So Ani’s bombshell kinda killed the beach vibe. We packed up the boat and headed back to Meg’s Yacht, the Lady Fortuna. It was a bit of a quiet ride, everyone with a lot on their minds I guess. We tied up and Paul did the whatever boat people do to get the launch out of the water and stowed away.

“Paul and I are going to bed,” Meg announced. “Please feel free to stay up as late as you would like and help yourself to anything.”

She said it nicely enough, but maybe a little bit distractedly. I don’t want to say ‘cold’ but not her usual self.

“How about a drink?” I asked Ani.

“Sure,” she said. We went into the Saloon on the main deck. I ushered her through the door ahead of me, like a gentleman should.

“Your hand is on my culo,” she observed, doing nothing to move it.

“It’s a very nice culo,” I agreed. “What do you like?” I nodded to the bar.

“Tequila if they have it. A Reposado. Over ice.”

She went and sat on one of the sofas. I don’t know why they call the room a ‘Saloon’. Sure there’s a bar but I hear ‘saloon’ and I think John Wayne. This was more like a big living room. I debated a tequila for myself but went with Scotch instead. I brought them over and sat on the couch with Ani.

“Salude!” I said, toasting her.

“Salud,” she replied, clinking my glass.

“This is pretty good,” she said, surprised, taking a sip. Then she chuckled, a little bitterly. “Of course it is. It always tastes like you expect it to. I wrote it that way.”

I sipped my drink and said nothing.

“I fucked it up, didn’t I?” she asked after a little silence.

“Eh,” I said, shrugging. “You had what we used to call a ‘blue chip conversation’.”

“So I didn’t piss Meg off?” Ani asked, hopefully.

“Oh no, she’s rip-shit,” I laughed. “But she’ll get over it.”

Ani looked sad.

“Look, kid, what’d you think was gonna be her reaction? She just learned that you’re the second coming of Nicolo Machiavelli when she had you pigeonholed as, I don’t know, some poor, sweet little chica who had some bad breaks. You got her all motherly and shit and then she finds out that you’re fucking Blackbeard the Pirate with a great set of cans.” I laughed.

“And this doesn’t bother you?” she asked. “The fact that I had a plan? Una intencion occulta?”

“Bother me? Hell no. It made you interesting. I appreciate smart people.”

“Then why is she so mad? And Paul too?”

I sighed.

“Look,” I gathered my thoughts. “You meet someone, you make a judgement about them. You put them in a pigeonhole, I don’t know the Spanish word, but in Italiano, un profilo.”

She nodded.

“OK. So she likes you. You connected on your last trip. You come back, she’s looking forward to seeing her friend Ani, and then she finds out you want her to whore for you.”

“Joder,” she swore.

“Yup,” I nodded.

“But it’s not like that,” she went on. “Everyone wins, we make this place better for everyone, and I…OK, maybe I did pick her, at first, because of Ian, but I like her too. That was real. Aye, estoy una gilipolas! Mierda! What do I do?”

I shrugged. “You don’t do nothing. It is a good plan and, if it works, it will make things a lot better for everyone here, including Alexander. Probably for the world out there too,” I said, vaguely waiving. “Meg’s not dumb. She’ll see that. She adapts quickly, most times. You blindsided her with this plan so she needs a minute. Paulie? He’s fine. He’s being protective of his wife is all. Once she snaps out of it he’ll be fine too. He’s not going to love using his wife as bait, but she said yes, and he’s not going to try and talk her out of it. He’s not like that.”

“What about you?” Ani asked. “What do you think?”

“Me?” I chuckled. “I love it. If there was ever a bastard that needed killing, it’s Ian.”

“And you don’t resent me?”

I looked at her over my drink.

“You want honest?” I asked, challengingly.

“Yeah, I want honest.”

I shrugged. “You didn’t mean enough to me to cause me to resent you. You was a client with a pretty face and a good set of jabos. I’ve been here a long time. I’ve seen clients come and go. Meats are tourists, you get involved with them, you get ‘feelings’ and you get disappointed. You’re using me? OK, so what? I got a skill you need, you’re tryin’a recruit me for your crew because of it. Why should I be upset at that? Hell lady, NOW you’re interesting to me.”

“So why doesn’t Meg see it that way?”

I sighed again.

“I was a cop for more than twenty years. It makes ya cynical. Hard. Meg was a nurse in Meat World before she started writing. Nurses THINK they’re hard, but they ain’t. Oh sure, they’re tough. Tough as nails, but they’re not cop tough. They still look a people and can see good. Me? I assume you’ve got an angle until proven otherwise. And it’s HOW you want to use Meg. This shitty place is forcing her to be a whore, and she talks a good game about being a great one,” I waived my arms around, “And she IS a great one, but she don’t like being a whore.”

“I mean sure, she likes sex. She even takes pride in how good she is, but she used to be valued for her mind, her skills. Here she’s a set of holes. I’m sure she don’t like being reminded of that.”

I took her drink and got up to refill both of ours. She sat in silence. I refilled the glasses and sat back down, handing hers back.

“Gracias,” she murmured, still lost in thought.

I sipped my Scotch. Peaty, like I like it.

“You’re pretty smart,” she said.

I shrugged it off. “I was a cop. I know people. I’ve known Meg for as long as I’ve been here, so I’ve got some insight.”

“You love her,” she said.

I sighed a third time.

“I dunno. Maybe. Kinda hard to love someone who is in love with someone else, right?”

She looked at me over the rim of her glass.

“So,” she drawled smokely. “You think I have nice…como se dice? Jabos?” and ruined the attempt at smokey by giggling.

I slowly smiled.

“Yeah. World class sweater-puppies.”

She laughed.

“You know,” she said, “the quickest way to make a woman’s clothes fall off is to make her laugh.”

“Oh yeah? Then why isn’t it working with you?” I asked.

“Oh it is,” she replied, shaking out her ponytail and pulling her tee shirt over her head. “Oooops, my clothes fell off.”