Free Your Next Breath by Iris Johansen Page B

her head regretfully. “Too bad. Luke really likes her.”
    “And so do you,” Sam said softly. “It was like watching a family when she was here visiting. It was good for you.”
    “Of course I like her. She was my friend before she was Luke’s. She’s sharp and funny and has a wry sense of—” She stopped and drew a deep breath. “Oh, shit.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “ I’m wrong. I should have ignored the fact that Kelly would have to be brought here kicking and screaming if we tore her away from that project she’s working on. I told Luke that Santos would have Kelly listed as low-priority since she wasn’t family. But when I was talking about her just now, I realized that she might as well be family. And Santos has done his research, he’ll know that she’s not just Luke’s friend. He would have found out that I rescued Kelly in Colombia when she and her father had been kidnapped by bandits. He’ll know I care about her, too.” She reached for her phone. “I’m so damn stupid. I could get her killed.” She dialed Venable. “She could very well be high on his death list.”
    “And she might not,” Sam said quietly. “Stop blaming yourself. He can’t be targeting everyone.”
    “But I don’t know who he is targeting,” she said unsteadily. “And it’s driving me crazy. Who am I going to miss?” Venable picked up the call, and she spoke quickly, “Look, Venable, I need you to check on Kelly Winters’s surveillance. I’m getting pretty uptight about having her out there alone. I’m going to call her myself later and see if I can’t persuade her to let us come and get her. Don’t let her go anywhere on campus without a tail, okay?”
    “That goes without saying. If there were a problem, I’d know about it.”
    “Okay, so I’m paranoid. Just do it.” She hung up.

 
    CHAPTER
    4
    “I am paranoid,” she said to Sam after she’d finished speaking to Venable. “I can’t help it.” She leaned back in her chair and tried to compose herself. “I guess that’s all I can do right now.” Her hand clenched on her coffee cup. “I hate this. I want Santos.”
    “So do I,” Sam said.
    “He has me on the defensive. I feel so damn helpless. All I can do is wait for something to happen.” She moistened her lips. “Or someone to die.”
    “You’re not helpless. Erin Sullivan is alive, and she wouldn’t be if you hadn’t acted.”
    “Even that wasn’t a complete victory. A priest died in that village.” She waved her hand as he started to speak. “But I can’t think about that. I’ll accept partial victories.”
    “And it probably pissed off Santos big-time. All of his elaborate schemes down the tube.”
    She smiled. “You’re great, Sam. I’m actually beginning to feel a little optimistic.”
    “No, you’re not. But you might be seeing things a little clearer. You’re going to beat the son of a bitch, but you’re probably going to have to go the distance before you do. Right now, you have the weight of all those lives on your shoulders. You’ll feel better once you’re on the offense.”
    “You bet I will.” She got to her feet. “And I won’t get there until I find a hook to hang him. I’d better get back to the computer. Not that I’ve found anything worthwhile yet. It will come.” And she might have had that hook if she’d been able to talk to Nagoles. Think positive. Cameron had not actually refused her.
    And she hadn’t heard from Cameron since he’d run out of that cave after Nagoles. How did she know he was even alive?
    She quickly rejected the thought. Cameron was alive. She wouldn’t have it any other way. He was too clever, too trained in every form of combat, too much the complete warrior to be brought down.
    And she somehow felt she would have known if he wasn’t still on this Earth.
    “I’ll go check on Luke in the library, then go to my room and hit the computer to see if I can find that hook.” She headed for the kitchen door. “There