“You pig... you bastard!” She said more, but it was so garbled with anger that Carter could make no sense of it.
“Calm down, Verna. Coffee?”
“You told Bolivar I wanted to make a deal with you!”
“That’s right.”
“You pig...”
“You already said that.”
She went straight for Carter’s eyes with her talons out. He caught one wrist, then the other, and tossed her on the bed. She still struggled, but she was no match for his body weight.
“Did he tell you about it before he took you to bed... or after?” Carter said smoothly.
“He’s an animal,” she cried. “He abused me half the night, and then this morning told me to get out!”
“So that’s where the bruises came from.”
She nodded. “I’m to be taken back to Rio sometime today.”
Carter chuckled. “I thought he dished out your kind of sex. You probably enjoyed every minute of it.”
Verna tried to knee him in the crotch, but he took it on the thigh. “Why did you tell him that I didn’t have the backing to make a bid?” she hissed.
“Because you don’t.”
“But how did you know?” She was practically screaming now.
“Because Bourlein told me.” Suddenly she went limp. Carter held on for a few seconds to make sure she stayed that way, then released her and stood. “Want some coffee now?”
She nodded. “And a cigarette.”
He gave her both and poured himself a fresh cup. “Tell you what I’ll do.”
“What?” She was sullen now, defeated, but not liking it.
“I’ll make this trip worthwhile if we can work a little trade-off.”
Her eyes flashed. “I don’t do trade-offs with bastards.”
“Yes, you do,” Carter said, and smiled. “You traded your body to Bolivar last night to get a leg up on me. He just didn’t trade back.”
She bristled for an instant longer, then her shoulders sagged. “What do you want?”
“I want you to stick around. I’ll clear it with Bolivar, and I’ll make it worth your while.”
She was intrigued but she didn’t jump right in with both feet. “What will you tell him?”
“That I need a second opinion on the jewels... weight, authenticity, the American market.”
Carter kept his eyes out the window, staring at the women playing water polo in the pool. He also held his breath until he got an answer. Verna Rashkin didn’t know it, but her skill in authenticating the stones would be invaluable. He was fair with a jeweler’s glass, but not in her league. If Bolivar tried to toss in some good paste, she could spot it.
She was in front of him then, the anger gone from her large eyes and replaced with dollar signs. She took a deep drag on her cigarette, parted her lips, and let the smoke curl out slowly over her moving tongue like a long kiss.
“How much?” she murmured.
“Enough to make the trip worthwhile.”
“That’s not enough.”
“That’s all you’re going to get. Let me know, I’m going for a swim.”
He left her and headed down to the pool. The helicopter was landing and most of the women were headed for the house. He saw Bremerhaven doing laps, and dived in to join her.
“Good morning,” he called.
“Not really,” she replied, rolling into an easy backstroke.
“Oh?”
They hit the side of the pool, crawled out, and sat. “Big Eva told us this morning that the chopper would take us in shifts over to Paranavi, then on to Rio.”
“Anything odd about that?”
“I suppose not,” she said. “It’s just that we were supposed to be here for a couple more weeks. Well, I’d better get packed. Nice meeting you.”
“Ja, the same.”
Carter watched her walk around the pool and then into the house.
Bolivar was clearing the decks. It could only mean that he was expecting trouble and he wanted no one on the scene who might carry word of it to the outside world.
Carter smiled to himself.
Otto had done a good job of tapping into Rio’s underground information pipeline.
He ordered breakfast and ate it by the pool. When he was finished, he spread out on a chaise in a position to watch the guards move around. They were all armed now, and they seemed more alert than they had been the previous day. Now and then he spotted some of them on horseback riding the outer fringes of the estate.
By noon the helicopter had made three trips and was loading a fourth time.
“Herr Huzel?”
Carter looked up. It was the Amazon, Big Eva, and she had fire in her eyes. “Ja?”
“I have been instructed to put Fräulein Rashkin on the helicopter this morning.”
“I know. She told me.”
“She refuses to go. She tells me to talk to you.”
“That’s right. I’ve decided to put her on my personal payroll for a while.”
“I cannot do that. I was told—”
“I will explain it to Senhor Bolivar.”
“I cannot do that. I was told—”
“What are you, a machine?” Carter barked. “She stays. I’ll take care of it.”
For a moment he thought she was going to throw him into the pool. They had a staring match, and finally she backed down and stalked off.
Carter took the sun for another hour and then returned to the house. He searched out Eva.
“Fräulein Rashkin and I will go for a ride this afternoon.”
“That is impossible. I have been told—”
“Inform the stables that we’ll be down there in half an hour.”
He left her stuttering, and climbed the stairs to rap on Verna’s door. It opened at once.
“Get dressed, we’re going riding.”
Her mouth twisted into a grimace. “I hate horses.”
“You need the air,” he growled. “Half an hour.”
He entered his own room, took a quick shower, and dressed. Verna was ready when he knocked on her door again, and they walked down to the stables.
“Why do you want to ride?” she groused, almost running to keep up with his pace.
“To commune with nature.”
The stableman was a grisled old Indian who said everything in grunts. They were both barely mounted when he disappeared back into the building.
They had scarcely left the main compound when a mounted guard fell in behind them. Carter could see two more tracking them in a parallel line to their right and left.
“What do you know about Bolivar?” Carter asked.
She shrugged. “What’s to know? He’s a Nazi who got out when the getting was good.”
“How did he first contact you?”
“I do a lot of business in Spain and Portugal. It was through a third party.” She glanced at him. “Why the third degree?”
“No particular reason,” Carter replied. “Have you sold much of his stuff?”
“A few small pieces. I didn’t know until a few weeks ago that he had this big a horde. He sent me a shopping list, invited me to bid.”
Carter was silent for a few seconds, and then asked, “Why do you suppose he’s bailing out now?”
“You mean you don’t know?” she asked, obviously surprised at his question.
“You tell me,” he said.
“I only know rumors, but I’ve heard that he was pretty heavy into oil speculation when the bottom dropped out. Also, the new government in Brasilia isn’t as easy on alien residents as the former administration. He probably wants cash in case he has to run.”
Carter nodded. “That’s about the way I figure it.”
They reached the perimeter of the estate and made a wide swing through the hills. At the lake, a mounted guard would let them go no farther.