Midnight Rainbow Read online

  Grant knew how to wait; patience was second nature to him. He could hold a position all day long, if necessary, ignoring physical discomfort as if it didn’t exist. But the silence and lack of motion in the shed began to grate on his nerves, because it wasn’t what he’d learned to expect from Jane. Was she planning something?

  Eventually the rain stopped, and the steamy heat began to build again. “Are we going to sit here all day?” Jane finally asked fretfully, breaking her long silence.

  “Might as well. I don’t have anything better to do. Do you?”

  She didn’t answer that, or ask any more questions, realizing that he wasn’t in the mood to tell her anything. She was so hungry that she was sick, but there wasn’t any food in her pack, and she wasn’t about to complain to him. She dropped her head back to her knees and tried to seek refuge in a nap; at least then she could forget how miserable she was.

  She actually managed to sleep, and he woke her at twilight, shaking her shoulder. “Let’s go,” he said, pulling her to her feet. Jane’s heart stopped because just for that moment his touch was strong but gentle, and she had the crazy hope that he’d cooled down and come to his senses while she was napping. But then he dropped her arm and stepped away from her, his face hard, and the hope died.

  She followed him like a toy on a string, right in his footsteps, stopping when he stopped, always the same distance behind him. He went boldly into the center of town, walking down the streets as if no one at all was looking for him, let alone a small army. Several people looked at them oddly, but no one stopped them. Jane supposed they did look strange: a tall blond man with a bruised, swollen face and a rifle carried easily in one hand, followed by a woman with wild tangled hair, dirty clothes and a backpack buckled to her belt and swinging against her legs as she walked. Well, everything seemed strange to her, too. She felt as if they’d gotten lost in a video game, with crazy neon images flashing at her. After a moment she realized that the images were real; a street sign advertising a cantina flashed its message in neon pink and blue.

  What was he doing? They were attracting so much notice that Turego would have to hear of it if he asked any questions at all. For all Grant knew, Turego could have the local law enforcement looking for them under trumped-up charges; Turego certainly had enough authority to mobilize any number of people in the search. It was as if Grant wanted Turego to find them.

  He turned down a side street and paused outside a small, dimly lit cantina. “Stay close to me, and keep your mouth shut,” he ordered tersely, and entered.

  It was hot and smoky in the small bar, and the strong odor of alcohol mixed with sweat permeated the air. Except for the waitress, a harried-looking girl, and two sultry prostitutes, there were no other women there. Several men eyed Jane, speculation in their dark eyes, but then they looked at Grant and turned back to their drinks, evidently deciding that she wasn’t worth the trouble.

  Grant found them space at a small table at the back, deep in the shadows. After a while the waitress made it over to them, and without asking Jane her preference, Grant ordered two tequilas.

  Jane stopped the waitress. “Wait—do you have lime juice?” At the young woman’s nod, she heaved a sigh of relief. “A glass of lime juice, instead of the tequila, please.”

  Grant lit a cigarette, cupping his hands around the flame. “Are you on the wagon or something?”

  “I don’t drink on an empty stomach.”

  “We’ll get something to eat later. This place doesn’t run to food.”

  She waited until their drinks were in front of them before saying anything else to him. “Isn’t it dangerous for us to be here? Any of Turego’s men could have seen us walking down the street.”

  His eyes were narrow slits as he stared at her through the blue smoke of his cigarette. “Why should that worry you? Don’t you think he’d welcome you back with open arms?”

  Jane leaned forward, her own eyes narrowed. “Listen to me. I had to buy time, and I did it the only way I could think of. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to explain it to you beforehand, but I don’t think Turego would have let me call ‘time out’ and huddle with you! If he’d tied me up, too, there would have been no way I could help you!”

  “Thanks, honey, but I can do without your sort of help,” he drawled, touching his left eye, which was puffy and red.

  Anger seared her; she was innocent, and she was tired of being treated like Benedict Arnold. She thought of pouring the lime juice in his lap, but her stomach growled and revenge took a distant second place to putting something in her empty stomach, even if it was just fruit juice. She sat back in her chair and sipped, wanting to make the juice last as long as possible.

  The minutes crawled by, and Jane began to feel a twitch between her shoulder blades. Every second they sat there increased the danger, gave Turego a better chance of finding them. The abandoned truck wouldn’t fool him for long.

  A man slipped into the chair beside her and Jane jumped, her heart flying into her throat. He gave her only a cursory glance before turning his attention to Grant. He was a nondescript character, his clothing worn, his face covered by a couple of days’ growth of beard, and his smell of stale alcohol made Jane wrinkle her nose. But then he said a few words to Grant, so quietly that she couldn’t understand them, and it all clicked into place.

  Grant had advertised their presence not because he wanted Turego to find them, but because he wanted someone else to find them. It had been a gamble, but it had paid off. He was no longer in the business, but he was known, and he’d trusted his reputation to pull in a contact. This man was probably just a peripheral character, but he would have his uses.

  “I need transport,” Grant said. “Within the hour. Can you manage it?”

  “Sì,” the man said, slowly nodding his head for emphasis.

  “Good. Have it sitting behind the Blue Pelican exactly one hour from now. Put the keys under the right seat, get out, and walk away.”

  The man nodded again. “Good luck, amigo.”

  That hard, lopsided smile curved Grant’s lips. “Thanks. I could use some about now.”

  The man blended in with the crowd, then was gone. Jane slowly twirled the glass of juice between her palms, keeping her eyes on the table. “Now that you’ve made your contact, shouldn’t we get out of here?”

  Grant lifted the tequila to his mouth, his strong throat working as he swallowed the sharp-tasting liquid. “We’ll wait a while longer.”

  No, it wouldn’t do to follow the other man too closely. George had always told her how important it was to make contact without seeming to. The man had taken a chance by walking up to them so openly, but then, Grant had taken a chance by making himself so available. It had probably been clear that the situation was desperate, though Grant looked as if he was thinking about nothing more important than going to sleep. He was sprawled in his chair, his eyes half-closed, and if Jane hadn’t noticed that he kept his left hand on the rifle she would have thought that he was totally relaxed.

  “Do you suppose we could find a bathroom?” she asked, keeping her tone light.

  “In here? I doubt it.”

  “Anywhere.”

  “Okay. Are you finished with that?” He downed the rest of his tequila, and Jane did the same with her lime juice. Her skin was crawling again; she felt that tingling on the back of her neck, and it intensified as she stood up.

  They threaded their way through the tangle of feet and tables and chairs to the door, and as soon as they stepped outside Jane said, “I think we were being watched.”

  “I know we were. That’s why we’re going in the opposite direction of the Blue Pelican.”

  “What on earth is the Blue Pelican? How do you know so much about this town? Have you been here before?”

  “No, but I keep my eyes open. The Blue Pelican is the first cantina we passed.”

  Now she remembered. It was the cantina with the flashing neon sign, the one that had given her such an intense feeling