Nicos laughed again. “Do you hear that, Salva?”
“I heard it,” he said sourly. “I’m not amused.”
“But I am. Now why would I want you to rid me of a fine, loyal friend like Salva, Margaret?”
She only looked at him.
Nicos shook his head. “She believes I don’t appreciate you, Salva. She could be right.” His smile faded. “But enough of this. It’s Patrick I need to find and take away from Lassiter. You said that you might be able to figure out where Lassiter has hidden Patrick. Where is it?”
“What do I get in return?”
“I don’t have to give you anything, Margaret. Your position is vulnerable in the extreme. Brukman is very eager to make you talk. Even more so, since you targeted him earlier.”
“And you wouldn’t find out anything no matter what he did to me. I’ve never actually seen the safe haven where Lassiter was going to hide Patrick. It’s a cave in the hills someplace and Lassiter didn’t trust anyone with the location. Certainly not me.” She added bitterly, “Patrick is the only one who’s important to him. Lassiter took me as far as the river that runs through the hills and I had to wait there for him. But I could take you that far and, if you give me a chance, I’ll track him the rest of the way.”
“Or we might be able to find him ourselves.”
“I grew up in the woods. I’m a great tracker. I tell you, I can find Patrick.” She met Nicos’s eyes. “And if Lassiter is with him, you’ll get him, too.”
“Or be ambushed. We know that Mandell has a small but lethal force.”
“Then take a larger force with you.” She glanced around the compound. “You seem to have plenty of men. Take Brukman and a dozen or so others along if you’re afraid of Lassiter and Mandell.”
“Was that supposed to be a taunt?” Nicos’s hand reached down and grasped her throat. “I won’t tolerate that kind of behavior, Margaret.” His grasp tightened to bruising force. “You’re only alive because I’m feeling generous and you made me an offer that intrigued me.”
“It wasn’t a taunt.” Margaret swallowed and could barely get the words out. “I wouldn’t … be that stupid. I told you, I need to survive. No matter who else you manage to destroy, I’m going to live.”
“You don’t need her,” Salva said. “You’re a fool for letting her live this long.”
Nicos stiffened. “A fool?”
Salva caught himself. “Just a suggestion. As I said, she’s playing you. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“No, of course you didn’t mean it.” Nicos released her throat. “And you wouldn’t have been so careless if she hadn’t made you nervous. I understand, Salva.” He watched Margaret coughing and struggling for breath. “But she’s only a woman who wants to live, nothing to scare you. I tend to believe—” His phone rang and he looked down at the ID. “But I may not need her.” He smiled. “Let’s see what kind of offer I can get from Lassiter himself.” He pressed the access and put the phone on speaker. “Hello, Lassiter. Do you want surrender terms? I’m afraid they would involve my turning you over to Brukman, and he’s very angry with you at the moment.”
“No surrender,” Lassiter said curtly. “But I might want to negotiate. You have Margaret Douglas, and I feel bound to offer to ransom her out of this hellish situation. I pulled her into our battle because I knew she was a card I could play against you. Her usefulness is over and I don’t want to get her killed.”
“A little late, Lassiter,” Nicos said. “As you say, her usefulness is over for both of us. Unless I choose to take her up on an offer that I find interesting. But you do have another card to play. Give me back Sean Patrick and I might call my men off and let you live. From what Brukman tells me, Patrick’s almost dead anyway.”
“Then why do you want him?”
“I don’t like to lose. I need to finish him.”
“The hell you do. No deal. But the offer is still on the table for Margaret. What’s your price?”
“She tells me she has a talent that’s beyond price. I might have to explore it.”
“Everything has a price. Except my friend Patrick. Think about it. I’d be very generous.”
“Was she that good?”
“I owe her. For God’s sake, I practically destroyed her life.” He paused. “Are you lying? Is she even still alive?”
“She’s alive.”
“Let me talk to her.”
Nicos glanced at Margaret. “He wants to make certain you’re still alive. It appears he’s more concerned about you than you are about him.”
“Why shouldn’t he be?” she asked bitterly. “I never did anything to hurt him. He’s right: He practically destroyed my life. I was free of you and had friends and a job I loved. Then he decided he could use me to get you, and that was the end of all of it.”
“I said that I regretted it, Margaret,” Lassiter said quietly. “I’m trying to get you out of there.”
“I don’t believe you. You forced me to mess up that job in Montego. You didn’t care what would happen to me. Then you flew me down here in case you might need to use me against Nicos again.” She added passionately, “I begged you to send me back to San Diego. Now you’re saying you want to ransom me? Nicos is right: It’s too late. You almost got me killed, Lassiter.”
She could feel his shock as he digested her words. “That’s all true,” he said slowly. “But what can I do to make it right?”
“You’ve already tried to do that. You tossed that diamond necklace at me after you jerked me on the plane and brought me down here. All you think about is money. Did you think all those sparkling rosettes would be worth the risk to me? I know what Nicos can do. You chose Patrick over me from the beginning, and nothing will make up for that.” She added wearily, “Now leave me alone, Lassiter. I’m done with you. I’ve watched what Nicos does to women who go against him. That’s not going to be me.”
Nicos laughed. “Satisfied, Lassiter? I believe she’s proved she’s alive and well … so far.”
“And I’m tempted to let you keep the ungrateful bitch,” Lassiter said. “But I still owe her. The offer still stands. I’ll put together a proposition. When you decide you want to talk about it, call me.” He hung up.
“I told you he didn’t care about anyone but Patrick,” she said jerkily. “I thought for a while that he might let me go after I got away in Montego. But he wanted an insurance policy and that’s all I was to him.”
“How sad…”
“Spare me your sarcasm. All I want is for you to let me live and show you how valuable I can be,” she said, then added fiercely, “Salva may think you’re a fool, but I know better.”
“I didn’t exactly say that I—” Salva began.
But she interrupted him. “You wouldn’t be where you are if you weren’t able to pull all the strings, Nicos. Let me help you to do that.”