"A small chance," Serena repeated, anger burning through the layers of ice surrounding her. She was suddenly freed from the bonds of horror and fear and was alive again. Alive and enraged. "We're not going to take any chances with Gideon's life. We're not going to sit around and wait. And we're sure as hell not going to let some crazy colonel call the shots." She shivered. Shots. She wished she hadn't used that phrase. It brought Gideon's danger too vividly to mind. She moistened her lips. "The problem is that Gideon will be unarmed and vulnerable right before you break into the suite. Is that right?"

Julio nodded. "That's the problem."

"Then you need someone there to furnish him with a weapon and support. Right?"

"Right."

"I'll go," Dane said. "I tried to tell you before that it was my place-"

"No." Serena met Julio's gaze. "I'll be the one to go"

"Hell, no," Ross said roughly. "Gideon would strangle me, if I sent you into Mariba."

"You don't have any choice. No one is sending me anywhere. You idiots let Gideon put his head on the chopping block, and I'll be damned if he's going to stay there." She turned to Ross. "You're so good at negotiating deals. Start negotiating a way to get me to Gideon." She turned to Julio. "You." One finger punched Julio's chest. "You said you'd managed prison escapes before. You must know all kinds of methods to smuggle weapons. Get to work on it."

A tiny smile tugged at Julio's lips. "Yes, ma'am."

"Serena, Mendino is no pussycat," Dane said hesitantly. "Why don't you calm down, and I'll-"

"I'm no pussycat either." Serena's eyes blazed at the three men. "Though I've been behaving like a veritable tabby lately. How the hell do you think I managed to raise you and keep us fed all these years, Dane?"

A hint of mischief appeared in Dane's violet eyes. "You were a hit woman for the Mafia?"

"No, but I would have done almost anything at one time to make sure we were both free and clear of your wonderful father. I would have washed dishes, or run a bulldozer or collected garbage. We all do what we have to do and try to hold onto as much integrity and happiness as we can. So don't talk to me about pussycats." Her gaze met her brother's unflinchingly. "And you're right, Dane. Some of the blame is on your shoulders. So you can damn well go with Julio and help get Gideon out of this mess." She stopped for breath. "Now all of you get to work. I want to be in Gideon's suite at the Hotel Cartagena in two hours. You figure out how to get me there, with a weapon." She stepped back and slammed the door, leaving the three stunned men on the platform.

How quixotic, how stupid of Gideon to put himself in this danger, she thought angrily. They could have found some way to lessen the risk to Dane without Gideon placing himself in the exact same situation. Yet it was exactly the kind of foolishness Gideon would be guilty of committing. She should have realized how a man who collected stray dogs and waifs, and gave himself with such total commitment to the helpless as Gideon did, would react when he had learned he had been responsible for Dane's tenuous position. The softhearted idiot was bound to rush in and…

She leaned back against the door, tears running helplessly down her cheeks. She had to hold onto anger. It was the only way she could keep going until she could be with Gideon again. She mustn't remember how he had trembled in her arms doing those last hours before he had left for Mariba or how bravely he had fought those memories. The horror of his experieces at Na Peng had made those in her own past dwindle by comparison. He deserved nothing but joy now. He had paid his dues. Yet he had gone rushing to Dane's rescue like a knight in full armor. But Gideon didn't have any armor, or weapons.

How she loved him. She hadn't even given him those words to take with him. She had been so turned inward, so locked into her own prison of memories that she had let him batter against the walls and never once let him enter. He had shared everything with her-his strength, his weakness, his love-and she had returned only a pale imitation. She had told him there was a wall she couldn't climb, a river with no bridge, but why hadn't she realized that she, herself, had built that wall? She could have spanned that river at any time, if she had only let herself think clearly. Now anger and terror had ripped aside all the self-delusions and there was nothing left but truth.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. It was stupid to stand here weeping when there were things to be done and Gideon to be saved. She had to be strong now. There would be time enough for softness when Gideon was free. Toughen up, but keep the loving. Gideon's words came back to her with aching poignancy. They had become the creed he lived by. Well, she was strong enough to be tough when she was forced, and Lord knows, she was brimming, overflowing, with love for Gideon. She just hoped she'd be able to tell him so before-

She blocked the thought quickly. Nothing was going to happen to Gideon. She straightened and unconsciously squared her shoulders. The time for tears was past. It was time to shoot a few bushwhackers out of the saddle.

Seven

The lobby of the Hotel Cartagena looked exactly like that of any other upper-middle-class hotel. There was the usual wine-colored carpet, green plants hanging in strategic places, and bellhops bustling back and forth. Serena didn't know quite what she had expected, but it wasn't this atmosphere of total matter-of-factness. She supposed she had assumed it would be something of an armed camp, with machine guns mounted on the reception desk.

Ross's hand was grasping her elbow and his words were a sotto voce stream in her ear as they crossed the lobby toward the bank of brass- trimmed mahogany elevators. "Now don't be belligerent with them. I don't think Medino would risk hurting you, but he's-"

"Unpredictable," Serena finished for him. "I believe I'm sick and tired of hearing about that particular characteristic of Mendino's." They entered the elevator and Ross Inserted a key and then punched the button for the Royal Suite, which evidently occupied the entire fifteenth floor. The heavy doors closed and the elevator began to move with snaillike slowness. "I'm not about to be belligerent."

A faint smile tugged at Ross's lips. "You save that for your friends?"

"I was upset," she said, and then admitted honestly, "and frightened."

Ross's smile widened as he nodded understandingly. "Just tone it down with Mendino." He hesitated and his gaze slid away from her face. "They'll search you. That's why we didn't dare arm Gideon. Hopefully, they won't be as thorough with you as they were with him." He paused again. "There aren't any women among Mendino's guards here, and Mendino and his officers are pretty rough. You're not going to like it."

"I know, Julio told me." She moistened her lips with her tongue. "It would be pretty stupid of me to let modesty weigh against saving Gideon." Her hands tightened nervously on the bamboo handles of her striped purse. "Don't worry, I won't give them any trouble."

"I made a big fuss about the two of you being lovers and you insisting on being with him. Mendino was very pleased to get another hostage and made no objection to your being in the same suite with Gideon, but he has none of the so- called gentler feelings where women are concerned." He still wasn't looking at her. "In fact, there were rumors about the death of his mistress last year.

You'll probably receive the same treatment he decides to mete out to Gideon."

"I didn't expect anything else."

"Julio has filled you in on our plans?"

"Yes, the bare outline. He didn't have time to go into anything in depth." Damn, this elevator was slow.

"You know that I won't be able to stay with you? I'll have to leave as soon as I deliver you to Mendino."

"Yes, Ross, we've gone over all this. Why repeat it?"

"Because I don't like the idea of you putting yourself in this kind of danger," he said with a scowl. "And Gideon's going to like it even less. To tell you the truth, I'm nervous as hell."

She smiled shakily at him. "Me, too."

His face softened. "It wouldn't hurt to show them you're a little tense. They'll expect it."

The elevator had finally stopped and Serena stiffened in apprehension. "No problem. I don't think I could hide it if I tried."

The doors opened with a whoosh, and Serena's heart jerked crazily and then began to pound in double time. Soldiers, guns-this was the scene she had expected downstairs. The elevator opened directly into the huge sitting room of the suite and there were at least twenty soldiers there.

Coming toward them was a golden-complexioned man in a dark green colonel's uniform. He was thin-faced, his pencil mustache a neat line over slightly pouty lips. A beaming smile lit his face, revealing a space between his front teeth. "Ah, Miss Spaulding, welcome. I am Colonel Pedro

Mendino. We are always happy to assist in reuniting lovers." His glance slowly ran over her, starting at the tips of her white high-heeled sandals, traveling over her slender figure in the slim white skirt and emerald silk blouse and ending as he met her eyes. The smile deepened as he read the apprehension she was experiencing and could not hide. He waved a hand. "There is only one minor formality to be gotten out of the way. Come this way, if you please."

Serena took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator."

Gideon sat bolt upright in the morocco leather chair as she walked into the suite. "Serena?" he whispered.

She dropped her purse on the floor and ran across the room toward him. Then she was in his arms, pressing quick, loving kisses on his cheeks and throat between words. "Are you all right? I was so worried. What a stupid thing to do."