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She said, "I arranged to have them moved."
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"Why? Have you sold out to Garcia?"
Janine smiled. "Speaking of selling out, Rafe," she said. "I found out that
you haven't been completely truthful with me."
"What's who I sleep with got to do with--"
"Not the other women, that never bothers me," she cut in. "No, it's the money,
Rafe dear. The money I took from Barragray was meant to help fight against the
Gar-cia regime."
"That's exactly what it's doing."
"Explain how that works--since it's in your private account in the wilds of
Switzerland now, love."
Santos lowered his head for a few seconds, fists clenched at his sides.
"We aren't all dedicated as you are, Janine," he said finally. "In case
something goes wrong, in case we fail, I want to have money to--"
"And you didn't feel you were obliged to mention that you'd swiped the money?"
"If I had told you, Janine, you'd simply have had a tantrum and--"
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"I see," she said, resting her right hand on the handle of the cabinet door.
Santos said, "The real point is, whatever you think of me, that
Martinez needs the guns. They're an important part of the coup plan and
without them--"
"I'm afraid Janeiro's going to have to improvise."
"No, we've got to have the Devlin Guns. It gives us an advantage that
otherwise--"
"I'm withdrawing my support, Rafe dear," she said. "While I was finding out
about what you really did with the money, I gathered some other interesting
information about this whole alleged revolution I've been helping. It turns
out that the OCO--or at least the extreme faction inside that outfit--hasn't
been exactly truthful either."
"Perra, I don't have time for a lot of political theory crap. It's the
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whereabouts of the Devlin Guns that--"
"It seems these OCO fellows have made a deal with the Zabicas Cartel to get
financing for some very dubious guerrilla movement in Brazil. I
mean, Jesus, the administration in Brazil is rotten enough as it is, but these
OCO darlings are even worse."
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Quietly Santos told her, I'll have to make you tell me where the guns are,
Janine."
She opened the cabinet behind her, reaching inside. "You're right, Rafe. I
should be more cooperative with you." Smiling, she took a snub-nosed,
ivory-colored handgun off a shelf. "Okay, here's one of the guns."
Pointing the Devlin Gun at him, she fired.
Santos had started to reach for the lazgun tucked into his waistband.
But the soundless, unseen touch of the gun hit him.
An odd, sad, mewing cry came spilling through his lips. From inside his body
came grating, splashing noises.
He tried to make a pleading gesture toward her, but his hands and then his
arms collapsed into dangling, bulging bags of skin. Fragments of bone made
hundreds of punctures in the skin; blood and fluid came dribbling out. His
skull dissolved, leaving just a collapsing, puckering balloon of wrinkled
flesh and hair.
The bloody, foul-smelling mess that had been Rafe
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Santos just a moment before went splashing to the floor,
spilling blood and bile and body fluids.
Janine, lowering the gun to her side, stepped aside to avoid getting her shoes
splashed by the spreading spill of liquids.
From the kitchen doorway Jake said, "Evening, Ja nine."
"Jake." She lifted the gun and aimed it at him. "I was hoping you'd stop by."
J:ake was sitting on the opposite side of the villa living room in a grey
armchair. "You found out about what he'd done with the money, huh.;"
Shoulders back, knees together, Janine sat on the sofa with the Devlin
Gun resting in her lap. "This probably sounds strange after you just saw me
kill Rare," she said, "but I'm an idealist. He betrayed what I
thought was a cause that I could work for."
"It's not your cause anymore?"
"No," she said. "How'd you find your way to the Monasterio Tek
Clinic?"
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"Gardner Munsey confided in me, told me the guns were stored there,"
answered Jake. "I used a few tricks I've acquired and got past their sec
system at the clinic." He shrugged. "The guns were no longer there and it
occurred to me that you might have had something to do with that."
"I did. Where's that bastard Munsey now?"
"After our chat, I used a smngun on him," he said. "Then I left him at a spot
where another US government agency could collect the guy.
They're dedicated to curbing the OCO's more uncivil activities."
"That's right," she said, fingers stroking the handle of the gun, "you and
Bascom are thick with all sorts of intelligence types."
"Bascom is," he corrected. "I'm just a plain and simple private investigator."
"Cynical Jake Cardigan," she said. "You kidded me in Greater LA about being a
naive kid."
"I thought you were younger then. You're a convincing actor."
"Yes, that's true. It probably comes from never being quite sure who I
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really am."
"I'd like to find the Devlin Guns, Janine."
She watched him for a few silent seconds. "You're probably a lot more honest
than most of these bastards," she said. "And, maybe, more of an idealist than
I am."
Jake grinned, saying, "Naw, it's only a knack I have for giving false
impressions."
She rose up, holding the Devlin Gun at her side. "I'm going to leave here,"
she said. "The guns are stored here, down in what used to be a dungeon some
centuries ago. I had them brought in while Rafe was off in the mountains
consulting with Martinez."
"Weren't you afraid he'd find them?"
"It wouldn't have mattered," she said. "As soon as I learned about what he'd
done with the money, I knew I was going to kill him."
"You don't intend to let Janeiro Martinez have the guns?"
"No, I made a mistake about him, too," she said, moving toward the doorway.
"I'm trusting you to see that the Devlin Guns get to someplace where they
can't be used."
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"I'll do that," he promised.
"For a while I'm going to be inactive. Eventually I'll find something to work
for." She held up the gun as she went out of the room. "I'm keeping this one
for a souvenir."
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IltBI] r,lJtltX'S HIGHLY chromed sky car set down in the middle of a dark
grassy field that was surrounded by what looked like jungle. The safety gear
unhooked and the door on his side flapped open.
"Last stop, all out," announced the dash voxbox. "What the hell is going on?"
The big wide man whapped the dash with his fist. "Why'd you land me here?"
Something roared out on his left.
It was a large lion. Head slightly lowered, the beast was loping across the
grass toward him.
"Up, take me away from here," he told his sky car punching at the controls.
The car didn't respond. "Good Christ." Marx grabbed at the door handle, trying
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