Then he was gone, skirting both the dance floor and the blond as he made his way to the entrance of the club.
“You’re right. He’s very unusual,” Serena said with a thoughtful frown as she gazed after Rodriguez. “But I think I like him.”
“Most women do,” Gideon said dryly. “Most men, too, for that matter. Probably the reason he’s one of my best friends is that when Julio’s around, I’m never bored. Are you ready to leave?”
“In a minute.” Her gaze lowered to rest on the glass of wine in front of her. “Who is Alessandra?” She could feel his gaze on her face, but she refused to look up. “Or isn’t it any of my business?”
“I don’t have any business that’s not your business,” Gideon said softly. “We were talking about Alessandra Karpathan. Perhaps you’ve heard of her.
Heaven knows her wedding to Sandor Karpathan and his election to the presidency of Tamrovia were all over the papers a year ago.”
Her glance lifted to his in surprise. “I remember seeing something about it at the time. What was she doing in Castellano?”
“It seems that the lady has a pet charity project. She visits oppressed and war-torn countries and sets up a distribution chain of money and food to needy children. She usually chooses someone with contacts, but no close political affiliations, to carry out the distribution.” His lips twisted wryly. “I was perfectly willing to go along with her plans, but she picked a damnably inconvenient time to make her appearance. I could hardly wait to get rid of her the afternoon you arrived.”
Serena felt a rush of relief as she realized the woman Gideon had escorted to her limousine that afternoon was not a lover, but a partner in a charitable enterprise. She hadn’t admitted even to herself until this moment how the shadowy memory of the magnificently sensual woman had bothered her. “I think I caught sight of her for a moment on the patio. She’s very attractive.”
“Yes, and she has a mind like a steel trap.” Gideon’s tone was abstracted as he stood up. “I think we’d better leave now. I have a few arrangements to make with Ross by phone before we meet Julio.”
Serena quickly rose. “I’ll go change and meet you in the lobby in fifteen minutes.”
Gideon nodded. “Fine. I’ll change after I make my call and see about finding a gun. I haven’t needed one since the early days on Castellano.”
“You don’t have to get one for me. I brought a thirty-two revolver with me. I packed it in a suitcase I checked through. The customs officer in Castellano just waved me through.”
He looked a little startled. “Do you always take a gun with you when you travel?”
“Rarely. These circumstances were a bit different,” she said calmly. “But I always keep one at the cottage and you’ll find I’m moderately competent. I’ve been a woman on my own for a good many years. It was only sensible to learn how to protect myself.”
Gideon took her elbow and began to propel her across the dance floor toward the entrance. “Very sensible.”
“Then why were you so shocked?”
“I guess I’m not so much shocked as uneasy,” he said thoughtfully. “It reminded me how much we still have to learn about each other. I seem to have known you forever, yet we’ve only just scratched the surface.” His clasp tightened on her arm. “Well, I imagine we’ll find out a hell of a lot more about each other once we get back to Castellano. A situation like this one has a way of stripping us bare of all our protective barriers. And maybe that won’t be such a bad thing.”
Six
“What in heaven’s name is wrong, Gideon?” Serena asked. She had been conscious of the tension radiating from Gideon ever since they had landed in a tiny glade in the middle of the rain forest. At first, she had paid little attention to it; she had been pretty tense herself, and the heavy blackness of the junglelike forest hadn’t helped to alleviate it. But the emotion gripping Gideon was somehow … different, and seemed to be increasing every second as they followed Julio through the tropical foliage.
“Nothing.” Gideon’s voice was hoarse, oddly tight. “I just don’t happen to care for this kind of terrain. It brings back too many memories of Nam.” He drew a deep, shuddering breath. “I can’t breathe here. Where the hell is Julio going?”
The air was unquestionably hot and humid, but Serena was having no trouble breathing. She slipped her hand into Gideon’s in silent support.
“Who knows? But I’m willing to follow him nearly anywhere after that landing. I was sure he was going to crack up. That field was hardly larger than a postage stamp.”
Gideon nodded. “He’s a fantastic pilot. Let’s hope he’s an equally fantastic guide. We don’t have time to get lost in this damn forest.”
“You malign me,” Julio said reproachfully. He was leaning against the bole of a huge rain tree a few yards ahead of them. He flicked the beam of his flashlight up to see their faces. “You should know by now that I’m fantastic at anything I turn my hand to, Gideon. I know exactly where we are.”
“Good, then you can tell me when we’re going to get out of this damn rain forest,” Gideon said.
The smile left Julio’s face. “I’m sorry, Gideon, I forgot about Na Peng. This forest was the safest place for the two of you to wait, until I could contact Ross. Shall we scratch it, and go on to the fishing village instead?”
“No.” Gideon’s hand unconsciously tightened on Serena’s. “That would be criminally self-indulgent of me. Just get us out of here as soon as you can.”
“I will. Wait here.” Julio disappeared behind a bank of thick shrubbery and immediately emerged with a ladder. He set it against the rain tree and turned to face them. “Climb up and make yourself comfortable. I’ll go on to the village and meet with Ross. I should be back in a few hours.”
“Make ourselves comfortable in a tree?” Serena asked blankly.
Julio chuckled. “I forgot to tell you there was a tree house behind those overhanging branches. Kate and I built it when we first came to Castellano. I assure you it’s quite habitable. Kate even lived there for a while. For the past two years we’ve been using it as a refuge for political prisoners we managed to rescue from the hands of the junta. Sometimes it was days before it was safe to land a plane and get them off the island.” He turned away. “Be sure you close the shades before you light the lamp. The foliage of the rain tree is fairly dense, but you don’t want to take the chance of being seen.” The last words were barely audible as Julio faded into the forest. Dressed in dark jeans and a black flight jacket, he immediately became one with the shadows. Serena would never have believed that the colorful Julio she had first seen at the hotel could be so quickly transformed into the competent, businesslike pilot who had met them at the airport on Santa Isabella only a few hours earlier. Ross was right. The man was an enigma.
She turned back to face the ladder propped against the tree. “Well, I’ve always wanted to have a tree house. Let’s see if Julio’s fulfills all our childhood fantasies.”
Gideon didn’t answer and she cast him an anxious glance as she began to climb the ladder. The force field of tension surrounding him had taken on added dimension, and his palm had felt cold and clammy before she had released it to grasp the rungs of the ladder.
Serena stepped from the ladder onto a platform, and crossed the few feet to the tree house. The door swung open on well-oiled hinges and she peered inside. Though the room was small, the ceiling was high enough for a tall man to stand upright. The beam of Serena’s flashlight skimmed quickly around the room. The furnishings were very simple. Mattresses, one pushed against the far wall and the other beneath the window by the door, a rattan chest on which a hurricane lamp had been placed, and a nightstand on the far side of the room beside the mattress. Touching attempts at decoration appeared here and there. There was a polished black vase on the nightstand, and another tall vase occupied a corner. Both vases were empty, as were the rattan holders affixed to the unfinished walls. The denim covers on the mattresses appeared to be prist
ine, and an air of warm coziness pervaded the tiny room. Strange, considering the sparseness of furniture. It should have appeared stark and bare, but this was not the case. She felt as if all it would take would be a little care, and this small haven would come to life. Something warm and loving lingered here. “I like it.” The cone of light played on the woven hemp shutters at the large window next to the door. “I guess I should leave the shutters closed, if we’re going to light the lamp.”
“No!” Gideon’s voice was sharp. “We don’t need the lamp. There’s no air in here.” He strode past her into the room and threw open the shutters. “Turn off the flashlight. There’s enough moonlight filtering through the branches to see our way around the room.” He stood there a minute at the window and inhaled several times, as if his lungs were starved for oxygen. Then he sat down on the mattress closest to the window, drawing up his knees and wrapping his arms around them. “Come and sit down.”
Gideon was correct. The moonlight was bright enough to reveal all Serena wanted to see and a few things that she didn’t. Gideon’s skin was stretched tight over his cheekbones and his lips were set in a flat line. “Would you like me to leave the door open?” she asked gently.
He was silent for a moment, as if he were undergoing a struggle. “If you wouldn’t mind.” There was a thread of desperation in his laughter. “Damn, I’m sorry. I know I’m being stupid.”
“No!” She crossed the distance separating them and dropped down on the mattress beside him. His arm immediately went around her and she cuddled closer. “You’re not being stupid at all. It’s very close in here. This is much nicer.”
“Yes.” His chest was lifting and falling with the harshness of his breathing.
“Would it help to talk about it?” she asked quietly. “Na Peng, I mean.”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” His voice was unutterably weary. “I’ll have to tell you sometime. It’s part of me, and it’s not fair to shut you out.”
“I don’t want you to tell me if it’s going to be difficult for you.”
“Easy or difficult, it doesn’t matter. You have the right.” He closed his eyes, his breathing was shallow. “Na Peng was a prison camp. I was captured and held there for five months. It was … hideous. The atrocities were unbelievable, not only on the military prisoners but on the Vietnamese civilians.” He took a breath and hurried on as if he wanted to get it out. “There was a little Vietnamese girl … she couldn’t have been more than fourteen. I don’t know what she was supposed to have done, but they made us come out into the middle of the compound and watch her punishment. They killed her infant son before her eyes and then took turns raping her.” His voice lowered to a tone scarcely audible. “She died the next day.”
“My God,” Serena whispered. She felt sick. Her arms slid around his waist and held him close.
“I escaped the next month, but I didn’t find my way back to our lines for another three weeks.” He tried to smile. “And now you know why I don’t particularly like rain forests.”
But he hadn’t accepted Julio’s alternate plan when it had been offered, Serena thought, and it had probably been because of her that he had refused. “Gideon—” Her voice broke. “Why the hell didn’t we go with Julio?”
“No, it’s okay. We have to fight these bushwhackers, remember? If we let them beat us, they hold on forever and we’re never safe.” He opened his eyes and she could see the moisture as it beaded on his forehead and then rolled down his face. “Just hold me, please?”
“Yes.” She was aching, bleeding inside. Julio, dammit, get back here, she thought desperately. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“It’s all around us. That’s what’s so bad. Even with my eyes closed, I can hear the night sounds and see …”
They stayed like that for an eternity, holding each other. At least, it seemed like an eternity to Serena. Gideon spoke in fragments, but those fragments drew vivid and heart-wrenching pictures and finally he didn’t speak at all. He just sat there and held her as if she were a life preserver thrown out onto a stormy sea.
“It’s me.” Julio’s voice was blessedly cheerful as he called up to them from the ground. “I didn’t think I’d risk getting a karate chop when I walked into the house, in case you thought it was the guardia that had stumbled on you.”
Serena breathed a sigh of relief. Oh, thank heaven, now Gideon could get out of here.
Gideon’s arms loosened and then dropped away from her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to be a burden to you.”
She kissed him quickly, passionately. “Now you are being stupid.”
“I seem to be constantly requiring comfort,” he said with a crooked smile. “It’s a good thing I don’t have a particularly macho image of myself, or I’d be having serious ego problems at the moment.”
“I’ve always hated that macho nonsense,” Serena said. “And comfort should always go two ways.”
“I think so too.” There was a hint of sadness in his smile. “I think everything should be shared.”
It was clear his words pertained to more than the present situation. She frowned in concern. “Gideon, I know—”
“Why are you sitting in the dark?” Julio stood in the doorway, the beam of his flashlight spot-lighting the two of them. “It’s time to get moving, Gideon. I brought Ross with me. He’s waiting down below.”
Serena scrambled to her feet. “Let’s go.”
Julio glanced at Gideon. “According to what Ross told me, I don’t think you and I are included in Gideon’s initial plan.”
“Why not?” Serena’s gaze went to Gideon.
Gideon stood up. “Ross and I have to do some preliminary wrangling with Mendino over the ransom.” He didn’t look at her. “We don’t want the good colonel to become upset, do we? Once we have the situation set up, Julio can storm in for the big rescue.” He grinned. “Julio’s very good at flamboyant gestures.”
“I want to go with you,” Serena insisted.
Gideon shook his head. “Your presence would only complicate things. This little transaction won’t take long. With any luck, it should be over by dawn. Julio will stay here with you until then.”
“You’re sure this is how you want to play it?” Julio asked gravely.
“I’m sure.” Gideon turned to Serena and kissed her lingeringly. “Don’t let this shameless philanderer seduce you. He’s not safe when a woman and a mattress are in the same room.”
Julio chuckled. “You insult me. Who needs a mattress? Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her, Gideon.”
“I know you will.” Gideon gave her another quick kiss. “Good-bye, love.”
She opened her lips to protest again, but he was gone. She stared into space. There was something wrong, something about the way …
“It will be all right,” Julio said comfortingly. “Gideon can take care of himself.”
Her gaze flew to his face. “Why should he have to take care of himself? He said this was merely a negotiation.”
“You’re jumping at shadows.” Julio moved to the window and closed the shutters. “It will be over soon. All we have to do is keep ourselves amused for a few hours.” His white teeth gleamed as he smiled. “And, since Gideon is my friend, it eliminates the most obvious and pleasurable pastime.” He crossed the room to the rattan chest, lit the hurricane lamp, and then turned off his flashlight. He held the lamp out to her. “Hold this, will you? There’s a pack of cards in the chest.” He lifted the lid and glanced back over his shoulder. “We’ll play poker and get to know each other. Alas, not in the biblical sense.” He chuckled. “And perhaps I’ll tell you all about the woman who lived in this little house.”
“You climb the damn tree. I’m going back to Mariba!”
It was Dane’s voice!
Serena tossed the cards she had been shuffling onto the mattress and jumped to her feet. “He got him out! It’s Dane, Julio! Gideon managed to get him released. I can’t believe it.” She tore across the roo
m and flung open the door. “Isn’t this wonderful?”
Julio hesitated. “Wonderful.”
Serena teetered on the edge of the platform, peering down into the darkness. “Dane, come up here! I want to see you.”
There was a short silence then Dane said grudgingly, “Okay, I’m coming up.”
Serena backed a few paces to make room on the platform. Then Dane’s curly black head appeared in the pool of lamplight issuing from the tree house. Oh thank heavens, he was all right! His expression was a bit stormy, but he wasn’t hurt or … She hurled herself into his arms and hugged him with all her strength. “Damn you, Dane, I hope this will teach you something. The next time someone offers you a bacchanalian revel, check for strings, you idiot.”
“There weren’t any strings,” he protested. “And I had a helluva good time, until that ass Mendino turned into a minor Hitler.” He gave her a quick hug and pushed her away. “Thanks for riding to the rescue anyway.” He scowled. “And now that you’ve seen I’m all right, I’m going back to Mariba. I never would have left, if I’d known about the damned deal. I had my party and I’ll pay the piper.”
“What deal are you talking about?” Serena asked.
“I’m going back for Gideon Brandt,” Dane growled. “What do you all think I am? An irresponsible kid? I told you, I had my fun and I’ll be the one to pay for it.”
Serena went still. “What do you mean, go back for Gideon?”
“Gideon stayed in Mariba,” Ross said as he negotiated the last few rungs of the ladder and stepped onto the platform. “He made a deal with Mendino. He promised him another two hundred thousand in ransom, if he’d let Dane go and accept him as hostage instead.”
She was terrified. “Why?” Her lips felt numb and her voice sounded wooden. “We were going to free Dane anyway. Julio was— ”