“You will be very sadly mistaken if you think you can have a lasting effect on Chino’s long-range plan.”

She toasted him again. “Oh, I’m sure I can never replace you, Gregory.”

He glared. Chino appeared in the doorway. The movement in Amy’s eyes alerted Gregory to his presence. Gregory straightened up, his eyes on her, fierce. Without turning, he said to Chino, “The cocoon has opened.”

“So I see!” He swept into the room and took her hand. “Let me look at you!” He held her arm up so she could pirouette for him. She didn’t do it. Amy had always hated this male let’s-see-what-you’ve-got crap, hated it even more now because it was coming from him – and more still because she was concealing the ugliest emotions she had ever had with her standard dumb response to her own embarrassment: a tight-lipped grimace of a half-smile as he feasted his eyes. “Beautiful! You look elegant, like a supermodel. Glamorous.”

“You’re tripping, Sparkie. I’m not anywhere near tall enough. And my tits are too small and my kiester’s too big.” She turned to let him see it, giving her hips a little flip, and hurried out of his reach back to the bar stool. Sparkie? Anything, apparently, to keep from calling him babe again.

Chino was right behind her, his hands on her arms, his nose against her shoulder, Pavlov’s dog. Gregory’s cellular telephone rang. Taking it from his pocket, Gregory moved away before starting to speak. He put his finger in his other ear so he could hear the caller. Chino kissed Amy’s neck and tried to slip his hand forward under her arm. An adolescent’s move. She pinned his hand against her ribs and shook her head no. He seemed amused. He asked, “What is that perfume?”

“Just one of the bezillions you had in there. Stinks okay, don’t ya think?”

“Chino” Gregory called, holding out the telephone. “It’s Rosario. The car has been stolen. He says he was told that kids were seen in the parking lot.” He gave a shrug of helplessness.

Chino extracted his hand. “Hang up on him and call the car and give me the telephone.”

Her confusion began to lift. She has heard Rosario mentioned before, by Chino here in the bar. He’d been talking to Gregory on the telephone, just before he’d told her they had more time. This was about Sam. Is this the way they had him on ice? In the trunk of a car that some kids had stolen?