" `Yankee Doodle.' Shall I play it for you now?"

"It's the middle of the night."

"I'm not sleepy." His dark eyes were shining with excitement. "You're not sleepy either. I can tell."

"Well, we'd hoth better try to rest. Otherwise we'll be too tired to enjoy the adventure."

"Will you come and lie beside me?"

"For a little while." She moved across the room, knelt by the bed, and laid her head on the pillow. "If you promise to go to sleep."

"I will." He reached out and touched her hair. "You smell better now."

She chuckled. "I suppose I should be glad you were willing to take the risk."

"I don't care." He closed his eyes. "As long as you're here. I missed you, Mama."

"I missed you too."

"And I'm glad we're going on an adventure together. Though you have adventures all the time, don't you? Dominic says when you go away from us, you have adventures-"

"Not like this one. This one is special. Shh, don't talk."

He sighed. "Okay."

His breathing deepened to sleep fifteen minutes later, but she didn't move. Being here next to him was too sweet.

God, she was lucky.

"Tomaco," Gomez said. "I'm sending four men there now."

"She's been sighted?" Chavez asked.

"No, but I've run across a few people who said they've heard of a man, a teacher, who lives there." He paused. "Dominic Sanders. You remember him?"

"I remember him well."

"It seems he's become something of a missionary. He's teaching and caring for the needs of the people in the hills a short distance from Tomaco."

"And the child?"

Gomez shook his head. "No word."

But where Dominic Sanders was, he'd find the boy. Elena had looked on Dominic as almost a second father.

"Should I let you know when I hear something?"

He could feel the blood dancing in his veins. Every instinct was telling him that he was coming close. A man should obey his instincts. "No." He headed for the Land Rover parked by the side of the road. "I'm going to Tomaco myself."

Galen could hear the faint sound of the rotors in the distance.

"They're coming." He shaded his eyes against the brilliance of the rising sun. "Go watch the road, Forbes. Everyone for miles around will hear those rotors. You'd better go get the kid, Dominic."

"I have him." Elena, holding the child's hand, came up behind them, her gaze on the horizon. "You're sure it's them?"

"It's Carmichael." Galen turned to Dominic. "Get your gear. If they manage to land in this wind, we need to be off the ground and out in a few minutes."

"I'm not going."

"What?" Galen said.

Elena turned to Dominic. "You have to go. I told you it wasn't safe for you to stay here."

"And I told you that I've found a purpose here that I haven't anywhere else." He touched the little boy's head. "He won't need me anymore. There are people here who do."

"That's not the reason you're staying. You're going to try to cover our tracks. You're blaming yourself."

"Who else is there to blame?"

"There's no reason for you to feel guilty, dammit. It wasn't your fault."

He shook his head.

"I won't leave you here."

"Yes, you will." Dominic smiled. "Barry has to leave here and you have to go with Barry. Who else will protect him?"

"It's only a matter of time until Chavez finds this place. Someone will tell him that you were taking care of Barry. You know what that means."

"It means I go find another house, not another country."

She whirled on the little boy. "Barry, will you go and get me the little plastic case I left in the bathroom?"

Barry's expression was troubled. "Dominic is going, isn't he, Mama?"

"Of course he's going." She gently pushed him toward the house. "Gret me the case." As soon as he was in the house, she turned back to Dominic. "You've been the only security he's ever known. He needs you. I need you."

"That was difficult for you to say, wasn't it?"

"I said it because I meant it. You've got to come. It's too dangerous for you to-"

"Too much argument." Galen stepped behind Dominic and gave him a quick karate chop to the back of the neck. Dominic grunted, his eyes glazing over. Galen caught him as he started to fall and eased him to the ground.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Elena jumped forward. "If you've hurt him, I'll-"

"I didn't hurt him. Not much." He met her gaze. "And it saved you from doing it. I bet you'd have given him a minute or so more before you chopped him yourself. Now when he wakes up, you can claim innocence." He scowled melodramatically. "It was that no-account Galen who did the deed. A pox on his evil soul."

"You can't be sure that I would-"

"Oh, then you weren't planning on doing it?"

She was silent for an instant and then grudgingly nodded her head. "But that's different."

"I understand perfectly. He's your friend, not mine. You have the right to kidnap him."

"It isn't safe for him to-"

"Carmichael's closer." Galen had turned away and was looking at the sky. "You'd better go get the kid while I give Dominic a shot to keep him under until we get to Medell¡n. Cook up some explanation for Barry why Dominic is going to be sleeping for quite a while."

She glanced at Dominic one more time and then hurried into the house.

"A helicopter," Chavez murmured. "Flying low. Interesting." And possibly detrimental to the hunt. He had thought Elena was alone and desperate, trying to find a cave in which to hide. If she had enlisted the kind of help who could supply a helicopter as an escape vehicle, the balance of power might have seriously shifted.

Gomez ran out of the hut. "I have the directions. Dominic's house is on the mountain road. About twenty minutes from here."

"Then let's get on the move." He lifted the binoculars to his eyes. "Have one of the men get the number on that helicopter and try to trace it." The craft was having difficulty, battered by the strong winds. It would be difficult for it to land.

Bad luck, Elena.

Chapter 3

"He can't make it." Galen watched as Carmichael made the third pass and then turned and headed away from the trees bordering the mountain. He lifted Dominic and put him in the back of the jeep. "Pile in and give me directions to that clearing."

"We should have tried that first." Elena lifted Barry into the passenger seat.

"Hindsight is always better, isn't it? I didn't want to parade you all over the countryside if I didn't have to." He raised his voice and shouted for Forbes.

But Forbes was already running toward him. "Two cars are coming up the mountain. One late-model sedan, one Land Rover."

Galen cursed and turned to Elena. "What are the odds?"

"In this area? The people are as poor as dirt. Most of them don't even have cars. It's got to be Chavez."

"Is there a way of going up and around the mountain without passing them?"

"No, the road runs out before it reaches the top. About five miles from here."

"Dammit. It's still the only way to go. Get in and start driving. Forbes, you sit in back with Dominic." He reached for the radio. "I've got to talk to Carmichael."