"Van Lustbader, Eric - Angel Eyes(eng)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Van Lustbader Eric)

"You must be crazy!''
Tori said, "There's someone in here who's crazy, but it isn't me. I saw you signaling the Orola assassin at the corrida. What do you think you're doing? This isn't a game."
"Of course it isn't," Sonia hissed. Her handsome face was twisted into a mask of hate. "The man who Cruz murdered at El Cerrito, Ruben Orola, was my lover. When his brothers told me what I had to do, I didn't think twice. Why should I? What is left of my life? Nothing. Nothing but revenge. I have a purpose now."
"What kind of purpose?" Tori took Sonia by the shoulders, faced her toward the mirror. "Look at yourself. You're a walking, talking automaton, nothing more."
Sonia licked her lips. "I appear just as Cruz wants me to appear. The man is crazy."
"So are a lot of people."
"You don't understand. This man is insane. All the cartel heads are. There is something in the air here, or maybe it's a by-product of the power they lust after with their very hearts. Cruz is dangerous-as much to me as he is to you. When maniacs move, you get out of the way. Period.''
"Then you have to find some way to immobilize him."
Sonia stared at Tori in the mirror. "The moment Cruz is dead, I will put a gun to my head and pull the trigger."
Tori spun her around. "Is that so? Is your life worth as little as that punk assassin Cruz killed as casually as a fly? Then why haven't you killed Cruz yet? How many opportunities have you had lying beside him while he sleeps?''
"At night, after we have made love, when I hear his snores, when I see the rhythmic rise and fall of his belly, even then I am afraid to move. His power paralyzes me; his wealth surrounds me like a prison." She shrugged. "But I don't expect you to understand what I am telling you.''
But Tori did understand, better than Sonia could ever imagine. "There must be a way for you to break his power."
"You know nothing," Sonia said. "Cruz is already dead, he just doesn't know it yet. But it is the manner of his death that is of importance to Ruben's brothers."
"A public execution," Tori said. "Like today."
"Why did you stop it? You're no friend of Cruz's."
"He has information I must have," Tori said. "After I get what I want, the war can resume. I am not involved."
Sonia gave her a cold smile. "But you are involved. It is not a matter of choice. Wars are enormous things, unwieldy, difficult to stop. You have gotten in the way. Now you and your friends are part of it."
When Tori said nothing, Sonia continued. "Tell me what you want from Cruz, and I will ensure you get it. But, in return, you and your friends must help me kill him."
"Why should I bother? This is your vendetta, not mine," Tori said. "I can get what I want from Cruz just by turning you in. Knowing you work for the Orolas will shake him to his core. He'll be so grateful, he'll give me anything I want."
"Then you don't know Cruz." Sonia took out a Marlboro cigarette but did not light it. She studied Tori's face much as a fencer will study her adversary before they put on their masks. "He takes, but he does not give. Unless proper payment is presented, you'll get nothing from him." She shrugged, placed the Marlboro on the vanity top, slit it neatly open. "Besides, I am not the only plant the Orolas have here. One of Cruz's lieutenants, Jorge, works for them as well. The Orolas are freer with their money than Cruz is. Jorge does not know about me, but I know about him.''
Estilo was right, Tori thought. There is no loyalty here but to money. She said, ''Why should I care about you or the Orolas?''
"You owe me," Sonia said. "You destroyed something that was mine: Cruz's death. Now you are obliged to re-create it."
For the first time her face held a measure of doubt, and Tori understood just how important her revenge was to her. It might destroy her, in the end, but it was the only thing she could call her own. She had already given up on herself.
Sonia produced a sheet of rolling paper, transferred the tobacco into it. To it she added what Tori recognized as cocaine base. She rolled the mixture in the paper, sealed it. Then she lit up, inhaling the smoke deep into her lungs. In a moment her brown eyes went opaque, the pupils expanding.
Tori wanted to help her, to reach out and show her that she, Sonia, still existed, independent of Cruz, the Orolas, even the ghost of her lover, Ruben. But she could see that it was useless. She had no illusions that Sonia was a good woman trapped in a bad situation. At the moment Sonia had agreed to the Orolas' plan, she had sold her soul to the devil. There was no turning back now, and Tori recognized that all she could do for this woman was to make her journey as painless as possible.
Tori wondered to what degree she could trust anyone here. For trust, one needed people, but there were none here, only soulless husks driven by greed, lust, vengeance. The sins of the damned. The cocaine-impregnated smoke filled the room, making her slightly sick to her stomach. The stink of corruption was everywhere in flower.
"All right," Tori nodded. But the tiny hairs at the back of her neck were stirring. This mission had become a two-edged sword, as perilous a situation as was possible. She might be helping out a woman in distress, but she knew that she had also just made a deal with a demon.
"You two girls have a good time in there?" Cruz laughed. ''What is it you do together? Men don't want to see each other's pricks, so what is it you girls want to see?" He was being deliberately crude, baiting them, still feeling good after the kill. Blood did that to some men.
"Actually," Tori said, "Sonia discussed something important in there."
"Yeah?" The contempt was plain on his face. "What could that be? The name of a more effective douche?'' Cruz guffawed, and his lieutenants grinned like trained animals.
Tori stood in front of him, said, "Sonia saw one of your trusted lieutenants signal the Orola assassin at the corrida."
"What? You're a liar." He yelled this with such vehemence that Sonia jumped. ''Why didn't you say this to me right away?''
"She didn't really understand what she saw," Tori said, intervening. "But when I began to question her, it came out."
"This is impossible!" Cruz shouted.
"On the contrary," Tori said. "That's how the assassin was able to get so close to you. Close enough to use the handgun."
Cruz said nothing.
"Think. It's the only way the assassination attempt makes sense," Tori said. "The Orolas have someone inside your organization."
Cruz whirled on Tori. "Nevertheless," he said with a great deal of menace, "why should I trust you?"
"Besides the fact that I saved your life at the corrida, I can't think of a single reason.''
Cruz leered at her. "Perhaps you saved me for a reason, eh, chica?" He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together.
"That makes no difference," Tori pointed out. "You've still got a lieutenant on the Orola payroll."
"So you say."
Tori made a show of considering his challenge. She said, "I think I have a way of proving to you that we can help you further." She nodded toward Russell. "Senor Slade here is our resident expert in moles."
"In what?" Cruz asked.
"Moles," Russell repeated. "Enemy agents placed within your cartel."
"Ah, yes, burrowing underground," Cruz said. "I see." He scowled at Russell. "What do you do?"
Russell remembered what Tori had said to him. Are you good at improvisation? I hope so. "I find moles," he said. He got off the couch, passed by each of Cruz's lieutenants in turn. He looked them straight in the eye. Some looked back curiously, others were overtly hostile. No one looked away.
Cruz came over beside Russell. "This is interesting," he said.
Tori said, "I will whisper to you the name of the lieutenant Sonia saw signal the Orola hit man at the bull ring. Without knowing what I have said, Senor Slade will find your mole."
"Is that so?" Cruz grunted. "Tell me, Senor Slade, what do you do when you find these moles?"