“I’ll take care of it.” Logan got into the front passenger seat. “Have you heard from Galen?”
“He’s at the facility. He said you’d want to start out right away.”
“He’s right.” He looked at the sky, which was already darkening to twilight. “But we should probably wait until morning. Did you hear any more from Rudzak?”
“Not since I left the money where he told me.” He glanced sideways at Logan. “But he has informants everywhere. He’s probably got someone watching us now.”
“Then let’s get moving.”
Castleton started the car. “The dog’s a dead giveaway. He’ll know you’re trying to find Bassett. He has contacts who can trace—”
“That’s why we have to move quickly.”
“Did you get the supplies on the list I made out?” Sarah asked.
Castleton frowned. “What supplies? I didn’t receive any list.”
“Galen has the supplies, Sarah,” Logan said. “I had Margaret call him while he was on the road and give him your list.”
“I don’t like bringing a woman into this.” Castleton looked over his shoulder at Sarah. “Has Logan explained how dangerous this situation is? I hope you know what you’re getting into.”
She didn’t really know anything, dammit. “Thanks for your concern, but we’ll be okay.” Although Castleton wasn’t making her feel any better. And the heat . . . it was going to make the search twice as difficult. It was hard to breathe and Monty was already panting. She reached down and stroked Monty’s head. “I think it’s time for a clip, boy.”
“We don’t have time,” Logan said.
“I’m not suggesting taking him to a groomer. I’ll do it myself.” Her lips thinned. “I won’t take him into the jungle until he’s more comfortable. He’s a long-haired dog and we don’t know how much time this search will take.”
“If it takes enough time for the heat to cause him a problem, then we’re in trouble.”
“It’s causing him trouble now. I’m clipping him.”
Logan opened his mouth to protest and then thought better of it. “Okay, we’ll work around it.”
“You bet we will.” She looked out the window. They’d turned onto a bumpy dirt road and the jungle foliage was crawling over the road, encroaching on both sides of the car. It was not only the weather that was oppressive. “Who is this Galen? Another employee?”
Logan nodded. “Sort of a freelance agent.”
“Sort of?”
“We’re here.” Castleton turned a curve in the road and then screeched to a halt to avoid hitting the man standing in the middle of the road. “What the hell! Are you crazy, Galen?”
“That’s been debated for decades.” He grinned at Logan. “What am I going to do with you? You’re always late. I have dinner on the table.”
“You almost caused me to run off the road.” Castleton turned off the ignition. “I wasn’t expecting you to—”
“I didn’t think there’d be any real danger. This is private property and you’re the cautious type, Castleton. I knew you’d be meandering along at a snail’s pace.” He opened the back door of the car and gave a low whistle as he saw Monty on the floor. “Ah, the recipient of the dog biscuits in my backpack. I admit I’m a little disappointed. I thought they might be for you, Logan. I was hoping you’d acquired more adventurous tastes. Remember when you refused to eat those delicious grubs in that Maori settlement in—”
“This is Sean Galen,” Logan interrupted. “Sarah Patrick and her dog, Monty.”
“Delighted.” Galen smiled as he helped her out of the car. He was in his mid- to late thirties, a little over medium height, with a lithe and athletic body. His dark hair was cut close, but it persisted in curling and his eyes were as dark and irrepressible as his hair. Energy emanated from him in waves. “Do you like ham and macaroni casserole?”
British? He had a faint cockney accent. “Yes.”
“Good. That’s what’s for dinner.” He glanced down at Monty. “I might sneak some to you too. That dog food and vitamins I brought don’t look awe-inspiring.”
“So much for adventurous dining,” Logan murmured.
“Well, I didn’t know about the lady, but Castleton didn’t impress me as being anything but a meat-and-potatoes man.” He strode off to the side of the road. “This way. I set up camp some distance from those ruins. They depressed me.”
For the first time, Sarah’s gaze turned to the burned-out facility a few hundred yards ahead. She had been so filled with anger, worry, and resentment, she hadn’t really thought about the people who had lived and died here. All those promising lives cut off by assassins’ bullets . . .
“See? The lady’s getting depressed too,” Galen said. “Come on, Castleton. You can help me dish up.”
“I have to get back to town.”
“After dinner. Do you want to hurt my feelings?”
“I should . . .” Castleton shrugged and then followed Galen into the brush.
She stood looking after them for a moment. She felt as if she were being swept away and she wasn’t sure she liked it.
“It’s okay.” Logan took her elbow. “He won’t poison you. Galen’s actually a gourmet cook.”
“In the middle of the jungle?”
“In the middle of a hurricane. He adapts to any situation.”
“I wasn’t afraid of his poisoning me. He just surprised me.”
“I can understand the feeling.” He pushed her gently toward the side of the road. “He’s surprised me a few times.”
They were obviously old and good friends. “The grubs?”
“He didn’t tell you I actually ate the damn things. He backed me in a corner where I had to do it or insult the Maoris.”
“Just what are grubs?”
“Larvae. And they look disgustingly like worms.”
“I thought so.” She smiled. “I think I’m beginning to like your Mr. Galen.”
“I thought that story would endear him to you.” He was silent a moment. “You can trust him, Sarah. If anything happens to me, do what he says and he’ll get you out.”
She felt a chill she tried to ignore. “I’m not used to trusting anyone else to take care of me. Just what does he do for you?”
“I suppose you might call him a problem solver.”
“Problems like this?”
“It’s his specialty. So don’t feel bad about letting him take over if things get rough.”
“Do you let him take over?”
“Hell, yes.”
She gazed at him skeptically. “I can’t see you trusting anyone but yourself.”
“I learned a long time ago how to delegate.” He smiled. “Why else would I have gone after you?”
“I don’t see you stepping aside and turning me loose to do my job.”
“In spite of what you think of me, I can’t shrug off responsibility.”
“How long have you known Galen?”
“Fifteen years or so. I met him when I was in Japan. He was fresh out of the service and working for a local businessman.”
“So you hired him away?”
“At that point in my life I couldn’t afford him. I was struggling to keep a fledgling business afloat. We became involved in several projects together in the next few years. Then, when I began having personal problems, he helped me out.”
What kind of personal problems? she wondered. She wasn’t about to ask. She didn’t want to know anything about his personal life. She just wanted to do the job and walk away. “And he’s worked for you ever since?”
“On occasion.” They had come into the clearing where Galen had set up camp. To her amazement, there was a table beside the fire with a damask tablecloth and colorful china. “What the hell?”
Galen looked up and grinned. “My mum always told me that you should never use a picnic as an excuse for ignoring the finer things in life.”
“And you think this job is going to be a picnic?”
&
nbsp; “It depends on how you look at it.”
“How do you intend to transport all this stuff?”
“I don’t. It’s disposable. Isn’t everything?”
“No.”
He raised his brows. “Good. It’s refreshing to meet someone who’s not a cynic.” He carefully dished up the macaroni. “Tell me, Logan, do these squiggly bits of pasta remind you of grubs?”
The casserole was excellent and the coffee Galen served afterward was even better. “I’m sorry, there’s no dessert. Next time perhaps.” He lifted a brow. “Are you going to wash up, Castleton? It’s only fair.”
Castleton got to his feet. “I have to get back to town. I’ve got to make final arrangements to get our people out of the hospital. Thanks for the meal. It was really very good.”
Galen made a face. “Words of praise don’t get those dishes done.”
Logan stood up. “I’ll walk you to the car, Castleton. There’s something I want you to do for me.”
“Sure.” Castleton turned to Sarah. “Take care of yourself. Good luck.”
“Thank you.”
She watched Castleton and Logan stroll across the glade and into the trees, then she stood up and began stacking the plates.
“Sit down and have another cup of coffee,” Galen said. “I was joking.”
“I’m not. Fair is fair.”
“Right. And you said you have to clip the pup.” He nodded at Monty. “That’s going to be quite a job with all that golden fluff. I want you to get some sleep tonight.”
“It won’t take that long. Monty’s very good.”
“Clip the pup,” he said firmly as he took the dishes from her. “You might break my fine china.”
“It’s plastic.”
“Oh, you noticed? The catalogue swore no one would be able to tell the difference.”
She smiled. “They took you, Galen.”
“The story of my life. Do you want me to get your clippers for you? They’re in a backpack, along with all your supplies.”
She wasn’t going to win this one. In spite of Galen’s easygoing manner, it was clear he also had a streak of iron. “I’ll get them.”
“That was quite a list you gave Logan.”
She knelt and rummaged in the backpack. “I had to leave without my equipment. You got all the bottled water? I can’t have Monty getting sick.”
“So the water is all for Monty?”
“Most of it. I can get along on less than he can.” She sat down beside Monty. “Come on, boy. Let’s get this stuff off you.”
He sighed and rolled over on his stomach.
Galen chuckled. “You’re right, he’s good with it. Nice dog.”
“Do you have any pets?”
He shook his head. “I’m on the move too much. I had a parrot once, but I gave him away. He was abusive and my ego couldn’t take it. Now, your Monty would never be abusive.”
“Don’t count on it.”
“Well, not verbally. He might lift his leg on something he shouldn’t.”
She nodded. “He always makes his displeasure known.”
“But you’re obviously soul mates. How long have you had him?”
“Four years. He was a year old when I saw him at the ATF training school.” She smiled reminiscently. “He’d just flunked out of guide dog school and ATF picked him up.”
“He flunked out?”
“Not because he wasn’t smart enough,” she said defensively. “He would just get distracted and that could have been a danger.”
“Attention deficit disorder?”
“It’s his nose. He was only a puppy and his sense of smell is probably the keenest ATF has ever run across. When he’s constantly bombarded with scents, it’s natural that he’d become distracted.”
He held up his hands. “I didn’t mean to insult your dog. I have too much respect for dogs. I’ve seen them work during combat conditions and I’d rather have one of them as a buddy than anyone on two legs.”
“Sorry. I overreacted. Roll over, Monty.” She started clipping his belly. “You have an accent. English?”
“I was born and raised in Liverpool.”
“Logan says you met years ago in Japan.”
He nodded. “When we were both young and green. Well, younger and greener. I was hard as nails and Logan was no pussycat even before Chen Li died.”
“Chen Li?”
“His wife. She died of leukemia a few years after I met Logan. Not an easy death and not an easy time for him either. He was crazy about her.”
Personal problems. Yes, that would be classified as personal problems. She wished she hadn’t asked the question that had led to this revelation. So he’d had a tragedy in his life. Life was full of hard knocks. She would not feel sorry for him, dammit. “I’m sure he was able to handle it.”
“Oh, yes, he handled it.” Galen finished washing the last plate. “It turned him a little nuts for a while and then the scars formed and he was okay. We batted around the Pacific for about a year before he went back to Tokyo.”
“That’s when you introduced him to grubs?”
He smiled. “No, that was later. After the first edge had dulled. He would have broken my neck if I’d tried that the first year after Chen Li died.” He looked at Monty appraisingly. “He looks like a big yellow bear without all that hair.”
“At least he’s cooler.” She sat back on her heels and began to pick up the shorn hair on the ground. “I wonder where Logan is. He’s been gone longer than I thought.”
“He might have walked over to the ruins after he left Castleton.” He frowned. “Nasty. They must have been like sitting ducks for Rudzak.”
She shivered. “Why would he go there?”
“Maybe he didn’t. But I’d bet on it. Logan feels very bad about what happened here. Perhaps he’s trying to make some sense of it.”
“I can’t see Logan being that sensitive.”
“But then, you don’t want to see him like that, do you?” He wiped his hands on a towel. “Never mind. I’m bored with all this meaningful chatter. It offends my shallow soul. I need a bit of mindless recreation before I hit the sack. Do you play poker?”
“Why did you want to come back here?” Castleton swallowed hard as he glanced around the charred ruins. “God, it’s hard for me. We’re not going to find anything. I told you I’d retrieved every bit of information that wasn’t destroyed. I didn’t slip up, Logan.”
“I believe you. I know how efficient you are.” He didn’t look at Castleton as he knelt and picked up a scorched wooden box. “What do you suppose was in this?”
“I don’t know. Computer disks, maybe.”
Logan was silent a moment. “Four dead. Carl Jenkins, Betty Krenski, Dorothy Desmond, Bob Simms. Did you know Betty Krenski was trying to adopt an HIV baby from an orphanage in South Africa?”
“Yes, but I didn’t know that you did.”
“She asked for my help. She said that someone had to care for those children. I tried to talk her out of it. Assuming responsibility for a baby with HIV is a heart-breaker.”
“But you agreed to help her?”
“People have to make their own decisions. We can influence but we can’t dictate. I told her if she still wanted to do it at the end of the year, I’d help her.”
“I wish she’d gone through me. It was my job to take care of personal problems.”
“Did you think I stopped being responsible for the people I sent down here when I hired you?”
“You’re a busy man.”
“Not that busy. This was a very special project to me. I read every one of their dossiers when you hired them, and I can quote passages from your monthly reports. I never met those people, but I felt as if I had.”
“They were all good people. No one knows that better than me.” Castleton paused. “I don’t mean to be unsympathetic, but I have to go. I can’t do anything about the people who were killed, but I can get those wounded into a hospital in the States.”
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“Yes, I know. You’re in a hurry.” He stood up. “And coming here must upset you.”
“Why are we here?” Castleton repeated.
“I thought it fitting. Galen says I have no sense of ceremony or protocol, but that’s not quite true. Not when it comes to this particular business.”
“What business? What did you want me to do, Logan?”
“Just die.” He whirled and smashed the ball of his hand upward under Castleton’s nose, splintering the bones and driving them into his brain.
4
“Done?” Galen was standing in the middle of the path as Logan strode through the trees toward the campsite.
Logan nodded.
“What about disposal?”
“No one will find him.”
He gazed at Logan curiously. “It’s been a long time since you did a job like this. Did it bother you?”
“No.”
“Not even a little? You’ve been a respectable businessman so long, I’d think you’d find it hard to revert to the old ways.”
Logan’s lips twisted. “I enjoyed it.”
“I don’t like traitors either. I told you I’d do it for you.”
“I know. But it was my job. I chose him. If I’d kept a closer eye on Castleton, maybe I’d have sensed he’d turn Judas.” His face darkened as he glanced over his shoulder. “All those lives . . .”
“It was probably a crime of opportunity. Castleton might have walked the straight and narrow if Rudzak hadn’t tempted him.”
“How tempting was it?”
“Sanchez said he was paid one million for helping them set up the attack on the facility, and he was to get another two when he lured you into the trap. How did you guess Castleton was in Rudzak’s pay?”
“I didn’t guess. I was just exploring every possibility. Castleton was conveniently in town when the attack occurred. I started from there. It could have been coincidence, but I couldn’t take a chance on coincidence in a situation like this. I had to make sure. If he was dirty, then the lead he gave me to Sanchez would be bogus. Sanchez would be set up to give me the wrong information on how to find Rudzak, and I’d be led down the garden path straight into a trap. That’s why I sent you to Sanchez.”