Infiltrator

PARAGUAY, KRIEGER ESTANCIA: THE

PRESENT

John lunged forward, his face grim with concentration, Quid and smooth and very fast. Sarah brought her arm up to block him, and knew as she did it that it was a fractional second too late. His fist made contact with her nose. Her eyes instantly filled with tears and she leapt backward while John froze.

'Mom! Are you all right?' His eyes were big with concern. 'I should have pulled that,' he said. His hands reached out for her and then fell back uncertainly.

Sarah blinked the tears away; there was a little blood on her hand when she took it away from her nose, but not much. This was the first time he'd ever gotten through her defense when she was concentrating. Which is why he wasn't worried about pulling his punches.

'I've slowed down,' she said, grinning. 'No one to spar with when you're at school. Old age and evil living are catching up with me.'

She rubbed her forearm inelegantly under her nose. The bleeding had stopped.

'Back to work,' she said.

John hesitated, then he moved forward. 'Mom,' he said tentatively, 'Sensei says…' He reached out and slightly changed the position of her knee, then lightly touched her shoulders.

Sarah widened her eyes. 'Oh, much better!' she said, feeling more balanced instantly. Easier to stay centered like this. I tend to go forward too much anyway. The men she'd learned from were good, but they had adapted their styles to their own physiques, which tended to the gorilloid.

John grinned. 'Sensei Wei is probably the best teacher in Paraguay,' he said.

'You're too modest,' a man's voice said. 'Chuck Wei is one of the best teachers in the hemisphere.'

Both Sarah and John jumped and spun in shock, to find themselves confronting Dieter von Rossbach. He stood beside the corral, one large hand resting on a quebracho fence post.

'How did you get there?' Sarah asked, almost to herself.

'I left my horse up behind the barn,' Dieter said, moving forward casually.

What he didn't tell them was that he'd been watching them through high-power

binoculars from the top of the low hill that rose between their properties. Then he'd circled around so that he could approach them unseen. Old habits died hard.

'We didn't hear you come,' John said, not too pleased to be caught off guard. He glanced at his mother.

'Well, hi,' she said, putting her hands on her hips and offering a noncommittal smile. Think ordinary, innocent housewife and mother, she warned herself, stifling the urge to ask him what brought him to the neighborhood, and a slight feeling of embarrassment about the sweaty green fatigue pants with muscle shirt she was wearing.

'You remember I told you we were neighbors,' Dieter said, coming forward. 'I was riding nearby and thought I'd come over and say hello.'

Sarah and John looked at each other, then at von Rossbach.

'Hello,' John said.

'Uh, would you like some terere?' Sarah asked.

'You must want to get rid of me fast,' Dieter said with a smile.

Sarah laughed at that, a genuine, spontaneous laugh prompted by the surprise of his being absolutely right.

'It is an acquired taste,' she agreed.

'We've got Coke,' John said. It might as well be something I like to drink as long as you're staying, he thought. 'You know my sensei?' he asked.

'He teaches at the Academia Mendoza, yes?' Dieter asked.

John nodded.

'I've studied with him now and then. He's an excellent teacher, an amazing man.' He looked John over. 'I've been hoping to find someone to spar with, John. Perhaps you and I could work together?'

Sarah looked the big man over. Like she'd let him spar with her son. 'I've been hoping to find a sparring partner, too,' she said. 'When John goes to school all I have is my shadow.'

'Perhaps,' Dieter said judiciously.

They'd been meandering toward the house, Sarah gestured to the chairs on the portal. 'Sit,' she invited. 'I'll be right back.'

John noticed how von Rossbach watched his mother walk away with something more than strictly coplike interest.

Von Rossbach was suddenly aware of the silence that had fallen and snapped his head back toward John, who favored him with a toothily artificial smile. 'So…

how long have you been studying with Chuck?' Dieter asked.

'Just this year,' John answered. 'Usually you have to be a junior before you can qualify for his class, but since I'd already had some lessons they let me try out. I consider myself lucky to have been accepted.'

'You're lucky to have Chuck for your sensei, but I think, judging from what I saw, that you earned your place in his class. You and your mother looked very competent.'

'We've taken lessons together off and on for years,' John said.

'Really?' Dieter said. 'When I first met your mother she said you two had all but fled to Villa Hayes.'

John put his feet up on the low table between them and folded his hands on his stomach. 'So?' he asked.

Dieter spread his hands and said with a little laugh, 'So, I would think a woman so well able to defend herself wouldn't be that likely to panic.'

John looked at him, frowning slightly.

'I mean it seems strange that she didn't take a stand when this man threatened you,' von Rossbach explained. 'Or she could have called the police.' He shook his head. 'Surely there were other options than simply heading south?'

John grinned. 'Go to the police?' he said in disbelief. 'Do you know what it's like in Ciudad del Este? It's a really wild and woolly town. Some woman comes in and says a man is following her, there's not much they could do even if they wanted to. And they wouldn't want to, by the way.

'Besides, she was a new-made widow with an eleven-year old kid to watch out for. So she was feeling a little fragile. Maybe if she was built like you and six feet tall—'

'Six-two,' Dieter interjected.

John looked at him from under his brows.

'Anyway, I think she made the right move,' he said. 'We didn't have any particular reason to stick around there. No family or anything. And the way things were going…' He paused. 'It just wasn't worth the trouble.' He gestured at the small estancia. 'It's great here, and the business is doing well.' He regarded Dieter through slitted eyes. 'My mom says you have to pick your battles. She says winning isn't always worth the cost of fighting.'

Von Rossbach nodded thoughtfully and they sat in silence for a moment, listening to the birds in the few trees that shaded the house.

'Here we go,' Sarah said, backing out of the house with a loaded tray and accompanied by the sound of clinking ice cubes.

'Ooo, cookies!' John said enthusiastically, reaching for one as soon as the tray came within reach. 'My mother bakes very good cookies, Senor von Rossbach,'

he said almost accusingly.

'Call me Dieter,' von Rossbach invited, and grabbed a cookie.

'Did you let your horse into the corral, where it could get some water?' Sarah asked him.

Dieter looked surprised. 'Uh, no. I guess I didn't think I'd be staying.'

Sarah looked at John, who grabbed another cookie and said, 'I'm on it.' He was