A Game for the Living (27 page)

Ramón looked at him and said: “If Carlos were to walk in here now, I think I would wring his neck and nobody would be able to stop me, not even bullets.”

But Theodore did not think he would. Ramón's vindictiveness was all but spent, first against himself and then against Salvador Infante. At that moment, Theodore supposed that he himself carried a greater charge of hatred and vengeance against Carlos than Ramón, but the conviction that it, like most passions, would eventually abate kept him sitting in his chair, while Sauzas went to get Carlos. “Don't imagine it. Don't imagine what you haven't done. You are always doing that, Ramón.” He glanced at Isabel.

A strange, gentle smile had come to Isabel's colorless lips, as if somehow her senses had vanished, at least for these few moments, and her tormented mind was enjoying a brief peace.

“It's like a game in which nobody wins, isn't it, Teo?” Ramón said. “Neither you nor I nor Carlos nor Salvador Infante—only Sauzas. Only the
policía
.”

Theodore did not answer.

A silence fell among them. None of them stirred, and Isabel sat like a smiling statue that did not even breathe.