“What made you think you’d have trouble getting me to come with you? Haven’t I stuck with you for the last few days?”
“I thought it would be better if you didn’t know where you are. That way no one can torture it out of you.”
“I wasn’t planning on being tortured,” he said in his most amiable tone. “So why the bondage? If you wanted sex games all you had to do was ask.”
She didn’t even blink. However close he’d gotten to her before, she’d managed to recover. Now appeared immune to him, immune to their history. “It seemed better to keep you immobile until we were sure you were going to cooperate.”
“I’m the soul of cooperation, princess. Is Madsen in the other room?”
“He had to go check on the safe house. I told him I could handle you without any difficulty.”
“Oh, really? That remains to be seen. In the meantime, untie me and tell me where the hell Mahmoud is. You didn’t have to kill him, did you?”
“Unlike you, I don’t kill children. Or maybe you don’t consider fifteen-year-olds to be children—not to mention twelve-year-olds.”
For a moment he had no idea what she was talking about. “You mean Mahmoud’s sister? Since she was pregnant, I considered her an adult.”
“And therefore you shot her. What was she doing, coming at you with a burning pike?”
“You want some nice, noble excuse for it? I’m not giving it to you,” he said. “I put a bullet in her forehead and she died instantly. You don’t need to know anything more, as long as you realize what I’m capable of doing.”
“I know all the horrors you’ve been capable of doing over the last two decades,” Isobel said in a low voice.
“Where is Mahmoud? Because he’s not going to like having me out of his sight, and you need to be careful. He can be a brutal little bugger when he’s thwarted.”
“He’s fine. Reno’s keeping an eye on him.”
“Who’s Reno?”
She sighed. She didn’t seem any closer to freeing his wrists, but he wasn’t concerned. Even tied up he could take her down when he was ready. “Reno is our newest recruit. Takashi O’Brien’s cousin.”
“Reno’s not a Japanese name.”
“His real name is Hiromasa Shinoda. Apparently he took his American name from a video game character.”
“That doesn’t sound like Committee material.”
“He’s not. But beggars can’t be choosers, and he had to get out of Japan. In the meantime he’ll be able to keep Mahmoud out of trouble.”
“Untie me.”
She looked at him. “I’m not sure I trust you.”
“Of course you don’t trust me. But you’ve brought me here, as originally agreed upon, even though I’m missing a bit of the liberty I expected, and this is a far cry from the Ritz-Carlton. However, given that your organization is going down the toilet, fast, I can be open-minded. Untie me, get me something to eat and I’ll start telling you all the things you ever wanted to know about third world violence in the new millennium.”
“You think I’m going to cook for you?”
“I think neither of us has eaten in quite a while, and I’m guessing this is an apartment complete with a kitchen. I’m also guessing that since we’re holed up in here, we probably have plenty of supplies. I’ll take coffee or Scotch, depending on what time of day it is.”
“It’s just before dawn.”
“That makes it tough. It’s either the end of a very long night or an early start. Tell you what—make me some coffee and put some whiskey in it. That way I don’t have to decide.”
For a moment she didn’t move. “All right,” she said finally. “Stay put.”
“And where would I be going, princess?” he taunted.
The moment she was out of sight he finished untying his right wrist, then made quick work of the other ropes. It was an old trick he’d learned long ago, a way of compressing his wrist bones that made him able to get out of almost any kind of restraint. He was a tall man, but his bones were thin and narrow, and that fact had saved his life more than once.