Stalemate (11 page)

"Not in here. I don't like sandwiches." He handed the joint to the woman next to him.

Only it wasn't a woman, Nekmon noticed. It was a girl not over eleven or twelve. He vaguely remembered seeing her working on one of the coca farms. Evidently Diaz had seen her, too, and decided he liked what he saw. It didn't surprise him. Diaz usually liked the young ones. He often bought girls even younger from the whorehouses in Bogota.

"I'll go then. Good night, Mr. Diaz."

Diaz didn't answer. He was already moving over the young girl. "Now let's see how well you've learned your lessons, little puta...."

"Again, Joe?" Eve's voice was breathless as she cuddled closer to him. "Don't tell me I've worn you out?"

"Okay, I won't tell you." He rolled over and was on top of her. "Now put up or shut up."

"You mean put out." She smiled up at him. "No problem."

"I hope not." His hand caressed her cheek. "That's what I want for you, Eve. No problems ever."

"There are always problems." She turned her head to kiss his palm. "But moments like this make us forget about them. You're a wonderful man and a hell of a lover." She whispered, "I love you, Joe."

"I gathered that by the way you seduced me tonight. You didn't let me eat my supper before you set out to do your best to get me in the sack."

"You were easy. It didn't take my best. Are you complaining?"

"If I were, you should send me to a shrink." He bent down and kissed her, slow, lingering. "God, I'm glad to be seduced. I was trying to be reserved and not use sex to influence you."

"How stupid can you get? Use it." She chuckled. "It won't get you anywhere, but we'll have a hell of a good time."

"What a healthy attitude." He started to move. "I believe I will...."

Joe was carefully getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom. The door closed silently and she heard the shower.

He didn't want to wake her, Eve knew. It was six-thirty. He'd get dressed and be on the way to the precinct within thirty minutes.

She'd lie here and pretend to be asleep and hope he didn't turn on the light and see the tears staining her cheeks. This was going to be the most difficult time. She wanted to talk to him, tell him everything. She wanted to draw him back to her and forget about Venable's agent, who'd be here in a few hours. Why was she doing this when she could have Joe and hours like the ones that had spun by like molten gold?

Golden nights and silver mornings.

Who had said that?

Jane. After she had come back from MacDuff's Run.

Last night had been golden. But this morning was anything but silver. It was shoddy metal and was leaving a taste of bitter brass in her mouth.

The decision was made. Good-byes were always hard. If she didn't go today, she would go tomorrow or the next day. She knew herself too well not to know that.

She just had to hope that Joe didn't turn on the light.

Chapter 5.

She got a call from Galen when she was boarding the private jet at the Atlanta airport.

"Do you have a minute, luv?" he asked. "I need to talk to you."

"I have time. You've found out something?"

"Not as much as I'd like. Enough to make me uneasy."

"You? Uneasy? It takes a lot to rattle you."

"I'm not rattled. Don't insult me. I'm merely a bit troubled."

"And what about Montalvo made you troubled? We all knew he was bad news."

"We didn't know that there was a connection with Ramon Diaz."

"Diaz...the name's familiar, but I can't--"

"Colombian drug lord. Scum of the earth. Very powerful. He controls half the politicians in the government."

"And Montalvo is his buddy?"

"I don't know. Digging for information about Montalvo is a study in frustration. I need to go down there and do the job myself."

"No," she said sharply. "That's not what I asked. I want you to stay home and do any digging long-distance."

"I may have sounded like a hausfrau yesterday, but I still do my job, Eve. Long distance isn't cutting it."

"What did you find out?"

"I think he's forty-two and was born in a village in the south. I can't trace his parents yet. As far as I know, he could have been hatched. The next info places him with the rebels when he was in his twenties. Very good. Very lethal. That's all until he emerges years later as this weapons guru."

"And Diaz?"

"I don't know. My informant says it's only a whisper, not a fact. But that whisper keeps repeating over and over."

"Maybe it's like the telephone game. It starts out as one thing and ends up completely different."

"Maybe. But if there's any connection at all you want to get as far away as possible from him. Diaz shoots priests because they preach against growing coca. I don't know how nasty Montalvo operates, but if he works with Diaz, he's bound to be an ugly customer."

"A whisper."

Galen was silent a moment. "And you don't want to hear that whisper, do you? Why not?"

"I'm listening."

"I can hardly hear you with all that background noise. Where are you?"

"I need to hang up anyway. Call me if you hear anything concrete." She was climbing the steps of the jet. "But don't you leave Elena and Elspeth. I don't need the information that badly."

"You sounded fairly urgent before. What's different?"

The difference was that bad or good, she was going to find out for herself. "Thanks for trying, Galen."

"I don't try, I do. You know that or you wouldn't have called me in the first place. I'll get back to you when I know more. Good-bye, Eve."

"Good-bye, Galen. Remember what I--"

He was gone. Dammit, she'd unleashed Galen's boundless curiosity, and coupled with his pride in his profession, she'd never be able to call him off until he was satisfied.

The pilot came out of the cockpit. "We need to take off, Ms. Duncan."

"Fine." She settled in a seat and fastened her seat belt. It wasn't fine. In a matter of hours Joe would be home and getting the note she had left. Galen might decide to leave his family and go to Colombia and she was on her way to a man who was not only a criminal in his own right, but hobnobbed with scum like Diaz.

No, nothing was fine at this particular moment.

The note was propped up on the coffee table where Joe couldn't miss it.

He muttered a curse as he tore it open.

Joe,

I had to do it. I'm on my way to Montalvo. Don't come after me. It will be much riskier for both of us if you're on the scene. Montalvo doesn't want to hurt me. He needs me. I won't answer my phone for a while but I'll keep in touch. Just don't come after me. Please.

I can see you now, angry and frustrated as you read this. You're thinking I'm stupid and blind and you're asking yourself why I fell for the line he gave me. I fought it but in the end I couldn't do anything else.

He promised me Bonnie.

I love you.

Eve

Shit.

Joe's hand slowly crushed the note. He wanted to strike out, to crush more than this damned piece of paper. He should have known that she was on the edge, preparing to move. Eve was always up-front and eager about sex, but last night she had been almost aggressive.

And damn wonderful.

If good-bye could ever be wonderful.

The son of a bitch. He had dangled the one bait Eve could never resist and done it with a cleverness that made it almost acceptable to her.

Yes, she was safe while she was working on the reconstruction. But she knew as well as he did that once the work was done, all bets were off. She didn't care. The chance to find Bonnie was worth the risk to her.

Pain surged through him. Well, it wasn't worth it to him. He wouldn't lose her.

And her plea for him not to follow her was crap. No way.

He pulled out his cell phone. No use to call Eve. If she said she wouldn't answer, she wouldn't do it.

He dialed Galen and said when he picked up, "I need to know everything you can find out about Montalvo's compound, how it's manned, any weakness."

Galen was silent a moment. "How soon?"

"Yesterday."

Galen gave a low whistle. "Not easy. Would you care to give me a reason for the urgency?"

"Sometime tonight Eve will be going through the gates of that compound."

"Shit."

"Exactly. She left me a note to tell me to stay home and tend to my knitting."

"Fat chance. I can't believe she'd take that risk. Particularly after I told her about Diaz."

"Diaz?"

"I called her this morning and told her that there might be a connection between Montalvo and Diaz. It would be a very nasty combo. Drugs and weapons." He paused. "I think she was at the airport this morning when I called. The noise..."

Diaz. Jesus. What Joe had heard about him was ugly and lethal. "Montalvo is nasty enough. He played Eve like a maestro."

"Eve doesn't manipulate easily."

"He promised her Bonnie."

"Christ. That would do it. I'll get on the phone and see what I can find out for you. When are you leaving?"

"Tonight."

"Call Venable before you go and see if you can find out any information from him. It can't hurt. We may need all the help we can get."

"We?"

"I'll meet you in Bogota and we'll go from there."

"No."

"Screw you. I'm going with or without you. Eve asked me to do a job and I haven't finished it. You try to operate without me and you'll be going in blind. My sources wouldn't trust anyone but me."

And Galen had the best information sources Joe had ever run across. "Then I won't argue with you. Eve probably would. She was looking very mushy and sentimental when she was talking about your Elspeth."

"I've no intention of not coming back. We go in, we get Eve, and we get out." He paused. "If we can persuade her to go. That's up to you."

"Thanks. She'll come back with us if I have to tie and gag her. I'll call you when I have my flight information." He hung up and sat there for a moment. Fight the panic. Galen was right. The big battle would be to persuade Eve to abandon her deal with Montalvo and come with them.

He'd find a way. He had to find a way. Stop sitting here and start moving. He'd call Venable on the way to the airport. He stood up and headed for the door.

San Cristal

It was after midnight when the helicopter Eve had switched to in Bogota set down on the landing strip of the small village that was only a dot in the middle of the blackness of the jungle.

She drew a deep breath, trying to ease the tenseness of her muscles. Now wasn't the time for nerves. Being here was her choice. So she felt isolated and uncertain. Suck it up and face it.

"Welcome, Ms. Duncan." The door slid open. "Did you have a good journey?"

Montalvo. In the lantern light he looked younger, stronger, more vibrant than his photographs. Also, considerably more dangerous; the photographs had not shown the gun that was holstered at his hip.

"Considering where I was going." She unfastened her seat belt. "And why have I become Ms. Duncan when you were calling me Eve the last few times you phoned?"

He chuckled. "I thought it would put you more at ease if I was more impersonal. No?"

"No. Nothing is going to put me at ease until I get out of here. Call me what you like." She ignored his hand and jumped down from the helicopter. "Where's the Gonzales family?"

"Inside the hut. The children were frightened."

"Of you?"

"Possibly." He grabbed her two bags. "Is this all?"

"Clothes and my equipment."

"I should have told you that you didn't need the equipment. I have all you'll need at the compound."

"I like my own equipment."

"I can understand that. I have weapons that I've used for years and the familiarity is comforting." He threw the bags in the back of the jeep. "There's a certain feel..."

Her gaze went to the gun on his hip. "Death?"

The smile never left his face. "I never thought about it. Don't you think that your tools would reflect death more than mine? You actually work with human skulls."

"Not to destroy them."

"Good point. I do destroy on occasion." He waved his hand at the hut. "We'll get the Gonzales family on board and then get you to the compound. You must be tired."

"I'm perfectly fine."

He turned and met her eyes. "No, you're not fine. You're tense and a little frightened. Oh, not of me. I don't frighten you. But you're wondering somewhere deep inside if you've made a mistake. If it's worth quarreling with your Joe. If I'll do what you want me to do."

Jesus, he must be a mind reader. That was exactly how she felt.

"And the answer to all those questions is no," he said softly. "And yes, and yes. You've done the right thing for both of us. And I won't let you regret it."

She tore her gaze away from his. "We'll see." She shifted her eyes to the woman who was hurrying toward the helicopter with two children in tow. She stiffened. "Where's Gonzales?"

"Ye of little faith. Not that I don't approve of suspicion." He waved his hand again. "Soldono is bringing Gonzales separately. I wanted the bastard to sweat up to the last minute about whether I'd actually let him go."

"Cruel."

"He deserves it. He betrayed me. He's lucky to get out with his skin."

She watched the thin, dark man bolt out of the hut and run toward the aircraft. He cast one panicky glance at Montalvo and then dove into the helicopter. A moment later the door was closed and the rotors whirled. "I'd say he was sweating even enough to please you."

"No. I don't like traitors. Even Soldono didn't object when I decided to punish him a little. He knows Gonzales got off lucky." He turned to the man coming toward him. "Don't you, Soldono?"

Soldono was a tall, lean, sandy-haired man in his thirties who looked rawhide-tough. "I guess you could say that. He's not dead." He held out his hand to Eve. "Mark Soldono, CIA. I'm sorry for my part in involving you with this mess. I hope you'll let me do everything to make your stay easier at the compound."

She felt a surge of relief. "You're coming with us?"

He grimaced. "Montalvo wanted to provide you with a sense of security. I guess that's me." His glance shifted to the helicopter that was lifting off the ground. "Though you've done a better job than I have so far. I don't like the price you paid but thanks anyway."

"It wasn't all about Gonzales," Eve said. "He was just a fringe benefit."

Montalvo chuckled. "I enjoy your turn of phrase. 'Fringe benefit'..." He got into the driver's seat of the jeep. "I'll have to see what other fringe benefits I can find for you."

"You can't beat a human life."

"Yet neither of us is here because of life, but death. What does that say?" He started the jeep. "Never mind. It's not fair to argue philosophy when you're so tired. Sit back and relax. It's ten miles to the compound. The last mile has three checkpoints."

"You're very careful."

"It's how I've stayed alive for all these years. I'm an old man for my business."

"Forty-two?"

"You've been asking questions. Forty-one, actually."

"And running guns is so dangerous?"

He shrugged. "Everyone in this part of the world wants weapons, and if they can get them without paying, then they'll do it. Weapons are like drugs. The more you have, the more you think you need."

"How very profitable for you."

"Yes, it is." He turned to look at her. "Do you want to discuss it? I'll be happy to do it, but it's not a subject that's going to make us get along with any degree of harmony."

She gazed at him for a moment before glancing away. She hadn't expected him to be like this. No anger, no ugliness, every antagonistic remark met with calm control. She had realized he was intelligent and persuasive, but often when people got what they wanted they changed. "I don't believe anything is going to make our relationship harmonious. But there's no use doing anything to make it worse." She leaned against the back of the seat. "All we have to do is survive each other."

"Very sensible." He looked back at Soldono. "Perhaps I didn't need you after all, Soldono. She doesn't seem at all nervous with me."

"She's barely met you," Soldono said dryly. "Give her an hour or two. I'm staying, Montalvo."

Montalvo smiled. "Of course you are. I just thought I'd ruffle you a bit so that you could show Eve how forceful and determined you can be." He turned on the CD player. "Chopin. That's your favorite, isn't it?"

Yes, she loved Chopin. She could feel a chill go through her. How the hell did he know a little detail like that?

"Sorry." Montalvo turned the CD off. "I intended to make you feel comforted, not threatened. Okay, no music. No conversation."

The knowledge that he had read her response so easily wasn't guaranteed to make her feel less threatened. She looked straight ahead. "Do what you like. It doesn't bother me."

He didn't answer and when she shot him a glance it was to see a faint smile on his face.

Let him smile, she thought wearily. Let him feel confident and powerful and all-knowing. She needed a night's sleep to fully recover from the emotional and physical drain that was sapping her of strength. She'd deal with Montalvo tomorrow.

The compound was encircled by high stucco walls and looked like an armed fort. No, it was an armed fort, Eve saw as she entered the tall wooden gates into the courtyard. The battlements were manned by guards with rifles. Mounted at two points she noticed something even more threatening.

"Missiles?" she asked as she got out of the jeep. "My God, are you preparing for a war?"

"I'm always prepared for war. That's what keeps it at bay." He took her luggage out of the jeep. "But you'll be relieved to know they aren't nuclear."

"That makes me feel much better," she said sarcastically. "No wonder the CIA is so interested in you."

"One has to be a bit special to earn such interest. It's quite flattering."

"Don't be flattered," Soldono said as he got out of the jeep. "You'd be surprised at the scum we deal with."

"No, I wouldn't." He turned to a tall, good-looking man dressed in khakis who was approaching. "This is Miguel Vicente. He'll show you to your room. There are guards in the hall. If you need anything during the night, just ask one of them to get it for you. I have breakfast at nine. I'll send Miguel to get you tomorrow morning and bring you to the dining room."

As she looked at him, she realized that Miguel was more boy than man. Probably not more than nineteen or twenty. But he also wore a holstered pistol on his hip. Good God, talk about an armed camp.

He smiled. "If you'll come this way, Ms. Duncan."

"Miguel doesn't have to come for you in the morning, I'll do it," Soldono said. "Good night. Sleep well."

She nodded. "Good night, Soldono." She inclined her head in a cool acknowledgment of Montalvo before she followed Miguel.

Jesus, she'd need a guide in this place, she thought as she moved through polished rosewood halls and chandelier-lit staircases. It was a bloody palace. The beauty of hand-carved chests and velvet drapes was in complete contrast to the military encampment outside these front doors.

And the room to which Miguel took her was as luxurious and beautifully furnished as the rest of the house.

"I hope you're comfortable here," Miguel said. "I was told you must be happy. Does it please you?"

He was frowning anxiously and she was once more aware of how young he was. "It's fine."

"Truly?"

She nodded as she gazed around the room. More carving on the headboard, fine Persian rugs on polished wood floors. "It's like something out of a Zorro movie."

He smiled. "I saw that movie, but he was in prison a good deal of the time. I hope that's not what you meant."

"No, strictly Spanish hidalgo." She went to the huge bed where Miguel had placed her bags. "Do you work in the house?"

He shook his head. "Only for you. I'm a soldier for the Colonel."

"Colonel?"

He opened the French doors. "Colonel Montalvo."

"Montalvo?" She stared at him in bewilderment. "If he's an officer, it must be purely self-assumed."

"I'm a soldier for the Colonel," he repeated. "The bath is the door to the left. May you sleep well." He was gone before she could answer.

A colonel? Oh, well, maybe he liked the idea of styling himself as an officer to match his little army here at the compound. She wouldn't have thought he would be that vain. No, that's right, Galen had mentioned something about him being with the rebels but nothing about being an officer.

But what did she know? She'd only scratched the surface of the man. If she was lucky, she'd not have to dig any deeper. She'd finish the job he gave her. She'd demand the payment he'd offered and be off and back to the lake cottage. Dear God, and perhaps if Montalvo kept his word, she'd be at peace at last.

If Joe would allow her to come back to him. He'd be hurt and angry and he wasn't going to be easy or forgiving. In his eyes her greatest sin would be leaving him behind. He'd been through too much with her.

Don't think about Joe. It hurt too much. She felt very much alone in this big, palatial room so different from the small, comfortable cottage to which she was accustomed. She wanted to go home.

Stop whining. She grabbed her nightshirt out of the suitcase and headed for the bathroom. Take a shower. Go to bed. Tomorrow she'd dive into work and close everything else out.