Nicos. Use Nicos.
“Yes.” There were some elements of truth to the word. Nicos had been instrumental in making sure that she could protect herself. She wasn’t sure what Nicos had told him, but he might be a weapon she could invoke. “And you’d better be careful. He wouldn’t like anyone to hurt me.”
“Really?” He smiled down at her. “You just said the wrong thing, Margaret.”
His hands moved, adjusted, wrenched.
Darkness.
*
Rocking.
She knew that slow, rocking rhythm.
A boat.
She was on a boat.
Keep her eyes closed until she knew what she was facing.
“You’re awake.” It was the last voice she’d heard before the darkness. “Stop pretending. Open your eyes. I’m getting a little bored with waiting, Margaret.”
She slowly opened her eyes. Pale green eyes, lean tan face, high cheekbones. His dark hair had a few strands of gray at the temple. “Who are you?”
“I think you’ve guessed by now.” He tilted his head. “I never intended that you not know who I am or I would have furnished your vet friend with a false ID. Who am I, Margaret?”
“John Lassiter.” She moistened her lips. “And I thought I knew why you were looking for me, but I’m not sure now. You didn’t like it when I told you Nicos wouldn’t like you hurting me. You did it anyway. I’m confused.”
“I’m a little confused myself.” He took a knife from his pocket and cut the ropes binding her wrists. “But I’ll just make adjustments and I suggest you do the same. It will be much less painful for you.”
She reached up and rubbed her neck. “You knocked me out.”
“I warned you. I’ve had a rough couple days. I don’t make false threats. You managed to say just the wrong thing at the wrong time.” He smiled faintly. “Oh, well, I had to find a way of getting you to this ship anyway. That way, I could just pretend you were drunk.”
“How long was I out?”
“Two hours.” He stood up. “We need to talk, but I’ll let you recover a little first.”
“No,” she said fiercely. “You can’t do this to me without an explanation. You can’t do it to me at all. We’ll talk now.”
He stared down at her. “Have it your own way. I was actually trying to be considerate.” He sat back down. “Heaven forbid that I antagonize a woman who’s crazy enough to crawl into a tiger’s cage.”
That surprised her enough to cause her anger to ebb a little. “You saw me with the tigers?”
“I was there watching for a while. I would have found it interesting if I hadn’t been afraid that you’d get yourself killed and spoil all my plans.”
The sheer coolness of that answer brought the anger back in full force. “Plans? I thought you were one of Nicos’s men who had come to find me, but you aren’t, are you? The wrong thing that I said was that Nicos would be angry if you hurt me.” She was trying to put it all together. “That means that you don’t like him and want to do anything you can to hurt him or make him angry.”
“Don’t like him?” Lassiter repeated, tilting his head as he thought about it. “You might say that. But, to be more accurate, I’d be pleased to send your old friend to the depths of hell and spend eternity stoking the flames.”
“He’s not my friend.”
“That appears to be debatable. Nicos seems to think that he is. According to my information, he definitely wants to reconnect with you.”
This might be even worse than she’d thought. “Is that what this is all about? You think that you can hurt him by hurting me?”
“It occurred to me, but it’s not my style. I prefer going directly to the source. Stan Nicos is at the top of the heap of the world’s scum. He’s into drugs, arms smuggling, vice … you name it, he does it. You may have been his favorite toy, but you don’t compare in scope, Margaret.”
“Then why am I here?”
“Because, unfortunately, Nicos has built himself an impenetrable fortress on his island of Vadaz in the Caribbean. Which makes it difficult for me to get my hands on him or any of the information I need. I’ve been trying to use bribery, influence, or more violent and infinitely more satisfactory methods for the last eighteen months to find a way to get to the son of a bitch. No luck. I’d almost run out of patience.” He smiled. “But then I heard about you.”
“He doesn’t care anything about me.”
“Correction. He cares something for you. I don’t know exactly in what way. But he’s been searching for you since you left him three years ago. His orders to his men were to find you and that you weren’t to be hurt.”
“That would only last until he got his hands on me. He wants to hurt me himself.”
“But he wants you. That’s the key to everything. And if he wants you, I can use you to get to him.”
“I won’t go back to Nicos. I won’t be your damn key.” She struggled to sit up on the bed. “For all I know, you’re as bad as he is. No, you’re probably worse. You don’t even know me and you’re ready to turn me over to him.” She could feel the heat in her cheeks and her eyes were blazing at him. “I won’t be a key. I won’t be a game piece. I won’t be anything but a human being trying to live my life as best I can. Go send Nicos to hell without using me. When I left him, I swore I’d never let him take me back to that island. There’s nothing you can do or say that would make me change my mind.” She glared at him. “Do you think I’d let you do it because you’ve got some kind of vendetta going against him?”
“Evidently not. If I found out one thing from trying to find you, it was that you didn’t want to be found. It was reasonable to assume Nicos was the one you were hiding from. But I’m afraid that all the hiding is over. I’ve got to bring you out in the open.”
“There’s no way on earth I’ll let you do that.”
“Look, I won’t let him hurt you.” He leaned forward, his face taut, intense. “I’ll protect you, but you have to help me get to him.”
“Do you think I’d believe you?” she asked shakily. “I’ve been to Vadaz Island. I know Nicos. I’ve seen him do things to people that— I’ve tried to stop him and I couldn’t do it. I won’t go back and have it start all over again.”
He stared at her for a moment and then muttered a curse. “You will go back. Get used to the idea.” He got to his feet again. “It will be your choice whether you cooperate or make it hard on yourself.”