“He’s standing in the doorway.”
“Ah, yes,” Rudzak murmured. “His attitude is very protective, isn’t it?”
“You told me we weren’t going to touch him or the woman yet. But there’s no reason I shouldn’t kill the dog, is there?”
“Do you think you can do it? We weren’t able to get very close. It’s way out of range for most shooters.”
“I can do it.”
The golden retriever was lifting his head in the air and joyously barking.
“I’ve always hated barking dogs.” Duggan sighted down the barrel again. “What do you bet I can put him down with one bullet?”
“No bet.” Rudzak smiled. “I know you’re an excellent marksman.”
Yes, Rudzak always appreciated him, Duggan thought. Ever since he’d joined Rudzak a year earlier, he’d been given due respect. “Then watch me blow that pooch away.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Rudzak crossed his arms across his chest. “Actually, this may be a stroke of genius on your part. I imagine Logan is feeling very safe in that little cabin with Galen’s men protecting them on that far ridge. What better way to shake him up than this little statement? By all means, shoot the dog.”
Duggan could almost see the after scene play out before him. The dog falling, covered with blood. Sarah Patrick staring at her dog, screaming, and then she and Logan running toward him.
“Wait a minute.”
He followed Rudzak’s gaze to the woman. She had whirled around and was looking up at the mountains.
“Interesting,” Rudzak said. “Do you suppose she senses something? She’s calling the dog.”
“Goddammit.” The dog and the woman were moving quickly toward the cabin, Duggan realized with frustration. He had to act fast. “Don’t worry. I can still kill that dog.”
“No.”
He glanced up at Rudzak with a frown.
“I’ve found out what I wanted to know, and Galen’s men aren’t fools. They’d be able to locate the direction of the shot and be down on us in a heartbeat. It would be worth the risk if it was important, but it’s not.” He shrugged. “Besides, killing a dog would hardly be a worthy follow-up to Kai Chi.”
“But it wouldn’t hurt anything to—”
“No, Duggan,” Rudzak said gently as he turned away. “Trust me. We’ll just have to think of something more fitting.”
“What’s wrong?” Logan asked as Sarah shooed Monty in the front door. “What did you see?”
“Nothing.”
His gaze narrowed on her face.
“Nothing,” she repeated. “I just felt . . . something wasn’t right. I know it sounds crazy. But I’ve learned to go with my instincts.”
“It doesn’t sound crazy at all. I imagine you’ve developed very good instincts over the years.” He took out his phone. “I’ll call security and ask Franklin to check out the area for any sign of Rudzak.”
“If there’s any threat, it’s more likely that ranchers have found out I’m taking care of Maggie. They might have decided to teach me a lesson.” She made a dismissive gesture. “As I said, it’s probably nothing but maybe I’ll take Monty out after dark from now on.”
“Good idea.” He spoke into the phone. “Franklin, what’s happening up there?”
“Come on, Monty.” Sarah headed for the kitchen. “I’ll get you some fresh water.”
Logan hung up as she finished filling Monty’s dish. “No one’s been sighted but they’re checking.”
“I told you, I didn’t see anything.” She moved toward the back porch and Maggie. “But if it was one of those ranchers, it won’t hurt for them to know they’re not alone out there.”
“Are you letting me win?” Sarah leaned back in her chair and gazed at Logan suspiciously. “I’m good, but you can’t be this bad.”
“Believe me, I am. Poker’s not my game. I’ve never been into instant gratification. I’m better at chess.”
She studied him and then nodded slowly. “I can see it. Strategy and war games. I’ve never gotten into chess. I vote for instant gratification every time.”
“Who taught you to play poker? Someone on the search team?”
“No, my grandfather. When I was a kid, we’d sit here before the fire and play for hours.”
“What about your mother?”
“She lived in Chicago. She didn’t like it here.”
“But you did.”
“I loved it.” She grimaced. “And I loved getting out of the city. It was dirty and crowded and—” She stood up. “I’m thirsty. Want some lemonade?”
“Please.”
“It’s not as cool as it usually is this evening.” She went to the refrigerator. “Maybe we should put out the fire.”
He crossed to the fireplace. “Your mother liked the city?”
“She liked lights and movies and bars and people. Lots of people. She got bored a lot.” She gave him the frosty glass. “She was married four times.”
“Tough for you.”
“I survived.” She sat down and stretched out her legs. “In fact, I was lucky. I got to go to my grandfather for a while every time she got married. I liked that. The third time she let me stay for two years.”
“Why didn’t she just turn over custody?”
“She’d get lonely. She had to have someone around.”
“Nice.”
She looked at him over the rim of the glass. “Look, I’m not complaining. That’s just the way things were. I wasn’t abused. Some people are just needy.”
“But not you.”
“Who’d take care of the needy people if we were all the same? It all balances out.”
“Did your grandfather need you?”
She didn’t answer right away. “I think he did. It was hard to tell. I know he loved me. He told me so at the end.”
“Not before?”
“He didn’t talk much. He worked his fingers to the bone to get the money to buy these few acres. When he moved into this cabin, he swore he would never leave until the day he died.”
“How did he make a living?”
“Training horses and dogs. He was wonderful with animals.”
He sipped his lemonade. “So are you.”
“Animals are easy. They don’t demand anything. All you have to do is love them.”
“Some people are like that too.”
“Are they? I haven’t found that to be true.”
“Why? Because you had a selfish mother who obviously didn’t know how to take care of her own kid? You’ve been around enough to know there are plenty of great people in the world.”
“I don’t resent— It’s none of your business, Logan.”
“I know. It was just an observation.”
“Screw your observations. You don’t see me asking you the story of your life and then judging you.”
“Go ahead. Turnabout is fair play.”
“I don’t want to know anything about—” She stared at him challengingly. “What were you doing with a research facility in Santo Camaro?”
“That’s not the story of my life.”
“So you won’t tell me.”
“I didn’t say that.” He looked down at his drink. “It’s a medical research facility. We’re making some interesting breakthroughs.”
“Medical?”
“It’s a field of research I’ve been funding for some time.”
“Breakthroughs in what?”
“Artificial blood.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“A substitute for blood. You haven’t heard about it? There’s been some news coverage about the research.”
“I’ve heard a little.” Her eyes narrowed. “It’s because of Chen Li, isn’t it? Because of her leukemia.”
“It started off with Chen Li. It nearly killed me when I couldn’t help her. But I’m not so selfish that I can’t see the application to other diseases.”
“But why bury the facility in the jungle? What’
s the big secret?”
“Industrial espionage. We’re so damn close. The company that gets there first will control both development and the market.”
“Money?”
“Control,” he repeated. “I haven’t devoted all these years to finding answers to give up control now.”
“And that’s what Bassett’s working on?”
“Yes, he’s trying to reconstruct the last month of research by the Santo Camaro team. They sent reports every month, but we didn’t get the last report, and a hell of a lot was done right before the attack at Santo Camaro.”
“Does Rudzak have anything to do with industrial espionage?”
“Rudzak doesn’t give a damn about anything but getting me where it hurts the most.”
“How was he able to find out what you were doing and about the facility? Did he know about your wife and how she died?”
“Oh, yes, he knew about Chen Li.” He set his glass down on the table beside him. “See how I trust you? I’ve told you all my secrets.”
Not all his secrets. “You must have loved Chen Li very much.”
“Yes, she knocked me for a loop the first time I saw her. She was half Old World and half new technology. She was a computer whiz, but there was something serene and gracious about her. We were married a month after I met her.” He paused. “She died three years later.”
“And you’re still hurting.” She added brusquely, “That’s why it’s safer to love dogs.”
“That was a long time ago and I was a different man. And I don’t think you’re totally devoted to the canine species or you wouldn’t do the work you do.”
“Think what you like. I knew from the first search I ever went on that this was what I was meant to do. A little girl got separated from her folks in the mountains near Tucson.” She looked down into her glass. “She was only five and it was freezing cold. I wasn’t sure we’d find her alive, but we didn’t give up. Three days later Monty zeroed in on her, and she was alive. When I picked her up and wrapped her in a blanket, she whispered that she knew someone would come. She had been waiting. And I knew that she’d been waiting for me. I was the one who had saved her. There’s nothing like that feeling on the face of the earth.”
“Sometimes you can’t save them.”
“No, but then I can bring them home.”
“You sound like Eve.”
She shook her head. “I keep telling you, I’m nothing like Eve. Stop trying to dig into my psyche. Look, I’m just what’s on the surface. I don’t have a tragic past like Eve and I don’t harbor resentments. I accept people as they are and go along with it. Understand?”
“I understand. But I don’t believe you. If I’ve learned anything about you in the past weeks, it’s that you’re more complicated than you’d ever admit.”
She snorted with disgust. “Bull.”
“You’re intelligent, hardworking, and crack a mean whip. And beneath all those prickly thorns, you’re probably the most loving and giving woman I’ve ever met.”
She glanced away from him. “Don’t be sappy.”
“You don’t like that. Why not?”
“Because I just do what needs doing. Everybody has a purpose, a job to do. This is my job.”
“You don’t admit that your job is more selfless than most?”
“No more than a firefighter’s or a policeman’s or any number of other—”
“And you’re embarrassed that I’d suggest you care for people as much as you do your four-legged friends?”
“I’m not embarrassed.” She stood up. “I’ve got to check on Maggie.”
“Are you running away?”
“No.” She gave him a steady glance over her shoulder. “You couldn’t make me run away, Logan. I’ll check on Maggie and then I’ll come back and give you another trouncing in poker.”
“And I’ll accept it. Do you know why?”
“You’re a masochist?”
“No.” He picked up his glass and lifted it in a toast. “I’m a friend.”
She stared at him.
“Resign yourself. It was bound to happen after the time we’ve spent together and now, we’ve exchanged confidences. That seals it. I’m very impressionable. Don’t worry. I’m not going to demand anything of you. Just pretend I’m a dog or a wolf.”
She didn’t know what to say.
“It’s okay, Sarah,” he said gently. “Really.”
It wasn’t okay. She felt awkward and uneasy and oddly . . . warm. “Are you trying to kid me?”
He started to stack the cards. “No way.”
Two days later Logan got a call from one of the security men camped out in the foothills.
“Okay. No, just keep watch. I think I know who it is.” He turned to Sarah. “We have a visitor. He should be here within a few minutes.”
She stiffened. “Rudzak?”
He headed for the door. “I think it may be your friend Madden.”
“What?” She followed him. “Why the devil should he come here?”
“If Margaret did her job, he should be hopping mad.” He shaded his eyes to watch the approaching Buick. “Though I expected him to call you, not come here.”
“Why should he be mad?”
He grinned. “It was taking too long to find the dirt on the prick so I hit him where it hurts. The wallet. He has an election coming up, and I called two of his biggest campaign contributors a few nights ago and persuaded them to drop their support. Then I had Margaret call Madden and tell him that would only be the beginning if he didn’t persuade ATF to sell you Monty.”
Her mouth fell open. “I’ll be damned.” Her gaze went to the Buick. “No wonder he’s here.”
“Like I said, I thought he’d call.”
“No, that’s not Madden. If he’s frustrated, he’s going to want to strike out and see my pain.”
“Go inside. I’ll talk to him.”
She shook her head. “Stop trying to protect me. He’ll be ugly, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.” She braced herself as the car screeched to a halt before the front door. She hoped she was telling the truth. Madden was an expert at inflicting pain, as she’d learned all those years ago. But she wasn’t that young, inexperienced girl any longer. She stepped forward as Madden got out of the driver’s seat. “I told you never to come here again, Madden.”
“You bitch.” His face was flushed with anger. All the smoothness he usually showed Sarah was gone. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“A little more respect, please,” Logan said softly. “And I think you’re aware of what we’re doing.”
Madden’s gaze shifted to Logan. “And what are you doing here? I did you a favor, dammit. You were supposed to help me.”
“Circumstances changed. As a politician, you know how empty promises can be. Have you called ATF?”
“I won’t be pressured by you.”
“If you want to keep your seat in the senate, you will. We’ve only just begun to play. I’ll stop your contributions cold and if you’ve even jaywalked, I’ll find out about it and put it on every front page in the country.”
“You son of a bitch.”
“I want this, Madden. Give it to me and I may let you survive to run again.”
“May?”
“I don’t know if I can stand the thought of you sitting fat and healthy in the capitol, but it will definitely make my mind up if you turn me down.”
“I will turn you down, you asshole.”
“No, you won’t. You’re an ambitious man and I’m probably the biggest obstacle you’ve ever run across. Think about it. Why risk everything just for a little goodwill and publicity? Go get them somewhere else. You’ve used her and Monty enough.”
“Have I?” Sarah could see him struggling to contain his rage as he whirled on her. “Have I used you enough, Sarah?” His voice was thick with malice. “Speak up. It’s not like you to stay in anyone’s shadow.”
“Go away, Madden.”
“
Now you’re giving me orders?” His gaze went from her to Logan and back again. “You think just because you’re sleeping with the big man, you can pull the strings.”
“I’m not sleeping with Logan.”
“He’s just staying in this crummy shack because he likes it? I’m not an idiot. I can see how he looks at you. Money and sex make the world go round. You couldn’t give him money, but sex is no problem for you, is it?”
“Shut up, Madden,” Logan said.
“So protective.” He shot him a mocking glance. “I can’t blame you for letting her talk you into —”
“Shut up.”
“She fucks like a wild animal, doesn’t she? She’s the only woman I ever screwed who never said no. It didn’t matter what I asked her to do, she—”
Sarah’s fist connected with his nose. Blood spurted and he staggered back against the car.
“Go away, Madden,” Sarah said. “Now.”
“Whore.” He reached for his handkerchief and covered his nose. “You are an animal.”
“Maybe. I know I’m tempted to go for your throat.”
“Hit the road.” Logan’s expression was grim. “And get on your phone the minute you hit the highway. I want a call from ATF within thirty minutes offering to sell Monty to Sarah.”
Madden began cursing.
“I’m not going to repeat myself.” Logan took a step closer. “Listen to me. I was annoyed with you before, now I want to break your neck. Do what I tell you.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” But Madden backed away. He gave Sarah one last malevolent look as he got in the car. “You think you’re so clever. Oh, you’ve got him now, but he’ll get tired of you and I’ll still be around.”
“I don’t doubt it,” she said. “Cockroaches are great survivors.”
“Unless they get stepped on,” Logan said.
Madden opened his mouth and then closed it without speaking. A moment later he was in the car, streaking down the road.
“God, that felt good,” Sarah said. It felt better than good, as if a gigantic weight had been taken off her shoulders. “Do you think he’ll make the call?”