Damage Control

With the pass codes properly delivered, she spun the knob of the cipher lock on her side of the door and disengaged the bolts. A few seconds later, she heard the second set slide out from the wall. She pushed while the guard pulled, and as the door moved outward, she wondered if the blast of frigid air felt as refreshing to the guards as the enveloping warmth felt to her.

Per their protocol, all six guards in the adjoining room had their rifles to their shoulders, aiming outward in an arc, waiting to shoot anyone who might attempt to rush the vault during the short time that it was open. Once outside the vault, she let the guard push the door closed, and then she waited for him to spin his lock before spinning her own. Neither knew the other’s combination.

“The lock is set,” the guard said, and the others lowered their rifles.

Maria said nothing to these men. No pleasantries, minimal eye contact. They were not her friends, and she was not theirs. If Felix so much as suspected relations among them, all of their lives would be endangered. In his paranoid world, people who liked each other were more likely to conspire against him, and any conspiracy could only be about stealing his money.

Or, of course, about taking his life. In truth, there were far more people in the world who wanted him dead than cared about his money. Maria, in fact, numbered herself among them.

Exiting the Banking Room, as it was called, Maria stopped in the doorway to the next room and held her hands out to her sides to be frisked. Though she wore tight-fitting jeans and a T-shirt, the pat-down was necessary, if only to give these teenage guards an excuse to touch her body. She knew that they lusted after her, and she didn’t mind it a bit. Let them have their dreams. These days, there was so little to dream for.

After clearing that last search and grope, she was free to go.

Or at least she thought she was. As she passed into the center hall, an all-too-familiar voice called, “Maria! I need you!”

Her shoulders sagged, but only for an instant. Felix expected his women to appreciate his advances. Standing tall and donning a smile, she turned and entered the ornate study that served as Felix Hernandez’s office-at least in this house. Hacienda del Sol was only one of four homes where he divided his time in random rotation.

“Hello, Felix,” she said. As she approached, he rose from behind his desk and met her halfway for a kiss. It was a lip-only kiss, and he did not smell of alcohol, so she relaxed a little. When he was in this mood, he rarely wanted to root and paw at her as he did when he was drunk.

“You seem surprised to see me,” Felix said.

“I am surprised to see you. I didn’t expect to see you for several days.”

He led the way to a pair of love seats that flanked a coffee table in front of his desk. He gestured for Maria to sit, and then sat next to her. He was a handsome man by any reasonable standard, with strong Latin features, jet- black hair, and a dazzling smile that melted every female heart. Maria had always thought that his eyes looked empty, as if made of glass.

“One way to remain unpredictable,” he said, “is to occasionally double back on your own tracks.”

“You need to be careful,” she said. She sold it with a gentle squeeze of his arm, a gesture designed to reassure him that she truly cared.

“That’s the second time that’s been said to me in just the last hour,” he said with a wry smile.

Maria scowled. “Really? Who else?”

“An associate of mine,” Hernandez said. “His name doesn’t matter.”

“What does he say you need to be careful about?”

His eyes grew even emptier as they peered into her. “My associate-who knows many things and is rarely wrong-says that I have been betrayed.”

The words chilled Maria’s blood far more effectively than the air-conditioning had. She willed herself to maintain eye contact, yet again touching his arm. “I don’t understand.”

“He tells me that someone very close to me has been talking to American agents, plotting to do me harm.”

The chill turned to ice. How could he possibly know? She’d been so very careful. “You mean to kill you?”

He cocked his head and stared deeper. Maria felt as if he were trying to set her on fire from within.

“I don’t understand, Felix,” she said. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but the fact that people are trying to kill you is hardly news.”

The glare continued for a few seconds, and then he smiled. “Indeed,” he said. “But the threat is not to kill me. The threat is to have me imprisoned for the rest of my life.” Finally, he looked away. “But even that is not what troubles me. This associate was very specific. The informant is very close to me, and probably a woman. That means that someone to whom I have been extraordinarily generous is planning to repay me with the worst kind of betrayal.”

Maria’s mind raced. What was her best play now? Clearly, he suspected her-he’d have to suspect her-so would it be most convincing to pretend to be totally clueless, or should she become defensive?

“Surely you don’t suspect me,” she said before she even knew that she’d chosen a course.

“Should I?”

Her strategy materialized out of nowhere. She bolted to her feet and stormed to the door, furious.

On cue, Hernandez shot out his hand to grab her wrist. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Maria whirled on him and slapped his face. “How dare you!” she said. Tears clouded her vision.

Hernandez shot to his feet, too, his face red with rage.

“Go ahead!” Maria dared. “Go ahead and beat me. Have me shot. If you think so little of me-if you think for even a second that I could betray you-by all means shoot me yourself.” She pulled her arm from his hand. “Bastard.”

Her heart hammered at an impossible rate as she headed again for the door.

“Stop!” he commanded.

When she turned this time, he hadn’t moved. He still stood in front of the love seat, his face slack with surprise.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Maria said, pointing her finger at him. “I am not like your other mistresses. Yes, I know you have them. They pretend to care for you because they fear you. I love you, Felix. I would lay down my life for you. How dare you suspect me of such a despicable thing?”

He moved toward her. “Where are you going?” His voice was softer now.

“Home,” she said.

He reached for her hands with both of his, but stopped when she recoiled. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was being… stupid. Please stay. Please stay the night.”

“I am going home,” Maria said again. “Unless, of course, you want to have your guards drag me back here so that you can rape me.”

The thought seemed to horrify him. “Maria. I would never-”

“And neither would I,” she said. “Never in a million years would I betray you.”

“Stay, then.”

She shook her head emphatically. “No, not tonight. I couldn’t tonight. I need to be alone tonight.”

Hernandez seemed to be at a loss for words, as if he hadn’t found himself in this position before.

“Will you be back tomorrow?” His voice sounded oddly childlike now.

This was a new expression. There was tenderness there somewhere.

She might actually feel something after she drove a stake through the monster’s heart.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Two hours ago, when Ernesto Palma had taken the phone call from Felix Hernandez, he’d thought for certain that the point of the call would be to upbraid him for having lost track of his prey. Palma had spent so much time over the years dealing with the peasants and riffraff that defined the population of drug thugs that he continued to