Margaret stood inside the French doors of the guesthouse and gazed down at the gleaming floors that stretched a good twenty feet to where they ended at the two arched bedroom doors.
She drew a deep breath and turned away so that Salva and Nicos wouldn’t see her shock and pain. She had probably shown them too much already on the yacht earlier today. How many nightmares had she had about these floors and the atrocity that had happened here? “Nothing much has changed, has it? You’re very predictable, Nicos. What do you expect me to do? Faint? Or have hysterics? I told you, I’m not the same person I was three years ago.” She turned and let him see her face. “I’ll stay here if you like, but I’d prefer a change of scene.”
He was obviously disappointed. “Really? I suppose we could add a little color to the place.”
Blood on the tiles.
Salva laughed. “Very good, Nicos. Excellent suggestion. That should bring back memories.” He turned to Margaret. “It certainly does for me. It was a singularly different experience. Usually, Nicos and I don’t agree on what’s enjoyable, but he showed great imagination that night.”
“I don’t need your approval, Salva,” Nicos said.
Margaret saw the flicker of expression cross Salva’s face. The conflict had increased between them in these three years. Could she use it?
“Of course you don’t,” Salva said. He looked at Margaret. “I was only commenting on one of your better manipulations. She’s telling us she’s changed. It could be true. But I might be able to re-create the circumstances and mood of that night and it could send her spiraling back to where you want her.”
Don’t let him see the terror that thought sends through you. Don’t change expressions. “Salva, I hoped we could work together. Stop trying to turn back the clock. It’s not going to work.”
“No?” he said softly. “You were terribly upset that night. Nicos enjoyed it. All I have to do is supply him with a young girl who—”
“It wouldn’t work,” she said, interrupting him. Evil. Salva was so terribly evil. Perhaps more evil than Nicos, because he was smarter and more innovative. “Rosa meant something to me. I’ve learned my lesson. I wouldn’t let myself care about anyone else.” She stared him in the eye. “You both taught me to close out emotion. You do it so well yourselves.”
“That could be true.” He gazed thoughtfully at her. “We might still experiment, Nicos.” He turned away. “I have work to do setting up the Montego shipment. If you need me, I’ll be in my office.” He smiled at her over his shoulder. “Good to have you back, Margaret. You’re going to make my job much easier.”
He strolled out of the guesthouse.
Nicos was gazing after him. “Salva has a habit of getting above himself, but he might be right about—”
“He’s a fool.” She had to distract him. “I’m not that person anymore. Do you want me to stay here in this guesthouse or not?”
He nodded. “It’s still a good idea. I like to think of you here in this place. Weeping. Begging me…”
“And are you going to allow me my freedom?”
He hesitated. “Maybe. Within limits. But I won’t make the mistake of underestimating you. You’ll have guards all around you. I’ll assign Ricardo to watch you. You remember Ricardo?”
“Yes, he’s a bastard. I don’t care. Just tell him to keep his hands off me.” She added, “Unless you want me to turn him against you.”
“What?”
“I might be able to do it. I’ve gone way past animals now, Nicos.”
He stiffened. “Spells?”
“Didn’t your mother cast a spell on your father that made him do what she wanted? You told me she might have done that. I’ve been experimenting.”
“And you could be bullshitting me.”
“Yes.” She grabbed her backpack and headed for the bedroom. “But you don’t want to take the chance, do you? Keep everyone away from me as you did before and you’ll never know how powerful I’ve become. I’m going to go for a swim now. There’s something about this place that makes me feel very dirty.”
*
She slammed the bedroom door behind her and leaned back against it.
She felt sick. Her heart was practically jumping from her chest. So many memories. So much evil. If she’d stayed in that room a minute longer, Nicos would have seen how upset she was. It had been terribly difficult to keep control of herself and remain without expression. Particularly when they’d been talking about that night three years ago.
Rosa …
Memories were flooding back to her, as they’d wanted them to do. Because they knew that remembering would make her weak and pliable. As she’d been when Nicos had only had to pull the strings and she would do what he wished.
But she wasn’t weak; this time she’d shown them strength. And she had to continue to do that until she was off this island. Until Patrick was safe.
She pushed herself away from the door and looked around. Everything was the same; luxurious, gleaming, the bed huge and dressed in a magnificent red velvet coverlet and pillows.
Red.
Blood running in rivulets on the tiles.
Block it. She had a task to perform.
Rosa …
Block it. She couldn’t think about her, either. Not now.
I’m sorry, Rosa. They have to pay, and I can’t focus if I remember you.
She sat down in the cream-colored brocade chair near the bed and tried to concentrate. What had she learned in the past hours that she could use?
Things were basically the same as when she’d escaped three years ago. Nicos was a degenerate killer who was as arrogant as she remembered. He appeared not to have lost any of his superstitions and he had learned how valuable she could be to him. Absence had, if not made his heart grow fonder, shown him that he was definitely better off with her than without her. No wonder the search had never ceased.
Juan Salva? He had broken off in the middle of baiting her to go attend to Nicos’s business. He might be as horrible and vindictive as Nicos, but his ambitions had grown and Margaret could sense the recklessness that was beginning to grow within him. He would be taking as much of Nicos’s business into his hands as possible. He’d probably been subtly using bribes and threats to bring Nicos’s men under his direct orders.
Which meant that she’d been right when she’d told Lassiter that it was Salva who would have been the one who’d set up any computer network for Nicos.
And it was Salva who should have immediate access to the name of the computer expert who’d created the file that would lead them to Patrick.
Okay, then find a way to get to Salva that won’t be suspicious and discover how to find either computer or phone access to that name.
Not now. It was too soon. She’d just arrived back on the island. Give it a little time.
Go take that swim. Come back and eat supper. Then maybe pay a visit to Salva.
She was getting tense again at the very thought. If he thought it would advance his ambitions, Salva would get rid of her; he’d even convince Nicos to replay that horror of three years ago.
Fear.
Smother it. She was going to do this. The fear had gone on too long.