No One to Trust - Iris Johansen [21]
“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.”
“It’s not the same.” She paused. “You take me to this vineyard. I’m not going with anyone else.”
“I had every intention of going along.”
“No, you drive. You check out the vineyard. Your team can follow us.”
“We always check out a safe house before we bring in a subject. Chavez hasn’t had time to find out anything. There’s no need to worry, Elena.”
He was so sure, she thought in wonder. Didn’t he realize she would never be safe until Chavez was dead? “You do the checkout yourself.”
He shrugged. “If it will make you feel better. Don’t you know this is almost as important to me as it is to you?”
“No, it’s not. You want to catch a drug lord. I have to keep my son safe from him. There’s no contest.”
He hesitated and slowly nodded. “You’re right. Your son is important. But so are all the other children this son of a bitch victimizes with his damn drugs.”
“I can’t think about them right now. I can’t save the whole world. My job is to keep Barry safe.” Her gaze went to Galen, who was talking to Dominic a few rows ahead. “Will you ask Galen to come with us?”
“His job is over. He doesn’t like to work with federal agencies, and he’s very expensive. I was lucky to persuade him to do the extraction.”
“Will you ask him to come and just check over the security measures? He likes you. He might do it.”
“I’m surprised you want him. He’s not been exactly warm to you.”
“I don’t want him. But he knows what he’s doing. That’s enough for me. I’d use the devil himself if it meant keeping Barry safe.”