A Dangerous Game (37 page)

"And you can tell him that, if you wish."

Jacey thought how attractive he looked when he was angry.
 
She almost

smiled.

"Nicolas and I don't talk politics," she said.
 
She paused, and added

casually, "If you deposed Nicolas, who would replace him?"

Another pause.

"Lohaquin?"

Leonardo had his emotions under control now.

"Lohaquin has the interests of Guachtal at heart," he said.

"And you can tell Senor Schlemann that I said that, too."

"Stop insulting me, Leonardo," she ordered, sharply.

He looked startled.

"I am not insulting you, Dr.
 
Muldaire."

"You are," she said.

"You're implying that I'm some kind of informer.

Nothing you say will go further than this room."
 
She managed to hold

his gaze.

"I enjoy Nicolas Schlemarm's body," she said.

"But that doesn't mean he owns my mind."

Leonardo looked embarrassed.

"You must have some feelings for him," he said awkwardly.

"You are not a street woman.
 
And women are not like men;

men can approach sex in a purely physical manner, but women need love

and romance, and so forth."

He sounded so serious that Jacey laughed.

"Did Raoul tell you that?"

she asked.
 
He nodded.
 
She moved towards him again.

"Well, it may come as a surprise to you, Leonardo, but women can nick

and forget, just the same as men."
 
She had intended to shock him, and

she knew she had succeeded.
 
He was actually blushing.

"Oh dear," she said.

"Did your brother also tell you that women never swear?
 
You do have a

lot to learn."

"He did not tell me anything of the kind," Leonardo said.
 
He shifted

uncomfortably on his chair.

"I am aware that I don't understand women.

But I would like to learn."
 
He looked up at her and she thought there

was a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

"I admire women.
 
Particularly intelligent women.
 
Strong women, with

independent minds."
 
He lowered his eyes briefly, then glanced up at

her.

"Women like this are usually older than me, but I find that kind of

woman very attractive indeed."

Jacey was certain that was an invitation for her to make the obvious

suggestion.
 
She thought how deliciously vulnerable he looked, sitting

straight-backed, his long fingers clenched together.
 
I could get him

to do anything I liked, she realised.
 
And he'd enjoy it.

"I'm sure there are plenty of women who would love to teach you," she

said.
 
And added sweetly, "Perhaps you could get Raoul to introduce you

to some of his girlfriends?"

He looked away.

"They do not interest me.
 
They are mostly young and stupid."

"You're very particular, aren't you?"
 
she chided.

"What makes you think an intelligent woman would be attracted to

you?"

He gazed at her.

"I don't know."
 
Then he bowed his head submissively.

"I simply hope I will find someone, one day."

She stood up briskly.

"Well, I'm sure you will," she said patronisingly.

"If you wait long enough."

She was gratified to see the disappointment on his face.
 
If you

thought it was going to be that easy to get your own way, young man,

she thought rather smugly, you were mistaken.
 
You want something from

me, but I want something from you, too.
 
Having sex with you would

probably be a delightful experience.
 
But would, it mean you'd trust

me?
 
Trust me enough to take me to Lohaquin?
 
I'm afraid we're both

going to keep our clothes on until I've discovered the answer to

that.

"I'll see you in two days' time," she said.

"And we'll discuss art."

The sound of her mobile phone no longer startled Jacey.
 
She knew

before she answered that it was very unlikely to be an emergency

call.

Medically, none of her patients at La Primavera were likely to need her

immediate attention.
 
When the phone trilled now, she expected to hear

Nicolas's coolly authoritative voice telling her what time a car would

be coming to collect her.
 
He always seemed to know exactly where she

was, and the calls always came when she was on duty at La Primavera,

spending some leisure time in her apartment, or relaxing by the

hospital pool.
 
Although she was certain Nicolas knew she still worked

regularly at El Inviemo, he had never commented on it, and never

summoned her while she was there.

Despite her involvement with Nicolas, her relationship with the staff

at El Inviemo remained friendly.
 
She knew it would be pointless to try

and discuss politics or Lohaquin with them, and deliberately kept her

conversation light and general.
 
Dr.
 
Rodriguez was the only one who

ever mentioned Nicolas.
 
He criticised Nicolas repeatedly, and asked

Jacey what she saw in him, but this proved to her that he trusted her

and was confident she would not inform on him.

"He's sexy," she said, defending herself yet again as she assisted

Rodriguez during a minor operation.

"He's a crook," Rodriguez grunted.

"A thief.
 
I wouldn't mind, but the money he's stealing comes from my

taxes."

Paloma tut-tutted from behind her surgical mask as a warning for him to

stop.

"It's no good you making those noises, my girl," Rodriguez added.

"You know you really agree with me."

Once or twice when they were alone, Jacey had attempted to draw

Rodriguez out on the subject of Lohaquin.
 
In a rare moment of

confidence he had admitted to Jacey that not only did he believe

Lohaquin would never gain control of Guachtal, but that he did not

deserve to.

"He should have made his move before now," Rodriguez had said.

"But what has he ever done, except skulk in the forest while your

boyfriend tightens his hold on Guachtal?"
 
He fixed her with an angry

glare.

"Don't fall into the trap of hero-worshipping Lohaquin.
 
Leave that to

silly girls like Paloma.
 
Lohaquin is a fraud and a failure, whoever he

is."

"Nicolas thinks he's important enough to offer a large reward for his

capture," Jacey said.

Rodriguez smiled briefly.

"He probably knows he'll never have to pay it.
 
Lohaquin takes care not

to make himself visible.
 
I've never met anyone who claims to have seen

him.
 
Even liars!"

Operating or assisting during an operation was one of the duties that

Jacey really enjoyed.
 
The patients at El mviemo frequently needed

surgery, and to help save lives was particularly satisfying for

Jacey.

Once he trusted her, the over-burdened Dr.
 
Rodriguez passed more and

more of his cases over to her.
 
One day she was in the middle of a

tricky suture when her mobile rang.
 
Paloma was acting as her theatre

nurse.

"Answer that for me," Jacey requested, without looking up.

"It might be someone at La Primavera."

When Paloma started waving the phone at her and making cryptic

gestures, she knew it wasn't.

"Nicolas?"
 
she guessed.

Paloma nodded vigorously.
 
For a moment, Jacey was tempted to ask

Paloma to switch the phone off, or at least tell Nicolas to ring back

later, but she knew this would not deter him from calling again.
 
She

indicated with her head for Paloma to bring the phone close to her ear,

and heard Nicolas's voice giving her the familiar instructions.

She interrupted him more abruptly than she'd intended.

"I can't come now, I'm operating."

There was a brief pause.

"Then hand over to some one else," he said.

/! can't."

"Are you the only doctor at El Inviemo?"

There was an undertone of anger in his voice that she had not heard

before.
 
She realised this was the first time she had refused his

orders.

"I'm in the middle of a delicate surgical procedure," she said.

"I

have a patient to consider.
 
I can't come, I'm sorry.
 
Ring me

later."

She indicated to Paloma to switch the phone off.
 
Paloma's eyes were

nervous.

"Maybe I should get Dr.
 
Ramez?
 
I think he is still on duty."

"You stay here," Jacey said sharply.

"Nicolas will have to learn that I'm a doctor first, and his woman

second."

"I don't think he is going to be very happy about that," Paloma

mumbled.

"Too bad," Jacey said brusquely, and turned back to her patient.

She was still busy when a frightened nurse appeared at the operating