Free Hard Target by Barbara Phinney

ambassador's big frame. Dawna hadn't expected her in so soon. "Lucy, you're in early."
    The secretary looked older than usual. "Ambassador Legace wanted me to come in early to help clear up some work." Her face was pale as she stepped in, away from the security office. "I'll get off early for it."
    A pause lingered between them and Lucy took another step toward Dawna. "Do you think it's safe to go up to that village? That man shot at you."
    "We'll be fine. We'll make less of an impression than the local policia ." She forced out a brisk smile. "And I am a police officer."
    Lucy brushed a lock of her salt and pepper hair away from her eyes. "You should take a jacket and hat and gloves. It gets cold in the mountains. The weather hasn't been good up there, lately, they say."
    "Can't be any colder than Ottawa gets," Tay said, his smile somewhat forced. "Last winter, we had a record snowfall."
    Lucy's expression darkened. "I hate the snow."
    "Lucy?" the ambassador called to her from the security office's doorway. Her face pinched into a frown as she spun and followed him out.
    Tay took a sip of his coffee, peering over the rim at Dawna as watched the older woman leave her. "Do you actually believe Cabanelos only wants to talk?"
    She busied herself with the map. "No. I've never had a suspect call me just to talk. But this isn't some petty crook or disgruntled private. This guy could have killed us yesterday, but he chose not to. The same goes for his little bomb. He could have made it bigger, or triggered it at a different time. He didn't sound like a man with a grudge, either."
    "What did he sound like?"
    Dawna paused a moment. "Urgent. Desperate, almost."
    "Which doesn't necessarily mean he only wants to chat and then will let you walk away."
    "Why tell me something, then kill me?" Dawna sighed as she stared down at the map's crinkled, jagged folds. "Look, you don't want to go? Fine. I'll take Ramos, instead. You can read my reports."
    Tay took the map and began to refold it so the western area was visible. "Forget Ramos. When do we leave?"
    "Right after lunch. Make sure you bring plenty to drink. It'll be a dusty drive." She took back the map and shoved it into her briefcase. "In the meantime, you might as well start reading my security reports. That is why you're here." She unlocked a cabinet and pulled out locked metal box. "I keep them on a flash drive in here. I'll get you into the system. It is password protected."
    After giving him access to her computer, she stepped back and watched Tay settle down at her desk. The harsh fluorescent lights shone on his hair. This morning, he seemed quite satisfied to do what she expected of him. Good.
    Did that mean they were starting to trust each other?
    "I'll be back in a minute." She had a phone call to make, preferring it well out of earshot of Tay. Striding down the hall to Lucy's office, Dawna silently forgave herself for waking Ramos after he'd pulled the graveyard shift. But she needed his good rapport with the policia .
    Because Ramos was going to find out who owned a particular blue Toyota with a license plate that ended with forty-two.
     
    Scrubby grass and dun colors offset the snowy peaks that towered to Tay's right until, at his instruction, Dawna turned the car onto a dusty road. They'd already passed the sign stating they'd reached the highest point on the Pan American highway and Oruro hugged a hillside behind them.
    The whole Alto Plano looked more like a dirty prairie than a mountain range, although one mountain stood starkly ahead. Sajama, Tay presumed. Shorter, but no less spectacular, a pair of mountains loomed to their left. Behind them, Tay noticed with a frown, dark clouds formed in the distance.
    He was glad the ambassador had suggested the smaller armored car, despite the fact one side was riddled with bullet holes. Dawna had explained that the embassy in Bogota had readied the car for disposal, until the military put it on extended life and shipped it down to