"I've been in that bar plenty of times, as you know very well. And I can take care of myself," she added. "Heaven knows, I've had plenty of practice." That was certainly true, she thought ironically. Jeffrey was a dreamer, always chasing fantasies, and she trailed along behind trying to hold his feet on the ground and keep him from being too badly hurt. "And this is no exception. I'll be fine, Julio."

"I think I should…"

"No, Julio," she said with gentle firmness. "We'll do it the way I said. As soon as the lights go out, you dash around to the front door and come inside. I'll need help getting Jeffrey out of there. Until then, I want you to be as invisible as possible." She grinned impishly as her gaze traveled over his massive shoulders and intimidating bulk. "That should be enough of a challenge for you."

"Kate, it's too-"

"It's the only plan we've got," she interrupted. She looked at her watch again. "Ten minutes, remember." She started across the street without giving him a backward glance. Julio would keep her out here all night arguing and it would only end the same way. As she'd told him before, they were caught between Scylla and Charybdis.

The interior of the crowded bar was dim; the odors of whiskey and sweat mingled with the acrid-sweet aroma of marijuana. She paused a moment beside the long polished oak bar that was Hector Alvarez's pride and joy, her eyes searching anxiously around the room for the familiar gray-streaked head.

A woman at the corner table was lushly attractive and vaguely familiar, Kate noticed. Perhaps she'd even met her. Jeffrey liked company while he drank and the more attractive the company the better-But the man the woman was with tonight certainly wasn't Jeffrey, though he looked as if he might be an American. He was dressed in black jeans and a short-sleeved knit shirt that was either gray or black. It was hard to tell in the dim light. But his hair was definitely a shining bronze. She was about to turn her attention to the other end of the room when the man glanced up swiftly as if suddenly aware that she was staring at him.