“Only that she was a knockout—a Mexican knockout, if that helps. She had lots of hair and lots of hip. Luis’s words,” Liz added when Jonas gave her a mild look. “He also said there were a couple of men Jerry talked to a few times, but he always went over to them, so Luis didn’t know what they spoke about. One was American, one was Mexican. Since Luis was more interested in the ladies, he didn’t pay any attention. But he did say Jerry would cruise the bars until he met up with them, then he’d usually call it a night.”

“Did he meet them here?”

“Luis said it never seemed to be in the same place twice.”

“Okay, finish up. We’ll cruise around ourselves.”

By the fourth stop, Liz was fed up. She noticed that Jonas no more than toyed with a drink at each bar, but she was tired of the smell of liquor. Some places were quiet, and on the edge of seamy. Others were raucous and lit with flashing lights. Faces began to blur together. There were young people, not so young people. There were Americans out for exotic nightlife, natives celebrating a night on the town. Some courted on dance floors or over tabletops. She saw those who seemed to have nothing but time and money, and others who sat alone nursing a bottle and a black mood.

“This is the last one,” Liz told him as Jonas found a table at a club with a crowded dance floor and recorded music.

Jonas glanced at his watch. It was barely eleven. Action rarely heated up before midnight. “All right,” he said easily, and decided to distract her. “Let’s dance.”

Before she could refuse, he was pulling her into the crowd. “There’s no room,” she began, but his arms came around her.

“We’ll make some.” He had her close, his hand trailing up her back. “See?”

“I haven’t danced in years,” she muttered, and he laughed.

“There’s no room anyway.” Locked together, jostled by the crowd, they did no more than sway.

“What’s the purpose in all this?” she demanded.

“I don’t know until I find it. Meantime, don’t you ever relax?” He rubbed his palm up her back again, finding the muscles taut.

“No.”

“Let’s try it this way.” His gaze skimmed the crowd as he spoke. “What do you do when you’re not working?”

“I think about working.”

“Liz.”

“All right, I read—books on marine life mostly.”

“Busman’s holiday?”

“It’s what interests me.”

Her body shifted intimately against his. Jonas forgot to keep his attention on the crowd and looked down at her. “All that interests you?”