Chapter 18

Once he was sure Anya was sleeping, Gus showered and pulled his clothes back on, then headed downstairs. Linda and Rafe were still busy with their own activities, so he poured himself a fresh mug of coffee and sat down to think about who else he could call. No one could call him, since he was using throwaway phones and disposing of them after a few hours, just in case.

It both sickened and saddened him to think that his boss, for whom he'd always had the greatest respect, might be in bed with Virgil Branson in his dirty business. If that was true, he'd certainly fooled a lot of people. But mentally running through the list of agents in the San Antonio field office, there didn't seem to be a lot of other options. He knew it had to be someone in a position to have access to all the information and to the location of witnesses but shit! Dean Barton?

Of course, it would explain a lot of things.

The rest of the snitches that he called wouldn't say a word to him. Most of them sounded more frightened than he'd ever heard them. But if they were caught between Virgil Branson and the FBI he could understand why.

He was sitting at the table head in hands, when Linda came in from the study.

"How's Anya?" she asked.

"Sleeping. We didn't get much rest last night and she's been strung tight as a wire today. I told her to take a good nap."

"She seems very nice, Gus." Linda busied herself taking salad fixings from the fridge. "I'm really glad you found someone."

He blew out a long breath. "Listen, Linda," he began.

"It's all right." She turned and smiled at him. "You don't have to say a word. We had nothing but lust between us ten years ago. I should apologize to you since it was really Rafe I wanted all the time."

Gus gave her a tired smile. "I think I knew that. Back then, though, I was a hothead with more balls than brains."

"No more than your brother. Good thing I tamed him." She winked.

Rafe came in through the back door, slapping his hat against his leg to shake off the dust and hanging it up on a peg by the door. "How's our girl?"

"Our girl?" Gus cocked an eyebrow. "I think you only get to steal one woman from me." But he grinned to show he was joking. Then he ran his hands through his hair and leaned back. "I think I'm out of ideas, Rafe. I'd better come up with something quick. It's great finally being back here, but Anya and I can't hide out here forever."

"How about you and I have a drink in the study and get out of Linda's way while she fixes dinner. You can run everything by me and see if a fresh mind helps."

"I'd like to help with dinner."

Everyone turned to see Anya standing in the doorway. Gus was pleased to note that she looked more rested than before, but the lines of strain around her eyes and the shadows beneath them were still there.

Linda beckoned her into the room. "Come on, then. I can always use help."

Despite the fact that Gus laid everything out for his brother and they looked at the problem every way possible, Rafe didn't come up with any more solutions than Gus had.

"What I'm thinking," Gus mused, sipping on aged bourbon, "is I might ask if I can leave Anya here with you and head back to the city myself. There's a better chance I could dig up more in person than trying to chase people by telephone."

He'd resisted the idea when Jimmy first mentioned it, but then they'd been talking about an FBI safe house. This was a lot different. A definitely more unknown.

"Have you talked to Jimmy again?"

"I thought I'd try him after dinner. See if he's come up with anything. I know he's been home all day locked up with his computer. No doubt involved in all kinds of illegal hacking."

"Hey. If it gets the goods on the rogue agent, it's worth it, right?"

"Anything's worth it," Gus agreed, "if it means Anya is safe again."

"You got yourself a real prize, bro. Congratulations. I'm glad you found someone, too."

A lot of unspoken words lay between them but neither felt it necessary to say them.

After Anya helped Linda clean up the kitchen, Gus took her elbow and steered her out the front door.

"Where are we going?" she wanted to know.

"I haven't kissed a girl under a Texas Hill Country moon in a long time," Gus joked. "Thought it was about time I did so. And I want to do it in a favorite place of mine."

He took her hand as they walked away from the house toward the road, into the thick forest of trees that covered the ground from the house to the road and for a good way off to the left. They were only a few steps into them when they were swallowed up in a darkness still familiar to Gus. This had been his refuge, his playground, his sanctuary. Even his make-out spot when he'd brought a date home to take a walk in the moonlight. A few more steps and the house was barely visible.

"I'm surprised your parents never cut these down," Anya said. "Everything else around here is so open."

"They always said they deliberately left these here so they'd at least have the illusion of a forest," he told her. "My mom grew up in Maine, which as you know has more trees than people. Besides, all these trees in the front yard used to be good cover for Rafe and me.

"How so?"

"We'd sneak out of the house and smoke cigarettes, then sneak in so our daddy couldn't catch us." He laughed. "We didn't know he could see the lighted tips from the house and was just lying in wait for us. Same thing the night we snuck out here with a bottle of his whiskey. But he waited until we got good and sick that time before laying into us."

"I'll bet you were hellions," Anya teased. He was glad to see she'd relaxed a little. Being here was good for her.

"Oh, yeah. We used to play cowboys and Indians in these trees, too, when we were just kids. Sometimes we'd have friends with us. If one of us was captured, we'd yell to the other one. Some dumb shit like 'I'm looking for the moon.' We had stupid signals we made up."

"So what would happen?"

"Whichever one of us was free would get a plastic rifle we had, sneak up on the other side of the trees and capture the offender. Gave us a good chance to practice the tracking skills one of the ranch hands had taught us."

She shook her head. "Cigarettes. Toy rifles. Times sure have changed since then."

"These old trees sure have seen their share of action." He chuckled. "Sometimes I used to walk my dates out here, steal a kiss where no one could see us. Maybe try some other things."

Anya wrinkled her nose. "I don't think I want any more details." She looked around. "I like the trees. They give you a lot of privacy from traffic on the road."

"That's why we made such good use of them." Gus walked her into the thickest part of the trees and turned her to face him. "Time to get my kiss."

"Make it a good one," a voice said from inches away. "It may be your last one."