Iris Johansen - Stalemate

"You're out of luck, Montalvo."

"We'll see. The only reason you came was because I offered you Bonnie. That reason still exists. You didn't know what you'd find here. Everyone was warning you what a bad man I was. Still you came."

"I won't become the criminal you are. I made something decent of my life after Bonnie was taken from me. I won't be dragged down again."

"What if I promise that you'll not be doing anything dishonorable? Your reputation and moral principles will remain pure as the driven snow." He grimaced. "The only thing that you'll be risking is your life. Sorry about that."

"Only my life? Well, then of course I'll ignore everything else and jump right on the bandwagon."

"You might if I'd caught you during those years after Bonnie's death. Not now."

She gazed at him, anger flaring through her. "You think you know me so well. You can't learn about someone from a dossier. You don't have any idea who I am."

"The dossier was only a start. I thought about you. I ran scenarios in my mind about you. Sometimes I even dreamed about you."

She felt a ripple of shock. "You're psychotic."

He shook his head. "When I first started to look for someone like you, I was very coolly analytical. Then when I stumbled over you and started probing, all that vanished. I knew you were meant to come here and do this reconstruction."

"Why?"

"Because I looked at you and saw myself." He pushed back his chair and stood up. "You've had enough to digest at one time. And I don't mean your breakfast. We'll talk later."

"You haven't told me anything that would make me want to continue this discussion."

"I had to break the ice. It's not the time for details."

"I want you to drive me back to that landing strip. I'll have Soldono arrange a flight out."

He headed for the door. "I believe you'll change your mind."

"You'll be wrong."

"You know, I never thought you'd take money for the reconstruction." He stopped at the door. "It was just an opening play. I knew from the beginning what would make you work with me. That gave me time to try to find something that would make you want to stay after you got down here. I had Miguel put a report on the desk in your bedroom. You might look at it before you make a decision."

"Report?"

But he'd already left the room.

She stared after him, filled with frustration and bewilderment. Jesus, what kind of man was he? Deadly, threatening, and yet the threats had been so matter-of-fact that she had not felt fear. There had been a sort of bizarre companionableness, an intimacy, about the way he had talked to her.

I looked at you and saw myself .

"Chat finished?" Soldono was standing in the doorway. "You don't look too pleased."

"I'm not. He doesn't even have the skull I'm supposed to reconstruct. He has to rob a grave to get it."

"And what did you tell him?"

"That I was going to ask you to arrange a flight out for me." She stood up. "Will you do it?"

"I'll do my best." He added, "But if he doesn't want to let you go, it may be useless. It would take an army to get you out of here unless he gives the word."

"Just make the arrangements. I'll deal with Montalvo."

Soldono nodded, frowning thoughtfully. "What grave is he going to rob?"

"He didn't tell me. What does it matter?"

"Everything about Montalvo's movements matters. They have repercussions all down the line. You might consider doing the job for him. It would make your exit easier."

She stared at him in disbelief. "And your job easier too, I suppose."

"Infinitely easier." He looked her in the eye. "I don't care about disturbing the dead if it keeps you alive and on your way back home."

Her anger ebbed away. "I don't have any right to judge you. This is my responsibility. I knew when I came down here that I was stepping into a spider's web and I might have a hell of a time breaking out of it."

"A hell of a time," he echoed. "So do whatever you have to do to get all of us away from here with our skins intact."

"I'll think about it." She headed for the door. "But don't hold your breath."

Do whatever you have to do.

Soldono's words repeated in her mind as she climbed the steps to her room. Those words were easy to say, but she couldn't go along with that philosophy. Not when it came to her work. Soldono and the CIA made deals all the time and a good many of them were with criminals like Montalvo.

Even though she'd made a deal with Montalvo, she wasn't sure that she could countenance his deception, much less-

Miguel put a report on the desk in your bedroom.

Her steps instinctively quickened as she reached the top of the staircase.

A blue binder was lying on the desk.

She moved slowly toward it.

I knew from the beginning what would make you work with me.

She flipped open the cover of the binder.

Bonnie Duncan.

A picture of Bonnie taken the year before she disappeared.

A sheaf of papers over half an inch thick.

Oh, my God.

She sank down in the desk chair and started to go through the pages.

"They'll know we're coming." Galen looked down at the jungle below. "We can't get anywhere near that compound without Montalvo knowing that he has visitors."

"All we have to do is get somewhere near Montalvo's place, and be dropped off. Then we disappear into the jungle."

"Oh, is that all?" Galen asked. "My, my, and I thought you had something complicated in mind. Venable said that jungle is very well-patrolled and we might have to dispose of a few sentries."

"You don't have to go with me."

"Yes, I do. This has nothing to do with you. I have a job to do. I was hired to find out about Montalvo. This is as good a way as any. And besides, I happen to have a fondness for Eve. I just thought I'd bring up the difficulties because I have no intention of wasting my efforts without a plan of action. Are we to storm the Bastille? Or perhaps try guerilla warfare? We brought enough firepower for a minor war but it would be a little absurd since there are only two of us."

"We get close. We look for a weakness." Joe smiled grimly. "And I call Eve on my cell phone and get her to come out and play our game instead of his."

"Now that makes much more sense than storming the Bastille." Galen sighed. "If a good deal less interesting."

"We may have to go back to one of your scenarios if Eve doesn't answer my call. She warned me that she might not."

"I think she will. Eve is a worrier. She'll be concerned that you're in dire straits and need her help."

"I am in dire straits." And Joe needed to know if she was well and not over her head in trouble. He'd been scared shitless since he'd left Atlanta after Galen had told him about Montalvo's connection with Diaz. It wasn't enough that Eve was dealing with one scumbag. An even greater one was hovering on the horizon. "And I'm not sure you're right. She keeps her word and she said that she wouldn't answer the initial call."

"I'm right. I may not know her as well as you do but I can stand back and observe with a more impersonal eye. You're not thinking as clearly as you might at the moment."

"Tell me about it," he said sarcastically. "Of course, you'd be perfectly calm and rational if the same thing were happening in your personal life."

"No. I'd be as scared as you are. But it's not Elena and Elspeth so I can preach to you. And be here to strike a note of reason when you go off course. Providing you listen to me."

Joe was silent a moment. "I'll listen to you. I don't promise I'll pay any attention, but I'll listen." He looked down at the vast stretch of jungle below him. Venable had warned him that Montalvo's men knew that territory like the backs of their hands, but that didn't worry him. When he was a SEAL, he'd lived in jungles for months and played hit-and-run and still managed to survive. That was years ago, but it would come back to him. Getting Eve out was going to be the hard part. She was strong, and her determination and endurance could be incredible, but she had no training. Galen had been a mercenary at one time and would be able to help. "Thank you," he said haltingly. "I know I've been on edge with you, but you're being a good friend to Eve. I appreciate it."