And now she realized that if she had worked through it all at once, she might have laughed out loud — and missed what had happened to Chino. His hand had been on her; she should have felt his shock or anger. He had had no emotional reaction, just a clearly worded response. He thrived on conflict. It was just problem solving to him. Crossword puzzles. Anagrams. And she knew that if he has thought she was laughing at him, he would have reacted very badly. That was the experience she had already had with him. She took chances, he’d said, and she didn’t even know how she did it. What had made him say that, use those words? Amy remembered: pressing him for the truth of what Gregory had said to her earlier. She’d said he’d sounded like a man whose wife didn’t understand him. He had an inner image of her. He hadn’t lied when he’d said he’d watched her on television. The sap. He really was nursing a case of the hots for her. But that meant he was counting on her, too. If she let him down…

It was a thought she didn’t have to finish.

Gregory handed Chino the telephone.

Chino spoke calmly and evenly, letting her understand his Spanish. He identified himself, then asked if his single name alone meant anything to his listener. He said to Gregory, “They are talking it over.” He laughed and turned his head away to listen. “Si, Chino!” Gregory nodded and slapped the bar in delight. In Spanish, Chino told them to stop the car and tell him where it was.

“Now walk away from it as quickly as possible. Under no circumstances are you to open the trunk, look inside it, or disturb its contents.” He spoke slowly, in a flat voice. “If you know me as you say, you know that if I find that you have not followed any of my instructions, I will kidnap you and your families, including the little children if there are any, and I will inflict the worst possible deaths on everyone, starting with the littlest children first. You will die feeling your parent’s deepest hatred. Trust me. It is the way human nature works.