Now You See Him(50)

The old man was no fool. He kept an uneasy eye on Michael's hands. "I believe he's in Gibraltar."

"Then we're just going to have to go see him, aren't we? If he won't answer your questions, I'm willing to bet he'll answer mine. How fast does this tub go?"

"She's surprisingly speedy, as a matter of fact."

Michael smiled thinly. "Fortunate for you. We'll get under way in two hours."

"But, Michael…"

"You don't know Cardiff the way I do," he said. "He's not a man who's overly troubled with the niceties of decent behavior. Francey's been at his mercy for far too long already. I'm not willing to wait a moment longer than we have to."

For a moment Travers didn't move. And then he nodded, his face gray. "I was hoping it was simple paranoia on my part," he said heavily, reaching for the phone. "I'll tell the captain to make it one hour."



One thing about the Spanish, Ross Cardiff thought with the usual disdain he felt for all foreigners, at least they knew when to eat. He could get a respectable meal at ten o'clock at night in Gibraltar, even if he couldn't bring his personal chef with him. It had been a long day, a long week, a devilishly long year, and it was all coming to fruition. If he could just hold all the pieces together long enough, he was going to emerge triumphant.

He didn't mind the juggling of people's lives. In fact, he preferred it. He liked the sense of omnipotence, knowing he could maneuver things to his satisfaction with just a simple order. He also liked the sense of danger, the knowledge that everything could all come crashing down with just the wrong move. Otherwise life would get deadly boring.

He'd even managed to find a decent Spanish winery, though he usually despised anything but French wine. He settled himself into the carved chair, placed the damask napkin over his lap and reached for the Waterford crystal his aide had packed for him.

He dropped the glass. The red wine spilled out over the white linen tablecloth, like a pool of blood. The lead crystal shattered, and the candlelight glittered on the shards like diamonds.

"There must have been a flaw in the glass," the man sometimes known as Michael Dowd said. He sat down in the chair opposite Cardiff. "Interesting, isn't it, how a piece of such beauty, such strength, can dissolve if you simply find the hidden weakness? But then, you know a great deal about hidden weaknesses, don't you, Ross? They're your stock in trade."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Cardiff managed to demand, controlling the urge to look back over his shoulder to see if another, even more dangerous, nemesis was lurking behind his back. "You're supposed to be chasing down wild geese in Malta. Or have you finally come to your senses and realized there's nothing going on there? If the Cadre are active in this part of the world it will be here, on Gib."

Michael smiled faintly, and Ross could feel his ulcer kick in. He didn't need to look behind him. There was no danger worse than the man confronting him. It was part of the man's charm.

"You're wrong, Ross. But then, you've been wrong before, haven't you? Isn't that why you were passed over last year when you were so bloody certain you were going to get that undeserved promotion? I was rooting for you, Ross. I wanted you gone, out of my hair, immured in the hallowed halls of bureaucracy so that I never had to see you again in whatever time I have left to me. But it didn't work out that way, did it?"

"I don't like your tone," Ross said stiffly.

"Too bad," Michael said. "I left things hanging in Malta when I couldn't afford to leave."

Ross's panic left him. "You've found something?" he demanded, leaning forward over the stained tablecloth. "You mean you were right after all?"

"I want the girl, Ross. I want her right now, safe and sound. I'll pass her on to her cousin, and then I'll get back to work. But not a moment before."

Ross didn't bother to lie. "You can't just walk out in the middle of an operation, especially if something is happening. This is too important."

"I can do what I damned well please. Up to and including inflicting a great deal of damage on you, Ross, my boy. No one knows I'm here but Travers, and he's not too fond of you right now, either. No one will believe I came over here just to beat the bloody hell out of you. Now, where is she?"

Ross licked his lips. "In Mariz."

"Where's Mariz?"

"It's a small town on the Costa Blanca. She's entirely safe, Michael. The Cadre can't find her. Just let her be for the time being and get on with—"

"Where in Mariz? And how did she get there in the first place?" He was implacable.

Cardiff shrugged, dreading the inevitable. ' "These things are easy enough to manage. A paper trail leading to Travers. She thought her cousin would have the answers."