Barbara Eagle was lying in the hot sun, lotion lathered on her very handsome body, reading a paperback book.

Vittorio waved at a waiter.

"What may I get you, senor?" the man asked.

"A Diet Coke. And tell me, can guests receive phone calls at the pool?"

"Yes, sir."

"Can you take a phone to a guest?"

"No, sir. A guest receiving a call would need to go to the outside bar to receive it."

"Thank you." The man went to get his drink, and Vittorio called Ed Eagle.

"Vittorio? Where are you?"

"In Puerto Vallarta."

"Any luck yet?"

"I'm looking at her across a swimming pool."

"Can you get her on the phone?"

"Hang on a minute." The waiter was returning with his Diet Coke. "You see the woman, there?" he asked nodding.

"Yes, senor."

"I want you to take her this cell phone. Her name is Senorita Kennerly. Tell her she has a call and hand her the phone." He gave the man the phone and a ten-dollar bill. "Keep an eye on her, and be sure you get the phone back when she hangs up."

"Yes, senor." The man placed the open cell phone on his tray and walked around the pool. Vittorio watched sidelong through his sunglasses as the waiter approached. She stared at him for a moment, then picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Barbara," Eagle said.

"I've nothing to say to you," she said.

"You don't have as much money as you think."

"What?"

"I stopped the wire transfer from the brokerage house, and the funds still in the Mexico City account have been frozen."

There was a long silence. "What do you want, Ed?"

"A divorce. You can keep the three hundred grand you've still got, and, of course, you have your jewelry. You can get by on that until another patsy comes along."

"You bastard," she said.

"In a few minutes, there will be a file waiting for you at the front desk of your hotel; it contains six sheets of blank paper. All you have to do is to sign at the bottom of each sheet and give the file back to the desk clerk, and it will be done. I'll send the final papers to you wherever you wish for another signature. We will never have to see each other or speak again."

"Ed, you think you know what's happening, but you don't."

"Barbara, I don't care what's happening. Just do as I ask, and it's over. You don't want to get in court with me; I think you know that."

"It won't be over."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't want to go into it now."

"You don't have to; just sign the sheets of paper."

"You could put anything you wanted above my signature," she said.

"I could, but I give you my word that all I will put on the paper will be a brief agreement giving you three hundred thousand dollars and terminating your marital rights."

"And if I don't sign the papers?"

"Then you will subject yourself to a punishing legal process, and, given your criminal record, you will very likely go to prison."

"Ed, do you think I'm stupid? I haven't broken any laws."

"Barbara, if you believe that you can escape the legal process, then you have been very badly advised."

"You don't know what advice I've taken."

"Whatever that advice is, what good has it done you? If you'd simply divorced me you'd have gotten a decent settlement, but instead, you tried to steal from me. I don't understand how you could have been so stupid."

"You are the one who's stupid."

"Don't you realize that you've shot a man? That's illegal, even in Mexico. Do you want to end up in a Mexican jail? Do you have any idea what that would be like? I can assure you it would be very different from the country club where you did your previous time. Sign the papers, and I'll see that all that goes away; no charges will be pressed."

The line suddenly went dead.

Vittorio watched as the waiter collected the cell phone from Barbara Eagle and walked around the pool toward him. It began ringing as the waiter approached. He grabbed it.

"Hello?"

"It's Eagle. She hung up on me. Get her signature on those sheets of paper; I don't care how you do it."

"All right. Any other instructions?"

"Don't let her get away from you until she signs."

"Right." Vittorio closed the phone, picked up his briefcase and walked into the hotel. He went to the front desk and asked for the manager. When the man appeared, Vittorio showed him ten one-hundred-dollar bills and explained to him that they would be his, if a desk clerk would inform him if Ms. Kennerly decided to check out and, further, to delay her departure for ten minutes. The man accepted the offer with alacrity, and Vittorio gave him five of the bills. He added a hundred to the offer, in exchange for a key card to her room. "It is purely a domestic matter," he explained. "Her husband wishes to speak with her."

Eagle sat at his desk and thought. What was the matter with the woman? He had offered her an easy way out. She had behaved stupidly, but she seemed to think he was the stupid one. What the hell was going on?

Twelve

VITTORIO RETURNED TO HIS ROOM, DRESSED AND PACKED his things. He had a feeling that Barbara Eagle would be leaving the hotel shortly. As if to confirm his judgment, the phone rang.

"Yes?"

"It is the manager, senor. Senorita Kennerly has ordered a taxi in thirty minutes' time."

"Thank you. You'll have the rest of the money shortly." He took his bag and briefcase down to the front desk, paid the manager and asked him to keep his bags for a few minutes. He removed the file from his briefcase and went upstairs. First, he listened at Barbara's door, but he heard nothing. He looked at the surrounding doors and judged the size of her room, then he put an ear to the wall twenty feet down the hallway. He could hear water running, probably the shower.

Vittorio went back to the door, inserted the key card and cracked the door. He could hear the shower running. He let himself in and took a seat at a table in the corner, facing the open bathroom door, then put the file on the table and waited. A moment later the water was turned off, and he heard the shower door open and close. Perhaps ten seconds later, Barbara Eagle walked into the room, naked.

Vittorio hadn't expected that. She was still wet, and for a woman who must have been forty, she looked spectacular. Her breasts were high, the nipples erect, her belly flat, all her pubic hair waxed away. She had a small tattoo of a bright yellow sunflower between her breasts.

"Good afternoon," he said, putting a finger to the brim of his hat.

She did not move. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"There are six sheets of paper in this file," he said, tapping the file with a finger. "Sign each of them at the bottom, and I'll leave you in peace." She continued to stare at him and he at her, but she still made no move toward the table or to cover her body.

"If you don't sign them, I am authorized to persuade you. I think I would enjoy that." He knew from his experience that people, especially women, often found his appearance threatening, and he used this to his advantage. He actually considered himself a peaceful, nonviolent person, but threat had its uses.

"I'll get a pen," she said, nodding at her purse on the bed. She took a step toward it.

"Stop," he said, opening his jacket, so she could see the gun at his waist. He took a pen from his jacket pocket and placed it on the file. "Use mine," he said.

She did not move, just stared at him.

"It would be a mistake to try with me what you did to the other fellow," Vittorio said. "In fact, he is on his way here at this very moment. I think it would be good for you to be gone before he arrives."