"Boise?"

"We fly into Boise and then get a puddle-jumper to Lasiter. My ranch is fifty miles north. I want you where I can keep an eye on you. I'm not going through this again, if you decide everything is going too slowly."

"What about Peter?"

He turned at the door. "What about him? He has a home. He tells me his father is his legal guardian."

"His father sent him to that place. He might send him back."

"And he might not. Why should you care? He'll only be in your way in this grand quest for vengeance. I thought that was all that mattered to you."

"You've been with him long enough to realize Peter isn't normal."

"You mean he's mildly retarded."

"I mean he has the mind of a child. He's ... helpless."

He met her gaze and repeated deliberately, "Why should you care?"

She lost her temper. "Because I do, dammit. Do you think I want to assume responsibility for him? He just happened. He helped me and I can't leave him. His father doesn't want him. He's the mayor of a small town in Mississippi and I think Peter is an embarrassment to him. I won't let him go back there."

"I didn't think you could. I made a reservation on the plane for him."

Her eyes widened. "You did?"

"But I don't want any kidnapping charges levied at me. Peter's only seventeen. His father is one of the calls I have to make."

"Do you think you can convince him to-"

"I'll convince him. I'll tell him if he causes any trouble, we'll give a nice little story to the newspapers describing how the honorable mayor put his retarded son in Obanako to get rid of him. We might even do a photo shoot of the place." He smiled sardonically as he opened the door. "Didn't you tell the kid we'd fix it? What else do I live for but to please you?"

"Tanek."

"Yes?"

"Thank you for doing this for me. I know he may be a bother to you."

"I won't let him be a bother." He met her gaze. "And I'm not doing it for you. Most adults can take care of themselves, but it makes me mad as hell when anyone goes after kids."

"Like Tania?"

"Tania was never helpless even when she was younger." He added deliberately, "Not like Jill. If you'd let me, I'd make sure I got Maritz and that it would take him a long, long time to die."

He meant it. She felt a rush of fierce joy as she realized what he felt wasn't only guilt. He was angry and outraged and wanted Jill avenged because it was right and just. She was not alone. She shook her head. "I have to do it."

He nodded curtly and left the room.

Three months was a long time. Too long.

Yet she had to be sure. She couldn't risk being killed before Maritz died. Tanek was part of Gardeaux's world and knew the dangers. He would have moved before this if he'd thought he had a chance.

Three months.

You can spend it getting ready.

If she couldn't convince him to move before that time, that's exactly how she'd spend it-getting ready. Tanek might think he'd isolate her in the wilds until her determination lessened. But it wouldn't happen.

Peter came to her room five minutes later. He was dressed in khaki shorts and a T-shirt that bore the imprint of a grinning alligator wearing a Braves baseball cap. An identical cap perched jauntily on his head. His blue eyes glinted with excitement. "We're going to Nicholas's ranch. Did he tell you?"

"Yes, he told me."

He plopped down on the bed. "He has horses and sheep and a dog named Sam."

"That's nice."

"I've never had a dog. Daddy didn't like the barking."

"Only a snake."

He nodded. "But Nicholas said there are other dogs on the ranch. Sheepdogs that work the herds. He said Jean will let me watch them."

"And who is Jean?"

"His foreman. Jean Etch-" He stopped. "Something. I don't remember."

She smiled indulgently. "But you remember his dog is named Sam."

"No, that's Nicholas's dog, a German shepherd. He doesn't work the sheep. The Border collies work the sheep."

He already knew more about Nicholas's private life than she did, she realized in amusement. "I'm surprised you didn't ask all their names too."

"That was last night. Nicholas told me to shut up and go to sleep."

When she remembered Tanek's mood last night, she was surprised he'd answered any of Peter's questions. Or that Peter had the nerve to ask him. "I'm sure he didn't mean to be unkind."

"Unkind?" He looked at her in bewilderment. "You mean mad? He wasn't mad anymore. He just wanted to go to sleep."

And he had evidently been very patient with Peter. A quality she had not seen Tanek display. "And you don't mind leaving your home?"

His smile faded a little, and he looked away from her. "I don't mind. I'd rather be with you and Nicholas."

"Peter ... I can't promise you that-It may not be-" She broke off as she saw his expression.

"I know," he said quietly. "You may not want me around for long. It's okay."

"I didn't say- Things are difficult. I may have to go away."

"It's okay," he said again. "Everyone goes away. Or they send me away."

She stared at him helplessly.

"But not for a while. Not before I see the dogs?"

Dammit. She swallowed hard and turned away.

"No, not for a long time after that." Three months. Time was relevant. An eternity for her might fly by for Peter. She smiled with an effort. "And maybe we can work out something for you after I go away."

"Maybe." Suddenly his smile returned. "Do you like my cap and shirt? I told Nicholas I liked the Braves."

"It's a great cap and a magnificent shirt." She turned toward the door. "Let's go find Nicholas."

"What have you found out about Simpson?" Nicholas said when Jamie answered the phone.

"He's still missing. His apartment was ransacked. I checked on his lady. She left for Paris two days ago."

"Did you get the photostats of the records I sent you?"

"Yesterday."

"I want you to verify them."

"The account books? I thought you said that it wouldn't do us any good without-"

"Not the account books, the Medas file. If it's accurate, I want you to dig."

"Are you going to tell Nell what you found out?"

"No way."

"If she finds out you're keeping it from her, you'll get a backlash."

An understatement, but he couldn't risk the explosion he knew would come if she found out what was in Simpson's file. "Just follow up on it." A knock sounded on the door. "I have to go. If you find out anything more, contact me at the ranch." He hung up the phone. "Come in."

Peter and Nell came into the room. They looked like two escapees from Disney World. Both young and so damn vulnerable he wanted to scoop them up and put them behind bars to keep them safe. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

"We're ready." Nell made a face. "Providing they'll let us on the airplane in this gear."

Nicholas's glance wandered from slim, shapely legs to breasts outlined by the soft material of the T-shirt. He felt a ripple of familiar heat.

Christ, not now. Not this woman.

He turned away abruptly and reached for his duffel bag on the bed. "Oh, I don't think there's any doubt they'll let you board the plane." He headed for the door. "But the flight attendant may want to give you a pair of Mickey Mouse ears and a coloring book."

Ten.

"Another fence?" Nell asked as Tanek got out of the Jeep and moved toward the gate. "That's three. You do believe in security."

"I believe in staying alive. This is the last one." He punched a combination into the lock on the gate. The gate swung noiselessly open. "It's electric and surrounds the house and stable area." He glanced at Peter in the backseat. "Stay away from the fence, Peter. It will give you a shock."

He frowned. "Does it hurt the dogs?"

"Sam knows better than to touch it, and the livestock and outbuildings are on another part of the property outside the fences. This is only the homestead. The actual working ranch is the Bar X, several miles north of here."

"That's good." He went back to staring eagerly out the window. "It looks ... funny out there."

Nell knew what he meant. In the distance the Sawtooth mountains towered majestically, but as far as the eye could see the land was flat and barren. Yet there was no impression of desolation. There was something ... there, waiting. "You have plenty of room."

"Right. I dreamed about space while I was growing up in Hong Kong. All the people there nearly smothered me."

I believe in staying alive.

She studied Tanek's face as he got back in the car. He had spoken flatly, almost casually, and she was reminded of that moment at the airport when Reardon had said he didn't like to take taxis. Survival was a way of life to Tanek, and it had never been more obvious to her until she saw the fortress with which he surrounded himself. "You must feel very safe here," she said quietly. "You've made yourself impregnable."

"You're never impregnable. You just do your best." He drove through the gates which swung shut automatically behind him. "I don't think the fence or gate can be breached, but a helicopter with a missile launcher could wipe me out with no problem."

"Missile launchers?" She smiled. "That does sound paranoid."

"Maybe. But it could happen if someone was determined enough. The South American drug lords have an ample supply."

"So what do you do to protect yourself?"

He shrugged. "No one lives forever. If it's not a missile, it might be a tornado that gets me. You do the best you can, you take out insurance." He glanced at her. "And you live every moment as if it's your last."

He parked the Jeep in front of the house and jumped out. "Michaela," he called out.

"I'm here. You need not bellow." A tall, thin woman in her mid-forties came out of the house. She wore jeans and a loose plaid shirt, but her carriage lent the rough clothes elegance. "I heard the bell when you unlocked the gate." Her gaze went to Nell and then to Peter. "You have guests. Welcome." There was an almost foreign formality in her manner.

Nell stared at her. The woman's features were strong and bold and had an almost Egyptian serenity.

"This is Michaela Etchbarras," Tanek said. "I'd call her my housekeeper, but she doesn't keep it, she runs it and everything else around here." He helped Nell from the Jeep. "Nell Calder. Peter Drake. They'll be staying awhile."

"And you?" the woman asked Tanek.

He nodded.

"Good. Sam has missed you. You should not have an animal if you have to leave it alone. I'll let him out of the kitchen." She went back into the house.

"Etchbarras," Peter said suddenly. "That was the name. He has the sheepdogs."

"Michaela is married to Jean." Tanek grimaced. "She deigns to act as my housekeeper whenever Jean is upland with the sheep. Otherwise she goes back to the Bar X and sends one of her daughters to clean twice a week."