No One Lives Forever

and Charboneau wasn't being held here. So much was riding on word from Detective Fuentes. When it finally came, she felt a fraction of the chief's relief. No one took it quite as hard as the guy in charge.

'Fuentes reports he and your Mr. Delacorte have freed Nicholas Charboneau and he is able to walk. And Mario Araujo is in custody.' He smiled.

'That means we can pull out, right?' she asked. 'These people have no need to know we were ever here.'

'Yes. I've ordered my men to fall back. We will meet Fuentes at the base of the waterfall and continue from there, back the way we came. It's been a good day.' He tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

She returned his smile. 'Yes, it has.'

After the police chief left, Raven took one last look at the natives below while the tactical team maneuvered by her in silent retreat. The simplicity of the villagers' lives intrigued her, but their leader fascinated her even more. Given the choice of so-called civilization and this simpler existence, Mario Araujo had chosen to live here with his people. Not the mind-set of your typical kidnapper. The pieces to this puzzle didn't add up.

But another thought shoved aside her questions about Araujo and his people.

She found her heart racing with the prospect of resuming her life with Christian. Her future. He had rescued his father and now would have time to get to know the man. She understood the importance of family. And with Christian, she had a shot at starting one of her own. In that instant, Raven felt the pain and the joy of every moment she had shared with him and came to one conclusion. Finding Christian had been worth it all.

'Yeah, I'd say it's been a very good day,' she whispered, then moved out with the rest of the men.

Fighting the lump in her throat, Raven forgot about the rain and the miserable conditions. None of it mattered. She couldn't wait to see Christian. He had anchored her world with his love. Now they would have a lifetime to figure out the rest.

'This Captain Duarte, is he the kind of man who would kill Jasmine?'

It took a long moment for Christian to answer his father's question. Charboneau had been through so much and didn't need this extra burden of guilt, yet his very lifestyle had exposed his bodyguard to this type of danger. What did he expect?

'I really don't know.' In the end, he couldn't lie to the man.

'I have to get back. Find her,' his father vowed.

Christian nodded. 'I'll help.' But he doubted Charboneau heard his offer.

His father clenched his jaw. Raindrops beaded on his face, then drained down to drip off his chin. He didn't bother to wipe them away. Kneeling at the water's edge, Nicholas stared across the undulating pool at the base of the falls, his mind as unsettled and turbulent as the water's surface.

Clearly, the man didn't like what he'd heard about Captain Luis Duarte and the new situation with Jasmine. Christian got the distinct feeling it would not be a good move to trade places with the Brazilian cop. He had no idea what drove the enigmatic police captain, but Charboneau was another story. His loyalty to Jasmine, and whatever else he felt for her, would far outweigh his sense of right or wrong, assuming he had a conscience at all. Christian trusted his gut instinct. And it told him his father was a far more dangerous man than Duarte. How he knew this, he couldn't quite put a finger on it. Yet he knew it with certainty.

Nicholas continued cleaning up, his emotions contained once again. 'You haven't told the police I'm your father, have you?'

Nicholas didn't wait for his answer. He scooped water into his hands and splashed it onto his face, scrubbing his skin. The rain had turned to drizzle, not enough to do the job. A layer of sweat and grime came off, and he doused his wavy hair, leaving it wringing wet.

When he didn't reply, his father looked over his shoulder, prompting him with an expectant stare.

'No. I thought it would . . . complicate things.' Christian straddled a fallen tree and flicked a flat rock along the surface of the water. It skipped four times.

'Or maybe you'd rather distance yourself from someone like me.'

'I don't want to pass judgment.' The lack of conviction in his voice was hard to miss.

'You may not want to, but it's hard not to have an opinion, isn't it?' his father pressed. The unusual violet color to his eyes turned to midnight blue under the overcast sky. 'I'd rather we clear the air. It's more my style, and I hope yours too.'

Christian didn't answer at first. He took a quick glance to his right. Fuentes had taken Araujo and given them a wide berth. And with the rumbling waterfall, they would have their privacy. But they'd have little time alone. According to Fuentes, Zharan and his men were only minutes away.

If his father wanted the truth, he'd lay it out for him—his way.

'Why did you come here ... to Brazil?' he asked. 'You've got a connection to Genotech Labs. You admitted that to Araujo. I heard you in the cave.' Everything came out in a rush. Indignation mixed with hostility. 'Hell, it doesn't take a genius to figure out you're manipulating genetics for the drug addicted, like they aren't already living in a hell on earth.'

Christian tossed another stone but didn't watch where it landed. He wasn't done.

'And that so-called clinic? I caught some of the late-night action with Jasmine. Araujo was right. The cops were taking drug addicts off the streets and turning them over to Phillips. I got the distinct feeling it was a one-way trip.'

'Whoa.' With a grimace, Nicholas raised both hands. 'Good thing you aren't here to pass judgment. I'd hate to think what your opinion of the old man might be if you thought I was a lying conniving bastard who took advantage of poor helpless meth heads.'

'Don't try taking me on a guilt trip. I'm not buying a ticket.' He piled on a heaping dose of sarcasm. 'And do us both a favor. Don't deny you have a connection to drug trafficking. My father, the pusher.'

Christian hadn't realized the depth of his anger. Everything he'd learned about his father after coming to Brazil had welled to the surface. He tossed another rock across the water. This one sank.

'Makes me wonder what Fiona ever saw in you. Correct that. Still sees in you.' There it was. He'd said it.

They sat in silence until Charboneau said, 'Believe me, I wonder that myself. I never deserved her love, but oh, how I wanted it.'

Nicholas sat back on his haunches and stared at Christian, straightforward and unflinching.

'Perhaps the best way to answer your question is to say I have many regrets in my life.' Nicholas stared off into the distance, past Christian, his mind rooted in the past. 'But the way I treated your mother is at the top of that long list. She was the road not taken. My dear sweet Fiona will haunt the rest of my days. It's the one constant in my life.'

He shut his eyes and sighed, but he wasn't finished.

'And you? She never told me about you, for good reason. She was always the more pragmatic and rational one.' Nicholas shook his head, then fixed his eyes on Christian. 'It took a lot of guts to risk your neck for someone you don't know or respect. For whatever it's worth, I want to thank you for what you did.'

Christian hadn't expected to hear Charboneau talk about regrets with such openness. Sad, but he had no idea if he could trust the words coming from his father's mouth. No matter how much he wanted to.

'Thanks for sharing that . . .' Christian had no idea what to think. 'But your involvement with this med clinic at Genotech is so damning.'

Indignation flashed across Charboneau's eyes. 'Look, I already told Araujo I had nothing to do with