He reached Dell and took his arm, turning him away from Jinx. “Don’t say anything, just smile, and come with me.”
“What...” Dell began.
“Be quiet, and smile.” Cat began steering him through the crowd toward some French doors at the rear of the room. “Just keep moving, and don’t say anything,” he said again. Cat got the door open and pushed Dell ahead of him. They were in a courtyard with a fountain, surrounded on all four sides by the house.
“She’s dead,” Dell said. “Isn’t she dead?”
“No, she’s not dead. It’s Jinx.” Cat led him to the fountain and sat him down on the edge.
“What’s happening?” Dell asked in a small, frightened voice. “Why are you here? Why is Jinx here?”
“Listen to me,” Cat said. “Jinx didn’t die on the boat; it was another girl. She was taken off the boat while I was unconscious. I didn’t find out until a few weeks ago. I’ve been looking for her ever since. I didn’t see her until about a minute before you did.” He stopped and waited for a reaction.
There were tears on Dell’s face, and he was taking deep breaths.
“Just take it easy and relax,” Cat said. “Just get your breath.”
“I don’t understand any of this,” Dell said. “I break my ass to get a million bucks together, and I get down here to this unbelievable fucking place, and I find my dead sister and you, for Christ’s sake!” He turned and looked at Cat for the first time. “Where’s Mom?”
“She died on the boat,” Cat said. “There was no mistake about that.” He looked at Dell closely. The boy seemed to be rational, now. “I’m going to get Jinx out of here, and it’s important that you don’t do anything to screw it up.”
“Screw it up?” Dell almost shouted. “You’re the one who’s screwing it up! I’m not going to let you screw it up. I’ve paid a million dollars and only two hundred thousand was mine, and I’m going to get what I came for. I can’t go back to Miami without it. They’ll cut me into tiny pieces.”
“That’s not important anymore,” Cat said. “All that’s important is getting Jinx out of here.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Dell asked. “Do you know where the fuck you are? You’re in the middle of the jungle, and the only way out of here is by the helicopter that brought you in here!”
“You can’t turn me in to Prince,” Cat said.
“Who?”
“The man with the ponytail.”
“The Anaconda? Sure, I can turn you in to him. I would have a minute ago, but when I saw Jinx I got confused. What is she doing with the Anaconda?”
“His name is Prince. He kidnapped her, or had her kidnapped, or bought her, or something — I’m not sure. All I know is that she’s here against her will.”
“No, no, that can’t be; she’s standing in there talking to people like she owned the place. She’s gotta be here because she wants to be. She’d be screaming her head off, otherwise.”
“Screaming? She’s in the middle of the jungle with a bunch of drug dealers. What’s she supposed to do, call the police?”
“I don’t understand how you could have known she was here.”
“She was being held at a hotel in Cartagena, and she got to a telephone and called me. I got some help, and I finally tracked her down.”
Dell stood up and started pacing back and forth by the fountain. “And I’m supposed to believe all that? I think you’re here because I’m here. You found out I got this deal together, and you’re trying to fuck me again.”
“Dell, I promise you I hadn’t the slightest idea you were here until I saw you walk into the room. I don’t care what you’re doing here, and I’m not trying to screw it up for you, I just want to get Jinx out of here, and to do that, I need your help.”
Dell whirled on him. “You bastard, you’ve got a lot of balls asking for my help.”
“It’s Jinx who needs your help. Do you hate her, too?”
“Of course not!”
“Then just do this — stay out of my way, and keep your mouth shut. Can you do that much, at least?”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know, and I need time to figure it out. Prince — the Anaconda — thinks I’m here for the same reason you are. I had to come up with a million bucks, too.” Cat took a deep breath. “Look, I’ve got to trust you with something. Can I do that?”
“Probably not.”
“You’re in almost as much danger as Jinx is.”
“Yeah, how? It feels pretty safe to me around here.”
“It’s not. This place is going to be raided by the Colombian army shortly.”
“Bullshit! You expect me to believe that?”
“You’ve got to believe it. I’ve been in on the planning. They’re going to hit this place with everything they’ve got — helicopters, paratroopers, heavy weapons — the works. They’re going to come in here and turn this place into a war zone.”
“How can they even know where it is?” Dell demanded. “We’re completely lost out here.”
“They already know exactly where it is,” Cat lied. “There was an informer. They’re grouping their forces less than two hundred miles from here, in a place just across the Brazilian border, and when they hit, they’re going to shoot at anything that moves.”
“I don’t believe you. How can I believe you?”
“You don’t have to take my word for all this. Think about what you already know to be true. One of Prince’s right-hand men murdered your mother and kidnapped your sister. God only knows what they’ve been doing to her. Your sister’s life depends on what you do next. If that’s not important enough for you, your life depends on it.”
Dell walked back and forth a few times without speaking. Then he turned to Cat. “What is it you want me to do?” he asked, warily.
“First, stay away from Jinx. Don’t let her see you. We can’t surprise her while she’s in the middle of this crowd. If she does spot you, tell her to be quiet and stay away from her. I’ll find a way to get word to her that we’re here. There’s a woman named Meg with me. She’s helping.”
“This is crazy,” Dell said, shaking his head.
“I know it’s crazy, but you’re stuck with it — all of us are stuck with it. What I’ve got to do is to get Jinx away from these people and hide her until the raid is over. We’ll probably have to take to the jungle until the shooting stops, and I’d like you to come with us. Your chances are not very good here.”
Dell was standing still, glaring at him. “What I’m going to do is to go back in there and tell the Anaconda about this raid. He’ll know what to do about it.”
“What can he do?” Cat demanded. “As far as I can tell, everybody at this meeting was brought here in one six-passenger helicopter — there wasn’t another one at the Leticia Airport. You tell the Anaconda about this, you know what he’ll do? He’ll climb aboard that chopper and get out of here, and the hell with anybody else. It’ll be the Colombian troops or the jungle — take your pick.”
Dell laughed. “You really think he’d just walk away from this place and leave it to be destroyed? Can’t you see how much money and work have gone into it?”
“Dell, this place represents only a fraction of the man’s wealth. He’s got an office building and a house in Cali that are worth more than this, and a network of businesses all over this country and God knows where else, and he didn’t get them by being nice to people. He’ll fly out of here and never look back.”
“Fuck you,” Dell said. He turned and strode back toward the French doors.
Cat moved to go after him, but he was already opening the door. By the time Cat reached the door, Dell was standing in the middle of the large hall, alone. Someone had opened a pair of large doors, and the crowd had moved into another room. Dell followed them, and Cat followed Dell. He had to try and talk to him again before he got to prince.