“You couldn’t get him out.” It was a statement, not a question. “Why?”
“Patrick and the other prisoner just disappeared.” His lips twisted. “There are stories that Nicos has a stockade in Colombia that he uses as his own private concentration camp. I’ve got a security team made up of my Special Forces buddies I worked with in Afghanistan that I sent all over the jungles down there, but they came up with zilch. I even called in the CIA and asked them to try to find out something, anything. After all, Patrick had worked for them for years. But they told me that I could only expect limited help. It seems Nicos has been considered an asset lately because he’s been persuaded to back off supplying arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan.” He paused. “I even contacted Nicos and offered to ransom Patrick and Ben Karick, that other prisoner.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Margaret said. “You beat him when you stole that money from him. He’s an egomaniac. The revenge would mean more to him. Besides, he likes to cause pain. Any way that he can.”
“I found that out,” he said. “He texted me a photo of Ben Karick the next day. He had a machete in his chest. He said he was saving Patrick for something long-term and special.”
Margaret remembered the burn wounds, the scars from the whip on that emaciated body. It made her feel sick. “And he’s been doing it.” She swallowed hard. “How many photos, Lassiter?”
“Twenty-two. He tries not to send too many.” He added bitterly, “I suppose he thinks I might get jaded and they’ll lose effect. That hasn’t happened so far.”
She inhaled sharply at the bolt of pain she felt issuing from him. “How long can he last?”
“I don’t know,” he said hoarsely. “Until Nicos gets bored and kills him? Until he picks up a bug or gets pneumonia? You saw what kind of shape he’s in.”
“Or until you find a way to locate that camp and get him out,” she added. “Or until you strike a deal to get to Nicos and make him release Patrick.” She tapped her chest. “That was plan A, right?”
He shook his head. “It wasn’t plan A; it was the last resort. I was down to desperation measures,” he said quietly. “But I wasn’t desperate enough to trade you or to leave you with Nicos. I told you the truth. I would never have done that. I just had to have a card to play.”
“Whether I wanted to do it or not.”
“I have to save him.”
“I know.” She could feel the frantic desperation that had driven him, that was still driving him. “And now you have your card to play. I hope you play it well, Lassiter. Because it’s a beautiful world out there and I don’t intend to leave it anytime soon.” She lay back down and drew the covers over her again. “And don’t think you’re in charge of how this is going to play out.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“Actually, I do trust you. Or I wouldn’t be in this predicament. I don’t believe you’d want me to be hurt, and that’s why the empathy is so strong. It’s only that I probably know Nicos better than you do and I won’t be shut out. I want this over as soon as we can do it. For my own sake as well as your friend Patrick’s.” She punched the pillow to make it more comfortable before she settled her head on it. “Now go away and let me sleep a few hours. I need it.”
“I guess you do.” He got to his feet and moved toward the nightstand. He paused to look down at her as he reached out to turn off the lamp. “I meant it: Nothing is going to hurt you, Margaret.” His hand moved to brush her hair back with a whisper touch. “I have to take what you’re giving me. I wish I didn’t. And I’m sorry that it happened this way. It’s not how I wanted it to go. Who would have known that you’d be—”
“Weird? A freak? Hard to find the word, isn’t it?”
“Not at all.” He bent and brushed his lips across her forehead. “I was thinking of sensitive.” He smiled as he drew back. “Or perhaps very special.”
“Are you conning me, Lassiter?”
“I’ll save that for another time, when you’re not so fragile.” He turned off the light. “And it will be done only with humor, not an attempt at manipulation, I promise.” She could hear him move across the room toward the door. “Good night, Margaret. Sleep well.”
She heard the door close behind him.
She stared into the darkness. Disturbance, as usual. Always disturbance with Lassiter. Only this time there was also this closeness she had never wanted. Even his hand on her hair had felt terribly intimate. She had wanted it to remain, to keep giving her that sense of being treasured. It was the way she had felt when he had touched her like that on the deck before he had pushed her away and called Juan Salva.
“Desperation,” he had called it, “a last resort.”
And she realized why he had called Salva. He might not have had her empathy, but he’d realized he was softening, and that couldn’t be allowed to happen. At that point, he might not have been certain how far he’d have to go or what he’d have to do to get to Nicos.
He had no doubt meant it when he’d said that he wouldn’t have sacrificed her to Nicos. But everything was always changing in this world. Except Nicos. Nicos never changed. Evil that dark always stayed the same.
Nicos.
Black-and-white tiles …
She closed her eyes tightly.
Go to sleep. She’d made her decision.
Don’t think of what waits for you on Vadaz Island.
CHAPTER SIX
Port Tendalos
Mexico
“It doesn’t look like much of a seaport,” Margaret said as she gazed at the sleepy little Mexican town, which possessed only a handful of piers and a strip of weather-beaten shops on the sandy beach. From where she stood at the rail of the ship it resembled one of the many Caribbean islands where she’d lived after she’d run from Nicos. “More like a fishing village.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted,” Lassiter said. “Nicos has contacts all over Mexico and Central America. I’ve no desire for him to know where I am or what I’m doing at any given time. I’ve used this village before. There’s a small private airport about three miles from the beach, beyond that dune. I have a Cessna waiting for us in a hangar there. I’ll have Cambry drop us off and take the ship to an inlet about a hundred miles north to anchor and hide it. We’ll pick him up there.”
“You can fly that plane?” Then she remembered. “That’s right, Devon said something about a Gulfstream.”
He nodded. “I learned while I was in the Special Forces. It comes in handy.”
“I imagine it does.” Her gaze remained on the sandy beach. A peaceful seaside scene, a sleepy town. She didn’t feel either peaceful or sleepy. All she could think of was that this town was the first step toward Nicos. “You had it all planned.”
“It shouldn’t be a surprise to you,” he said curtly. “I wasn’t in the least secretive about it. If you’d asked, I would have told you anything you wanted to know.”
“At the time I was either avoiding thinking about this place or planning how to escape so that I’d never have to see it. I guess I should be grateful now that you’ve been careful about not alerting Nicos or Salva.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’d be a fool to expect gratitude from you.” He turned away from the port, his gaze raking her face. “You’ve got circles beneath your eyes that look like bruises. No sleep at all?”
“A little. But I had a lot on my mind.”
He stiffened. “Nicos?”
She shook her head. “I try not to think of him. I’ll do that when I have to do it. No, I remembered what Cambry told me about your working on the computer before you came up on deck yesterday evening.” She smiled faintly. “He was being discreet and wouldn’t tell me exactly what you were doing, but I gathered it was important to you and not going well. Don’t you think I should know now?”
He nodded. “I’ve been trying to get a clue to where that camp is where they’re holding Patrick. It wouldn’t be totally self-maintained; there would have to be supply records, maybe s
alary, transportation, something.… Perhaps even names and backgrounds of the guards who are holding him. If I can trace any items back to the source, I might be able to get my hands on someone who knows where he’s being held.”
“But you’ve not been able to do it yet?”
“I managed to assess one of Nicos’s main files from the cloud.” His hands clenched on the rail. “I’m betting that it’s the right one. Everything points to it. But I couldn’t break in or decode it. Whoever Nicos hired to create it must have been supertalented, genius caliber. The firewall is megatight. But I’m close. I know I’m close.”
“That must be frustrating for you. You were able to break into CIA data banks when you were seventeen and you can’t get into Nicos’s files?”
“I’ll get there,” he said grimly. “I’ll just work until I can find the password Nicos buried in that file.”
“By all means, that would simplify everything, wouldn’t it? If you were able to go around Nicos to find that camp, you wouldn’t be forced to confront him.” She made a wry face. “Or should I say, I wouldn’t be forced to confront him? Because that’s how it would end up.”
“No, it wouldn’t.” His eyes were glittering in his taut face. “I told you that I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“I know you’ll try not to let me have to face him.”
“Try? You’re not listening to me.”
“Yes, I am. You don’t have to get angry or upset. I just know Nicos.”
“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 c
ompany 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.”
Lassiter gave him a glance. “Cambry.”
“Miffed is an understatement.” She smiled back at Cambry. No matter how she felt about Lassiter, she found it hard to be angry with Cambry. “Outraged is more like it.” She glanced at Lassiter as he started taxiing down the field. “And I’m working my way through it. It may take a long time.”
“It’s already taken a long time,” Lassiter murmured. “At least from my perspective.”
“But you were at fault. It’s natural for the guilty to try to slide out from beneath the blame.” She turned around to say to Cambry, “I noticed all the scratches and dents. Why did you have to beat up a perfectly good Cessna?”
“When Lassiter sent me down to make preparations, he said he wanted it to look older and not attract attention. I risked a fine and my freedom when I painted another ID number on the plane, but that wasn’t enough for him.” He looked down at the map on his computer screen. “It shouldn’t take that long to reach Cancún if we go direct. What do you want to do?”
“I’m not in that big a hurry right now,” Lassiter said. “I want to have another try at hacking into that file of Nicos’s. Find me a halfway point where we can overnight.”
“That’s a surprise,” Cambry said as he started to plot a course. “Since you’ve been pushing at warp speed to find a way to get to Nicos for the last year.”
“There are more ways than one to get to Nicos.”
“Hey, that sounds familiar. Isn’t that what I tried to suggest to you? You didn’t think that it would be soon enough to—”
“Find that place to overnight,” Lassiter said curtly. “I need the time to work.”
Because if he can find out the information from that computer file, he might not have to use me to get to Nicos, Margaret thought. She might not believe she knew that much about the way he thought, but she knew he didn’t want to have to do that. “You haven’t been able to do it yet. You said that it was megatight,” she said. “You have to be prepared that you won’t find that—”