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Karyn picked up her bag and walked through the sand back toward the hotel. As she reached the main building she saw a small crowd at the far side gathered around the badminton court. Karyn strolled over to see what the attraction was. On the grassy court, under the approving eyes of the mostly middle-aged guests, Chris and Audrey were playing an energetic, laughing game of badminton. Chris wore his white trunks and a striped rugby shirt. Audrey had changed into a pale blue shorts-and-halter outfit. They were a fine-looking couple, Karyn thought unhappily. Like a travel ad in a magazine.

At that moment Audrey looked over at her. There was an unmistakable glint of triumph in her clear young eyes.

I could really learn to dislike that girl, Karyn thought, giving Audrey a bland smile in return. She left the badminton game and crossed the patch of lawn to the main building of the hotel.

From his position behind the desk in the lobby, Senor Davila, the manager, gave her a welcoming smile.

"Is it too late for me to get some lunch?" Karyn asked.

"Not at all, Senora Richter. Please go right in."

"Thank you." Karyn started for the dining room.

"Did your friend find you on the beach all right?" the manager asked.

"Mr. Halloran? Yes, he did."

Senor Davila looked puzzled. "Oh, no, senora, I mean the lady."

Karyn felt a chill. "Miss Vance?"

"No, it was your other friend. The dark lady. She asked for you and I told her you were on the beach. Is anything wrong?"

Karyn stared at him. "There was a dark woman here? Asking for me?"

The manager began to look worried. "Si, senora. Dark, with a mark of white in her hair. The lady said she was your friend. I hope I did not speak out of place."

"No — it's all right," Karyn said vaguely. She turned and started out of the building.

"Your lunch, Senora?" Davila called after her.

"I've lost my appetite," Karyn said, without looking back.

Back at the badminton court, she edged past the people who were watching, and stepped out to where Chris was preparing to serve.

"Can I talk to you?" she said.

He caught the note of urgency in her voice. "What's happened?"

"They're here. Marcia was at the desk asking for me."

Chris frowned. "When we went in to lunch there was a woman who came in a cab. She said a few words to the manager then went away."

"What did she look like?"

"Tall. Slender. Wore sunglasses. Long black hair."

"With a streak of silver?"

Chris nodded.

"That was her. I forgot that you never saw Marcia Lura. At least not as a woman."

"Damn," he said. "I was almost close enough to grab her."

The people alongside the court were watching them curiously. Across the net Audrey stood with her fists planted on her hips.

"Can we go somewhere?" Karyn said.

"Yeah." Chris handed his racket to a paunchy man in a flowered shirt. "Here, you take over for me." He called across to Audrey, "I'll be back in a little while."

They walked away from the court together. Before she turned, Karyn caught the flash of pure female hatred in Audrey's eyes.

* * *

In a nameless cantina in the old Mexican section of Mazatlan, Roy Beatty sat listlessly at a table in the rear. It was dark in the cantina. Roy stared down at his hands, spread out flat on the sticky tabletop. He looked up at the sound of Marcia Lura's footsteps.

Marcia pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. She leaned close and spoke in an excited whisper.

"She's here."

Roy looked at her with dulled eyes, but said nothing.

"Did you hear me? I said she's here. I found her."

"I heard you."

"By now she will have been told that I asked for her at the desk. She will realize now that there is no escape for her."

Roy did not answer. Marcia reached around be-hind his chair. She slipped her long fingers under the hair at the back of his neck and rubbed him there.

"Don't you feel it?" she said. "This is the end of the chase."

He rolled his head around as Marcia's fingers worked on his tense trapezius muscles. "I'm glad it's almost over," he said. "That's all."

She brushed his ear with her lips. "Maybe you will feel something more when I tell you who she is with."

"Karyn is here with someone? I thought you said she came down alone."

"She did. But she met someone here."

Marcia's tongue probed at his ear, sliding in and out sensually.

Roy pushed his chair away and turned to face her. "Who? Who did she meet?"

"Your old friend, Roy, and her old lover."

"Chris Halloran? Chris is in Mazatlan?"

"You didn't think she chose this place by chance?"

"And you say they're together?"

"Oh, very much together. They're staying at the Palacio del Mar Hotel north of the city. It's very quiet there. Isolated. Perfect for lovers. And perfect for us."

Roy Beatty's lips drew back from his teeth, and for a moment the image of the wolf overlaid the man. He seemed to look out through the walls and across the city to the bed where his imagination put the naked bodies of his wife and his friend.

Marcia watched him. The corners of her wide, pale mouth lifted in a smile.

"Tonight, my Roy, we will pay them back for everything."

20

THAT EVENING CHRIS insisted that Karyn share a table with him and Audrey for dinner. Karyn was reluctant, but decided that any company, even Audrey's, was better than being alone. Her nerves had been ragged since she heard about Marcia coming to the hotel earlier in the day.

She dressed in her cabana, watching nervously through the window as the sun dropped toward the horizon. The day was still warm, but Karyn shivered as she hurried down the walk toward the main building.

Chris and Audrey were waiting for her in the dining room. Chris was unconvincingly jovial. Audrey was plainly unhappy with the situation. She wore a tight-fitting jumpsuit of simulated suede. Her hair was brushed to a coppery glow. Her eyes were continually on Karyn.

"It's so nice that you could eat with us," she said, showing her teeth.

"It's my pleasure," Karyn answered.

"No doubt," said the younger woman.

Chris cleared his throat and made a show of studying the menu. "I'm going to try the crabmeat enchiladas. How about you two?"

There was a short, uncomfortable silence. Finally Audrey said, "I want a steak. Medium well. I don't like the way they fix Mexican food down here. It's better in L.A."

"I'll just have a salad," Karyn said. She kept glancing through the archway that opened into the lobby. She could see the main entrance, and through the glass in the doors, the darkening sky outside.

"You shouldn't worry about dieting when you're on vacation," Audrey said. "So what if you do put on a few more pounds? Relax. Live a little."

Another time Karyn might have taken up the girl's challenge, but there were other things to think about. She said, "I just don't have the appetite."

"Mexico does that to some people," Audrey said. "You shouldn't have drunk the water."

Chris signaled to the waiter and ordered dinner. He tried half-heartedly to keep the conversation going, but had little success. Audrey fell into a sulk, returning her steak twice because it was not done properly. Karyn tried to follow Chris's inconsequential remarks, but her thoughts were outside where the night had once again claimed the world.

When they were finished, the waiter came and took away the empty dishes. Chris ordered sweet little Mexican cakes for dessert. Audrey found something else to complain about when she was told the kitchen was out of tea.