No One to Trust - Iris Johansen [67]
He chuckled. “Let’s hope they see things my way.” He kissed the top of her head. “Now, you go for a walk yourself. Look at the lake and the sky, and when you come back you’ll feel better.”
“If you say so.” She stood up and started down the steps. “I’ll give it a try. I wouldn’t want to offend your high-placed friends.”
12
Poor child.
Dominic stared after Elena as she walked down the path. So much torment, so much hurt and … regret. She believed that everyone was answerable for their own lives, but it had always tortured her that she wasn’t able to save Luis from his own actions. She had told Dominic once that if she’d made just one more try it might have been the one that worked. She had always been the responsible one, the carrier of burdens. But she had not been able to carry Luis’s.
Neither had Dominic. Nor had he been able to teach Luis to shoulder his own. Perhaps when they freed him, both Elena and Dominic would have another chance to save his soul as well as his body.
“Where is she going?” Galen asked from the doorway.
“Just for a walk. I thought she needed it.”
“I wish that was all she needed.”
“You’re concerned about her.”
“You’re damn right.” Galen’s voice vibrated with feeling. “What’s wrong with that? Someone has to care whether she lives or dies. She barges in and tries to save a bastard who—Sorry, I know you care about him too. I’ll shut up.”
“Don’t shut up.” He smiled. “Sit down beside me and we’ll talk.”
“Look way down there,” Josie McFee shouted over the sound of the rotors to Barry in the seat behind her. “That’s Disney World. Home of Mickey Mouse.”
Barry eagerly pressed his face to the window. “I see a castle and a—” He turned to Elena. “Is that where we’re going?”
“Not this trip. We have business here, and we thought you might enjoy the helicopter ride.” Elena glanced at Galen in the copilot’s seat. “How far?”
“Another five minutes,” Josie McFee answered for him. “It’s a little far out, but Galen said it’s private. There’s a car waiting at the hangar.” She smiled at Barry again. “I hear you’re going to wait with me in the copter. Maybe we could do a little sightseeing.”
“Mama?”
She shook her head. “We need Josie to wait for us.”
“Ten minutes and we’ll be back at the airport,” Josie said. “You can’t even drive to Kissimmee in that time.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Dominic said.
She supposed it would be all right for Dominic and Barry to leave the airport for such a short time. It would keep Barry from becoming bored and fidgety. It was just weird to think of pleasure excursions in connection with their mission here. But it was no more weird than being forced to bring a child on that same mission. “Ten minutes.”
“Right,” Josie said. “Trust me. I have grandchildren of my own. I’ll give him a bang-up tour.”
She did trust the woman. It was strange that she would feel so at ease with a woman she had just met, but Josie McFee inspired confidence. She was a woman in her fifties with graying hair, a plump build, and an animated manner. “I’m sure you will. Just don’t drop down too close to that castle.”
“No danger,” Galen said. “This entire city is controlled by Disney, including the airspace. They’re very sensitive to anything that would disrupt the family fun.”
“We’re going down.” Josie banked the helicopter. “We’ll be on the ground in a couple minutes.”
It seemed less than that when the helicopter settled on the tarmac.
“There’s the car. I’ll go check it out. Wait here.” Galen jumped out of the aircraft and ducked beneath the whirring rotors to run toward the hangar.
“Want to sit up front with Josie?” Dominic asked Barry. “You can see better.”
Barry’s face lit up. “Could I?”
“Sure,” Josie said. “Come ahead.”
Dominic was already out of the copter and lifting Barry into the copilot’s seat. “There you go.” He fastened the seat belt. “Now, you pay attention to everything Josie does and maybe you’ll learn how to fly this bug.”
Barry’s gaze was eagerly wandering over the controls. “Wow. It looks like a spaceship.”
“Not quite.