Infiltrator

safe.' She nodded at him, her eyes serious. 'I guarantee it.'

VON ROSSBACH'S ESTANCIA, PARAGUAY: THE PRESENT

Elsa Encinas, Epifanio's niece, deftly swung the tray of hors d'oeuvres out from under Victor Griego's hand.

'This is for the guests!' she hissed.

'But I am a guest,' he protested.

Elsa simply gave him a look of blistering scorn. Then she turned her shoulder to him and moved away.

Victor hissed and turned to the bar. He hated the way these uppity peasants kept treating him, and everybody else—that stupid rumor about his mother. It had been a bus, not a broken heart.

Victor topped up his glass and turned to study the other guests. The Salcidos, a very well-off husband and wife, sleek and well dressed, were behaving as though he wasn't even in the room. Another couple, fairly new to Villa Hayes, Pedro and Zita Kaiser, occasionally darted a nervous glance in his direction. They felt the undercurrent; they just didn't know the reason for it. But they'd decided to follow the other couple's lead. Not to mention their host's. Von Rossbach had

introduced Victor in an offhand way that pretty much implied courtesy would be wasted on him.

Victor was pretty certain it wasn't his appearance; he was freshly shaved and showered and von Rossbach had insisted on dressing him in what he called decent clothes. Decent clothes consisted of slacks and a sports shirt.

He took another sip of his drink. Sarah Connor hadn't arrived yet and he wondered where in the hell she was. The sooner they got started the sooner he could get out of here. After three days he'd had a bellyful of Villa Hayes. Not to mention putting distance between himself and the knife-happy John Connor.

Rotten kid. He took a long swallow and topped off his drink again. Now, there was someone who could break his mother's heart. If his mother wasn't a loca killer herself.

'Do you mind going a little easier on that stuff,' Dieter said from just behind him.

Griego started, spilling gin on his fingers.

'Jesus!' Victor snapped. 'Compared to you cats go stomping around like elephants!'

'I want you sober enough to identify her when she comes,' Dieter said quietly.

'Or not, if it's not her. I don't want you so drunk you can't tell the difference.'

Griego let out his breath in a hiss. 'Of course, senor,' he said sullenly. He brightened a little. 'And then we can part company, eh?'

'Thank God.' Dieter moved over to his other guests, who received him with smiles.

Griego glowered. Thank God, he agreed. He couldn't wait to get out of here.

Marieta came in and stopped just inside the doorway; the woman following her almost ran her down. 'Senora Krieger,' she intoned as though announcing royalty.

Dieter's face lit up. 'Suzanne!' he said, and came over to take her hand. 'It's good to see you.'

Sarah looked at him with a warm smile, although it was all she could do not to flinch as he clasped her hand. It was also hard to keep herself from searching out Griego. But that would be fatal. Instead she turned to the group around the coffee table.

'Come meet everybody,' Dieter said with gesture toward the Kaisers.

' Mba'eichapa?' Sarah greeted them in the local fashion as she approached and Pedro rose, putting out his hand. After shaking hands with the Kaisers, she turned to the Salcidos and exchanged hellos and small talk for a moment.

'And this is Senor Griego,' von Rossbach said, pointing toward the bar. He gave Victor a disapproving frown.

'Hello,' Sarah said politely, her face showing mild curiosity.

'Good evening, senora,' Victor said with a slight bow.

'Can I get you something to drink?' Dieter asked.

'A gin and tonic?' Sarah asked. 'With a twist.'

'Be right back,' he said.

Sarah sat and began to chat with his other guests as Dieter went about fixing her drink.

'Well?' he said quietly to Victor. 'Is it her?'

'I honestly don't think so,' Griego said offhandedly. 'But it has been years since I last saw her. And if it isn't her, the resemblance is outstanding. Let me watch her for a while, maybe speak to her, and then I'll know for sure.'

To be perfectly honest, Griego had to admit that if John Connor hadn't shown up to threaten his life he really wouldn't have been certain. This woman was very different from the Sarah Connor he'd known years ago. That woman was all stringy muscle and mad eyes. This woman was sleek and elegant and calm.

Could a change in attitude so change a person that you wouldn't recognize them?

He shook his head.

'Give me a little time,' he said at last. 'Then I'll know for certain.'

A muscle jumped in von Rossbach's cheek, and when he looked up from the drink he'd been mixing his eyes were dangerous. 'Be very certain,' he murmured, and went back to his guests.

Throughout dinner Victor watched Sarah like a hawk while Dieter watched him,

though less obviously. Whenever Griego spoke, even though his remarks were usually limited to 'pass the butter,' a little silence descended, and at no time did anyone speak directly to him. Victor had started dinner in a bad mood and it went rapidly downhill from there.

When they all rose from the table and moved toward the parlor for coffee and brandy, Griego found von Rossbach walking beside him.

'Well?' Dieter asked quietly.

'I'm not sure,' Victor said, or rather slurred. He'd drunk most of his dinner. 'But I had a thought. Why don't you get her to stay behind for some reason. Then, while you're showing your other guests out, I'll talk to her one- on-one. Y'see?'

'I don't want to cause her embarrassment,' Dieter said. 'I'm satisfied already that she's not Sarah Connor. If you can't tell whether she is or isn't, then I'm going to assume it's because she isn't.'

Daringly, Victor put his hand on the big man's arm, whisking it off again instantly at Dieter's look. 'But you want to be sure?' he whispered. 'After putting up with me for most of a week, you should be sure.'

'I am sure,' Dieter said, the firmness of his voice leaving no doubt.

'Tut tut tut tut tut!' Victor shook his finger. 'But the good Senor Ferarri,'

Griego said with an airy gesture, 'he is not so sure. Yes?'

Dieter looked at him with an icy stillness that almost sobered Griego. 'I'll think of something,' he said at last.

After an hour or so of small talk Senora Salcido observed that it was growing late, and Zita Kaiser, still feeling uncertain about the evening's underlying tension, agreed with her. Their husbands began to shift and stir and Sarah said something about it having been a long day.

'Don't go yet, Suzanne,' von Rossbach pleaded. 'I want to introduce you to that watchdog I was talking about.'

Sarah's mouth dropped open and her heart gave a lurch. Shit! she thought. In spite of how excruciating this evening had been, nothing had actually gone wrong. Now she wanted to get out of here before anything could.

'I'm sorry, Dieter, but you know how John feels about that subject,' she said.

'I just want you to meet him,' von Rossbach insisted. 'Just wait a minute, okay?'

There wasn't much she could do but acquiesce as gracefully as she could. She could feel the others looking at her, wondering what was up. Maybe I've been in Paraguay too long, she thought. What they're thinking actually matters to me.

Dieter rose and thanked the others for coming, ignoring their speculative looks, and wished them a safe drive