Candy moved toward Evan, lifting her arms to retie the halter at the base of her neck.

“I didn’t know that happened to you,” Evan said. “Not like that.”

She must have read something in his face, because he saw a flicker in her eyes, a softness shimmering through the gem-hard surface. But only for an instant.

“I’m not gonna waste time telling you what I’m gonna do to you,” she said. “When the time comes, I’m just gonna show you.”

René said, “You’re that confident you’ll win the auction?”

“It’s not a matter of confidence,” Candy said. “It’s a matter of fact. Ain’t that right, M?”

The sullen little man gave no indication that he’d heard her, but Xalbador read the shift in the air and hoisted his Kalashnikov to a low ready position. Dex moved around the perimeter of the ballroom, sidling into Orphan M’s blind spot.

“You see,” Candy said, “we’re the only ones here with unlimited money.”

René laughed. He didn’t realize that she was being literal, that as the head of the Orphan Program, Van Sciver could access money directly off the U.S. Treasury’s printing presses.

“In that case,” René said, “I wish you the best of luck.”

“Oh, we’re not the buyer,” Candy said. “We’re the delivery service. One of your conditions before we boarded your helicopter was that we leave all electronics behind. But one of our conditions is that you provide me a means to contact my buyer.”

“You’re not in a position to set conditions.”

“I am not authorized to bid without providing confirmation for my buyer,” Candy said. “Believe me. You don’t want to leave this much money on the table.”

René pursed his lips. He seemed to be wrestling with himself. “Dex,” he said at last, “please bring Ms. V the encrypted satphone.”

“Because your encryption procedures worked out so well last time,” Evan said.

“They did,” René said. “For me.”

Dex crossed the ballroom and placed a bulky phone in Candy’s hand. She winked at him, then dialed. As it rang, she tapped her boot, a smart-ass show of impatience.

Abruptly, her expression hardened. “Confirmed,” she said.

She listened for a time. Then she moved toward the Lexan door, wiggling the phone at Evan. “Someone wants to say hi.”

One finger adorned with a metallic nail pressed the speaker button, and then a bizarre combination of voices poured forth. “Hello, Evan. it SEEMS you have FINALLY dug YOURself a HOLE TOO deep to CLIMB out OF.”

Evan raised his eyebrows, an unspoken question for Candy. She read his face, gave a nod.