Ortega had told Mars the old man was a relation of some kind to Andrew. Of course he?d want to protect him. He?d need to get tough. ?You tell me where he is or when he comes back. You tell me now, or I make her hurt. We can do this all night if you want.?
?You?re wasting your time.?
Mars raised an eyebrow. ?Oh, yes?? He briefly touched the glowing cigar tip to the exposed skin on the woman?s arm.
She yelped, jerked her arm back.
?Stop it!? The old man was halfway out of his chair.
Mars stuck the cigar back in his mouth, used the free hand to draw the pistol from his waistband and point it at the old man?s gut. ?No, no. You behave, okay??
The old man sank back into his chair. Mars would have to watch him. The old guy looked calm, but he was ready to move. Mars could see he?d gotten a rise out of him. He stuck the revolver back in his pants, took the cigar out of his mouth again.
?Maybe this time I stick it in her eye,? Mars said.
The old man tensed. Mars was sure he was gearing up to try something. Ridiculous. Why didn?t he just tell Mars what he wanted to know?
Mars shrugged. Nothing to do but show he meant business. He brought the cigar up to the woman?s eye.
?No!? She tried to twist away, but Mars held her tight by the hair. ?Tell him, Mike. Tell him about the thing Andrew left. That?s what he wants.?
Mars froze, looked back at the old man. His face was blank.
?What is this you say?? Mars yanked her hair for emphasis. ?Talk.?
?Andrew left something here,? she said. ?He told us to keep it for him. That?s why you?re looking for him, isn?t it??
What?s this? Some kind of trick maybe. Still, Ortega hadn?t told Mars why this Andrew Foley was marked for death. Perhaps he?d taken something valuable, yes? Steal from the wrong people and you get dead pretty fast. So perhaps Mars could pick up a bonus for himself. What Ortega didn?t know wouldn?t hurt him.
?What is this thing? Talk now.?
?I don?t know what it is,? she said. ?He never told us. He just said it was valuable and to take care of it while he was gone.?
?You?re lying.? Mars yanked her hair again, slapped her across the face. ?Stop wasting my time.?
She blinked back tears. ?Mike knows. Mike, tell him.? She looked at the old man with pleading eyes.
?Well?? Mars demanded. ?You have something to tell me, or do I go back to work on her??
The old man looked only lost and confused.
* * *
Linda was looking right at him, but Mike just didn?t know what the hell she was talking about. Then it hit him. It took a split second for him to understand. Linda was trying to buy time or cause a diversion or something. Mike was momentarily surprised. He hadn?t considered she?d be capable of subterfuge under pressure like this. He?d always thought of her as sassy, but she was evidently much tougher than he?d thought.
But having begun her diversion, she wasn?t sure where to go from here. She was dumping the ball off to Mike, and now he had to run with it.
?We didn?t open it,? Mike said. ?It was a small package. It couldn?t be much.? Mike?s eyes shifted to Linda and narrowed. ?You shouldn?t have said anything.?
?He?s going to kill us.? She was a good actress. Or maybe the terror was real.
?He?s going to kill us anyway.?
