Devil s Bargin Page 0,14

walked to the mirror.

Her face was vivid and flushed, her eyes fever-bright. Even her hair looked better.

Damn, she enjoyed this stuff. That was probably sick.

"You," Lucia said, as if she'd read her mind, "need a hobby. Something nonviolent. Maybe macrame." She sounded amused, though. "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah," Jazz agreed. "Probably a good idea."

Walking with Lucia wasn't like walking alone. For one thing, Jazz was used to blending in, slumping, avoiding people's eyes. McCarthy had always laughed about it, called her a chameleon; he'd had the traditional cop presence and radiated an implicit threat even when sitting and reading the newspaper. But then, McCarthy hadn't worked undercover. She had.

Lucia Garza's aura was more like a runway model's. She drew stares as she stalked through the baggage-claim area, lean and elegant in her designer clothes. Jazz still felt invisible, but not in a good way. Next to Lucia Garza, most women would fade into wallpaper.

"Which way?" Lucia asked, sliding on sunglasses as they exited the building. Jazz nodded toward the distant parking lot. She wished she'd thought to pack some shades, but then, hers would have been clunky blue-blockers from a flea market. Lucia's had the sleek, finished look of sculpture and probably cost more than a car. Not that she was comparing or anything.

Lucia's bag went into the trunk, and Jazz scanned the area for signs of her restroom visitors. Nobody in sight. She had a prickling on the back of her neck, though, and wasn't surprised when Lucia, opening the passenger side, said, "They're watching us."

"Where?" Jazz ducked inside. They slammed doors at the same moment. Lucia jerked her chin a bare quarter inch in the direction of a white panel van sitting on the garage roof about five hundred yards away. As Jazz looked at it, it silently backed out of sight. "Son of a bitch. Okay, I give up. What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you know more than I do!"

Lucia brushed long, dark hair back with a distracted air, and frowned. "I picked up a tail at the hotel in Dallas," she said. "Nothing obvious, but it was there. Professionals, like the guys in the airport just now. I don't know who they're working for. Although I have no idea why professionals would try to take you out in such a risky public setting."

"Maybe it isn't about me at all. Maybe it was related to your case. Whatever it is you're working." She didn't ask, but she left the door open in case Lucia wanted to share.

She should have known better. "No. It's not germane," Lucia said. "That was all done when these people showed up. And they arrived within an hour of the letter arriving at my hotel. Those things have to be connected, especially if they're here, following you, as well."

Jazz started the car and backed out of the parking space.

"Where are we going?" Lucia asked.

"I don't know about you," Jazz replied, "but I'm already tired of being the one who doesn't know anything. I intend to change that."

She drove downtown, to the business district, then off into a less Fortune 500, more industrial neighborhood. Office buildings went from sky-piercing steel and glass to squat, square, converted warehouses. She pulled in at the grimy curb next to one and picked up her cell phone. As Lucia watched silently, she paged through numbers until she found the one she wanted and connected.

"Yeah?" A cautious voice on the other end.

"Manny, open up," she said. "It's Jazz. I need an opinion."

"Drive-through's closed."

"Give me a break."

"You didn't pay me for the last opinion."

"I thought that was a freebie!"

"Jazz, Jazz...I don't give freebies and you know it."

"Fine, I'll pay you this time. Double."

Silence. He hung up. Jazz waited for a few seconds, and smiled as the grimy garage door a few yards down the street began rattling slowly up.

As soon as her car passed under it, the door reversed course and began jerking and clattering back down again. Manny didn't like open doors. "Who's Manny?" Lucia asked. She didn't sound bothered, for which Jazz had to give her points. If the situation had been reversed, Jazz was pretty sure she'd have been firing off questions every ten seconds and jumping at every noise.

"Old friend," Jazz said, which didn't really answer anything, and killed the engine. She kept the headlights running, bathing the big concrete room in white light. The few spotlights were feeble and far between. Manny also wasn't big on paying electric bills.

She got out