A Taste for Death

From this printing: A whirlwind of action sweeps Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin from the underworld of Panama to the blast furnace of the Sahara as they tangle with enemies old and new ...
Gabriel - who needs Dinah, beautiful but blind, to trace the treasure of Domitian Mus, Tribune of Rome.
Wenczel - a master sowrdsman in chain mail with whom Modesty must fence for her life.
Delicata - the grotesque giant with a taste for death - Garvin´s in particular ...

Willie said nothing. A spark of hope had come to life within him. Delicata had found him alone, had assumed he was alone. lt was a natural assumption. Absurd for Modesty Blaise to face the desert joumey with a wounded arm unless there was no other choice.
Delicata did not know that there had been no other choice.
Soon, Willie knew, Delicata would take up where he had left off ten years ago. They would fight. The big man, with his enormous strength and invulnerabiity, would kill him. But then Delicata would drive off. He had a tight schedule, and he would not waste time exploring an abandoned fort; he would not find Modesty.
Down in the room where she lay sleeping, a jerrican of water stood within arms reach, and the remains of the food. For Modesty Blaise, that would be enough. She would recover her strength. Somehow she would survive.
Delicata stood up, the great arms hanging, and began to move slowly forward. Words are wasted on you, I fear. But twas ever thus, and I can delay no longer. My feet itch for the crunch of your ribs once again … He stopped short, staring past Wiilie, his eyes widening. Then, in a soft joyous voice, Why, Miss Blaise! It seems our friend Garvin has been deceiving me by suggestio falsi.
Willies head snapped round, and a wave of sick rage engulfed him. She was on her hands and knees in the doorway, twenty yards away. Her face was pale, her eyes dark and huge. She was shirtless, and the crude dressing stood out on her arm. God alone knew what instinct had roused her. But she had heard, through that ground-level slit of window, and she had crawled slowly up the steps and along the passage.
Neither man moved. She eased herself shakily into a sitting position against the side of the door, her eyes on WilIie, and let her hands fall limply on her lap. With a final effort she lifted her voice and said feebly, Well … youll have to win now, Willie love.
Delicata laughed. Something deep down in Willie Garvin bared its teeth, and his face became strangely quiet. In his mind there was a sudden cool clarity.
So.