No One to Trust (7 page)

“You have Forbes and Galen.”

“They’re strangers. They don’t care anything about him. He’s only a pawn to them.” Her grasp tightened. “Come with us for a few weeks, a month. You’ve given me six years. Just give me a little more time.”

“Elena …”

“I’m begging you,” she said unevenly. “Just until Chavez is caught.”

He sighed and then slowly nodded. “A few months. Then I have to get back.”

“Thank God.” She let her breath out in a profound sigh of relief. “And thank you, Dominic.”

“Since when do there have to be thanks between us? Now, where is Barry? I’ve got to show him I’m alive and stirring.”

She nodded at the front of the helicopter. “Galen has him.”

He flinched as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Galen seems to be taking charge in a number of ways.”

“Only until we get to the U.S. Then we’re done with him. Forbes told me he only brought him into the picture to get us out.”

“That may not be such a good thing. He seems to be a handy man to have around. You’re going to be on unfamiliar ground and you’re going to need help.”

“Forbes will take care of things. We made a deal and he’ll
keep it.” She glanced out the window. “I think we’re descending. We must be landing in Medellín.”

“So she persuaded him to come along.” Forbes’s gaze was fastened on Dominic and Barry, who were hunched over a game of checkers toward the front of the jet. “I wasn’t sure she’d be able to do it.”

“She would have moved heaven and earth to see that he wasn’t left behind.” Galen’s gaze shifted to Elena, who was sitting by herself across the aisle. She was bolt upright, staring straight ahead, her muscles locked into place. “And she’s got a damn strong will. I don’t know how she’s even managing to sit up.” He stood. “But I believe it’s time to pull the plug.”

Elena stiffened warily when he crossed to stand beside her. “Yes?”

“Time to go to bed.” Galen checked his wristwatch. “It will be at least seven hours before we reach the coast. There’s a sleeping compartment and bathroom behind those curtains. Go and hit the sack until we get there.”

“I’m fine here.”

“Bullshit. You’re just afraid you’ll fall apart if you relax. Go on and lie down. I’ll get some painkillers and bring them to you.”

“I won’t have Barry worried.”

“He won’t be worried. I’ll take care of it. He’ll be more worried if you collapse. He’s going to an entirely new environment. He’ll need you to be able to help him adjust.”

“I’ll be able.”

“Right.” He helped her to her feet. “If you get some rest. You don’t look so good.” He gave her a push toward the curtains. “Wash your face and try to get comfortable. I’ll give you a few minutes.”

“Your concern is touching.”

“I’m not concerned. It’s a matter of professional pride.” He moved down the aisle toward Dominic and Barry. “You were my assignment, and I have to make sure you’re still alive and kicking when I bow out.”

Elena moved her cheek, trying to find a cooler place on the pillow. There wasn’t any coolness. So hot …

“Here I come. Ready or not.” Galen had pulled back the curtains and entered the enclosure.

Elena sat up quickly on the bed. “What do you want?”

“Nothing to be alarmed about. Don’t you remember? I was going to bring you something to ease the pain. You don’t have to be defensive.”

How else did he expect her to be, she thought hazily. Every minute that he was in the room she was aware of who he was, what he was. No, not what he was. She doubted if anyone knew what lay beneath the surface, but she knew he was dangerous and could be totally ruthless. Though he didn’t look dangerous. He was lean and fit and his sparkling dark eyes held both humor and intelligence. Some women would have called him handsome. It wasn’t until you studied him that you saw the threat.

He drew the curtains shut behind him. “Your cheeks are flushed. You probably have a fever. Unbutton your shirt and let me look at my handiwork.”

She didn’t move.

He came forward. “I need to change your bandage and make sure you haven’t broken any stitches.” He pulled two containers of pills out of his pocket. “Then, if you’re a good girl, I’ll give you a couple penicillin pills to fight the infection.”

She stiffened. “I don’t have to be a good girl. Neither Forbes nor Dominic would let you withhold medicine from me.”

“It was just a turn of phrase.” His gaze narrowed on her face. “What did you think I meant?”

She didn’t answer.

“You thought I was talking about sex.” His lips twisted. “You must be out of your head. I’m not that hard up.”

“Men don’t have to like a woman or even find her attractive to want to screw her. They only see us—they use us. You know that.”

“I don’t know that. And I don’t like to be lumped in with the rest of mankind. It hurts my ego. Don’t generalize.”

“Why not? You’re generalizing about me, aren’t you? Whenever you spoke to Forbes about me, you were thinking,
A woman like her.”
She added fiercely, “Well, I’m not like anyone but myself, and I value who I am. You can hurt me and you can fuck me and I’ll still be Elena Kyler. Not some whore or worthless piece of—”

“Shh,” Galen said. “Hey, you’re shaking so badly you’ll break my stitches.”

He was right. Her whole body was shaking. Stop it. Don’t show weakness. Not in front of Galen. “I’m not shaking.”

“Sure you are. Perfectly understandable. You’re not well.”

“I don’t need your understanding.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I’m chock-full of it. It’s one of my finest qualities. Now that we’ve established that I’m not going to rape you, unbutton your shirt. You’re not showing me anything I didn’t see back at Dominic’s house, and considering your background, you can’t be that shy.”

“Considering what kind of woman I am?”

“That really seems to be bothering you.”

“I have
value.”

“Who said you didn’t?” He studied her face. “Or who acted as if you didn’t? What happened to you in that prison?”

“Nothing that I didn’t choose to happen. They wanted to break me. They didn’t do it. They couldn’t do it.”

“You’re telling me too much. It’s the fever talking. You’ll regret it when you’re better.” He sat down beside her and unbuttoned her shirt. “Just one look and then I’ll get out.”

She sat ramrod straight, staring over his shoulder at the wall.

“Not too much blood on the bandage considering the amount of movement, and the stitches held. Not that I’d expect anything else.” He buttoned her shirt again. “You said that you’d been wounded before. How many times?”

“Badly?” She tried to think through the haze of heat and pain that was beginning to close around her. “One bullet wound in the leg when I was twelve. My father said it would never have happened if I’d been careful. Another in the left
arm when I was sixteen. I’d learned by then, and that one wasn’t my fault. A bayonet graze in my left side when I was twenty. This is the fourth.”

His lips tightened. “Isn’t it convenient that you can mark the rites of passage from childhood to adulthood by the wounds of war? I’m sure not many women can do that.”

“And how did you mark your rites of passage, Galen?”

“You wouldn’t want to know. I’ll get some water for you to take the pills.”

“I can get it myself.”

“But then you wouldn’t get the pleasure of having me wait on you.” He disappeared into the bathroom and came back with a glass of water. He opened the containers and handed her the pills. “Swallow them.”

She stared at him defiantly but swallowed the pills and set the glass on the table.

He paused before going through the curtains. “You have seven hours to nap and get that fever down. You wouldn’t want me to have to carry you off the plane in San Francisco. Think how humiliating that would be.”

“I wouldn’t be humiliated. I’d take what I had to take from you.”

He gazed at her thoughtfully for a moment. “You’d do anything for the boy, wouldn’t you?”

“Anything.”

“I could almost pity Forbes.” He didn’t wait for an answer before he went through the curtains.

Elena lay back down and took a deep breath. She felt exhausted and she wasn’t sure if it was from the fever or dealing
with Galen. She had thought he was like the mercenaries she’d known in the past, but he was much more complicated. It was strange that he had tried to stop her from revealing too much about herself because he’d known she would be ashamed of the weakness later. She
was
ashamed. She should not have babbled. Fever, exhaustion, fear of what was to come, horror of the past … She should still have retained control.

She would be stronger after she rested. She would push the thought of Galen out of her mind so that she could nap and be strong for Barry when she woke. She closed her eyes and tried to relax.

Christ, she hoped she wouldn’t dream of Chavez.

“Is Elena all right?” Dominic asked as Galen dropped down in the seat beside him.

“Not exactly fighting fit.” Galen glanced at Barry, who was now tucked under a blanket and sound asleep on a seat across the aisle. “But she won’t admit it. I think she’s been through more than she can handle right now.”

“You’re wrong. She can handle it,” Dominic said. “I’ve never seen anything she couldn’t work her way through, and I’ve known her since she was ten years old.” He thought for a moment. “Well, once it was pretty close, but she found a way out.”

“What happened?”

He smiled. “You’ll have to ask her.”

“Not bloody likely. She was with the rebel army when she was ten?”

“She ran messages from one village to another when she
was younger than that. Her father didn’t start training her until she was a little older.”

“Nice.”

“He wasn’t the best father in the world, but as I told you, he had a good deal of charisma and he was an excellent soldier. A good teacher too. Elena was remarkably skilled in the arts of war by the time she was twelve. Sad …”

“Couldn’t you stop it?”

He shook his head. “I was a guest in their camp. If I’d interfered, the rebels would have thrown me out. It was difficult for me, but I learned to compromise. I couldn’t do everything I wanted, but there were things I could do. I was able to teach, give comfort and understanding and, every now and then, more concrete help.”

“Like with Barry?”

A smile lit his face as he glanced at the sleeping child. “That was my joy and privilege. I couldn’t give Elena everything she needed as a child, but I got another chance with Barry. I believe God finds ways to help us find our true path. When Elena needed help with Barry, I knew I’d found mine.” His brows lifted. “You’re asking a lot of questions. Why?”

“I’m plagued with a curious mind.”

“And Elena is an intriguing woman.”

“Since she tried to kill me a minute after we first met, it’s difficult to think of her as a woman.”

“Then why are you so angry at the thought of the way her father raised her?”

“I just don’t like children being forced into grown-up games.”

“As you were?”

Galen was silent a moment. “Are you fishing?”

“It’s my nature. And my vocation.” Dominic tilted his head, studying Galen. “You’re an interesting man and probably better than you think you are.”

He chuckled. “I couldn’t be. Unless there’s something better than perfection.” His smile faded. “Dominic, I’m a cynical, selfish son of a bitch who’s dabbled in more sin than you could measure in a lifetime. But that doesn’t mean I’m all bad. I show up pretty good next to men like Chavez.”

“Most men do.”

“Don’t you want to save his soul? What an opportunity.”

Dominic shook his head. “I’d find it difficult to ask God to forgive him after what he’s done to the people I care about. I suppose that’s why I’m no longer a priest.”

“But it makes you a hell of a lot more human.” He shrugged. “Now, what about a game of checkers before Barry wakes up and needs your attention? It’s going to be a long flight and I get bored easily.”

“I’ve noticed a certain restlessness.” He gazed thoughtfully at him. “What do you do to keep it at bay?”

Galen grinned. “I wouldn’t want to disillusion you by telling you.” He spread out the board. “I’ll take the black pieces. Like to like, as my mum used to say.”

“Time to get up.”

Elena’s eyes flew open to see Galen standing inside the curtains.

“It’s okay. You have an hour before we land. Do you need any help?”

She shook her head and scrambled to a sitting position. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, but you’re probably better than you were. You were out like a light. How long has it been since you got any sleep?”

“I don’t remember. It doesn’t matter. How is Barry?”

“He slept a couple hours himself.” He turned to go. “If you need any help in the bathroom, give a call. By the way, Forbes wants to talk to you.”

She tossed the sheet aside. “I want to talk to him.”

Fifteen minutes later she dropped down in the seat beside Forbes. “Where are you taking us?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Forbes said. “There’s a place north of San Francisco in the wine country that we’ve used before as a safe house. It used to be a working vineyard, but it’s deserted now. I’ve called and made arrangements to have a team pick us up at the airport and drive us straight there.”

She stiffened. “What team?”

“DEA.” He went on hurriedly. “I know you didn’t want the government involved, but I can’t protect you by myself. I’ve notified my superiors of the situation and they’ve agreed to go along with me. We got you out of the country without pulling in the agency, but I can’t give you enough protection on my own.”

She had known that would probably be the case. She didn’t
like it, but there was little she could do about it right now. “Do you know the men who’ll be on this team?”

“I know the lead agent, and I’ve had the other three men on the team checked out and they came up squeaky clean. You can trust them.”

She shook her head. “You trust them. I can’t afford to trust anyone. I don’t have the right. I’m responsible for Barry and Dominic.”

“And I’m responsible for you.”