No One to Trust - Iris Johansen [55]
“So do I.” She looked back at the hills. “So do I.…”
“They’re not here?” Chavez got out of the car in front of the ranch house. “What do you mean they’re not here? You’ve failed me, Gomez.”
“They were here. There’s fresh food in the refrigerator. Clothes in the closets.” Gomez held out a children’s book. “This was in one of the bedrooms.”
“But they’re gone. She got away again?”
“We checked the barn and the entire area around the house.”
“Damn you.”
Gomez took a hurried step back. “He must have been tipped off.”
“You said that about the vineyard. It was because you didn’t move fast enough.” He looked up at the hills. “Search the foothills.”
“They wouldn’t stay here if they knew we were coming. They’re probably halfway to Portland by now.”
“Search anyway. She was a guerrilla. She’d be comfortable in the hills.”
“We’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning. It’s getting dark. The men I have here aren’t trackers. They’ll only blunder around. We’ll need the daylight.”
Chavez’s hands clenched. “Daybreak. I want every man out there by first light.” He turned to look at the hills.
Are you there, Elena? I’m coming for you, bitch.
He turned toward the house. “I’m going to go through Galen’s personal papers and see if I can come up with anything. Did you check for booby traps?”
Gomez nodded. “It’s safe.”
“Safety is a very fragile thing.” He started up the porch steps. “You might keep that in mind, Gomez.”
“A tall, muscular man, not bad-looking, gray at his temples.” Galen adjusted the powerful binoculars. “Is that Chavez?”
“It sounds like him,” Elena said. “Let me have the binoculars.” She slowly lifted them to her eyes. Jesus, she didn’t want to see him again. She forced herself to look at the man standing on the porch.
Power. Strength. Cruelty.
The mat.
She hurriedly lowered the binoculars. “That’s him.”
“Then you were right: Barry did draw him here,” Galen said. “I wasn’t sure a selfish bastard like him would actually come after the kid.”
“I was sure. Coming after him was all about selfishness. He wants to play God.” Her lips tightened. “Not with my Barry.”
“Easy.” His hand clasped her shoulder. “Your muscles are in knots.”
“How do you expect me to feel?” She drew a deep breath. “When are we going to leave here?”
“Tomorrow morning.” He lifted the binoculars to his eyes again. “I count eight men in those two cars. They seem to be settling down at the house for the night. Remind me to burn the bedsheets when we return. Come on, let’s go back to camp.” He started down the slope. “I’ll check on them again later.”
She took one more glance at the ranch house before she slowly followed him back to the encampment.
Barry was sitting beside Judd Morgan. “Judd’s teaching me how to whittle, Mama. Did you see his big knife?”
She had a memory of that switchblade pressed against Galen’s throat. “Yes, I’ve seen it.”
Judd smiled. “I won’t let him use it. That’s advanced play.” He glanced at Galen. “See anything interesting?”
“What I expected to see. There are a few animals out there. Nothing to worry about, but it wouldn’t hurt for us to take turns on guard.”
“I’ll take first watch,” Elena said.
“I wasn’t going to insult you by leaving you out of it,” Galen said. “But you take second watch. That way you can get Barry to sleep first.” He went over to the cave. “I don’t think we’ll light a fire tonight, so I’ll have to see what I can come up with in the way of cold rations. I’m sure I can concoct something perfectly splendid.”
Galen’s digital phone rang as they were finishing up the meal.
“Where are you, Galen?” A deep voice, heavily accented.
Galen tensed. “Chavez?”
Elena’s gaze flew to his face.
“Yes, I’m getting impatient. I want my son. Give him to me.”
“Screw you.” He got up and moved out of the cave and beyond Barry’s hearing. “You don’t have