No One to Trust (14 page)

“Are you watching, Mama?”

She moistened her lips. “I’m watching, Barry.”

She watched him for another ten minutes. She watched him do somersaults. She watched him do handsprings. She watched him collapse into giggles when Galen slyly raked his ribs and tickled him.

Galen finally set him on his feet and gave his behind a swat. “Enough of this horseplay. We’ll put in another session tomorrow. Go wash your hands and get into the kitchen. We’ve got work to do.”

“I know. Omelettes,” Barry said as he ran to Elena. His cheeks were scarlet and his dark eyes glittered with excitement. “Did you see me? I did the last handspring by myself.”

“You were wonderful.” She kissed his forehead. “A regular acrobat.”

“I
like
this place.” He ran down the hall toward the bathroom.

“Let’s get it over with fast.” Galen got to his feet and reached for a hand towel draped on one of the machines. He dabbed at the perspiration on his forehead. “Barry will wonder where I am.”

“You’re an interfering bastard.”

“Yes. I told you I didn’t like clouds hovering over me.”

“I wanted to throw up when I saw Barry on that mat.”

“It was chancy.” He wiped the back of his neck. “I decided I had two choices if I didn’t want to see you tearing yourself apart. I could hang up the mat on the wall with a picture of Chavez pinned to it. Then we’d all take turns with darts—or maybe bowie knives—until the mat was no more. It would have been like the effigies I heard the Allies had of Hitler and
Tojo during the Second World War. That plan really appealed to me, but it might have been too violent with Barry around.” He tossed the towel back on the machine. “So I decided to replace a bad memory with a good one.”

“It wasn’t good.”

“But it wasn’t a nightmare. You liked seeing Barry happy.” He started for the door. “You may not have felt defeated by your bouts with Chavez, but I think the rape was different. That got to you. But you’re wrong. What happened on that mat wasn’t a defeat for you; it was really a final victory. Chavez didn’t mean to do it, but he gave you the grand prize. He gave you Barry.” He passed her and went down the hall. “I’ve promised Barry a workout every morning. I think he’d like you to be there. Can you do it?”

She wanted to say no. She had been filled with dread and horror and the desire to snatch Barry and run away with him. Those minutes had seemed to last forever.

But they hadn’t been impossible to endure. It might get better.

Replace bad memories with good
.

“I can do it.”

“The telephone is in the name of Desmond Sprull, phony address in Las Vegas,” Gomez said. “We can’t trace Galen by the number.”

“And since you don’t know where he is, you can’t get close enough to put a trace on his calls,” Chavez said. “It’s a wonder you were even able to get that number.”

“We’ll find him.” He paused. “He has a friend, John Logan. We could possibly discuss the matter with him.”

“You mean force the information out of him? Logan has influence in high places. All we need is to have the government making noise. Our informant tells us the DEA is raising enough stink about the death of those agents at the vineyard.” Chavez paused. “But he might be in contact with Galen. Bug his office and his home. Let’s see what we can come up with.”

“Logan has good security. We may not—”

“I don’t want to hear about problems. I want to hear about answers.” He pressed the disconnect button.

He looked down at the telephone number on the pad in front of him. Technology was a wonderful thing. The conquerors of old had their weapons and Chavez had his. He could dial this number and be talking to Galen in seconds. A phone call might be all it would take. Offer most men enough money and they would give Chavez anything he wanted. Galen didn’t have that reputation, but it was only a matter of finding which button to press.

He wouldn’t dial that number. Not yet. Galen had interfered with his business and helped that bitch steal his son. He didn’t want him to walk away without suffering. He’d give Gomez a chance to locate him first.

And then perhaps he’d invite him to his gym for a little workout.

“Good morning.” Judd Morgan turned away from the cabinet and smiled at Elena. “Would you like a cup of coffee? I’d offer you something to eat, but Galen is very territorial about his domain. I’m a junk-food addict. I have to sneak in here and have my Frosted Flakes.”

“I’d like coffee.” She glanced at his bowl and the box beside it. It really was Frosted Flakes. “I’ll get it. If you’re really sneaking, you don’t have much time. I think Galen and Barry are almost finished with his lessons.”

“Sounds like he’s having a great time. And he learns fast. He’s been at it for almost a week, hasn’t he?”

She hadn’t thought Morgan was even aware of what was going on in the gym. She had scarcely seen him except at lunch and dinner. “Yes, he’s getting better every day.” She poured her coffee. And she was getting better too. Every session was easier for her to watch. This was the first morning she had felt
that it wouldn’t be running away for her to leave the gym. “Galen is quite a taskmaster. He never gives up.”

“No, he doesn’t.” He took a bite of his cereal. “But he won’t hurt the kid.”

“That’s what he said about you.”

He paused with his spoon in midair. “He told you about me? He must trust you. He’s been damn careful about hiding me here. But, then, you’re one of his orphans too, aren’t you?”

“I’d hardly refer to either of us as an orphan.”

“Neither would Galen, but I believe somewhere deep in that convoluted mind of his, that’s the way he thinks of us. He’s a problem-solver, and we each have a problem.” He took another bite of cereal. “He struggles against it, but it’s his nature. As for me, I couldn’t be more pleased. To hell with pride. That little quirk of his saved my neck. He whisked me out of that jam in the nick of time.”

As he had whisked Elena away from that mountain and then the vineyard. “Have you known him long?”

“About five years. We met on a job in Sydney and we’ve run into each other several times over the years.” He pushed his bowl away. “He has contacts and heard I had been set up for a fall and gave me a ring. I was only minutes ahead of the squad that was sent to take me out.”

“And he brought you here?”

“He thought it was pretty safe. They didn’t know we were that close friends.” He grimaced. “Neither did I. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to act on that phone call.”

“But you were glad you did.”

“Hell, yes.” His lips twisted. “I just wish Logan would get on the stick. I’m getting edgy.”

She changed the subject. “I saw your painting. I liked it.”

“So do I. I like everything I’m doing here. I was tired and ready to quit the game anyway.” His gaze narrowed on her face. “But you aren’t, are you?”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I grew pretty good at interpreting body language over the years. You’re not hiding, you’re waiting.”

She hadn’t even realized he’d been studying her. “So?”

“Nothing. Do anything you please. Play any gambit. But make sure Galen comes out of this in one piece.”

She stared at him curiously. “And what would you do if I didn’t?”

“I owe him. What do you think?”

She had never seen a more chilling smile. “Then it’s a good thing that I’ve no intention of letting anything happen to him, isn’t it?” She stood up. “Thanks for the coffee, Morgan.”

“My pleasure.”

She left the kitchen and went down the hall toward the gym. Waiting, not hiding.

Judd Morgan was as perceptive as Galen, but she wasn’t quite as ruthless as he thought. She wasn’t so filled with hate that she’d sacrifice the innocent with the guilty.

Or would she? When the time came, would she stop at anything to rid their lives of Chavez? He had hovered over her like a hideous gargoyle, always there, always a threat. She didn’t want him to have that kind of power over her any longer.

Barry’s session was over only a few minutes after she returned to the gym, and he streaked by her to go upstairs and wash up. Galen stopped her as she started after him. “You left. Everything okay?”

“I heard Morgan in the kitchen and went to get a cup of coffee. I need caffeine to get my day started.”

“If you felt the need for outside stimulus, you must be getting better.”

She nodded.

“Thank God.” He grinned at her. “I’d have been truly chastened if I was wrong. Though, of course, it doesn’t happen often and everyone is entitled to one mistake in a millennium. Still, it would—”

“Hush.” She couldn’t help smiling. He was as flushed and gleaming as Barry had been, and the energy level was even greater. She had the sudden urge to reach out and rumple his dark hair as she did her son’s. Not a good idea. “Next you’re going to throw a quote from your mum at me, and I’m not up to that.”

“Why not? You’ve had your caffeine.” His stride was springy as he headed toward the staircase. “Well, did you bond with Judd?”

“Not exactly.”

He stopped at the hesitation in her tone and turned to look at her.

“He warned me not to let anything happen to you.”

“Understandable. He’s a bit protective. He knows what a weak, fragile being I am.”

She snorted.

“But I’m curious why the subject came up.”

“He said I wasn’t hiding, I was waiting.”

“Ah, Judd is a bright man. He’d understand the distinction.”

“You didn’t talk to him about Chavez?”

“I told him he was looking for you and the boy. No, I didn’t tell him that you were going to find a way to rid yourself of Chavez permanently. But he might have figured it out if he’d run across those afternoon workouts you put yourself through in the barn.”

She stiffened. She’d tried to keep those exercise sessions private.

“It’s my job to know where you are at any given time,” he said, answering her unspoken question. “Those workouts are pretty strenuous. How is your wound?”

“Healing.”

“I figured it was or I would have stepped in.” He gave a mock sigh of relief. “I’m glad I didn’t have to do it. I value my neck. You’re a truly fearsome woman.”

“And you’re full of bull.”

“But of the most entertaining variety.” He stopped with one foot on the steps. “I’ll tell Judd not to hold you responsible if Chavez gets lucky. I knew what I was getting into.”

“But you wanted to solve the problem. What is it with you? Are you so bored that you have to get involved with everyone around you?”

“I’m not bored. Not this time,” he said quietly. “I find you very … stimulating.”

She inhaled sharply. He had moved away from lightness to
disturbing gravity in the space of a heartbeat. She looked away from him. “I solve my own problems, Galen.”

He nodded. “That’s why you’re trying to get stronger. How are you with weapons? Have you lost any of your skills in the past six years?”

She shook her head. “I grew up with guns and knives. That’s something you don’t lose.”

“But you do lose the edge in hand-to-hand combat. It’s something I’ll have to think about.” He started up the steps two at a time. “Right after my shower. Turn on the oven and preheat it to four-fifty, will you? I’m making biscuits this morning.”

She stared after him. It was hard to contend with all that energy and boundless self-confidence. She often felt as if she had come too near a lightning bolt. She had meant to establish her independence and also tell him she had no intention of making him a victim. It hadn’t happened. He had caught her off guard and she had become defensive.

Later.

She sighed as she went into the kitchen to turn on the oven.

Elena was sound asleep in the hammock on the porch.

Galen carefully closed the screen door behind him and paused a moment, gazing down at her. He hadn’t seen her this vulnerable since that night at Tomaco. When she was awake, she always seemed totally alert and wary. No, that wasn’t quite true. There were moments with Dominic and Barry when
she looked soft and sort of … glowing. It had been hard to keep his eyes off her.

The glow was not there now, but her cheeks were flushed from the heat. Her lips were relaxed and slightly parted and her body was—

Better not think about her body.

Better stop staring at her entirely. He had come out here to track down Judd, who was standing at the corral fence a short distance from the porch. So get down to business.

He kept an eye on her as he moved silently across the porch and down the steps.

She didn’t stir.

“I’m going to try to paint your damn corral. It’s got some interesting contrast lines and lights and shadows,” Judd said as Galen reached him. “But you could have provided me with some horses. What’s a corral without horses?”

“Empty?” Galen leaned on the fence. “Look at it this way. Anyone could paint a corral teeming with horses. It’s been done. You’ll be interpreting the loneliness, the progress of time, the cowboy myth without his old pal—”

“I’m beginning to feel ill.”

“Then I’ll let you make up your own reasons.” Galen gazed out at the mountains. “I have a favor to ask, Judd.”