Iris Johansen - Stalemate

"You're saying you did it because of me? I didn't even know I was coming until the last minute."

"And I kept our negotiations extremely confidential. That doesn't mean he might not have picked up a kernel of information. Miguel found bugging and surveillance equipment in Aquila's camp in the jungle outside the compound."

"And what would Diaz have done if he did know I was coming?"

"He would have sent a man to Atlanta to kill you. Or he might have ambushed us on the way to the compound. Since neither event occurred, he may not know who I was bringing here or that you were definitely coming. But he might guess that I think I've found the grave."

"And who's in that grave?"

He was silent a moment. "My wife."

She stiffened in shock. "What?"

"Nalia Armandariz. She was the daughter of Antonio Armandariz, the rebel leader. I was fighting with the rebels when we met." He smiled. "What a tiger she was. Yet full of courage and ideals and a zest for life like I've never seen before."

"You loved her."

"Oh, yes," he said softly. "I was sick with bitterness and anger when I met her. She healed me. It was all joy with her. It sounds weird to say that, when she was a soldier like me. A fine soldier and her father's right hand."

"How did she die?"

"Diaz. She was probing too closely into his business. Her father was dealing with Diaz, who was very outspoken in his support for the rebel effort. He protected Diaz's coca growers from rival drug dealers and did a few other raids for him. When the military was becoming troublesome Diaz set the rebels to attack. He had Armandariz convinced that he was devoted to the rebel cause and tossed him an occasional bone of cash and weapons to prove it. But Nalia found out that he was double-dealing. He was paying off the government and funneling cash into their coffers as well to look the other way when he was exporting his drugs."

"She found proof?"

"She was looking for it when she disappeared."

"Disappeared? I thought he killed her."

"Your Bonnie disappeared. Do you have any doubt that she's dead?"

She slowly shook her head. "I wish I did."

"So do I. Diaz was very clever. He buried the evidence of his double-dealing and convinced her father that Nalia had stolen the latest payment Diaz had sent him and gotten on a plane for Australia."

She shook her head. "He couldn't have believed that of her. She was his daughter."

"He wanted to believe it. He was a fanatic and Diaz was helping his cause. Turning a blind eye to a little double-dealing was a cheap price to pay."

"Not so cheap. He lost a daughter."

"In his eyes he didn't lose her, she deserted the cause. She wasn't his daughter any longer."

"What did you do?"

"What do you think? I went after Diaz. I ended up getting away from his men barely alive and dragging myself to a friend's house to recuperate. It took almost a year to get well. By that time things had changed. Nalia's father wanted to have nothing to do with me. I'd attacked his benefactor and he couldn't accept that if he was going to continue with his self-delusion."

"Did you go after Diaz again?"

"No, I'd had time to simmer down and think. I didn't want to just kill Diaz. I wanted to bring him down. I wanted to destroy everything he'd built, everything he'd created in his little empire. But I couldn't do that without gathering together almost as much money as Diaz possessed. I needed money for bribes, to hire the kind of manpower Diaz had at his command. I was a soldier with only the clothes on my back and my rifle. So I set out to get that cash."

"By becoming a criminal yourself?"

He shrugged. "Weapons were the only thing I knew about."

"Are you making excuses?"

"No, I wouldn't make excuses to you any more than I'd make them to myself. I'm sure Soldono will be willing to tell you what a very bad boy I am. I'm only explaining what happened. I had to bring Diaz down. I didn't care how I made the money as long as it was there for me to tap. I did what I set out to do. I had cash to set up the compound so that Diaz couldn't touch me." He paused. "And the kind of big money that permitted me to hire investigators to find out where your Bonnie's killer might be found. I think perhaps you'll believe that expenditure to be worthwhile."

Damn him, he might not be making excuses but he'd man-aged to strike the one note that resounded in the depths of her being. "Go on."

"But I needed to do more than become some kind of Midas. I needed to find Nalia. I had to make her father admit she was dead and that Diaz had killed her. I started searching. It took me two years before I found out what he'd done with her body."

"The cemetery?"

"Christ, no. He threw her into a swamp to rot. I bribed one of his men who did it to go get her. But he double-crossed me and didn't bring the body directly to me. He buried her in an unmarked grave in the cemetery. He said he couldn't run the risk of Diaz knowing what he'd done. The damn cemetery is practically on top of Diaz's villa. Then Diaz found out that his man had been dealing with me and went after him." His lips tightened. "I got to him first. I couldn't have him telling Diaz where he'd disposed of the remains."

"You killed him?"

"Of course. Don't feel sorry for him. At least, I was quick. I guarantee that Diaz would not have been. Anyway, I was stuck with waiting until I could structure a way to get in and out of that cemetery with Nalia's body without getting my men killed."

"And getting someone to do the reconstruction."

He nodded. "Before Diaz finds out exactly what we're doing and sends out his full force."

"And then you want to show the reconstruction to Nalia's father? What good would that do now?"

"Do you remember how shocked you were when you opened the box I sent you? Imagine how a father would react, how Nalia's friends she'd grown up with would react. The rebels still have considerable firepower in these parts. If they turned that firepower against a single target, it could be devastating."

"You want to turn them against Diaz."

"I intend to turn them against Diaz." He held her gaze. "As soon as you give me my wife back."

After a moment she tore her eyes away from his. "She might not be in that grave. You could have been double-crossed in more ways than one."

"I realize that. I have to take the chance."

"And you want me to take a chance too. You've put me on the spot with Diaz. And you could be killed going after that skull."

"I've told Miguel to get you out of here if that happens. And I'll set up the mechanism to keep searching for Bonnie's killer even if I die. All you have to do is agree."

"Why should I believe you? You could be making up a fairy story."

"You do believe me."

She didn't want to believe him. She didn't want to feel sympathy or empathy for him. "Or you could be telling me part of the truth and twisting it to suit yourself. You're a criminal yourself. Why should I believe you want to destroy Diaz's operation? You could be throwing in that part of the story to convince me that what I'm doing is basically ethical."

"It's the truth." His voice vibrated with force, his gaze held her own. "Every word I've spoken. Yes, I've tried to manipulate you but only to get you here. I knew I'd have to lay the cards on the table."

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't cheat you. I felt your pain." He added quietly, "Because it was the same as mine. I loved my wife, Eve. Diaz killed her and then tossed her away like a piece of garbage. During those years when she was lost, I'd wake up from nightmares about trying to find her and never being able to do it."

Christ, she could feel tears sting her eyes. She had known that agony. It never went away no matter how much time passed. She stood up. "I have to think about this. I can't tell you-I have to think about it."