he was on a job, Cambry knew. In his early thirties, Mandell was of Spanish descent with dark hair, olive complexion, brown eyes, and a quiet intensity that could sometimes be intimidating. But it wasn’t Mandell he was worried about today.
Lassiter was standing gazing out the French doors at the surf and turned to look at him. “I received that second photo of Patrick an hour ago.” He asked curtly, “It’s done?”
Cambry nodded. “I know you’re pissed off. But she was right about it being a risk for you to get near him, if you weren’t ready to take him out.”
“Yes, I’m pissed off,” he said coldly. “And if you ever do anything like that again, I’ll not only fire you; I’ll break your neck. Who was there besides Nicos?”
“I don’t know. Margaret wouldn’t let me get out of the car. She walked down the pier by herself.”
“That’s no surprise.”
“Nicos was the only one who came down the gangplank. I started to drive off after he began talking to her.” He said quickly, “That’s what she told me I should do. She said if I didn’t, Patrick would die.”
He stiffened. “You’re sounding very defensive. Why?”
He hesitated. “He hit her … hard. She fell down on the pier.”
Lassiter began to swear. “And you didn’t do anything?”
“No. She got up right away.” He paused. “I think she might have been expecting it. That was probably why she gave me exact instructions and warned me about risking Patrick.” He shook his head. “And why she made me take her instead of letting you do it. You wouldn’t have been as easy for her to handle. I almost turned around and went back myself. But she said it was the right thing to do.”
Lassiter was silent.
“Lassiter?”
“The right thing according to Margaret. Maybe the right thing for Patrick. Apparently not the right thing to keep Margaret alive and unhurt.” His eyes went back to the surf crashing against the beach. But Cambry didn’t think he was seeing it. “But how the hell can I blame you when Margaret set it all up herself? She made sure I wouldn’t be there for her. She made sure you wouldn’t take any action.”
“So what can I do? I felt so damn helpless.”
“Join the club.” His gaze shifted back to Cambry. “We make sure it doesn’t happen again. We do our job, we find Patrick, and we get Margaret away from Nicos.”
“And then?”
“Then I find the son of a bitch and I kill him … slowly.”
CHAPTER TEN
Vadaz Island
Those rolling, verdant hills and gentle surf are just as beautiful as I remembered them, Margaret thought as her hands tightened on the rail of the ship.
Dear God, how she had prayed never to set eyes on them again.
“Almost home, Margaret,” Nicos murmured as he came to stand beside her. “Does it bring back memories? I told you that you’d never get away from me.”
“But I did get away.” She didn’t look at him. He was right: Memories were flooding back to her, and she was trying desperately to push them away. He would enjoy it too much. “You would never have found me if you hadn’t brought in that bastard Lassiter.”
“He was only a means to an end. You didn’t have a chance. Not from the moment I had my men take you and sweet Rosa from her home in Guatemala City. I knew you were going to belong to me. Do you remember her face when she woke up from that sedative we gave both of you? So bewildered, so innocent, so frightened. But not you, Margaret. You were only wary and looking for a way out. I knew then that I’d have to find a way to give you very special handling.”
She didn’t speak. She looked straight ahead.
Nicos shrugged. “Not as satisfactory a response as I’d like from you. But there are so many more memories that can be stirred, and I’m certain those will be more pleasing to me.” He turned away. “We should be docking soon. Do you remember what I was doing to Rosa when we docked that first day?”
She didn’t answer. She heard him laugh as he strolled back to sit down beside Salva.
Block it out. Don’t remember. He wanted her to remember, because he knew it would hurt her.
But the memory came, and she couldn’t stop it from attacking her.
Rosa screamed!
“Stop it.” Margaret flew across the deck and tore at Nicos’s shoulder to get him off her. “Why are you doing this? Neither of us has hurt you. Do you want money? I’ll find a way to get it for you. Just leave her alone.”
Nicos turned and punched her viciously in the stomach. “You don’t touch me unless I want you to touch me.”
Pain.
But she managed to stagger back and still stay on her feet.
Rosa was sobbing. “Margaret, he hurt me. Why are we here? I don’t understand.”
“It’s okay, Rosa.” It wasn’t the truth. Nothing had been okay since the moment she’d awakened in the middle of the night as those men had run into her bedroom and plunged that needle in her arm. But Rosa was frightened enough. And there had to be something Margaret could do to stop this. She turned to Nicos. “This is kidnapping. Why? We’ve never even seen you before. Why are we here?”
“Because I wanted you here.” He slapped her and she fell back against the railing and had to grab it to keep from falling. “Not your pretty friend here. She’ll be entertaining, but I only thought there was a possibility she might become necessary when I heard you were very close.” He slapped her again. “Because it’s been brought to my attention that you have a skill that I might be able to use, Margaret.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, you’ll learn. I’ll make it very clear to you.”
“You said you didn’t really want Rosa. Let her go.”
“No tears.” He was gazing at her appraisingly. “I hurt you. I struck you three times. You bent double when I hit you in the stomach. Your face is already starting to swell. But you’re not giving up. You didn’t let it stop you. Tough. It may take extraordinary measures.…”
“Let her go.” Her voice was shaking. “I don’t know what you want from me, but it doesn’t have to involve her.”
“I think it might. I’ll have to experiment and find out.” He nodded at his two men, who had been standing across the deck. “Hold her. I want her to see how helpless she is to keep me from doing anything I want with either of them.” He turned back to Rosa. “Are you ready for me, my pretty little whore?”
*
Black-and-white tiles.