Read Stalemate for Free Online

you do the reconstruction. I'll expect the photo within the next twenty-four hours."
    "You won't get it."
    "I think I will."
    "What if I don't send it? Is it going to affect what you do to Gonzales or Soldono?"
    "Every action has a reaction. A lack of action can also cause events to change. Have you ever seen a time-travel movie where the hero changed the future simply by what he did or didn't do?"
    "This isn't science fiction, this is real life."
    "The principle is the same."
    "You're not going to answer me."
    "Figure it out for yourself. It's a good idea for you to think about me, guess at my reactions. We need to get to know each other very well. We're going to become very close. You'll be given my fax number in the next few hours." He hung up.
    "What's the story?" Joe asked as she hung up the phone.
    "He wants to make a trade."
    "The lives of Gonzales and his family for you to go down there? No way." His gaze narrowed on her face. "There's something more."
    Bonnie.
    "Yes." She moistened her lips. "He offered to prove he'd keep his word. A kind of test."
    "What kind of test?"
    "Marty. He said he'd have someone find out who he was and who killed him if I'd send him a photo."
    "That could take years."
    She nodded. "He said that he already had people in place to do the work but there's no way that he could--It's crazy."
    "Right. Then you won't be doing it. Call and tell him he's wasting his time."
    She was silent.
    "Eve."
    "What could it hurt? I didn't promise anything and it might bring Marty home sooner."
    "Because he's drawing you closer and closer with every action he's taking. First that damn bloody head to shock and throw you off balance and then he offers you the promise of bringing that little boy home. The threat and then the stroking."
    We're going to become very close.
    "He didn't kill Gonzales yet. If I stall long enough, the CIA might get him and his family away."
    "You're not stalling, you're dealing with Montalvo."
    "I'm doing both." She slammed the lid of the box down. "If I decide to do it. I'm not sure I will."
    I'll find your Bonnie.
    "You're pretty damn close to committing," Joe said roughly. "I'm not blind, Eve."
    "He's not asking me to do anything yet."
    " 'Yet.' That's the key word and it means--" Joe's cell phone rang. He looked at the ID. "Soldono." He answered. "Quinn. Why the hell didn't you answer my calls?" He listened for a moment and then held out his phone to Eve. "Montalvo wouldn't let him use his phone until he'd had time to spring his little surprise package. He wants to talk to you."
    She took the phone. "Is Gonzales still alive, Soldono?"
    "He was a half hour ago. Montalvo took me down to the stockade to see him. He wanted me to be able to tell you that." He paused. "I don't know for how long. I don't know what the devil Montalvo is doing. He's obviously handling you with kid gloves but he could change in a heartbeat."
    "Can you arrange to get Gonzales and his family away and out of the country if I can stall him for a few days?"
    He was silent, obviously thinking about it. "Maybe. I could try. The wife and kids should be fairly easy, but Gonzales...Can you do that?"
    "It's possible."
    "He told me to call you and give you a fax number. It's not here at the compound. He doesn't want to chance his machine being monitored. It's at a house in the village." He rattled off a number and she took it down. "What does he want you to send him?"
    "He's testing himself." She lifted her gaze to look Joe in the eye. "And I'm going to let him do it."
    "As long as you don't expect him not to cheat to get the results he wants. He's a wily bastard."
    "I don't expect anything of him. I didn't promise him that I'd give him what he wanted in exchange. For me, it's a win-win situation providing you can get the Gonzales family out of Colombia."
    Soldono didn't speak for a moment. "Montalvo usually doesn't make one-sided bargains. If he did, then watch your back."
    "Does he keep his word?"
    "As far as I