Risky Business

shoulder. Liz caught the glint of a diamond on his finger. He was young, she thought, determined to store everything she could, barely into his thirties, and dressed with slick, trendy casualness.
    “Quick trip,” Jonas said as, like Liz, he took in every detail. “Little business…” He cast a meaningful glance toward Liz. “Little pleasure.”
    The man turned and stared appreciatively at Liz. “Is there any other way?”
    Thinking fast, Liz offered her hand. “Hello. Since Jerry’s too rude to introduce us, we’ll have to do it ourselves. I’m Liz Palmer.”
    “David Merriworth.” He took her hand between both of his. They were smooth and uncallused. “Jerry might have trouble with manners, but he’s got great taste.”
    She smiled, hoping she did it properly. “Thank you.”
    “Pull up a chair, Merriworth.” Jonas took out a cigarette. “As long as you keep your hands off my lady.” He said it in the good-natured, only-kidding tone Jerry had inevitably used, but his eyes were Jonas’s, warning her to tread carefully.
    “Wouldn’t mind a quick cup of coffee.” David pulled over a chair after he checked his watch. “Got a breakfast meeting in a few minutes. So how are things on Cozumel?” He inclined his head ever so slightly. “Getting in plenty of diving?”
    Jonas allowed his lips to curve and kept his eyes steady. “Enough.”
    “Glad to hear it. I was going to check in with you myself, but I’ve been in the States for a couple weeks. Just got back in last night.” He used two sugars after the waiter set a fresh cup of coffee beside him. “Business is good, buddy. Real good.”
    “What business are you in, Mr. Merriworth?”
    He gave Liz a big grin before he winked at Jonas. “Sales, sweetheart. Imports, you might say.”
    “Really.” Because her throat was dry she drank more coffee. “It must be fascinating.”
    “It has its moments.” He turned in his chair so that he could study her face. “So where did Jerry find you?”
    “On Cozumel.” She sent Jonas a steady look. “We’re partners.”
    David lowered his cup. “That so?”
    They were in too deep, Jonas thought, for him to contradict her. “That’s so,” he agreed.
    David picked up his cup again with a shrug. “If it’s okay with the boss, it doesn’t bother me.”
    “I do things my way,” Jonas drawled. “Or I don’t do them.”
    Amused, and perhaps admiring, David broke into a smile. “That never changes. Look, I’ve been out of touch for a few weeks. The drops still going smooth?”
    With those words, Jonas’s last hopes died. What he’d found in the safe-deposit box had been real, and it had been Jerry’s. He buttered a roll as though he had all the time in the world. Beneath the table, Liz touched his leg once, hoping he’d take it as comfort. He never looked at her. “Why shouldn’t they?”
    “It’s the classiest operation I’ve ever come across,” David commented, taking a cautious glance around to other tables. “Wouldn’t like to see anything screw it up.”
    “You worry too much.”
    “You’re the one who should worry,” David pointed out. “I don’t have to deal with Manchez. You weren’t around last year when he took care of those two Colombians. I was. You deal with supplies, I stick with sales. I sleep better.”
    “I just dive,” Jonas said, and tapped out his cigarette. “And I sleep fine.”
    “He’s something, isn’t he?” David sent Liz another grin. “I knew Jerry here was just the man the boss was looking for. You keep diving, kid.” He tipped his cup at Jonas. “It makes me look good.”
    “Sounds like you two have known each other for a while,”Liz said with a smile. Under the table, she twisted the napkin in her lap.
    “Go way back, don’t we, Jer?”
    “Yeah. We go back.”
    “First time we hooked up was six, no, seven years ago. We were working a pigeon drop in L.A. We’d have had that twenty thousand out of that old lady if her daughter hadn’t caught on.” He took out a slim cigarette case. “Your brother got you out of that one, didn’t he? The East Coast lawyer.”
    “Yeah.” Jonas remembered posting the bond and pulling the strings.
    “Now I’ve been working out of here for almost five. A real businessman.” He slapped Jonas’s arm. “Hell of a lot better than the pigeon drop, huh, Jerry?”
    “Pays better.”
    David let out a roar of laughter. “Why don’t I show you two around Acapulco tonight?”
    “Gotta get