Outside a bar, Sanso stood under an awning that shielded him from the monsoon rain. The fresh air and a visit to one of his favorite clubs, where he’d received private care from an excellent physician, had done wonders for his spirits. When he saw Callista’s black SUV, he stepped out, and she pulled to the curb.
He climbed in to the sound of squeaking wipers. The car idled while she leaned across the seat and greeted him with a long, slow kiss.
“Where is she?” Sanso asked when they parted.
“Cozy little place in New York City.”
“You find her alias?”
“And so much more. She’s made quite a life for herself.”
Callista and two others on Sanso’s payroll had picked up Janeal’s identity after her hospital visit by following her back to the airport, purchasing a ticket on the same flight, and then hacking into the airline’s flight manifesto with her seat assignment information. From there it was an easy matter to connect the Jane Johnson of West 69th Street, Manhattan, to All Angles magazine.
When the alerts attached to her credit card activity signaled she had purchased a ticket to New Mexico the day after Sanso’s escape, Callista was notified right away.
She sent a woman with a photo of Jane into the baggage claim area where Janeal was expected to arrive.
Sanso laughed aloud. “We should go fetch her. Make ourselves a threesome.”
Callista cleared her throat. “We need to get you across the border.”
“That’s exactly what the rest of the world is thinking. So why don’t we do something else? Like follow Janeal around for a while. It would be entertaining.”
“I’ve had enough entertainment for the week. Amos has his eye on her. She’s on her way to Albuquerque.”
“Of course she is. She’s leading me to Lukin.”
“We know where Lukin is. We don’t need her to lead us anywhere.”
Callista could be quite annoying when she wanted to be. There was a time when he found this an ironically attractive quality. Lately, though, it tended to sap the fun out of things. Now, as he had several times in the last forty-eight hours, he imagined Janeal Mikkado’s face in place of hers.
“You’ve missed the point, I’m afraid.”
“The Mikkado woman is trouble.”
“Why else would I be so infatuated with her?”
“Leave her in the ashes, Sanso.”
He looked at Callista and said, “Let’s all take a vacation. A vacation to Santa Fe.”
It gave Sanso no small satisfaction that Callista adjusted her grip on the steering wheel and refused to look at him for the entirety of their eastward drive on I-10. He loved nothing more than a jealous woman.
Sanso reclined his seat and closed his eyes, a spider content to wait for the fly to vibrate his web.