Riley switched his thoughts to the mission at hand. Sitting in the lotus position, he relaxed his breathing and contemplated the villa below. There had to be a way in. Riley took it one step at a time. He had all day to think.
Ariel knocked on the door to the Ring Man's bedroom with caution. The Ring Man's moods in the morning were known to vary widely.
Waking him was considered a move fraught with danger. Ariel felt that the information he had just received was worth the risk. The boss would want to know.
"Enter."
Ariel opened the door and peered into the darkened room. He shut the door and walked to the foot of the bed. The Ring Man was sitting up, back against the headboard. The young girl was looking out from the other side of the bed with wide brown eyes.
"I assume you would not be disturbing me if it wasn't important."
Ariel nodded. The Ring Man considered him for a few seconds, then pushed the girl's head underneath the covers toward his crotch and leaned back. The man's a pig, Ariel thought.
"What is it?"
Ariel tried to ignore the movement under the covers. "I just had a talk with the president's aide, Montez. Alegre is looking for a truce."
The Ring Man's face cracked in a wide smile. "A truce?" He laughed. "That is very good. A truce. They must be running scared. It figures Montez would be the one to call. He is the more sensible one. What kind of truce did he have in mind?"
"He says Alegre will stand down from the state of emergency and pull the troops off our operations in the cities if we stop the war."
"What about the extradition treaty?"
"It will be suspended indefinitely."
Ariel was somewhat surprised at the Ring Man's initial reaction. He had thought Alegre's betrayal was something his boss would never forgive. He had expected the Ring Man to explode in anger that Alegre dared propose a truce. His boss's next words confirmed his thoughts.
"I will never agree to anything with that pig. The fact that he wants a truce and is also willing to anger the Americans by reneging on the extradition treaty means he must really be in a bad position. Also the Americans are probably not supporting him as much. Maybe their loss at Barranquilla took the wind out of their sails. If Alegre wants a truce we must increase the pressure on him and break him. That pig betrayed me and he must pay for that."
Ariel wasn't sure he agreed with the Ring Man's reasoning. If Alegre fell, then someone else would take over. He knew the Ring Man was not yet in a position to assume that role and doubted whether he ever would be. They were having enough trouble right now consolidating their grip on the cartel. It was not working as smoothly as the Ring Man seemed to think it was. Ariel felt they would be better off accepting the government's offer. However, he also knew that was what his predecessor had recommended. His very dead predecessor. "What do you want me to do?"
"Have you come up with a way to kill Alegre?"
Ariel had anticipated that question. "I think there may be a way to do that using this new offer and the American we have prisoner."
The Ring Man was intrigued. "Wait a minute outside."
Ariel nodded and exited the room. About two minutes later the Ring Man came out, slipping on his robe, with a satisfied look on his face. He headed for the dining room, where his breakfast was being laid out. "Join me for breakfast and tell me more."
"I'll guard while you wash off and then we'll switch."
Kate gave Riley a sidelong glance as she stripped down. Riley was scanning the trail down to the road. As she slipped her foot into the water he casually mentioned, "By the way the water's real cold."
Kate pulled her foot out and gave him an accusing glare. He was pretending to look down the trail. "Thanks for the warning." She took a deep breath and dove into the water. The shock of the cold caused her to lose her breath and sputter to the surface. She wondered if feeling clean was worth this.
After a freezing two minutes she clambered out. Shaking off as much water as she could, she quickly dressed, slipping the Beretta back into its place under her shoulder. They'd thrown the Colt into the bottom of the pool on the way up yesterday, since it was out of ammunition.
"Your turn."
Riley shook his head. "No thanks. I've already had my share of that mountain water. I hope you feel better and that it was worth coming here."
"What happened to 'I'll guard and then we'll switch'?"
Riley came over and put his arms around her. "That was just a ploy to get you naked."
She looked at him and smiled without humor. "Well, it worked. What now?"
Riley let go of her. "Now we talk about getting you out of here."
Kate's smile disappeared. "What do you mean 'get me out of here'?"
"Exactly what I said. Either to the embassy or preferably out of the country."
She squared off and faced him, her face set into those determined lines Riley had seen before. "Why should I leave?"
"Because the Ring Man hit is off. I'm not here for that."
It was her turn to surprise him. "I knew that yesterday."
"What?"
She shook her head. He still didn't know the first thing about her. "I knew that as soon as you told me about Powers. I knew you'd make him your first priority."
"Then why did you come up here with me?"
She couldn't believe his obtuseness. "To help you, of course. You told me early on that rescuing Powers was your number one priority, and I went along with you and helped you. I'm not going to quit now."
"I don't have a plan, and whatever I do is going to be dangerous," Riley argued. "I can't ask you to take that risk."
Westland was starting to get angry. "Don't take that attitude with me. I'm capable of making my own decisions and I'm also capable of taking care of myself. In case you've forgotten, I've managed to do that pretty well so far. It's not up to you whether I stay here or leave. It's up to me."
Riley tried another line of reasoning. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do. You have no responsibility toward Powers. He's my friend and that's why I'm doing this. You ought to get while the getting's good."
Westland put her hand on Riley's shoulder. "Let me tell you a few things. First off, don't ever try to tell me what to do. You can ask and suggest, but don't order me. Second, I do feel some responsibility toward Powers. Third, I also feel some sense of responsibility toward you, and I'm not going to let you get your head blown off by doing something stupid. And last, I do what I want and I want to stay here."
Riley was staring at her. He'd expected her to be obstinate but he hadn't realized the depth of her feelings. He was at a loss for words.
Westland let go of his shoulder. "So what's the plan?"
Riley gave in. "Your guess is as good as mine. We go back up and continue surveillance. I don't know if Pike has come up with anything, and even if he has there's no way we can contact him. Whatever he may have done he'll probably have to cancel now. We have to assume we're on our own. Between the two of us we have to come up with a way to get into that villa, rescue Powers, and get out again — hopefully keeping all of us alive."
Westland nodded. "We'd best get back on up the hill then and put our thinking caps on."
Montez had seriously considered not passing on the message from the Ring Man's aide. The whole thing stunk and Montez didn't trust the Israeli. The problem was that this was the only way to get things back to normal. They would have to take a chance that the offer was legitimate.