No Easy Target

  In a moment she would see Nicos.

  Three years.

  Black-and-white tiles.

  “Margaret?” Cambry said. “You can still change your mind. I’ll turn this car around and get you out of here.”

  “No, I can’t.” She moistened her lips. “He probably has someone with a gun trained on us right now. I just wanted to catch my breath for a minute.” She swallowed. “Here’s what you do. I get out and walk down that pier until I reach his yacht. You stay until you see him take me. Then you turn and get the hell out of here. No matter what happens, what you see, you don’t stop. You don’t try to come back for me.”

  “I can’t promise that I—”

  “If you don’t, you’ll ruin everything.” She met his eyes. “And Patrick will die. Do as I say, Cambry.” She tried to smile as she opened the passenger door. “Juno needs someone to take care of her. I can take care of myself.”

  “I’m beginning to think this wasn’t such—”

  She didn’t hear the rest as she slammed the car door behind her.

  She started to walk down the long pier.

  She could see someone standing by the gangplank now. Dark gray jeans, white tunic shirt, swarthy skin, sleekly barbered black hair.

  She inhaled sharply. Don’t get sick. Don’t stop. You have to go all the way.

  Stan Nicos. He was standing there, smiling at her with smug triumph. He didn’t say a word as he watched her walk toward him.

  Of course, it was one of the ways he showed her how he could dominate her. He made her come to him as if he were some kind of royalty. But she couldn’t let him play that game now. If she let him dominate her, then she’d be helpless to do anything but be a prisoner on the island.

  First, get Cambry safely on his way back to Lassiter.

  She stopped when she was several yards from the gangplank. “Here I am,” she called defiantly to Nicos. “But it wasn’t you who brought me here. You had to turn loose that son of a bitch Lassiter on me. You would never have caught me otherwise, Nicos.”

  “I would have caught you. It was just more convenient to have Lassiter at my beck and call.” He looked beyond her shoulder at the gray Toyota on the dock. “But that’s not Lassiter behind the wheel, is it?”

  “It’s Neal Cambry,” she said curtly. “He’s had a gun pointed at my back all the time I walked down this pier.”

  “And where’s Lassiter?”

  “He said he was through with me. I hadn’t been able to get him what he wanted, so he turned me over to Cambry for delivery.”

  Nicos smiled. “He thought that he had a true ace in the hole in you, Margaret. I’m sure he was disappointed.” He came down the gangplank. “And I see your Neal Cambry is taking off and leaving you to my gentle care.”

  Good. Cambry was doing as she asked. “I didn’t expect anything else. Lassiter told him that he was done with me and he wasn’t to waste any more time on me than necessary.” She looked him in the eye. “Lassiter’s a monster, just like you.”

  “That’s not polite, Margaret,” Nicos said. “I thought I’d taught you better manners. I guess I’ll have to start all over again.” His hand lashed out and connected to her cheek with a force that sent her down to the deck of the pier. “But I’m looking forward to it. I even have your old suite ready for you.” He stood over her. “Memories, Margaret?”

  She shook her head to clear it of dizziness. She had to get to her feet. Cambry might have seen her fall and she couldn’t trust him not to stop and come back for her if he thought she was hurt. She got to her knees and then struggled to stand. “Why should I have memories? I blocked those months out of my mind. I blocked you out of my mind. Anything we do together is a fresh start.” She raised her hand to her burning cheek. “And if I show up at Montego Bay looking as if I was someone’s punching bag, it’s going to raise red flags. Not that I care, but I’d think you would.”

  His smile ebbed a trifle. “I might be able to wait until after Montego Bay. It might be all the sweeter.”

  “I’m not that same girl you knew three years ago, Nicos. I know I have to do what you want me to do, but you’ll have to allow me some measure of freedom.”

  “I allowed you freedom before and you ran away from me. That won’t happen again.”

  “Then have me watched. I don’t care. I just can’t be a prisoner anymore. I’ll do anything you say.” She paused. “I’m three years older, Nicos. I’m more powerful now. You always said I had more power than your mother. I can do things that you couldn’t dream I could do.”

  His eyes narrowed on her face. “What things?”

  She shook her head. “I won’t be a prisoner. We work together.”

  “Perhaps. I don’t like the idea. Maybe if you make it worth my while…” He took her arm and pushed her toward the gangplank. “But you’ll have to convince me. I had it all my own way before.”

  “You don’t have Rosa now. You made a mistake.”

  His hand tightened on her arm with bruising force. “That was your fault.”

  She had thought that perhaps he was right, and it had tormented her for a long time. “You made a mistake,” she repeated. “You don’t have any weapons. Make a deal with me.”

  He scowled. “I’ll consider it.” He pushed her up the gangplank. “But now you have to reacquaint yourself with Juan Salva. He’s been looking forward to having you back with us. He’s such a fine businessman and it upset him as much as it did me that we lost several shipments when you weren’t here to take care of the dogs.”

  “I’ll be wherever you want me to be from now on, if we can make a deal. If we can’t, someday at the most inconvenient time, those airport dogs are going to let their handlers know they’ve discovered a bonanza.”

  He scowled. “I don’t appreciate threats. I said I’d consider it.” He gestured to Salva, who was sitting in a deck chair with his laptop computer. “Come and greet our Margaret. She’s coming home again.…”

  * * *

  Cambry had to park far down the driveway when he arrived back at the beach house. There were three cars and one truck that he knew belonged to Mandell already there ahead of him.

  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 wh
y 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.

  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. Beg
ging 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.