Forever (63 page)

Her head cocked to one side, Zarah listened
closely to the recording of herself in another lifetime, another
era. The
duchesse brisee
upon which she was lounging was
angled across a corner, and her brow was furrowed, her attention
absorbed by her own glorious voice. She held a fragrant rubrum
lily, snipped off its pistils, and twirled it idly by its stem,
occasionally pressing the waxy petals to her nose. Occasionally,
she would nod to herself with satisfaction. No matter how
idiosyncratic or difficult the role, she had sung each with a
deceptive simplicity, her voice and technique so lyrical that it
united music and poetry and made it one.

Ernesto was seated, facing her from behind a
grand ormolu-mounted
bureau plat
angled across the far
corner. A bronze lamp with a green silk shade illuminated the
mesh-topped terrarium in front of him. It was filled with
just-hatching yellow butterflies, and as he watched, more and more
of them struggled out of their cocoons to try out their new-found
wings. Before long, the entire glass box was aflutter, raising in
his mind the image of a sunny kaleidoscope in which all the pieces
of glass were one shade of vivid yellow or another. Ernesto was
fascinated.

Colonel Valerio, standing in the shadows
behind the duchesse brisee, was waiting to report to Zarah. After a
few minutes, she picked up the remote control and pressed the OFF
button, shutting herself off in mid-aria.

The sudden silence was almost eerie.

She looked up at him. 'Colonel?' she asked
softly.

He stepped forward and cleared his throat.
'You wanted to know about Ms Williams, ma'am?'

'Yes.' Zarah nodded and twirled the lily
petals around her nose. 'What news do you have?'

'For the past three weeks,' he said
tonelessly, 'Ms Williams has spent each weekday in the Rio offices.
She seems well-liked by her co-workers, and is doing quite well in
her position. Judging by her notes and conversations, she has
already come up with an entirely new advertising campaign.'

'Really!' Zarah's eyes widened in surprise.
'How -'

'As I told you before, I have trusted
informants everywhere,' Colonel Valerio permitted himself a rare
smile. 'And that includes her office.'

'Ah!' Zarah smiled. 'How deliciously
convenient for us! And how inconvenient for poor Ms Williams.'
There was admiration in her voice. 'You do know how to play dirty,
Colonel.'

He shrugged. 'There's only one way to play,
and that's to win.'

'Indeed. Now then. What about her evenings
and nights? How does our Ms Williams spend those?'

Colonel Valerio said, 'She spent the last
three week-ends at your son's apartment.'

Zarah did not appear in the least bit
surprised; she had expected as much. In fact, she would have been
surprised if it had been otherwise.

Colonel Valerio glanced in Ernesto's
direction and lowered his voice. 'Ma'am! The Ghost has long since
arrived, and is awaiting word. Would you like Ms Williams to be
neutralised yet?'

'Mm.' Zarah compressed her lips thoughtfully
and tapped the petals of the flower lightly against her mouth. Then
she shook her head slowly. 'I think it is a little early for that
yet,' she said softly, and her brilliant eyes suddenly changed
colour. She gestured across the room to the yellow blizzard in the
terrarium. 'Bring me one of those butterflies.' Her voice had taken
on an imperious mistress-to-servant tone.

Colonel Valerio strode across the carpet,
bent down to speak to Ernesto, and came back with a specimen. He
was holding it delicately by one of its wings; its other wing
fluttered desperately in a futile effort to free itself.

Zarah raised a slim, graceful hand, pinched
the fluttering wing between her fingertips, and took the butterfly
from him. She held it up, inspecting it closely. 'Let us pretend
this is Ms Williams,' she said, and gave Colonel Valerio a
significant look.

'Ma'am.' He inclined his head slightly.

'Like Ms Williams, it is quite beautiful.' A
peculiar smile of satisfaction crossed her lips, and with slow
deliberation, she tore off the fluttering wing, held it high, and
let it drop as if it were the insignificant petal of a flower.
Then, holding the insect by its thorax, she plucked off its other
wing. She held this one high also, and let it drop, too.

The silence in the room seemed to
intensify.

She paused dramatically and tossed the
insect's tiny twitching body at his feet. He stared down at it and
frowned.

'Step on it!' she whispered.

He looked at her. Something bright and evil
glowed in her eyes. Then, when he raised his boot, she held up a
hand.

'Slow . . . ly, Colonel! Slow . . . ly ...
So that it feels the agony . . .'

She held her breath as Colonel Valerio's
boot came down on the insect as if in slow motion, and the
knowledge of her superior strength and power surged warmly through
her blood.

I will show Monica Williams! she thought.
Oh, yes! I will play with her as if she, too, were nothing more
consequential than a mere insect!

Slowly Zarah raised her head. 'Now do we
understand each other, Colonel?'

'Perfectly, ma'am.'

The expatriate blues.

They didn't hit often, but when they did,
they could throw her for a loop.

Tonight, Stephanie put away the work she'd
brought home from the office, considered watching an English
language video or reading a book, and then decided that either one
would leave her feeling only that much more unsettled.

Restless, she went out on the second floor
terrace, arms outstretched, and rippled the foliage with her
fingertips. It was a chilly night, but crystal clear and lovely -
the kind of starry, starry night you wanted to share with somebody
- somebody who was preferably male, preferably handsome, and
preferably very, very sexy.

'Balls!' She leaned over the terrace railing
and ruminated. She had nobody to talk to. Eduardo was in Buenos
Aires on a business trip - so scratch that. Astrid was inside, and
while their relationship was polite enough, they were far from
friends - scratch that, too. She supposed she could call Lia, but
something, and Stephanie didn't quite know what, held her back.
Maybe because she didn't want to unburden herself to someone she
worked with on a daily basis? Maybe. But that wasn't quite it,
either. No . . .

'Damn it to hell!' she growled.

And looking out at the dark ocean and the
relentless white breakers rolling in, she thought: I want to speak
to some damn Yankees! I want to talk girl-talk, or have a good
gossip, and be able to use idiomatic expressions without having
people blink and say, 'Excuse me? I do not understand'!

Even if it was Uncle Sammy's, she needed to
hear a friendly voice, needed to jaw with someone who shared her
past.

There was only one thing she could do. Go to
the Telerj.

She went inside, grabbed her coat, and
sought out Astrid. it's so nice out,' she told the housekeeper,
'that I think I'll go get some fresh air. You don't have to wait up
for me. I'll be fine.'

'Of course, Ms Williams.'

From a doorway across the street, Astrid
Bezerra watched Stephanie enter the Telerj. The housekeeper smiled
to herself. So that's why Ms Williams never uses the telephone at
home! she gloated with the smug satisfaction of one whose long shot
has paid off. For it had been intuition, and intuition alone, which
had made her follow the American woman when she'd announced that
she was going out to get some fresh air.

Fresh air indeed! Astrid sniffed
triumphantly, flagging down a cruising taxi so she'd be back in the
apartment in plenty of time. Yes, she thought, something very
strange is going on. Why else would Ms Williams go out of her way
to make telephone calls which couldn't be eavesdropped upon or
traced? Yes, it was very strange indeed.

Astrid couldn't wait to call Colonel Valerio
in the morning. She was aware that she had disobeyed his direct
order by tailing Ms Williams, but she wasn't worried. On the
contrary - she was glad she had taken it upon herself to follow the
American. And Colonel Valerio will be just as pleased, she thought.
I can't wait to tell him. Who knows? He might even reward me with a
bonus . . .

When Astrid spoke to Colonel Valerio the
next morning, his reaction left her dumbfounded.

'Ms Bezerra,' he said icily, 'in case you
have forgotten, this is a team effort, and I am the head of this
team. I call the shots. I strictly forbade you to tail Ms Williams,
for the express reason that it could blow your cover!'

Despite his being a hundred nautical miles
away, Astrid found herself flushing.

'But . . .'she stammered.'. . . I thought
-'

'You are not paid to think!' he snapped.
'Either you adhere to your orders, or you can go looking for
employment elsewhere! Now, do I make myself clear?'

She sat there, stunned. 'Very clear,' she
whispered.

When she hung up, Astrid was
shaking.'Bastardo!' she spat.

Colonel Valerio had barely hung up on Astrid
Bezerra when he dialled the number of a police captain in Rio.

'My friend,' he said, 'it has been a while
since I could throw some extra work your way.'

'I sure could use it, inflation being the
way it is.'

'Good. Then here is what I want you to do .
. .'

When he hung up two minutes later, Colonel
Valerio felt a warm glow of satisfaction. The next time Ms Williams
visited the Telerj, he would know the number she had called.

Ms Williams, Ms Williams. You have made your
second big mistake.

He felt so good that he gathered up a stack
of her photos, got his Pearson crossbow, and trekked out to the
rifle range.

The arrows streaked towards their targets.
Whup! Whup! Whup! Tearing Stephanie's photographs to shreds.

Stephanie and Eduardo had just reached her
office, coming from a morning staff meeting. The door was open, and
just inside it, Lia was seated at her desk, grabbing the ringing
telephone. Answering brightly:
'Publicidade
, Cardoso
. Boa
Tarde!
'

As Lia listened, the smile left her lips and
the brightness went out of her voice. In its place was the sharp,
strident sound of worry.'. . .
Sim?. . . que!.
. .' She
glanced out through the door at Stephanie and Eduardo, her eyes
expressing shock.

Stephanie went inside, mouthing, 'What's the
matter?'

Lia held up a finger, signalling for her to
wait, and listened some more. Then she hung up the phone. For a
moment she just sat there, speechless. 'That was the police,' she
said finally. 'Astrid Bezerra has met with an accident.'

Stephanie was stunned. 'Astrid? You mean, my
housekeeper?'

'Yes.' Lia nodded.

'Did they ... did they say how bad it
is?'

Lia shook her head. 'Only that an ambulance
has taken her to the hospital.'

'Oh, God.' Stephanie drew a deep breath,
unconsciously squaring her shoulders in the process. 'Well, I'd
better be off and see how bad it is. Cancel the rest of my
appointments today, will you, Lia?'

'You might run into language difficulties,'
Eduardo warned.

Stephanie was grateful for the suggestion.
'Right,' she said. 'On second thoughts, Lia, you'd better come with
me.'

Eduardo shook his head.
I'll
go with
you,' he decided, putting a hand on Stephanie's arm and adroitly
steering her back out into the hall. 'You will find I can be quite
useful dealing with bureaucracy and cutting through red tape.'

Lia watched Stephanie and Eduardo leave,
then rose and walked around her desk and shut the door. She picked
up the phone and punched the numbers swiftly. As she waited for the
call to be picked up, she kept her eyes riveted to the door, just
in case Stephanie had forgotten something and unexpectedly returned
for whatever it was.

'Yes.' The harsh voice that answered was
Colonel Valerio.

Lia spoke softly. 'This is Lia Cardoso in
the Rio office, Colonel.'

'Why yes,
Senhorita
. What can I do
for you?'

'I thought you might be interested to know
that at the staff briefing this morning, Ms Williams's level-two
security clearance was approved.'

She could hear his harsh breathing in the
phone. 'I'm glad you brought it to my attention,
Senhorita
.
Is there anything else?'

'Yes. The police just called. It seems
Astrid Bezerra was in an accident.'

'Damn!' She could hear his sharp intake of
breath. 'Did they happen to mention how bad it was?'

'No, sir. Only that it was serious. Ms
Williams and Senhor de Veiga are on their way to the hospital right
now.'

There was a pause, then: 'Okay, you did
good. Let me know as soon as you learn anything else - anything at
all. We may have to hurry if we're to stick one of our other people
in Astrid's position. Damn!' he repeated. 'This is damned
inconvenient!'

'I will call again the moment I learn
anything else,' Lia promised.

'You do that,
Senhorita
.'

And with that, he broke the connection from
his end.

The dial tone sang loud and clear in Lia's
ear.

Eyes still on the door, she quickly hung up.
Then she stepped back, folded her arms in front of her, and
regarded the telephone bleakly. It was just an ordinary multilined
office model, made from metal, wire, plastic, and microchips. She
knew that. Yet each time she used it to speak to Colonel Valerio,
she broke out in a chill.

He frightens me, she realised, not for the
first time. I don't trust him.

But he paid well. Very well.