"But I'm more of a realist than you. This would be a finger in the dam. It's a losing battle."

"Not this time." He paused. "I've got a hunch. I believe her."

"Good. Then go get her yourself."

"It may not be that easy. One of my informants told me that she was on the run from Chavez, that she's disappeared." He hesitated. "The word is that she's been captured and is being held in a prison in Belim."

"A prison?"

"It's a government jail, but Chavez bribes the warden to house his special prisoners."

"Then she'll be of no use to you. If she has any evidence, Chavez will have her tortured until she gives it up."

"Chavez is at an important meeting with the Delgado family in Mexico City. She may have a reprieve for a while. I've heard he likes to do his own dirty work."

He sighed. "Don't tell me. Not just a pickup. You want me to bust her out and deliver her to you?"

"It may be necessary."

"Forget it. Stage a DEA raid."

"And have the government yell bloody murder that we were overstepping our position as guests in their country?" He hesitated before adding reluctantly, "Besides, there may be informants in the agency."

"That hurt, didn't it?" Galen said. "Hell, yes, there are informants. When there's that much money floating around, corruption is a fact of life. You're the only DEA man I've ever met that I'd trust without question." He smiled. "You're a throwback to another age. An untouchable. The Eliot Ness of the drug world."

"I don't feel untouchable." Forbes grimaced. "I feel dirty. I've been at this game too long. I want to see something good happen for once. Do this for me, Galen."

"A prison?" Galen shook his head. "Too big a risk. I don't want to lose another man to that son of a bitch. I'm going fishing."

"Think about it. It would be an interesting challenge and a chance to thumb your nose at Chavez." Forbes turned to leave. "I'll call you in a few hours. There may not be much time. I don't know how long Chavez's meetings will last." He stopped at the door and looked back at Galen. His expression told him nothing. Well, he had done all he could. He had thrown everything at him, from saving kids from drug overdoses to revenge against an old antagonist. Was it enough? Galen was one of the toughest bastards he had ever run across and as volatile as a keg of explosives. He would just have to wait and see.

"What do you think?" Logan asked when the door had shut behind Forbes.

"What do I think?" Galen repeated roughly. "I think someone's setting him up. I think Chavez is probably tired of having a man as honest as Forbes after him and is going to stage an ambush."

"Forbes isn't dumb."

"But he's desperate. He wants this too much. He's been in drug enforcement for over twenty-five years and it's the most thankless job on the planet. After all these years Forbes needs to know he's made a difference." He crossed to the window and gazed out at the bay. "Crazy bastard."

"You like him." Logan smiled. "And I think you admire him. You've always had a thing about Don Quixote."

"That doesn't mean I'm going to help him tilt at his damn windmills."

"What's the situation in Colombia now?"

"No better than it's been for the last forty years. The leftist rebels fight the government, the paramilitary fight the rebels and protect villages and sometimes the drug traffickers. The drug lords sit on their thrones and pay off everyone and probably control the entire shooting match."

"And Chavez is head of the drug faction?"

"One of them. After the breakup of the Cali drug cartel, there was no longer a kingpin. The drug trade decentralized into several groups, which was just as profitable and safer. Keeping a low profile and using the Internet is the name of the game these days. Everything's under the table. The only clear fact is that there's hardly anyone in that entire country you can trust. Because almost everyone is on the take."

"It does sound a little suspect that this Elena Kyler would choose Forbes to ask for help."

"That's the only part of this story that makes sense to me. Forbes has turned down promotion after promotion because he doesn't want a desk job that would prevent him from personally tracking down drug suppliers. The DEA respects him and lets him run his own show, and his honesty is legendary among the guerrillas and paramilitary groups in the hills." He smiled crookedly. "Believe me, they know who's corruptible and who's not. He'd be the obvious choice for Elena Kyler-if she was for real."

"Which, of course, she's not." Logan stood up and followed Galen over to the window. "Water looks a little choppy. Maybe it's not a good week to go fishing."

"It looks fine to me. For God's sake, do you know how many extractions I've done in Colombia? The blasted place has more kidnappings than anywhere else in the world. This is not my business, Logan. Hell, Forbes can't even pay me."

"You've got enough money."

"Coming from a billionaire like you, that borders on the ridiculous."

Logan laughed. "It does, doesn't it? Well, I need it more than you do. I have a family to support." His smile faded. "The point is, you want to go."

"The hell I do." He scowled. "It's not my business. It's all a bunch of lies. It's too convenient that Chavez is in Mexico. That so-called evidence is probably bogus. The woman was more than likely bribed to lure Forbes."

"So Elena Kyler is not in that prison cell in Belim?"

"Is that supposed to bring up a pitiful picture and rouse my protective feelings? Bullshit." He stared directly into Logan's eyes. "She's probably shooting up in some luxury flat paid for by Chavez. There's no way Elena Kyler's in that cell in Belim."

Belim

It's only my body, Elena told herself. And I am not my body. I am mind and heart and soul.

"Good." The guard plunged deep inside her, pressing her into the hard concrete cell floor. "Good little whore. You like it, don't you?"

"Yes." I am not my body. I can accept this defilement. It wasn't as bad as the time she was raped, because she'd chosen this. "I like it. You're a bull, Juan."

Block it out. Go to another place, as she had during the rape. No, she couldn't do that. She had to be ready.

I am not my body.

"Christ." He arched with a guttural cry as he released within her.

The moment of greatest weakness.

Now.

She lunged upward with a cry, her arms going around his neck. "Juan!"

He was panting. "I pleased you. I made you come, didn't I?"

Her arms tightened around his neck. "What a man you are." She pulled him back down. "Come here."

"You're holding me too tight." But there was smug satisfaction in his voice. "Give me a little time and I'll be ready ag-"

She gave a twist and broke his neck.

He went limp on top of her. Jesus, he was heavy. She pushed him off and jumped to her feet, then pulled him into the shadows across the cell and draped a blanket around him. No use putting on clothes. As soon as the other guard came, she'd have to lie down with Juan and find a way to lure the man into the cell. He should be here soon. They'd flipped a coin to see who would go first with her and he'd been very disappointed.