Across the River of Yesterday

other. Alas, not in the biblical sense.' He chuckled. 'And perhaps I'll tell you all about the woman who lived in this little house.'

'You climb the damn tree. I'm going back to Mariba!'

It was Dane's voice!

Serena tossed the cards she had been shuffling onto the mattress and jumped to her feet. 'He got him out! It's Dane, Julio! Gideon managed to get him released. I can't believe it.' She tore across the room and flung open the door. 'Isn't this wonderful?'

Julio hesitated. 'Wonderful.'

Serena teetered on the edge of the platform, peering down into the darkness. 'Dane, come up here! I want to see you.'

There was a short silence then Dane said grudgingly, 'Okay, I'm coming up.'

Serena backed a few paces to make room on the platform. Then Dane's curly black head appeared in the pool of lamplight issuing from the tree house. Oh thank heavens, he was all rightl His expression was a bit stormy, but he wasn't hurt or… She hurled herself into his arms and hugged him with all her strength. 'Damn you, Dane, I hope this will teach you something. The next time someone offers you a bacchanalian revel, check for strings, you idiot.'

'There weren't any strings,' he protested. 'And I had a helluva good time, until that ass Mendino turned into a minor Hitler.' He gave her a quick hug and pushed her away. 'Thanks for riding to the rescue anyway.' He scowled. 'And now that you've seen I'm all right, I'm going back to Mariba. I never would have left, if I'd known about the damned deal. I had my party and I'll pay the piper.'

'What deal are you talking about?' Serena asked.

'I'm going back for Gideon Brandt,' Dane growled. 'What do you all think I am? An irresponsible kid? I told you, I had my fun and I'll be the one to pay for it.'

Serena went still. 'What do you mean, go back for Gideon?'

'Gideon stayed in Mariba,' Ross said as he negotiated the last few rungs of the ladder and stepped onto the platform. 'He made a deal with Mendino. He promised him another two hundred thousand in ransom, if he'd let Dane go and accept him as hostage instead.'

She was terrified. 'Why?' Her lips felt numb and her voice sounded wooden. 'We were going to free Dane anyway. Julio was- '

'Gideon thought there was an element of risk involved.' Ross was choosing his words carefully.

'He didn't believe that he had the right to take that risk since he felt responsible for Dane's predicament. He called me tonight from Santa Isabella and told me to set up the new deal with Mendino.'

Dane muttered a low curse.

Serena ignored him, her gaze fastened on Ross's face. 'What kind of risk?'

Ross shrugged. 'I told you Mendino was unpredictable.'

'But what does that mean?' Serena grated out between her teeth.

'It means he wasn't sure which way Mendino would jump when we launched the assault.' It was Julio's quiet voice behind her. 'He's very volatile and-'

'Julio,' Ross said warningly.

'No.' Julio moved to stand beside them pn the platform. 'She's a strong woman. Don't treat her as if she were a child. I don't think it was fair of Gideon not to tell her what he was planning to do. Women can be a hell of a lot stronger than men when they have to be.' He turned to Serena. 'He was afraid Mendino would fly into a rage and shoot Dane before we managed to disarm them.'

Serena could feel the blood draining from her face. She had thought she couldn't be more frightened, but she was wrong. 'Then the same thing will apply to Gideon, won't it? Gideon is in the same danger?'

Julio nodded. 'Perhaps even greater danger. Mendino will feel Gideon has made a fool of him.'

'Then let's pay the ransom. Let's give them anything they want.'

'It's too late,' Ross said. 'Julio says the entire town will be a madhouse within a few hours. The headquarters of the junta is going to be stormed and Mendino will know it's the end. We can't manage to raise that amount of cash before that happens, so we either move in and try to take Mendino now, or we wait and see. There's a small chance that Mendino will release Gideon when he makes a run for it.'

'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.