*
“There’s been a problem.” Manuel Dorgal hung up the phone. “The helicopter we sent to get Nagoles crashed as he was attempting the pickup. According to the villagers in the area, they think it was shot down.”
“What?” Santos’s hand clenched on his glass. “Nagoles?”
“We don’t know if he was on board or not. There wasn’t much left of anything on the helicopter. Cinders. Nothing but cinders. We know Nagoles hasn’t surfaced anywhere in the area. We haven’t been able to reach him.”
“And we don’t know who shot it down?”
Dorgal shook his head. “No word on the grapevine. Nagoles was our only contact in the area, and he’s disappeared. Maybe CIA? We know that Sullivan was taken away by a CIA agent. It would make sense.” He frowned. “Though I don’t know how they’d manage to get more agents there so soon to track Nagoles.”
“Find out,” Santos said grimly. “And find out whether Nagoles is dead or not. If he’s not, kill him. He’s been targeted, and I can’t afford for him to be forced to answer questions.”
“He doesn’t know that much. You kept him out of the loop after you went to prison.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” he asked harshly. “But Ling is clever. She might be able to tap something, anything, that would give her a hint about where to find me.”
“There’s a solution. You could take her out right now. All you have to do is toss an explosive through a window of her house, and everyone is dead.”
“And admit that I had to hurry the bitch’s death because she’s getting closer to me? Would Delores understand that I stopped short of total victory over the woman who killed her? That I stopped before I could wring every bit of mental and physical pain from Ling?”
“Death is a pretty awesome victory. Delores is dead. You can’t—” Dorgal stopped as he met Santos’s eyes. He forced a smile. “You’re right, of course. We’ll work around the problem. I’ll locate Nagoles or whoever took him down.”
“Yes, you will.” His gaze lifted to the portrait of Delores over the fireplace. “But this is the second time Ling managed to block me. I have to move quickly to make sure that she gets no satisfaction from it.” He reached for his phone, his gaze still on Delores’s smiling face in the portrait. “Which one shall it be?” he whispered. “Which one, Delores?”
*
“What the hell do you mean by going to Joe and not directly to me?” Eve Duncan demanded when Catherine picked up her call the next morning. “Not good, Catherine.”
“Sorry. I had to make a decision on how to protect you as quickly as possible. Joe was my answer.”
“Not a good answer. Though I admit that he’s notified everyone who has a stake in keeping me alive, and they’re rallying around me. But that’s me, not you. This is all about you. You risked your butt to save my life not long ago. Yet you think I’m going hide out in this lake cottage while some drug king tries to kill you?”
“I’m hoping you will. I’m not first on his agenda. Santos is going to go after the people I care about first.” She sighed. “Think of yourself as bait. Joe can spring a trap and save you and me at the same time. Does that work for you?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think it would. But there’s still value in the idea. Talk to Joe about it.” She added firmly, “Because it’s all you can do for me. Stay where you are. I’m not letting anyone who might be a target near me. Santos would love to kill someone I care about in front of me.”
“Yeah, I’ve been doing some research on him. He’s a nasty piece of work.” She paused. “Is Hu Chang with you?”
“Not right now. He’s trying to stave off Erin Sullivan from doing the same thing that you want to do. She’s flying here from Hong Kong.” She paused. “And she’s already been wounded. Apparently, she was next on Santos’s list.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yes, but it could have ended differently. She almost ended up dead. You could end up dead, Eve.” She shivered as she said the words. “Anyone who I care about, anyone I love. I thought I was pretty alone in the world, but I’m finding that I care about a lot of people. And that scares me. Santos has evidently spent a lot of time doing his research. I don’t know where he’ll strike next.”
“Then I should be there to—”
“No, Eve. I don’t need you. I have guards all over the place. Do you think I wouldn’t protect Luke?”
“No.” Eve was silent. “You call and tell me that Hu Chang is back with you, and I might wait. I’ll give you until tomorrow.”
“He may not be back by—”
“Tomorrow.” Eve broke the connection.
Catherine grimaced as she hung up the phone. It was no more than she had expected. It was what Catherine would have done in the same circumstances. But she’d hoped that maybe Joe would be able to keep Eve from acting. Evidently, he’d had some success but not enough.
“Eve is upset?” Sam poured Catherine a cup of coffee before sitting down across the kitchen table from her. “You’re lucky she’s not mounting her trusty steed and riding to rescue you.”
“I think Joe is holding the keys to the stable at the moment.” She lifted her cup to her lips. “But that’s not going to last long. Tomorrow. She doesn’t like the idea that Hu Chang isn’t here.”
“And I’m chopped liver?” Sam asked mockingly. “I’m insulted.”
“You shouldn’t be. Hu Chang left you to guard Luke. That’s a compliment beyond price.”