Page 65 of His Virgin Vessel

I sat. "Well, it worked. I'm here. So, talk."

"You know what I want."

"You want War Cry out of town."

"Out of the state," Rassi clarified. "And you want Miss Dugas here released, unharmed."

"I do."

"I can confirm that she has not been harmed to this point," Rassi said.

"She'd better not have been." The rage was rising in me once again.

Rassi laughed. "I think threats, under the circumstances, are a bit silly, don't you?"

I went back to negotiating. "So, you release Corinne, then War Cry leaves."

Rassi raised a finger. "Tiny misunderstanding. War Cry leaves, then I release Miss Dugas."

"I would prefer the other way around."

"But I hold all the cards."

"If that were true, I'd be dead."

Rassi laughed. "Yes, you would. But, still, I must insist."

"What assurance do I get that you'll set her free after we're gone?"

Rassi shrugged. "I assume my word is not enough for you?"

"Correct. I know how many times you've done this before and how many times you've gone back on it." I was edging matters in the direction of an admission.

"Never," said Rassi, bluntly.

"Albert Brosnan?" I had been given a long list of names by Dugas, none of which he could prove, but all of which should mean something to Rassi. I had spent the afternoon learning the details. I hadn't done this much homework since I was in school. And it was getting homework like that had led to me quitting school.

"Never heard of the gentleman," Rassi said, poker-faced.

"He disappeared mysteriously a week before his brother was going to give evidence against you. The brother reversed his testimony, and neither he, nor Albert, were ever seen again. Which strikes me as quite ungrateful on your part."

Rassi shrugged. "It strikes me that the Brosnan family are obviously quite unreliable and not to be trusted. I would imagine the guilt of having implicated me in a matter in which I was entirely innocent must have weighed heavily on his mind and, perhaps, contributed to his disappearance."

"Would you also say that about Amy Sanchez?" I asked.

"You'll have to remind me, again, I'm afraid."

"That's okay, I understand you've done this a lot of times."

Rassi shook his head. "I don't know what you mean by 'this,’ but I can assure that that, if I had ever previously made a deal with someone that I would release a captive friend or relative in return for some very small concession on their part, I would have followed through with it to the letter. I am a man of principle. My word is my bond."

"Your word didn't do Matt Shipman a lot of good," I pointed out. "He turned up buried in landfill."

Rassi tutted. "Landfill sites can be awfully dangerous places. A person can trip and fall on something."

"Matt tripped and fell onto three bullets. Head first."

"Accidents will happen," said Rassi, in a tone that made it sound like a promise.

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