“Hello, Fargos,” a voice said behind them.
Sam and Remi turned around.
Standing before them was Itzli Rivera.
Sam said, “We keep running into each other. Frankly, it’s something we could do without.”
“I can arrange that.”
“As long as we help you finish what you haven’t been able to on your own.”
“You read my mind.”
“The problem with that plan,” Remi said, “is that it ends with you killing us.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”
“Yes, it does,” replied Sam. “You know it, and we know it. Even now we know enough about Garza’s dirty little secret to topple his government. Compared to your other victims, we’ve got a mountain of information. You murdered a woman in Zanzibar just because she found a sword.”
“And eight others for much less, probably,” Remi added.
Rivera shrugged and spread his hands. “What can I say?”
“How about, ‘Where’s the tallest building I can jump off of?’”
“Here’s a better question: Why don’t you give me all your research, and I’ll tell my boss I killed you?”
Remi said, “After all we’ve been through together, you still think we’re that gullible? You’re a slow learner, Mr. Rivera.”
“You’ve been lucky so far. It won’t happen again.”
Sam said, “Let me see if I’m understanding you correctly: Option one, we give you everything we’ve got and you murder us; option two, we give you nothing and see how much farther our luck takes us.”
“When you put it that way, I can see your point,” Rivera replied. “So let’s change the terms: You give me what I want and I promise to kill you quickly and painlessly. Or we continue to play our cat-and-mouse game, and I will eventually catch you and torture your wife until you give me what I want.”
Sam took a step forward. He stared hard into Rivera’s eyes. “You need to learn some manners.”
Rivera pulled back his jacket a few inches to reveal the butt of a gun. “And you need to learn some discretion.”
“So my wife tells me.”
“You’re stubborn. Both of you. We’re going to leave together right now. If you figh
t me or try to attract attention, I’ll shoot your wife, then you. Let’s go. I have a boat outside. We’ll walk outside and—”
“No.”
“Pardon me?”
“You heard me.”
“I’m not bluffing, Mr. Fargo. I’ll shoot you both.”
“I believe you’ll try. Don’t think I’ll make it easy.”
“Nobody will stop me; I’ll be gone before the authorities arrive.”
“Then what? Did you really think we’d come here carrying all our proof? You’ve really got a problem with underestimating people. You’ve searched our hotel room and found nothing, correct?”