“Perhaps not like a bug. The comparison offends me when I look at you. As I said, you’re very beautiful.” His smile vanished, and she was instantly aware how much steel was beneath that smooth facade. “But you would definitely know that I was displeased.”
“You wouldn’t be displeased, not if you help me get what I want.”
He was silent again. “I’ll think about it.” He glanced at Vogel’s frowning face. “Yes, I know you believe I should be more careful. You always do. And I agree that her sudden appearance here is coincidental at best and suspicious at worst. But if it’s a scam, she’s certainly been well prepared for it.” He was suddenly smiling recklessly. “Let’s see how well prepared…” He was striding to his desk and opening a drawer. The next moment he had spread out a large map on the desk. He motioned for her to come and stand beside him. “Show me what you know about the Szarnar Jungle and Jorge Masenak.”
She frowned. “What are you asking?”
“I want to know both your point of view and the depth of your knowledge of Masenak and the area. You’ve made a lot of claims and promises. I can’t tell what you’re basing it on.”
“Whatever.” She shrugged. “The man first, I guess. Though he’s more of a monster. Masenak was born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal. He was the son of a local crime boss who headed the gambling syndicates in Spain as well as Portugal. His mother was a prostitute who disappeared from the picture after a few years, and Jorge was taken care of by servants and his father. He traveled from racetrack to racetrack with his father, who trained him to become the arrogant son of a bitch he is today. He liked the gambling, particularly the winning, and he was on his way to following in his father’s footsteps. But he and his father didn’t get along all that well and he wanted more power than he could get as the head of a syndicate. He ran away when he was twelve after stealing enough money to start the life he wanted. He surfaced a few years later in Morocco as a mercenary when he was putting together his first guerrilla army to start trying to form his own kingdom. You know what he’s been doing for the last twenty-five years. Blood and gore and murder.” She met his eyes. “That’s all I know. Very general knowledge because I wasn’t interested in him until he committed that atrocity at St. Eldon’s. I’ve been too busy trying to find him to dig any deeper. I’d rather catch him and stop him in his tracks than find out how he got that way. That’s not my priority.” She tilted her head. “But I bet you know more than I just told you?”
“Perhaps. Though you did well for skimming the surface. You hit the highlights. Go on.”
Alisa looked down at the map. She pointed at the large green expanse of jungle. “Masenak uses the Szarnar as an escape route after his army raids surrounding villages and cities. The entire area is known as the Szarnar Jungle, but a good portion of it is rain forest. He’s always found it particularly useful because the foliage is so thick and impenetrable that even the most sophisticated drones aren’t able to detect anything below the tree canopies. There are no real villages present there, because Masenak’s soldiers have either killed or run out the natives.” She pointed to several spots on the map. “But there are still isolated individual bands hiding out in these areas who refused to leave their homes.”
“And became part of the network of ‘sources’ who supply you with information?” Korgan asked softly.
“Perhaps,” she said warily.
“And, if you did locate Masenak, would it be possible to lure him into a trap using those very stubborn villagers?”
“No, he’s too smart and well protected. It would just mean those innocent villagers would be butchered, and any sources I might have would vanish.”
“Pity.” He nodded again at the map. “Go on.”
She pointed to an extreme area to the south. “That’s the northern border of the nation of Maldara. Masenak used to raid over there, too, but after their bloody civil war he found it healthier to confine his raids to north of the jungle. Morocco, Marrakech, Tangier…” She pointed to a mountain range. “The Atlas Mountains. He raids villages more in the foothills of that area than any of the others.”
“Why?” Korgan asked.
“I think you must know. It’s convenient. Everyone says he has a fancy castle up there in the mountains where he hides out when it gets too hot for him down here.”
“You don’t know?”
“No, I don’t know for sure.” She gazed challengingly at him. “Do you?”
“I’d heard a few rumors that he has a magnificent place in the mountains where he stables his prize horses. Everyone knows he’s fanatic about racing.” He smiled faintly. “But you’re the one who’s supposed to be answering questions. You don’t have any valuable contacts or informed sources in that area?”
“No, but I could find them quickly if I had to.” She grimaced. “After all, it’s not rocket science.” She gestured to the map. “Am I done? Did you get what you wanted from me?”
“For the time being. At least you didn’t promise something you didn’t think you could deliver about a trap for Masenak. It’s something to consider.” He looked over his shoulder as Vogel grunted in the background. “Consider,” he repeated to him. “She can’t hurt me at the moment. I can hurt her just by making a telephone call. I’m curious if this ingenious and totally bizarre proposition she’s offered me could have any substance. If it does, I have a hunch that she might prove just the element we need. Find her a room and I’ll talk to her in the morning.”
Vogel muttered a curse. “Those damn hunches. They’re always getting in your way.”
“Only sometimes. But at times they tend to clear the way of obstacles.”
Alisa took a deep breath and then let it out. It had been a tremendous gamble, and she still wasn’t sure she’d won. “Am I a prisoner?”
“I don’t think so,” Korgan said. “Prison is such an unpleasant word. But that bedroom will be guarded until we do a little more research about you. Tomorrow we’ll decide how to handle each other to best advantage.” He smiled. “Though you’ve already decided how to handle me. Just barge right in and hope for the best?”
“I did my research, too,” she said coolly. “But in the end, I knew you’d respond best to honesty and your own judgment about my character. You believe in yourself or you wouldn’t have become as successful as you are.”
His lips were suddenly twitching. “So my belief in you shows how intelligent I am?”
She smiled. “Exactly. Together with the fact that you had the foresight to ignore that I’d tried to steal that information from you. You usually know how to cut your losses and turn them into victories.” She turned to follow Vogel from the room. Then she whirled back to Korgan. “You were expecting me tonight. I was able to get in the study with no problem the last time. How did you know? Was it the dogs? They only barked that one time and it didn’t alert the sentries. I thought it would be safe. Did I make a mistake?”
He tilted his head. “Would it bother you?”