Quatre was not in the house.

But there were signs that he had been there. I carefully set Iris down on the couch, and crossed the room to the crib. It appeared undisturbed. The mosquito netting was still thrown up the way I had left it when I had snatched Iris up and given her to Quatre.

I moved to the next room, which showed evidence of the people who had lived there. A wooden crucifix over the bed, photographs of a smiling older man and woman on the nightstand. Iris’s grandparents? Were they dead also?

Stop it. I had come here for a purpose. I started to search around some more. No note. No other sign that Quatre had been here. I was swamped with disappointment. I had told myself before not to expect anything, but I had still felt a fugitive hope that Quatre was still here in Tenajo. No, he must have taken Iris and run as I had begged him to do.

But Iris had been taken by Dekim. And the only way that could have happened was if Quatre had been captured or killed by Dekim.

Or Heero. In the short time that I had known him he had shown himself capable of anything.

No, I wouldn’t consider the possibility that Quatre was dead. Just the thought caused me to panic. Quatre HAD escaped.

A sound came from the other room. A whimper. Iris was stirring at last.

I knelt by the couch. Iris’s big, dark eyes were open and she was smiling.

“Hi,” I whispered gently. “Here we are again. Now what am I going to do with you?”

Iris gurgled at me.

I stroked the baby’s cheek. “Where did you lose Quatre, huh? You’d be much more happier with him. He knows a lot more than I do about babies. I’m a rank amateur.”

Iris reached up, caught a strand of my hair and tugged.

I laughed softly. “What the hell, we’ll get along. We just have to decide what to do.”

And who to trust.

***************

After changing Iris’s diaper I went in search of some food. I found a few sealed jars of baby food in one of the cupboards. I opened one and got half the minced meat down Iris before she started playing with her food.

“No games,” I told her firmly. “We’ve got serious stuff here.” I picked up Iris and carried her out onto the porch. I looked up into the hills. Was Quatre somewhere in those hills trying to reach the coast?

Gods I hope so.

I was tempted to run toward those hills myself. Well, why not? I have a good sense of direction and a certain amount of experience in rough country. Three years before I had found myself stranded in Afghanistan and made it all the way to the Pakistani border. There was a good chance I could make it to the coast.

I’d find you.

You just try Heero.

Iris whimpered and I loosened my grasp, I must have unconsciously tightened it. No, this wasn’t the time for running. Hiking through the hills by myself was one thing, but toting a baby around a wilderness was another. I had to be responsible and not act impulsively.

I would have to wait and see. Heero might not know where Quatre was, but he understood more than I did about what happened here in Tenajo.

I went down the porch steps and started toward the plaza. Heero was coming out of the cantina carrying a shiny metal briefcase by the time I had reached the fountain. “That didn’t take you long.” He said.

“He’s not there. You knew he wouldn’t be.”

“I knew it wasn’t likely. So did you.” He glanced at Iris. “She woke up. Is she okay?”

“Fine. I fed her and changed her and she couldn’t be happier.”

“You’ve been busy.” He paused. “Did you find any money?”

“No.” I replied repulsed. “I didn’t look.”

“I haven’t found any either.” He crossed the street to the general store. “Wait here.”

Robbing the dead. He was even worse than I had thought.

He was frowning as he came out of the general store a few minutes later. He clearly hadn’t found any. Good.

“Any money belongs to those poor people’s relatives.”

He shook his head. “It belongs to me.” He was climbing the steps of the church.

I followed after him. “My God, what are you doing? This is a church!”

“The priest is dead isn’t he?”

“Yes. And that makes stealing from the church all right?”

“You found him?”

I nodded.

“Where?”

I pointed to the spot. “Next to the poor box.”

“What poor box?”

I shrugged. “It was beside him. Maybe Quatre kicked it.”

His gaze raked the area and then focused on the second pew. I stood in disbelief as I watched him walk over, pull the poor box from beneath the pew, and lifted the lid.

“Ninmu kanyrou.” He said softly.

I moved closer and looked down into the box at stacks of violet-blue and lilac twenty-peso bills.

“You’ve found what you’re looking for,” I said coldly. “May we leave now?”

He unfastened the metal briefcase. “Stand back a few feet.” I did and watched him empty the poor box into the briefcase.

“Let’s go.” He picked up the briefcase and went out the door.

I followed him. “Why do you want that money?”

“So I won’t have to go back to San Andreas and risk getting my head blown off.”

“It’s not much money. It wouldn’t set you up for life.”

He didn’t answer. “Get in the jeep. I’ll make one more sweep and be right with you. We’ve got to get out of here. We’ve stayed longer than I like.”

I didn’t move. “Where are we going?”

“Into the hills. Dekim has scouts all around here. We were bound to have been seen, we have to get out of town.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on.”

“I don’t know how much to tell you.”

“You haven’t told me anything.”

“I’ve probably told you more than I should.”

“For my own good?”

“No, for mine.”

“Of course, why in the hell should I have assumed anything else?”

“You shouldn’t. I’ve already done more for you than I should have. I’m an ass. I should have handled it better.” He started toward the general store. “Now there’s only damage control.”

“And the money is damage control?”

“Get in the jeep.”

A chill went through me. Damage control could mean mending things with Dekim by killing Iris and me. Why should I trust him? He was a murderer and a grave robber.

But who else could I trust?

Myself. No one but myself. Any other choices could be fatal.

I spun on my heel and started across the plaza. “I have to go to Iris’s house and get food and diapers for her. You can pick us up there.”

I could feel his gaze on me, but I resisted the urge to look back.

Besides, the gesture would have looked suspicious.

***************

He was gone.

Shit.

Heero. Walked out of Iris’s house and jumped into the jeep. He couldn’t have been gone longer than ten minutes; he was on foot and had a baby. He shouldn’t be too difficult to run down. Dammit the situation was difficult enough without having to drag him back kicking and screaming.

But if that was the way it had to be then so be it. There was no way he could let him get away.

***************

Heero and Maxwell were in the hills above Tenajo, but they had separated.

Dekim hung up the phone, leaned back in bed and contemplated the report. Heero’s recent actions added up to a disturbing total. Was he CIA? Very possibly. And, if he was CIA, how much did he know? How much had he found out here and how much in Libya?

He reached for the phone again and called Trieze.

“There’s a slight problem,” Dekim said. “The man you sent me has disappeared.

“Heero?”

“He killed one of my guards and took Maxwell out of the facility.”

Trieze swore intensely. “How could you let that happen?”

“You’re the one who sent me Heero. I assumed he could be trusted. What do you know about him?”

“He came excellently recommended in China and he behaved impeccably while he was with me.”

”But you still shoved him off on me when you got the opportunity.”

“Not because he wasn’t trustworthy. That would be cutting off my nose to spite my face.”

“Oh yes, your fortune-teller.”

“Are you mocking me?” Trieze asked.

Dekim retreated. Now wasn’t the time to distance Trieze. “Merely a remark. How much does Heero know about your end?”

“Nothing. He had a job to do and he did it.”

The baka probably wouldn’t have realized if Heero had found out everything. “We need to know about Heero.”

“What if he’s not CIA?”

“Then we’ll hear from him.”

“You should have gotten rid of Maxwell when you had the chance. It was dangerous to keep him alive.”

Trieze was forgetting that he too had hesitated about ending his life. But Dekim chose not to argue. “That mistake can be rectified. They’ve not made it out of the country yet. They were sighted in Tenajo an hour ago.”

“Then why are you talking to me? Go after them.”

“That’s my intention. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

“You better be right. I can continue without you if you don’t repair this bungling ineptitude.”

“I’ll repair it. Just see what you can find out about Heero. He’s our prime concern.” Dekim waited politely for Trieze to hang up first. It was difficult to display courtesy to assholes, but he had learned a discipline and control they would never know. He would be glad when he no longer needed them. His own plans were almost in place. He needed only a key player to launch the first phase, and Morrisey should be calling any day now with the location of a suitable tool. He needed to be patient for only a little bit longer.

“Mueller,” he called.

Sergeant Mueller appeared in the doorway.

“Order my car. I’m going to Tenajo.”

Mueller nodded and vanished.

He wasn’t as bright as Quinze, but he was silent and obedient and he lacked the curiosity and greed that had made Quinze dangerous. At least Heero had gotten rid of the problem. Too bad he now presented a far greater one. Still, it couldn’t take more than a day or two to find him and Maxwell. And then Heero would be vanquished. The thought sent a surge of excitement and eagerness through Dekim.

Where are you Heero?

Suddenly Dekim had a vision of Duo Maxwell before him. Of course the boy had to die. It was absolutely imperative.

And he would be so easy to kill.

***************

They’d found my tracks again.

I wiped the sweat out of my eyes and moved to the side of the trail. The shale was slippery, but it left no mark of passing.

I could hear the soldiers calling to one another on the other side of the hill. Soon they would reach the crest and I would be in plain view. I had to find a hiding place before that could happen.

I was becoming scared. I had thought I as home free the second day after I had lost Heero, but then the soldiers had come. Had that been his doing?

Iris whimpered in her blanket sling I had fashioned. “Hush.” I whispered.

I couldn’t blame the poor kid for complaining. She was as hot as I and hungry. I had run out of food in the third day and refused all the edible plants and berries I could find on the hillside.

But Iris mustn’t cry now. Not now.

I skidded and fell. Picking myself up, I fell again.

A grove of tress lay unsteadily on the sloping hillside.

The soldiers were closer to the crest.

I was almost there.

I was in the grove.

Nothing.

The pine tress were gangly, the leaves meager. Even if I could climb one of them, I would be seen easily.

A fallen tree. Its branches spread over the ground to form a cover. The dead branches formed a canopy, but I could still be seen by anyone who stooped and peered through the foliage. Or heard, if I couldn’t control the harshness of my breathing.

Or if Iris didn’t quiet down.

“Please, Iris. Onegai.”

Iris’s whimpers increased.

The soldiers were close. They must have entered the grove. They were talking.

Let them keep on talking. Maybe they wouldn’t hear Iris.

They stopped talking.

I held my breath.

Iris fell mercifully quiet.

The tress shifted above me.

I braced myself.

No, they were only stepping on the tree to jump over it. I could see their legs as they landed on the other side.

Iris stirred in her sling.

No.

The soldiers were talking again. They didn’t like the heat or spending the day in the hills. They didn’t like Dekim. He was a son of a bitch.

Amen to that. I had to fight to hold down a snicker.

Iris whimpered again.

My heart stopped.

***************

A bird?

Mueller turned to look back at the grove.

They should probably check it out. They’d been instructed to follow every lead. Dekim would be furious if they lost him. He’s sent everyone climbing these fucking hills, even him. Mueller had thought that he had inherited a soft job when he’d been elevated to Quinze’s position, but here he was sweating and swearing with the rest of the ordinary soldiers.

“You see something?” Jimenez asked.

The grove was deep and shallow. Mueller saw nothing.

But had he heard something?

He’d almost fallen on that damn slippery shale when they’d gone down the slope. His ankle sill throbbed.

Screw Dekim.

It was a bird.

“I was just catching my breath.” He turned around and started down the hill. “I don’t see anything.”

***************

I could feel every muscle go limp as I realized the soldiers hadn’t heard Iris.

They were leaving the grove, searching the hillside beyond the trees for more signs of my passing through.

If I was very still, and if I could keep Iris still…

There was a chance.

The soldiers were almost out of sight. In a moment it would be safe to move out and move to find another hiding place for the night.

Or maybe I should keep moving. How far was I from the coast? I wondered wearily. I must have come at least thirty miles from Tenajo, and that left another twenty to go. Twenty miles. The distance seemed so small when you were driving in a car. It was an eternity on foot. It seemed impossible to—

It wasn’t impossible. That was only a stupid excuse because I was so tired. I wouldn’t give up. Iris needed me. And Quatre needed me.

Iris whimpered again.

“Don’t nag kid, we’re on our way.” I carefully edged out from beneath the tree. “But I need a little help, okay?”

I needed more than a little help.

But I’d take what I could get.

***************

Darkness was falling. They could no longer see to track Maxwell. He would be safe for the night.

Dekim clenched his hands into fists as he gazed up at the hills.

Four days. Those fools had been searching for four days and they still hadn’t found him. Heero had vanished without a trace, but there was no reason why his men should not have been able to capture the boy. He could almost imagine Maxwell laughing at him.

Iie, they had pushed him too hard for him to be amused by the hunt. They had found blood on the rocks that afternoon.

Why would he not give up?

***************

A hand clamped over my mouth jarring me awake.

Someone was astride me. Sweat, musk, a man…

Dekim’s soldiers. They had found the cave…

I rolled to the side and struck up with my fist and connected with flesh.

“Be still. I won’t hurt you.”

Heero!

I struck out again.

“Dammit I am here to help you!”

Iris let out a shrill wail from the pallet I had made for her up against the wall.

Heero stiffened, “What the hell?”

He had relaxed his hold. I heaved up to the side, dislodging him, and jumped to my feet.

Do it right, I told myself. Do it right.

I whirled, my fist punching his stomach as he got to his feet. I grabbed his arm, swiveled, and flipped him over my shoulder to the ground.

I could hear him swearing as I went and snatch up Iris and took off for the cave’s entrance. He brought me down with a tackle. I fell to my side instinctively protecting Iris, and rolled the baby away. My knee sliced up into Heero’s groin. He grunted with pain but flipped me over and straddled me. His hands closed on my throat.

He was going to kill me. Gods, I didn’t want to die. I dug my fingers into the backs of his hands.

“Yameru.” He said through his teeth. “I’m not used to pulling back. I could break your neck without—“ He took a deep breath and slowly loosened his grasp on me. “Listen to me. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to hurt Iris. I’m trying to help you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Then run away. Be stupid. In a day or two Dekim will catch up with you. He’s not camped but four miles from here right now.”

I glared up at him. “How do you know that if you aren’t with them?”

“He tracked you. I tracked him. He was easier than you.”

I shook my head. “When I lost you, you called out for the soldiers.”

“I didn’t have to call them. They were pouring though these hills eight hours after you took off from Tenajo. If I’d joined Dekim, wouldn’t they be here right now?”

Iris let out another wail.

“She needs you.” Heero said. “And we need her to be quiet. I’ll let you up if you promise to hear me out.”

“Would you trust me?”

“No, but I think you’re intelligent enough to weigh the consequences. I can get you out of these hills.”

“I can get myself out.”

“Maybe. But you can’t radio a helicopter in for a pickup. Do you want to dodge Dekim for the next week and risk getting Iris captured again?”

I went still. A helicopter.

“Get off me.”

“Will you listen?”

“I’ll listen.”

He lifted himself off of me and I sat up and reached for Iris. She wailed again.

“She has to be quiet.” Heero said. “There are guards around the perimeter of Dekim’s camp.”

The warning caused my suspicions to ease a little.

“What do you expect when you scare her half to death like that?” I cuddled the baby closer. “And she’s hungry and probably wet again.” I felt her diaper. Damp. “I’m out of diapers. I was only able to snatch a few when I left Tenajo, and I had no time or way to keep them clean. Do you have anything I could use?”

“Maybe. I’ll look in my backpack.” He shrugged the pack off his back. “I wasn’t prepared for this.”

“Neither was I.” I replied dryly.

Heero switched on the flashlight he had taken out of his backpack.

“Turn it off. They’ll see it.” I said frantically.

He shook his head. “It’s okay. We’re far enough into the cave.” He shoved the metal briefcase aside at the bottom of the pack, pulled out a white t-shirt, and tossed it at me. “How’s this?”

“It will have to do.” I glanced at him as I tore it in two. “Do you have any food?”

“Field rations.”

“Get it out and open it. I’ll try to feed her.” I knelt and changed Iris’s diaper. “How did you find me here?”

“I tracked you.”

“So did the soldiers. They didn’t find me.”

“They almost did this afternoon. In the grove.”

I went still. “How did you know that?”

“I was tracking them at that point. I was pretty sure they were on the right scent.”

“I didn’t see you.”

“I saw you.”

“And you tracked me to this cave without my seeing you? How? When I saw Dekim’s soldiers?”

“Maybe I’m better than they are.” He said simply.

“Why are you better? Have you done this for a living?”

“Sometimes. My profession often calls for hunting skills.” He watched as I sat Iris on my lap and began feeding her. “You do that very well.”

“Anyone can feed a baby. So, start talking. I’m listening.”

“You shouldn’t have run away from me. I’m trying to help you.”

“As I recall buddy, when you weren’t ordering me around, you were threatening me. I was in your way.”

“That didn’t mean that I wouldn’t get you safely away from Dekim. I never had any other intentions.”

I studied his face. It was difficult to read the expression on that face, but instinct told me that he was telling the truth.

“I couldn’t know that. You wouldn’t talk to me.”

He shrugged. “I made a mistake. I was hoping it wouldn’t be necessary. I’ll talk to you now.”

“What happened at Tenajo?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

“Don’t be a baka. You’re damn right I do.” My voice began to vibrate with feeling. “You listen to me. I don’t give a damn about your damage control. All I care about is what’s happened to Quatre and me in the last week. I have a right to know. Now you tell me.”

He was silent a moment. “Ryoukai. Ask me questions. I’ll try to answer what I can.”

“How did those people die?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I think it may have been an artificially produced disease.”

I stared up at him in shock. “Some kind of germ-canister foul-up?”

He smiled sardonically. “You keep thinking it’s an accident.”

“Are you saying that the Mexican government purposely loosed that sickness on Tenajo?”

“The Mexican government has nothing to do with it.”

“Isn’t Dekim a colonel in the Mexican army?”

“A small convenience that allows him a certain amount of freedom. It allowed him to neatly cover up the results of the experiment.”

“Experiment?”

“They had to see if the biological agent worked. Tenajo was a testing ground.”

A little boy lying on the floor of the store with chocolate smeared on his palms.

Tears stung my eyes. “Damn you to hell.”

“I didn’t know.” He said roughly.

“You had to know. You worked for him.”

“I knew something was going on at Tenajo, but I didn’t suspect what it was until the night it happened. For the past few months there were some cases of minor illness in the Tenajo area. Nothing fatal. I think Dekim must have been practicing. I thought it was going to be the same thing—Dekim didn’t let anyone—“ He stopped in mid sentence. “I didn’t know.”

“Why did—“ I tried to steady my voice. “Why would they do this?”

“When a test takes place on a limited plane it’s usually meant to be applied on a larger scale somewhere else.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know.”

I felt dazed. It was difficult to think. “You said the public health department did a sweep. Why didn’t they pick up on something?”

“Dekim didn’t call them until the clean up and the Cholera was planted. He has his own doctors in the Mexico City morgue who will give an autopsy reports to the effect that it was cholera that killed Tenajo.”

“All this trouble… it must have been in the planning stage for a long time.”

“Two years that I know about.”

“If you work with Dekim, why did you help me?”

“I don’t work with Dekim.” He added dryly. “Can’t you tell? I’m one of the good guys.”

“No I can’t tell. I just watched you kill a man.”

“Then don’t trust me. Don’t trust anyone. But let me help you. I can help you, Duo.”

“How? Are you some sort of government agent?”

“Some sort.”

“Be specific dammit.”

“I’ve been with the CIA for a number of years.”

I felt a rush of relief. And then I blinked. “At your age? You don’t look to be too much older than me.”

“I am as old as you.”

“Then…?” I was confused. I’d have to think on that later. “You could have told me earlier.”

“I wouldn’t have told you now if I could have found a way around it. Besides would you have believed me?”

Did I believe him now? He could be lying.

But to what end? He had gotten me out of San Andreas and there was no reason for him to show up without Dekim’s soldiers if he meant to turn me over to them. “You should have told me.”

“You know now.” He held my gaze. “Listen to me Duo. I’ll take care of you. I intend to get you out of here and safely to the U.S. There’s nothing I won’t do to make sure of that. I will do it. If you don’t believe anything else, believe that.”

I did believe it. No one could doubt his sincerity.

He reached for the baby. “Let me finish feeding her while you eat something yourself.”

My arms tightened around her. “I can eat later.”

“Actually you can’t. I had to leave the jeep in the lower foothills. We have a long trek out of these hills. I want to get started right away.” He took Iris and the food away from me. “Dig another can out of my pack and eat.”

I hesitated then did as he said. I needed strength to get me through this. I wrinkled my nose at the first bite. No wonder Iris had been tentative. But the baby was now contentedly devouring the rations Heero was feeding her with surprising gentleness and skill. “She seems to have stood the trip well,” he said. “She looks healthy.”

“She’s a survivor. Most babies are if you give them a chance.”

He smiled down at the baby and wiped her mouth. “I like survivors.” He looked up at me. “You don’t look so bad yourself. I expected to have to have to lug you over the hills in a sling after four days on the run.”

“You still might. Or I might be the one dragging you.” I put the spoon back in the pack and tossed the empty ration can aside. “Let’s go.” I picked up Iris’s blanket. “Give her to me. I’ll carry her on my back.”

He wrinkled his nose. “That’s very unpleasant.”

“What do you expect? I only had the chance to wash the blanket once. If it bothers you stay away from us.”

“It bothers me. I have a delicate nose. But I can get used to anything.” He picked up the backpack. “I think I can manage to stand you for a day or two.” ”Is that how long it will take? What about the helicopter?”

“You made good time, but Dekim is too close. We’ll have to backtrack and go around to the north. The hills are too rough here to land a helicopter.” He placed Iris in the sling and helped me put it on. “So I arranged a set-down about thirty miles from here. As soon as we get clear of these hills I’ll call for a pickup.”

He seemed so sure, almost casual. For the first time hope surged through me. I had never really given up, but at least now I could see a light at the end of the tunnel.

And I wasn’t alone any longer.

“Then what are we waiting for?” I strode past him and out of the cave.

Heero raised a brow as he followed after me. “Me, evidently.”