No One to Trust

  “She’d been hearing about him for years. He’s something of a legend. I had maintained contacts with the group and made some discreet inquiries.”

  Galen looked down into the coffee in his cup. “You think he’s Chavez’s son?”

  “I know he is. I’m aware of all the circumstances surrounding the boy’s birth.” He smiled. “You’re very suspicious. You don’t believe her.”

  “I believe he’s her son. Anyone could see how much she loves the kid. But she could be trying for a free ride and a nice cushion in the U.S. for the boy. Life is rough down here.” His gaze shifted to Dominic’s face. “Or it could still be a trap. Though the scenario is getting fairly complicated. If you’re bogus, then you’re very good.”

  Dominic laughed. “I do believe you’re reaching, Galen. Wouldn’t it be a bit hokey to bring a priest into the mix? Besides, anyone can see I’d be terrible at subterfuge. I’m not clever enough.”

  “You’re clever enough to be a teacher,” Galen said.

  “That’s straightforward and doesn’t involve deception. I promise you won’t catch me setting a candle burning on the windowsill to tell Chavez you’re here.”

  Galen smiled. “A candle in the window? You are out of the loop. Maybe you really are legitimate.”

  Dominic’s eyes twinkled. “Or maybe I just said that to make you think I am. More coffee?”

  “No.” Galen stood up. “I believe I’d better check up on our Elena. She’s been gone too long. Where’s your bathroom?”

  Dominic raised his brows. “I assure you that she hasn’t slipped out the back door.”

  “But she might have passed out and hit her head. She lost some blood with that wound.”

  “Wound?” Dominic’s smile faded. “She didn’t tell me she was hurt.”

  “I stitched it up. She’s okay. Where’s the bathroom?”

  “Beside Barry’s room. I’ll show—”

  “Stay here. I’ll take care of it.” Galen was already halfway down the hall.

  She didn’t answer the first knock and he didn’t wait for a second before opening the door.

  She was sitting on the commode wearing nothing but jeans, staring down at the bra in her hands. She glared balefully at him. “Get out of here.”

  “In a minute.” He took the bra from her and slipped the straps over her arms. “I thought you might be having a problem.”

  She went rigid. “I don’t need your help. I can do this.”

  “But you might break my stitches.” He fastened the hooks in the back. “I hate my efforts to be wasted.” He took the blue oxford shirt draped over the towel rack, put it on her, and started to button it. “Why didn’t you call Dominic to help you? A little too intimate?”

  “Don’t be an ass. He delivered Barry. I didn’t want to worry him. I suppose you told him I was hurt?”

  “Guilty.” He fastened the last button. “He’s a nice guy. I hope you’re not leading him for a fall.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I wouldn’t hurt him.”

  “Intentionally. Is he coming with us?”

  “Yes. I suppose you object to that too.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  She glanced away from him. “You talk as if Forbes has made up his mind. Is he going to take us?”

  “He hasn’t said. He probably will. He’s a good guy, an upright, decent family man, and you’ve hit him right on target. Isn’t that why you chose him?”

  “I chose him because I hoped I could trust him. You don’t have to be afraid for him. I’m not going to cheat him. He’ll get what he wants.”

  “I’m not afraid for him. He can take care of himself. My job ends when I deliver you to the U.S.” He stood up. “I’d better get you some painkillers. That wound is probably throbbing.”

  “When we’re safe on the plane. I can’t run the risk of not being able to think clearly.”

  He opened the bathroom door. “Have it your own way.”

  She looked him directly in the eye. “Oh, I will.”

  He was smiling as he passed Dominic in the hall. “She’s fine. She was having a little connection problem.”

  “Connection?”

  “See if you can talk her into a painkiller.”

  He grimaced. “She’s not an easy woman to persuade.”

  “Really? I never would have guessed.”

  Forbes was not in the kitchen, and Galen found him standing outside the door looking up at the tops of the trees. “We may have a problem. There’s a strong wind coming up.”

  “We’ll work our way through it.”

  “I don’t know how. I was talking to Dominic and there’s no level ground around here for at least twenty miles.”

  “Then we’ll go twenty miles.” He looked up at the trees. Forbes was right, the wind was definitely picking up. “Maybe. There’s usually a way. I’ve got to get on the radio and tell my guys to start their approach.” He paused. “If you’re sure you want to go through with this. It’s pretty clear you’ve made up your mind.”

  Forbes nodded. “I believe her. Every informant who’s reported to me has mentioned that Chavez is after her.”

  “But you can’t be sure she’s correctly judged the way he’ll react.”

  “Then what have I lost? She’s right: This chance is better than anything I’ve had so far. I’ve got to take it.”

  Galen shrugged. “Okay, then we’ll get them out.”

  “I hope to God this wind is our biggest problem.” Forbes gazed out into the darkness. “We’ve been lucky so far.”

  “Knock on wood.”

  “Chavez and his slimeballs can’t win every game. Let me just win this one.”

  There was so much intensity in Forbes’s words that Galen turned to look at him. “You’ll never make it until your pension, Forbes. You’re starting to care too much. That can be dangerous.”

  “You can’t care too much.” Forbes’s voice was uneven. “Men like Chavez trample all over our lives and destroy our families, kill our children—” He stopped and then said, “Sorry. This means a great deal to me.”

  “You don’t have to apologize.” He paused. “Did I detect a personal note?”

  Forbes didn’t answer for a moment. “My son, Joel. He died of an overdose in his dorm room six months ago. I was so busy saving the world from drugs that I didn’t even know he was experimenting. I should have known. I should have been close enough to him to explain what I knew, what I’d seen during these twenty-five years. Instead, I was chasing Chavez, saving other parents’ kids.” His voice roughened. “I have to take him down, Galen.”

  Don Quixote, tilting against the wicked world. Don Quixote, who’d received his own wounds.

  “Hey, no problem.” Galen turned away. “I don’t like the bastard either. I’ll get her and the kid out of here and you can tuck her away in a safe house.”

  “I’ll take that as a promise.”

  Galen smiled at him. “Like I said, no problem.”

  Elena quietly closed the door of Barry’s room and stood there looking at him. There was nothing more beautiful in the world than the sight of Barry sleeping. She would just take a moment to look at him and gain strength.

  No, she had to move. There were things to do and not much time to do them. She went to the bureau and took out the photo album from the top drawer. Don’t look at them. There were so many. Just take out some of the pictures and stuff them in the backpack. There were precious few things that she’d be able to take with her, but she couldn’t leave the photos. They were too special. Barry at two with the icing of the chocolate birthday cake all over his face. Barry at three laughing as he splashed in the little plastic pool. Barry this year with the new bow and arrow set she’d bought him. How he’d loved that bow and arrow.

  She moved over to the toy box. The toy bow was on top of the other toys. It was too big, she realized in disappointment. He would want to take his teddy bear, his favorite books, and the musical globe that Domi
nic had given him. There just wasn’t room for everything.

  “Mama?”

  She turned to see Barry lying on his side watching her. “I didn’t mean to wake you again. Go back to sleep, baby.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Just looking at your toys. Do you play with this bow every day?”

  “Most days. I’m Robin Hood and Dominic is Friar Tuck.”

  “We’re going on a little trip. Would you mind not taking it?”

  “A trip? Is that the adventure?”

  She nodded. “But it’s in an airplane and we can’t take much with us. I thought maybe your bear and the globe. Anything else?”

  “I can’t take the bow?”

  “I don’t think there’ll be room for it.”

  He was silent a moment. “I guess I don’t really need the bow. I can still pretend. Like you showed me, Mama. Remember? You said if you didn’t have everything you wanted, you could pretend and sometimes pretending was better.”

  She felt a melting deep inside her. Don’t cry. He mustn’t think anything is wrong. It has to be an adventure. She cleared her throat. “What song is Dominic teaching you to play?”

  “ ‘Yankee Doodle.’ Shall I play it for you now?”

  “It’s the middle of the night.”

  “I’m not sleepy.” His dark eyes were shining with excitement. “You’re not sleepy either. I can tell.”

  “Well, we’d both better try to rest. Otherwise we’ll be too tired to enjoy the adventure.”

  “Will you come and lie beside me?”

  “For a little while.” She moved across the room, knelt by the bed, and laid her head on the pillow. “If you promise to go to sleep.”

  “I will.” He reached out and touched her hair. “You smell better now.”

  She chuckled. “I suppose I should be glad you were willing to take the risk.”

  “I don’t care.” He closed his eyes. “As long as you’re here. I missed you, Mama.”

  “I missed you too.”

  “And I’m glad we’re going on an adventure together. Though you have adventures all the time, don’t you? Dominic says when you go away from us, you have adventures—”

  “Not like this one. This one is special. Shh, don’t talk.”

  He sighed. “Okay.”

  His breathing deepened to sleep fifteen minutes later, but she didn’t move. Being here next to him was too sweet. God, she was lucky.

  “Tomaco,” Gomez said. “I’m sending four men there now.”

  “She’s been sighted?” Chavez asked.

  “No, but I’ve run across a few people who said they’ve heard of a man, a teacher, who lives there.” He paused. “Dominic Sanders. You remember him?”

  “I remember him well.”

  “It seems he’s become something of a missionary. He’s teaching and caring for the needs of the people in the hills a short distance from Tomaco.”

  “And the child?”

  Gomez shook his head. “No word.”

  But where Dominic Sanders was, he’d find the boy. Elena had looked on Dominic as almost a second father.

  “Should I let you know when I hear something?”

  He could feel the blood dancing in his veins. Every instinct was telling him that he was coming close. A man should obey his instincts. “No.” He headed for the Land Rover parked by the side of the road. “I’m going to Tomaco myself.”

  Galen could hear the faint sound of the rotors in the distance.

  “They’re coming.” He shaded his eyes against the brilliance of the rising sun. “Go watch the road, Forbes. Everyone for miles around will hear those rotors. You’d better go get the kid, Dominic.”

  “I have him.” Elena, holding the child’s hand, came up behind them, her gaze on the horizon. “You’re sure it’s them?”

  “It’s Carmichael.” Galen turned to Dominic. “Get your gear. If they manage to land in this wind, we need to be off the ground and out in a few minutes.”

  “I’m not going.”

  “What?” Galen said.

  Elena turned to Dominic. “You have to go. I told you it wasn’t safe for you to stay here.”

  “And I told you that I’ve found a purpose here that I haven’t anywhere else.” He touched the little boy’s head. “He won’t need me anymore. There are people here who do.”

  “That’s not the reason you’re staying. You’re going to try to cover our tracks. You’re blaming yourself.”

  “Who else is there to blame?”

  “There’s no reason for you to feel guilty, dammit. It wasn’t your fault.”

  He shook his head.

  “I won’t leave you here.”

  “Yes, you will.” Dominic smiled. “Barry has to leave here and you have to go with Barry. Who else will protect him?”

  “It’s only a matter of time until Chavez finds this place. Someone will tell him that you were taking care of Barry. You know what that means.”

  “It means I go find another house, not another country.”

  She whirled on the little boy. “Barry, will you go and get me the little plastic case I left in the bathroom?”

  Barry’s expression was troubled. “Dominic is going, isn’t he, Mama?”

  “Of course he’s going.” She gently pushed him toward the house. “Get me the case.” As soon as he was in the house, she turned back to Dominic. “You’ve been the only security he’s ever known. He needs you. I need you.”

  “That was difficult for you to say, wasn’t it?”

  “I said it because I meant it. You’ve got to come. It’s too dangerous for you to—”

  “Too much argument.” Galen stepped behind Dominic and gave him a quick karate chop to the back of the neck. Dominic grunted, his eyes glazing over. Galen caught him as he started to fall and eased him to the ground.

  “Why the hell did you do that?” Elena jumped forward. “If you’ve hurt him, I’ll—”

  “I didn’t hurt him. Not much.” He met her gaze. “And it saved you from doing it. I bet you’d have given him a minute or so more before you chopped him yourself. Now when he wakes up, you can claim innocence.” He scowled melodramatically. “It was that no-account Galen who did the deed. A pox on his evil soul.”

  “You can’t be sure that I would—”

  “Oh, then you weren’t planning on doing it?”

  She was silent for an instant and then grudgingly nodded her head. “But that’s different.”

  “I understand perfectly. He’s your friend, not mine. You have the right to kidnap him.”

  “It isn’t safe for him to—”

  “Carmichael’s closer.” Galen had turned away and was looking at the sky. “You’d better go get the kid while I give Dominic a shot to keep him under until we get to Medellín. Cook up some explanation for Barry why Dominic is going to be sleeping for quite a while.”

  She glanced at Dominic one more time and then hurried into the house.

  “A helicopter,” Chavez murmured. “Flying low. Interesting.” And possibly detrimental to the hunt. He had thought Elena was alone and desperate, trying to find a cave in which to hide. If she had enlisted the kind of help who could supply a helicopter as an escape vehicle, the balance of power might have seriously shifted.

  Gomez ran out of the hut. “I have the directions. Dominic’s house is on the mountain road. About twenty minutes from here.”

  “Then let’s get on the move.” He lifted the binoculars to his eyes. “Have one of the men get the number on that helicopter and try to trace it.” The craft was having difficulty, battered by the strong winds. It would be difficult for it to land.

  Bad luck, Elena.

  3

  “He can’t make it.” Galen watched as Carmichael made the third pass and then turned and headed away from the trees bordering the mountain. He lifted Dominic and put him in the back of the jeep. “Pile in and give me directions to that clearing.”

  “We should have tried that firs
t.” Elena lifted Barry into the passenger seat.

  “Hindsight is always better, isn’t it? I didn’t want to parade you all over the countryside if I didn’t have to.” He raised his voice and shouted for Forbes.

  But Forbes was already running toward him. “Two cars are coming up the mountain. One late-model sedan, one Land Rover.”

  Galen cursed and turned to Elena. “What are the odds?”

  “In this area? The people are as poor as dirt. Most of them don’t even have cars. It’s got to be Chavez.”

  “Is there a way of going up and around the mountain without passing them?”

  “No, the road runs out before it reaches the top. About five miles from here.”

  “Dammit. It’s still the only way to go. Get in and start driving. Forbes, you sit in back with Dominic.” He reached for the radio. “I’ve got to talk to Carmichael.”

  Chavez lifted the lid of the toy box and took out the bow on the top of the heap of toys. She had given his son these cheap toys. She had hidden him in this house and let him only know what she chose to tell him.

  His son.

  He flipped open the nearly empty album and saw a picture of Elena smiling down at a small boy. Damn her. He tore the picture in two and stuffed the half with the boy in his pocket.

  “There’s no sign of anyone around the house or in the forest,” Gomez said behind him. “But the helicopter is still hovering nearby.”

  “And no one passed us on the road. They’re still here. We just have to find them.” His gaze returned to the toy bow in his hands. Chavez had been enjoying the hunt so much it had not fully hit home what that bitch had done to him.

  He broke the flimsy bow in two and threw it aside. “Torch the place. Burn it to the ground.”

  Elena stopped the jeep. “This is as far as the road goes.”

  “At least there are no trees up here.” Galen jumped out of the jeep and ran around the back. “Help me get this gear out, Forbes.”

  “It’s still too windy for him to land,” Forbes said. “He’ll crash against the mountain if he tries.”

  “Then the mountain will have to come to Muhammad.” He took out the gear in the back of the jeep. “Or something like that. We don’t have any choice.”