“No.” Her hand reached out to gently touch Juno. “She should stay with you. She just needs a little time with me right now.” And Margaret needed time with her. No excuses. No guilt. No need to be strong. No fear. Just love. “Come back in an hour or so and take her back to the house with you. Then you can give Juno her meds and settle her down for the night.”
“Whatever you say. It wasn’t the pups, I take it?”
“No, it was something else.” She stroked the dog’s head. “She’ll be fine soon.”
“Okay, I’ll be back in an hour.”
She heard him walking away, but she was looking back at the setting sun again.
Beautiful.
No answer from Juno, but the retriever reached out and put her chin on Margaret’s lap.
Comfort. Love. Togetherness.
No other answer was needed.
2:35 A.M.
“You should be in bed,” Lassiter said roughly. “Cambry said you were communing with nature, but I don’t think so. What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing now. I’m feeling … good about this.” She turned to look at him. The moonlight was bright enough to see the tension in his body language and the tautness of his face. “And I guess you could call it ‘communing with nature,’ but for me it seems more like letting it flow into me and take everything else away. That can be pretty great, Lassiter.”
“I imagine it could,” he said thickly.
“But that’s been over for hours. I’ve only been out here waiting for you.”
He stiffened. “I’m not going to be able to tell you what you want to know. I’ve pared down the names on that list to three and we have the last known addresses for all of them.”
“What are the names?”
“George Bildwan, Simon Zwecker, Carl Montgomery. I’ve put both Silicon and Mandell’s men on them to tap sources and start the hunt. But it’s going to take time. Some of these experts work for the highest bidders and are constantly moving.”
“It will go faster when you get personally involved. And I’ll be able to help.”
“The hell you will.”
She ignored that remark. “I’ve thought of a way to get a message to you. I’ve always been allowed to swim in the cove on Vadaz Island. I don’t expect that to change. Of course, there’s always a guard with a rifle watching, but as long as I don’t attempt an escape, I should be able to plant a message on the rocks on the south end of the cove. There are sentries all around that area, but you can send someone in scuba equipment to get it.”
“You have it all planned. Providing you can find either the password or the name of the computer expert who created it. Providing you don’t get caught and butchered if Nicos shows up at the wrong moment. Providing that guard who’s watching you doesn’t get suspicious and decide to shoot you.”
“I told you, I’m feeling good about it now. Almost mellow. None of that is going to happen.” She got to her feet. “If it does, then I’ll find a way to work with it. I’m not afraid any longer.”
He grabbed her shoulders. “Well, I am.”
“I know. But sometime tonight or tomorrow, you’re going to get a call from Salva or Nicos, and I’m going to have to go to the island.”
“And I’m supposed to let you go?”
“You know you are.” She looked him in the eye. “I’m going to go, Lassiter. My job. My choice. Your job is to find a way to get Patrick away from that camp or at least get a plan together that will do it.” She smiled. “And then you’re to get me away from Nicos at Montego Bay Airport. I’ll be very annoyed with you if you fail to do that.”
“I can imagine you would be.” His hands were kneading her shoulders. “I’ll offer him anything he wants, dammit.”
“No, you won’t. He’d enjoy it too much and refuse you anyway. You’ll have to take me. And you’ll send Cambry to deliver me to him. Nicos hates you. He might decide you’re too tempting a target not to swoop up. Purely from a selfish viewpoint, I have to point out that then I’d be lost, with no one to help get me away from him.”
“‘Purely from a selfish viewpoint’?”
She gazed at him and shook her head. “You’re thinking that I’m some kind of sacrificial lamb? No such thing. If I didn’t have to behave in accordance with who I am, I wouldn’t be forced to do this. That’s true of everyone who has to be what they are. I’m just a little … different.”
“I’ve noticed.”
She smiled. “I guess you have. But this time who I am is telling me that it’s time I righted wrongs and put the nightmare behind me. Purely selfish, Lassiter.”
“Yeah, sure. Well, it sounds like something else to me. And I don’t know if I can—”
His cell phone rang.
He went rigid. “That’s the text. I don’t believe there’s much doubt who would be texting me at this hour of the morning.”
The pain was starting, Margaret realized. He hadn’t even answered yet and the pain was there.
He punched the access button.
He jerked back as if struck. “Shit.”
So much pain. She couldn’t stand it.
She had to stand it. She had to stop it.
She stepped closer and looked down at the photo in the text.
Patrick. Of course it was Patrick. He was hanging from the branch of a tree by his arms, which looked as if they’d been pulled out of the sockets, his feet not touching the ground. His face was twisted in unbearable agony.
Below the photo was her name, Margaret, and the time and place for the meeting: 12:30 P.M., Puerto Morelos.
Pain.
Her own pain, Lassiter’s pain. Oh my God, and Patrick’s pain. She bent double as the waves of agony poured over her, drowning her.
“Margaret!” Lassiter was there, holding her, his hand pressing her face into his shoulder. “For God’s sake. Stop shaking.”
“Sorry.” She could barely get the words out. “Too … close now. I know you shouldn’t have to deal with … all this pain. You have so much pain. He has so much pain.” She couldn’t stop the shuddering that was tearing her apart. “Shouldn’t have to know what I’m feeling. It’s not right. I’ll try to—”
“Shut up,” he said gruffly. “I wasn’t sure that I understood all that empathy business you told me about. But I understand now.” He held her tighter. “Dear God, I understand. What the hell can I do to stop it?”
“It will be better … soon. Too … close.” Her arms slid around him, trying to stop his pain, which was now her pain. “Sometimes … it’s like an avalanche that picks up everything in its … path,” she whispered. She could barely get the words out. “But … we have to … stop … him from doing that to Patrick. You have to … call Nicos now. You have to tell him that you’ll have me at Puerto Morelos on time. But only if he sends you a photo of Patrick in thirty minutes that shows he’s been taken down … from that tree. And you want another photo of him right before delivery to make sure he hasn’t cheated you.”
He stiffened against her. “I can’t do that.”
“Do you want to look at that photo again?” Her voice was suddenly fierce. “I don’t want to see it ever again. I’d make the call myself, but he can’t know that I have any feeling for you or for Patrick. He has to think I’m just a bargaining chip. He’d use it against me. He’s done it before.” She pushed away from him and looked into his eyes. “But I’ll have to do it anyway if you don’t. I have to stop the pain.” She dropped down on the sand and linked her arms around her knees, rocking back and forth. “Now call him.”
He stood staring at her.
She had to brace herself. This pain he was going through was almost worse than that first blast when he’d opened the text.
Then he muttered a curse and began to place the call. “Nicos, you bastard, take him down,” he said roughly when Nicos picked up. “She’ll be there tomorrow on time. What the hell do I care? But not unless you stop playing your games with Patrick. Take him down. I want a photo in
the next thirty minutes showing that you’ve done it. Another at eleven tomorrow morning, right before the delivery.” He met Margaret’s eyes. “I’ll be glad to get rid of her. She’s caused me nothing but trouble. When this is all over, I’ll expect you to be ready to negotiate for Patrick. I’m already putting together a package I don’t think you can refuse.” He disconnected and asked her roughly, “Satisfied? I believe he was.”
“We’ll know in thirty minutes.” She was glad she hadn’t had to hear Nicos’s voice this time. “And you sounded … sincere.”
“You mean like a son of a bitch.” He dropped down beside her. “A prick of the highest order.”
“It’s the only kind of person Nicos understands.” She reached out and touched his arm. “It was the right thing to do.”
“The hell it was. There was no right thing to do.”
Pain, again.
She got on her knees, then moved over him and sank into his arms. “It was right. You’ll see. But I know it hurts, too.”
He went still. “What are you doing?”
“Contact helps. Hold me, Lassiter.”
He hesitated and then his arms closed around her. “This isn’t a good idea.”
“Yes, it is.” She lay there, feeling his warmth, feeling a little of the pain ebbing away. “Too close to pain. Too close to death. This is life, Lassiter.”
“More than that,” he said thickly.
“Just hold me.”
“I’m holding you, dammit. Now stop shaking.”
“Better. See? Not so much. You’re better, too.”
Warmth. Opening. Easing.
Pain still there, but not as sharp.
Minutes passed.
Pain fading, but something else …
He was still stiff; she could feel the tension.
“Do you want to have sex? That could help, too.”
He went rigid. “What?”
“Sex. It’s renewing. It’s one of the greatest forces of life and reminds us that—”
“No.” He pushed her aside and sat up. “I knew this wasn’t a good idea. What the hell are you doing?”
“If you don’t want me that way, then I understand. I just thought—”
“You just thought after I’d turned you over to Nicos only minutes before, that you’d offer to screw me because it would be good for me?”
He was angry. She’d obviously made a mistake.
“I thought it might be good for me, too.”
“Don’t say that.”
She nodded. “If that’s what you want.”
“That’s not what I want. It’s nowhere near what I want at the moment.”
“Then why don’t you—” She could tell by his expression that would be a mistake, too. “I’ll sit here and wait until you get the text and then I’ll go to bed. Would that be all right?”
“No, but it’s better than the other offers you’ve made tonight. At least it’s not self-destructive.”
She shook her head. “I don’t regret any of them.”
“I know you don’t, and that makes it worse for me. I’m supposed to reach out and take because it’s offered? Or maybe you’re like one of those gladiators going into the coliseum who want a last night of debauchery before they face the beasts.”
Her mouth fell open, and then she had to smile. “I don’t believe there were women gladiators, and I don’t think sex with you could be described as debauchery.” Her smile faded. “But Nicos and Salva are definitely beasts.”
“You’re smiling?” Lassiter was silent and then shook his head. “You see, I can’t understand what you—” His phone rang and he went rigid. “Text.”
He got to his feet and accessed the message.
Pain. But not the pain he’d experienced before.
“I won’t show you this photo because I don’t know how it would affect you,” he said as he hung up. “You scared me before. Patrick is lying on the ground. He’s off that damn tree. But he still doesn’t look good.”
“But Nicos paid attention to you. Patrick might not have lasted if Nicos hadn’t taken him down.” She got to her feet. “Now I’ll go back to the house. Good night, Lassiter.”
“Wait.” He took her hand as she was passing him. “I didn’t mean to—” He stopped. “As usual, you shocked the hell out of me and I said all the wrong things.” He reached out and cupped her face in his two hands. “You’re completely extraordinary and I never know what to expect. But whatever you do and say, it’s good.” He touched her lips with his forefinger. “It’s the rest of the world that hasn’t managed to catch up yet. Including me. I’m way behind, Margaret.”
She was experiencing that golden sensation of being treasured that she’d known before when he’d touched her. She wanted it to go on and on. “No, you’re not. It’s only a bad time for you. And I’m not a gladiator or some kind of sacrifice. I’m just me. We’ll both get through this.” She smiled up at him. “But maybe not with the sex. It seemed to upset you too much.”
He grimaced. “Oh, you could say that. In several different and unique ways.”
“I’m glad you’re not angry any longer.” She backed away from him and started to walk back to the house. “I’ll see you in the morning, Lassiter.”
And he would be as upset in the morning as he was right now, she knew. It had been an hour of tumult and incredible pain and she had tried to distract both of them until it passed. For the most part, it had worked.
Yet she’d face the same challenge tomorrow.
But she was exhausted and felt limp from the emotional roller coaster she’d ridden tonight.
And she’d also have to face Nicos tomorrow.
Juno was sitting, waiting, at the French doors.
Hurting. Need me. You’re not her. But need me.
No, I’m not her. She stroked Juno’s head. Tonight I’m not sure who I am. Maybe I do need you. I’m going to bed. Want to come and keep me company?”
8:45 A.M.
Lassiter was still working on the Nicos file when he heard the car start in the driveway.
What in the hell …
He pushed his chair away from the desk and ran out of the house, only to see the gray Toyota rental car heading down the driveway toward the road with Cambry behind the wheel.
And Margaret in the passenger seat beside him.
“Son of a bitch!” He reached for his phone and called Margaret.
No answer.
He dialed Cambry.
No answer. He received a text in return.
I TRIED TO TALK HER OUT OF IT. BUT SHE MIGHT BE RIGHT. NOTE ON DOOR.
He turned and strode back to the front door. There was a handwritten note tacked to it.
I told you last night it would be too much of a temptation for Nicos if you showed up to hand me over. He hates you and he sometimes acts purely on impulse. By the time you get transport to follow us and drive down to Puerto Morelos, I’ll already be with Nicos.
I’ll try to find out which of the computer experts is the one in Nicos’s pocket. I’ll put the info in a waterproof bag I took from the kitchen cabinet and place it on the third rock in the boulder formation in the south cove I told you about. I hope it will be at least the day before he takes me to Montego Bay. I drew a map of the cove area and left it on the kitchen bar. I’ll have to give Cambry my phone when I leave him to go to Nicos. They’ll search everything I have with me before they let me on the island. If you can, arrange to find a way to send the phone back to me by the person who picks up my message.
That’s all, I guess. I know you’ll be angry. But I promise I’ll keep Cambry safe. Please take care of Juno until Cambry can get back to you.
Margaret.
“Shit!” His hand crumpled the paper and he threw it to the ground. He tried to call her.
No answer.
And there wouldn’t be an answer, he knew. She had made up her mind, made her plans, and would carry them out. Alone. Just as she’d done all her life.
Al
one.
She hadn’t even let him go with her to give her what little support he could. She probably hadn’t trusted him to go through with handing her over to Nicos. God knows, he hadn’t been sure what he would have done at that last minute.
So she had made it easy for him. If you could call easy being racked with guilt and feeling as if he were writhing on that same tree branch as Patrick had been.
And she was right: There was no way he could get there to Puerto Morelos in time.
So stop standing here and do what you can to make sure that Margaret’s action has not been taken in vain.
He phoned Mandell in Cancún. “I need you to come down here with the entire team. We’ll use this beach house as command central. I want you to bring me down an LX-40. Have Norris rent a seaplane to have immediately available.”
“Seaplane?”
“You heard me. You and I have a job to do. And then there are those three computer experts that we have to find and question in the next twenty-four hours. After that, we go after Patrick.”
“There’s some connection with those computer geeks?” Mandell asked. “I thought that you were arranging an exchange of some sort for Patrick.”
“It didn’t work out,” he said curtly. “And yes, there’s a connection. Get down here and let’s find them.” He disconnected and went back into the house.
Juno was sitting outside Margaret’s bedroom door.
Take care of Juno.
Okay, do what she’d asked. God knows there wasn’t much else she’d left him to do.
He went toward the dog. “Come on, let’s get you some breakfast and your meds. She won’t be back for a while.”
Juno didn’t move. She stared up at him with those huge dark eyes.
“But she will be back. I’ll get her back. Don’t give me trouble, okay?”
Juno slowly got up and came toward him.
At least Juno trusts me, he thought as he went to the kitchen bar to get her bowl and food. She should believe me.
Because I’m going to move heaven and earth to get Margaret off that damn island.
* * *
“Stop here,” Margaret said when Cambry reached the end of the dock. She sat there gazing at the sleek white yacht anchored off the long pier. She could feel the muscles of her stomach clench. Her heart was beating hard.