Джеймс Паттерсон - The Games

But other than that, anything goes, I thought, stripping off the last of my clothes and putting on one of the clean and folded terry-cloth robes stacked on tables. God only knew what Urso’s woman was into or offering.

I slipped on some sanitized rubber clogs and left the locker room, following the sound of pulsing dance music and Tavia’s directions to the top floor, where I entered a medium-size, L-shaped room with a bar, low mood lighting, and a cornucopia of attractive women. There were twenty men in robes and fifty ladies of all shapes and sizes dressed in lingerie. Every one of them was aggressive.

I hadn’t taken ten steps into the room when women started to swarm me from all angles. They surrounded me, smiling, looking dazzling and appreciative, asking me questions and touching me lightly. The women behind me started whispering in my ears, pressing themselves against me as they described their skills and specialties. I wondered if this was how Ulysses felt strapped to the mast of his ship, listening to the Sirens’ song.

After twenty seconds of this — well, maybe thirty — a few of them started taking liberties with my terry-cloth robe, and I called a halt to the action.

“Please, ladies,” I said, raising my hands. “You’re all lovely, truly, but I’m looking for Estella this evening.”

Suddenly there was a lot more room around me and the spectacular smiles were all turning, as if they’d sniffed something unsavory about me.

“Is she here?” I asked.

A vivacious redhead rolled her eyes, said, “She’s over in the corner, Mr. Freaky Man. But she looks tied up to me.”

I followed her gaze and saw a pleased and very heavyset Chinese guy sitting on one of the plush couches and pouring himself a healthy shot from a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red he’d had chilling in an ice bucket. He swayed slightly, obviously hammered. He drank half the whiskey in two gulps.

Then he leered at the gorgeous brunette woman in black lingerie sitting beside him and started to rub his free hand all over her very pregnant belly.

Grossed out?

I was.

It was about as creepy a thing as I have ever witnessed, and my initial reaction was to recoil, turn, and walk away as fast as Vitoria had. The fact that the women who’d surrounded me were now looking at me as if I were a lower form of life than Bug-Eyes only made matters worse.

I was about to pull out my cell and call Tavia, get her take on how best to handle the situation, when I glanced into the corner and saw from Estella’s blank, faraway expression that she was suffering.

Without another thought, I walked over to them and said, “Estella?”

She blinked, sat up, and looked at me quizzically. The Chinese man’s drunk eyes were trying to focus and doing a poor job.

“Wait your turn,” he slurred.

I ignored him, said, “I’ll pay you twice what he’s paying you, plus tip.”

Estella smiled.

The Chinese guy got belligerent, said, “She’s with me, gringo.”

“Not the way I understand it,” I said. “Have you had your wristband checked with Bug-Eyes?”

Estella smiled even more at me and tried to get up. The Chinese guy put out a pudgy arm to hold her in her seat, said, “You stay where you are, bitch.”

Why do some people have to do things the hard way?

I curled my left hand into a fist with the first knuckle of my middle finger exposed and smashed it tight behind his jaw about an inch below his right ear. He made a soft squeal of pain, let go of Estella, and slumped against the couch, looking like he was about to be violently sick on his terry-cloth robe.

I held out my hand. “Estella? Shall we?”

Urso’s girlfriend grinned ear to ear, stood, and took my hand. She paraded me through the room, ignoring the disgusted, sidelong glances of the other women, and led me through a maze of hallways to an empty room with a bed, a shower, and mirrors on the walls and ceiling.

She shut the door, said, “Shower together?”

“That’s not necessary,” I said, showing her my Private badge.

Estella rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you been paid this month? C’mon, I had a real customer up there.”

“I’m not a cop. I’m looking for your husband, Urso.”

She wasn’t expecting that. Frightened, she looked to the door, said, “The Bear’s not my husband.”

“But I’m betting he’s the father of that baby in your belly.”

“What’s he done?”

“You tell me.”

“No,” she said, trying to get by me. “I don’t know nothing.”

I blocked the way, said, “Your sister, Claudia, says you do.”

“Claudia’s a junkie.” Estella sneered. “No one believes her. You let me out of here now or I start screaming you’re trying to kill my baby.”

“And I’ll start screaming that you’re part of a conspiracy to kidnap and torture one of the world’s richest men. You’ll be having your baby in prison, and who knows where Milena will end up.”

That got to her. “You leave my baby and Milena out of this. And I’ve got nothing to do with whatever that Urso’s up to.”

“But you know he’s involved in Wise’s kidnapping.”

Estella held her belly, stared at it like it revealed terrible secrets.

“We can keep you safe,” I said.

“No, you can’t,” Estella said in a lost voice.

“Yes, we can, and if you help us, there will be money in it for you.”

Shaking, Estella sat down on the bed. “Money?”

“A lot of it.”

Hugging herself, she said, “Like what? Fifty thousand reais? A hundred?”

“I was thinking three million U.S. dollars would be a fair reward if what you tell me leads to Mr. Wise’s rescue. You’ll be able to leave this place, start over somewhere else, make a life for Milena and your baby.”

She was looking at me in disbelief. “Three million. No way.”

“Urso’s asked for a billion, or haven’t you been watching the television? Three million’s a bargain.”

Estella shook her head. “A billion? Is he stupid or something?”

“You tell me.”

“No. It’s got to be that crazy know-it-all college bitch filling his head with all this bullshit.”

“Rayssa?”

“Her name’s not Rayssa. It’s Amelia.”

Amelia? Mariana lopes’s adopted daughter? Friend of the Wise girls?

So much of it made sense, and yet so much didn’t. Amelia Lopes had been with Alicia and Natalie at the beginning of their trip to Rio. She would have had time to learn their identities and set up the kidnapping.

But the girls said they’d told no one their real names. And wouldn’t they have recognized Amelia’s voice as Rayssa’s?

A sad thought started to worm and grow in my brain.

“They’re going to kill Urso for this, aren’t they?” Estella moaned. “They’ll just shoot my Bear on sight for this, and my kids will be left without a father.”

Before I could think about any of it, there was a knock at the door.

“Tempo,” a woman said. My forty minutes was up.

I sat on the bed next to Estella and said, “If we’re to have any hope of keeping Urso alive, we need to get you out of here.”

That frightened her. “It is not allowed. I must stay to the end of my shift.”

“This can’t wait. There are some people who want to talk to you.”

“Polícia?”

“Yes.”

“They can’t be trusted.”

“And Amelia can?”

Another knock. “Tempo!”

I wanted to ask more questions and thought about buying more time, but then I decided we needed to leave. Now.

“If you want that reward money, you’ll have to come with me. Go get dressed in your street clothes. Meet me by the locker room.”