[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
federal officer. We d like you to depose him. He s going to be out of the country during the trial, and
his testimony will be crucial to our case.
Glory didn t want to talk to Rodrigo. She averted her eyes, thinking furiously. At her side, Kilraven s
big, lean hand slid over hers and clasped it firmly. She glanced up at him and smiled gently. He almost
read her mind sometimes.
The case? Rodrigo bit off. He didn t like the other man touching Glory.
Glory turned back to him. The smile was gone. Which case is it?
The accused is a man named Vernon Redding, Maxwell volunteered. He was obviously puzzled by
the undercurrents. He knew nothing about Rodrigo s connection to the assistant prosecutor.
The Redding case. She thought for a minute. Oh, yes, the smuggling charges. Reg Barton s
handling that one, she said and thought, Thank God! He takes a late lunch, so you can probably find
him at our other office in the courthouse annex right now.
Great. We ll go over there, then. Thanks. Good to see you again, Miss Barnes.
Yes. Same here. She didn t look at Rodrigo. Her hand was still clinging to Kilraven s.
Rodrigo wanted to say more. He was still getting used to the idea that his dowdy ex-wife was this
high-powered, elegant assistant prosecutor. She d hidden this side of her life from him. She wasn t
plain and she wasn t stupid. She obviously had a law degree. She was cultured and she dressed in a
manner that would make any man proud to be seen with her. She was very attractive, with her hair in
that becoming style. But she hated him and had no reservations about expressing it with her eyes. He
felt the chill all over.
It was good to see you again, Rodrigo said quietly.
Was it? Pity I can t return the compliment, she said curtly. I d hoped that I d never have to see you
again as long as I lived.
He hesitated for a minute. Then, with a Latin shrug of his powerful shoulders and a quick glare at
Kilraven, he turned and followed Maxwell out of the courtroom.
Glory sat down quickly. Her heart was going wild. She fought for each breath. Get Haynes, she
whispered.
Kilraven turned and walked briskly out the side door and down the hall. But he didn t have to go after
Haynes, she was running toward him.
She didn t take her medicine this morning! she exclaimed breathlessly.
I know.
They turned and rushed back into the courtroom. Rodrigo had stopped and gone back the minute he
saw the other man rushing out of the room. He watched as Haynes shook medicine out of two bottles
into Glory s hand, and Kilraven poured water from a carafe into a glass at the prosecution table.
Rodrigo frowned. She shouldn t be doing this job, he thought. It was going to kill her. He winced as
he realized how far he d fallen in his desperation to escape her. If he d taken care of her, if he d been
kind to her, the baby might have survived and she might not be looking at him as if she d like to see
him roasting on a spit.
Kilraven looked up. Across the room, the man s pale silver eyes sliced into him. Rodrigo didn t back
away from threats. But this wasn t the time to start more trouble. Glory had obviously had enough for
one day.
He went back to join Maxwell. He was going to see Glory before he left town. There might be a
chance, a small one, to redeem himself before he left the country. He didn t want to go away with her
hating him.
HE D MEANT TO CALL ON her at her apartment that evening, but Jason Pendleton had invited him
to a party and insisted that he come. They were acquaintances. He was curious about the other man s
insistence, but he didn t feel right turning him down. Jason had helped him shut down Fuentes s
operation by giving him the management job at the farm. So he put on his dinner jacket and his
diamond cuff links and drove his high-powered Mercedes to the family mansion.
It was gloriously lighted, inside and out. There was valet parking. He gave the liveried boy his keys
and walked up the semicircular driveway past the fountain to the steps that led to the front door. There
was a Jaguar XKE, racing-green, parked at the door. He recalled seeing that car before, at his
apartment many months earlier. But he dismissed it. There must be dozens of the fast cars in Texas.
He was greeted by Jason and Gracie at the receiving line, and he proceeded down the hallway to the
huge ballroom beyond. It was a gala evening. Thanksgiving was coming up and the house was
decorated in Christmas colors. Jason mused that Gracie would put up a Christmas tree in August if
she could get away with it; she loved the holiday so much. He insisted that she wait until Thanksgiving
for the tree, but she d decorated the ballroom with green and gold and red flowers and garlands,
anyway.
Jason hated company, but he was working on the takeover of a computer software corporation and
this was how he did business. He softened up his quarry by introducing him to Hollywood celebrities
and sports stars at get-togethers like this. It was sound business.
Rodrigo accepted a whiskey on the rocks and nursed it slowly as he moved around. He came upon a
young movie star who d been his date for the premier of her second film in London. She was with a
race car driver tonight, but she smiled at Rodrigo wistfully. She d tried every trick she knew to bed
him, but at the time he d been hoping to persuade Sarina to marry him. The star was clearly attracted
to her handsome escort, but she was still making eyes at Rodrigo. He lifted his glass and toasted her,
but he turned away.
As he turned, he came face-to-face with Kilraven, also in a dinner jacket, looking perfectly at home
among the famous few.
He frowned. There was something so familiar about this man. He didn t seem the sort to work as a
patrolman for a hick police department. He noted that the other man was wearing expensive clothes
and carrying a glass of what looked like iced tea.
No whiskey? Rodrigo asked him suspiciously.
I don t drink.
Now he remembered. The man s aversion to alcohol was almost a mania, and it got him talked about.
His dark eyes narrowed. You were in Peru with us five years ago, he recalled with a bland smile.
Kilraven s dark eyebrows lifted. Us?
Not the DEA, Rodrigo said softly.
Kilraven scowled. He stared at Rodrigo for a long time. Laremos. You were with Laremos.
Rodrigo nodded. You were with a paramilitary unit.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]