Chapter 116
ANDIE'S CELL PHONE buzzed. She didn't answer. She knew what it meant.
She turned to the short, mustached clerk in the cigar shop who barely spoke English."These are the best, you say? They're Cuban, right?"
"Sí, Señora, the best in the world. At any price."
Andie nervously held out the two cigar boxes. Montecristos and Cohibas. She waited for the sound she knew would be coming, the little bell tinkling behind her-Cavello entering the store.A tingle of nerves danced down her spine.This isn't some stupid play, she said to herself.You're not on stage here. You have to calm yourself and do this right. You have to be perfect.
Finally, she heard the bell, then the whine of the door opening. Andie tensed but never looked behind. She knew who it was.
"But which is the best?" she kept asking."It's a gift for my husband, and they're expensive. I'm not making myself clear, am I?"
"Señora, they areboth the best," the tobacconist pleaded."It is a matter of taste."
She looked at the two boxes."Please."
"You won't go wrong with either of those," she heard the voice behind her say."But for my money, Cohiba is the best."
Andie sucked in a shooting breath, almost afraid to turn and face him. Finally, she did. She saw a man in a dark black leather topcoat and a tweed cap. Cavello looked a little older than she remembered, his face more haggard. But it was still the same man she hated.
"It is like a choice between a Brunello and a great Burgundy. I go with the Brunello, in this case the Cohiba. But Frederico's right, it's a matter of taste."
The tobacco clerk nodded."Sí, Señor Celletini."
Celletini, Andie noted. She handed the clerk the Cohibas."I'll go with these." She turned back to Cavello."Thanks for rescuing me."
"No rescue. Even a connoisseur would find it a difficult choice." He moved closer to her."Business or studies?"
"Sorry?" Andie said.
"It's unusual to find an American accent down here this time of year. Most of the tourists have gone home."
Andie smiled."Business, I guess. I'm taking a job on an expedition to Antarctica next month."
"Anexplorer. " Cavello made a show of seeming impressed.
"Not quite. A chef, actually. Maybe more of an escapist than anything else."
"No shame in that." Cavello smiled."Down here, most everybody is."
Andie slowly lifted her sunglasses. She let him see her face."So what areyou escaping?" she asked, wetting her lips.
"At this moment, sheep. I have a ranch, twenty minutes out of town."
"Sheep, huh?" She cocked her head coyly."That's all?"
"All right, you caught me." Cavello raised his hands as if surrendering."I'm actually in the Witness Protection Program. I made a wrong turn at Phoenix and headed south. This is where I ended up."
"A man with a very bad sense of direction." Andie laughed, and hoped it seemed genuine."But don't worry, Mr. Celletini, your secret's safe with me."
"Frank," Cavello said. Now his look bore in a little closer. The crafty killer, the psycho. The Electrician.
"Alicia." Andie lied as well."Alicia Bennett."
"Nice to meet you, Alicia Bennett." Cavello put out his hand."Explorer."
They shook hands. His touch was rough and scaly to her. Andie tried not to flinch. She fished in her wallet for money.
"And what about you?" Cavello smiled, keeping up the banter."What areyou escaping?"
"Me, I'm a desperate housewife." Andie chuckled.
"You must be very desperate, if you'rehere. But you don't look it."
"I saw this ad." Andie shrugged."It promised the end of the world. I figured it meant here in Ushuaia, but if I'm buying Cuban cigars and talking to an American about TV, I guess I haven't found it yet. So I'm heading farther south."
"Your husband must be quite a confident man to let you come down here by yourself, Alicia. Or maybe it'shim you are escaping?"
Andie sighed, a little embarrassed."Actually, I lied. I'm not married. I was trying to pretend not to be some dumb woman for the store clerk here. The cigars are for the ship."
"Buying them so early?" Cavello looked at her."You certainly are a prepared little girl."
Shit. Andie flinched. The first mistake.
The proprietor handed her the package. Andie took her change.
"You've made a wise choice to go with the Cohibas, Alicia. And as far as the end of the world, I think that's something I could show you. And you may not have to go as far as you think."
"Is that so? What do you mean?"
"My ranch. That's what it's called. This must be fate, Alicia."
"I don't believe in fate," Andie said, smiling once again. She put her package under her arm and slipped past him as he held the door."But I believe in lunch."
Andie's heart started to quicken.Stay cool, she said to herself.Just a few seconds more. You have him-don't lose him.
Cavello followed her out to the sidewalk. Down the street, Andie noticed two bodyguards milling around, not paying too much attention. Sloppy, just as Nick said.
"I have lunch Saturdays at the Bar Ideal," Cavello said."It's down by the port. If you care to join me."
"It all depends," Andie called, backing down the street. She could see the gleam in his eye. She had him hooked.
"On what?" Cavello followed her a few steps.
"On what you did to get yourself in the Witness Protection Program, Mr. Celletini. I only go out with a certain kind of man."
"Oh, that. " Cavello grinned, taking one more step after her."Mafia boss. Does that qualify?"
Chapter 117
SATURDAY CAME.
Andie was already sitting in the café when Cavello arrived. The two black Range Rovers pulled up down the square, and the door to the lead one opened. Cavello got out looking full of himself as always.
This was no game, no role, she knew. This man would gladly kill her given the chance. But she had to do this, she told herself. She had to stay calm. She had to act!
Cavello looked pleased and maybe even a little surprised as he stepped up to her table. He was wearing the same black leather topcoat and dark sunglasses, the tweed cap."I'm very happy to see you, Alicia. I see my past occupation didn't scare you off."
"Gee, and I thought we were only playing with each other." Andie looked at him over her own sunglasses."Should I be scared?"
She had let down her hair this time, and was wearing an orange T-shirt that read BALLBUSTERin small type under her waist-length denim jacket. Cavello read the lettering on her shirt."Maybe it's me who ought to be scared, Alicia. May I sit down?"
"Sure. Unless you like to eat standing up."
He sat down and took off his hat. Cavello's hair was slightly grayer. His face had barely changed from the one she had stared at with hatred in the courtroom, the day of the new trial.
"You don't seem too sinister to me," she said."Anyway, how could anyone who farms sheep be so bad?"
Cavello laughed, and she knew that he could be charming when he wanted to."You know, that's what I've been trying to tell the Justice Department for years."
Andie laughed. They both did.