No One to Trust (20 page)

“You seem to have thought of everything. Do you have a key to the house?”

“No, but I have a talent.” He carried the cases up the steps to the porch, where Barry and Judd were waiting. He tried the door and then knelt before the lock. A few seconds later the door swung open. “Piece of cake. Remind me to tell Quinn that his security sucks.” He waved Judd and Barry into the house and then went inside himself.

“Judd is getting along very well with Barry,” Dominic said from behind her. “It makes me feel a little useless.”

“Don’t be silly.” She turned to face him. “Judd and Galen are new and different to him. He’ll come back to us when the first shine wears off.”

“I wasn’t complaining. I know it’s natural, maybe even healthy. I was just stating a fact. You may not need me any longer. Perhaps I should go home for a while.”

“I’ll always need you, Dominic.” She reached out and grasped his arm. “And there’s no home to go back to.”

“I could build again. I’m needed there, Elena.”

A surge of fear went through her as she realized he was serious. “It’s not safe. What if Chavez has a watch on the area?”

“That’s not likely.”

“I don’t want to take the chance. Not with you, Dominic.” She stepped closer and laid her head on his chest. She whispered, “I don’t know what I’d do without you. You and Barry are my family.”

“I’m not going to run out on you yet, and I’m not talking about leaving you permanently. You and Barry mean too much to me.” He gently patted her shoulder. “But I had to tell you what I’m thinking. I can’t stay where I don’t have a purpose, Elena.” He pushed her away. “Now, I’m going to go swimming with Judd and Barry. Why don’t you come with us?”

“I’m going to scout the area. I want to be familiar with every cove and tree.”

He smiled. “That’s what Galen said you’d do. He knows you better than I do.”

“No, he doesn’t.”

He shook his head. “Maybe not in experience, but his instincts are very good. He knows you’re obsessed.”

“So do you, Dominic. We’ve been together for so long.” She grimaced. “And why are we talking about Galen? You told me we didn’t really know him.”

“Things are changing.” He turned and started for the house. “Chavez is on the other side of the country. It will take him a little while to regroup and send out his search dogs. We probably have some breathing space. Why don’t you take a little time off and relax?”

It had taken them only five hours to get to this lovely, peaceful spot. If Chavez found out where they were, he’d be on them like a vulture. “I can’t.”

He glanced at her over his shoulder. “No, I can see you can’t,” he said sadly. “It’s too bad.”

“They’re not in the hills,” Gomez said. “But the man I sent to scout out the area reports that there’s a small airport about eighty miles from here. He’s questioning the personnel there now.”

“If Galen reached an airport, then we’ve lost him. He’s not going to let himself be traced.” Chavez glanced with frustration at the pile of papers on the desk. No leads. Nothing.

“We’ll continue to try,” Gomez said.

“You’re damn right you will,” Chavez said. “There’s no way I’m giving up. I still have a few cards to play.” He took out his phone and started to dial.

“Mama, look at me, I’m going to dive into the water!”

“I’m watching.”

Barry jumped onto the tire Judd had tied to a branch of the oak tree close to the lake. Then Judd pulled the tire back several yards and let it go. The tire swung out over the water, and a whooping Barry jumped from the tire into the lake.

He surfaced, sputtering. “Did you see me?”

“I would have had to be blind not to see you,” Elena shouted. “And deaf too.”

“I’m going to do it again.”

He swam to the edge of the lake and Dominic helped him onto the bank. “Watch me.”

“Only a couple more times. It will be dark soon.”

But it wasn’t dark yet, and the setting sun gilded the water with beauty. Jesus, it was peaceful here. In spite of her tension, she had not been able to ignore the sheer blessed tranquillity of the surroundings during the last three days.

“Pretty.” Galen dropped down beside her in the porch swing. “I like porch swings.”

“You have a hammock on your porch at the ranch.”

“Hammocks are for dozing. Porch swings are for socializing. I can imagine the two of us sitting here listening to the birds and the creak of the swing for the next fifty years or so.”

“I can’t.”

“Because you’re too tied up in knots to imagine anything.” He reached out and took her hand. “Don’t stiffen up. I just want to hold your hand. I’m not trying to lure you back into my bed.” His thumb rubbed the pulse point at her inner wrist.
“I’m not sure you wouldn’t break into pieces if I made love to you.”

“I’m not that weak.”

“Heaven forbid I accuse you of that.” He started to play idly with her fingers. “No weakness. You won’t permit it.”

“I can’t permit it. I can’t concentrate on anything but Chavez now.” Her gaze shifted back to Barry in the water. “I was weak all those years ago. I was so afraid after he finished with me every day. I was tied up and helpless and I knew he’d be back the next day and it would start again. I wouldn’t let myself cry, but I couldn’t stop shaking. The only time I didn’t feel weak was when we were fighting. But I knew if I let the fear come to the surface then, I’d die.”

“We’re all afraid sometimes.”

“I can’t afford to be now. I have Barry.”

“And me.” He lifted her wrist to his lips. “Don’t forget me.”

There was no danger of her doing that. He was always there, talking, moving, disturbing her. He was disturbing her now.

“Your heart’s beating faster.” He brushed his lips back and forth on her wrist. “I have to point out that sex is known to be a great relaxer.”

“But I might break apart on you.”

“I’d risk it.”

“I can’t risk it.”

He looked at her. “If I kept on, you’d change your mind.”

“Possibly. But I’d resent it.”

“I know.” He kissed her wrist and then placed it back on her lap. “What a dilemma for a sex-starved man. I suppose we’ll just have to sit and swing and think about the next fifty
years. Shh,” he said as she started to speak. “I said think, not talk. Don’t worry. You can’t commit if you don’t talk.”

The creak of the swing was very soothing, and Galen’s presence was restful too. He had turned off the sexual charge as if he’d flicked a switch. What an incredibly complicated man he was, she thought. Complicated and perceptive and with a seemingly limitless range of talents and potential. It was an amazing—

Galen’s phone rang.

She tensed.

“Easy.” He punched the answer button. “Galen.”

Elena could feel his muscles tauten. “No way. Talk to me.”

“Who is it?” she asked.

“Chavez.”

She went cold. “He wants to talk to me?”

He nodded. “But we’re not going to give him what he wants. You don’t have to talk to him.”

“Yes, I do. Give me the phone.”

“I can deal with him.”

“Give me the phone.”

He hesitated and then handed it to her. “Two minutes and then you hang up.”

She scarcely heard him. “I’m here, Chavez.”

“I need to know where
here
is, Elena. You’ve been leading me on a chase.”

He sounded so close, as if he was only yards, not hundreds of miles, away. He’s not close, she told herself. He can’t hurt me. He can’t hurt Barry or Galen. “Go home, Chavez. You’re not going to find us.”

“Your voice is shaking, Elena. You’re afraid, aren’t you?”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“You’re lying. I always knew when you were afraid. It always made the contests more interesting. Because you were fighting yourself as well as me. But the fear won out, didn’t it? In the end I beat you.”

“You didn’t beat me.”

“Of course I did.”

“I pretended, you son of a bitch. And you were so conceited you were fooled.”

A silence. “That’s not the truth.”

“Yes, it is. Can’t you tell the truth when you hear it?”

“You
puta.”

“No, you wanted to break me and make me your whore, but I didn’t let you. You lost, Chavez.”

She could feel his anger vibrating through the phone. “If you’re telling the truth, that only makes me want to find you all the more. We have unfinished business. I’m almost as eager to get my hands on you as I am to find my son. You remember what it felt like to have my hands on you?”

The ropes cutting into her wrists, his hands running over her body. Don’t think about it. “I’ve forgotten. And you’ll never get Barry.”

“I’m going to change his name. I’ll give him mine. Little Rico.”

“No.”

“Yes. After all, he’s my child. I’ll be the one who tells him what to do or not do.”

Smother the fear and the anger. “Why did you want to talk
to me? You don’t actually think I’m going to tell you anything.”

“I wanted to hear your voice. It brings back such pleasant memories.” He paused. “And I have someone here who wants to hear your voice too. I’m giving the phone to him now.”

“Elena?”

Oh, my God. She closed her eyes. “Luis.”

“You’ve got to do what he says.” Her brother’s voice was broken. “I can’t stand any more pain. He says he’ll kill me.”

“Why should I care? You betrayed me, Luis. You told Chavez about Barry.”

“I couldn’t help it. I was hurting. I needed a hit. Dominic shouldn’t have told me. He kept it from me all these years. He shouldn’t have told me. I didn’t want to do it.”

“But you did it. You didn’t care about me or Dominic or Barry. All you cared about were those damn drugs.” She blinked back tears. “Well, I can’t care what happens to you now. I have to worry about the people you served up to Chavez.”

“You do care.” His voice was desperate. “Remember when we were children? All the good times … Help me, Elena.”

“By giving up my son? You’ve got to be crazy.”

“I couldn’t help what I did. You were always the strong one. You never understood. I can’t stand pain, Elena. They’ll hurt me.”

“I’m sorry, Luis,” she whispered. “I can’t help you.”

“You have to—”

He broke off as Chavez took the phone.

“What a hard woman you are, Elena,” Chavez said. “He really sounds pitiful. Doesn’t he touch your heart?”

“You might as well let him go.” She tried to steady her voice. “What made you think I’d give up Barry for a man who betrayed me? Do you think I have any feeling left for him?”

“I thought it was possible. You’re an unusual woman, but surely you have a certain softness for the brother you grew up with. You shared danger and good times. Yes, you probably feel something for him.”

“I feel nothing for him.”

“Then you won’t mind if I toy with him, will you? He’s a weakling, but maybe he has a little of you in him. This may take longer than you think. I’ll have him call you back after I see just how weak he is.” He hung up.

Luis …

She thrust the phone at Galen. “He … had my brother talk to me.”

“So I heard.”

“He’s going to hurt him.” She tried to keep her lips from trembling. “I don’t care. I don’t care anything about him. He deserves it.”

“Yes.”

“I tried to get him off drugs. I did everything I could. He wouldn’t listen. It’s not my fault.…” Tears were running down her cheeks. “I can’t do it, Galen. I can’t help him.”

“I know.” He pulled her into his arms. “Shh, I know.”

“You don’t know.” Her hands clenched his shirt. “I cared about him. I think I still care about him. I don’t want to, but he made me remember—”

“What’s wrong?” Dominic was frowning as he climbed the porch steps. “What’s happened, Elena?”

“Luis …” She pushed Galen away and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. “Chavez has Luis with him, Dominic.”

He stopped in shock. “Luis.”

“He’s going to hurt him.”

It took Dominic a moment to recover. “But Luis helped him.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “That won’t make any difference, will it? Sometimes I forget how evil Chavez is.”

“I don’t.”

“Can we save him?”

“Not without giving up Barry. And you know I can’t do that.”

“There has to be something you can do.”

“He’s using Luis to bait a trap. He wants Elena as well as Barry,” Galen said. “If she tries to go after Luis, he’ll snap the trap. Besides, we don’t even know where he is.”

“Could he still be at the ranch?”

Galen shook his head. “I called the DEA as soon as we got to the airport and told them where Chavez could be located. He’d left the ranch by the time they got there.”

“You didn’t tell me that,” Elena said.

“The DEA wasn’t as good as a bullet, but I thought they might buy us time until he bought his way out of jail.”

“You should have told me.”

“Why should I give you bad news? I hoped we’d get lucky.”

“Too much to ask.”

“Is Chavez going to call back?” Dominic asked.

“Yes.” Elena rose to her feet. “I’m going down to the lake to Barry. I need to …” She wanted to be close to Barry, to touch him.

She hurried down the steps and down the path.