“Galen told me.” She looked away from him. “But this isn't Afghanistan. Did you have any trouble?”
“I did some dodging.”
That was all he was going to say. Well, she didn't want to know anyway. “Bob Jurgens was in that first car you wrecked.”
“You recognized him?”
“He was the FBI agent who interviewed me.”
“He wanted to put her in a safe house,” Galen added.
Morgan gave a low whistle. “Interesting.”
“It's more than interesting to me,” she said. “It's damn world-shaking. He seemed . . . I thought he was starting to believe me.”
“I'm sure he did.”
She shook her head. “I'm not sure of anything right now.”
Except that she might have died today if Morgan hadn't been there. That fact was as bewildering as everything else that had happened to her.
“It's natural for you to be confused,” Morgan said quietly. “It's against your instincts to doubt the authorities. You want to believe them.”
“I'm not sure that I don't.”
“Yes, you are,” Morgan said. “Listen to your gut feelings.”
She couldn't do that. Her gut feelings were telling her to run and hide, and that wasn't an option she could live with.
The ranch outside Sibley was located twenty miles from the town and set some three miles back from the road. From the air the house looked to be a nice, clean little wooden cottage with a wraparound porch.
Galen set the helicopter down in a meadow to the south of the house. “You two get inside. I have to find a way of camouflaging this chopper. There should be a key underneath the phony rock beside the porch.”
“Some security,” Morgan said.
“It's that kind of town. Most people don't lock their doors here at night.”
“I always wanted to live in a town like that,” Alex said as she walked toward the house. “Fourth of July parades where everyone knows everybody. Picnics. Bands playing in a gazebo in the park.”
“Sounds nice,” Judd said. “But I notice you chose to spend your life globe-trotting instead.”
“It just happened. At first, I was curious about everything and anything. After my father died . . . I needed to work. I went where I was sent. Where I was needed.”
“But you still like the idea of your small town with unlocked doors.”
“I guess I feel a little vulnerable. Going back to the way things were fifty years ago is like feather beds and mashed potatoes. Comfort.”
“But we're not in a comfort zone right now.” He moved ahead of her and retrieved the key from beneath the rock. “So stay outside until I check out the house.”
“Galen said this place was safe.”
“More soldiers are killed when they think they're safe than at any other time.” He unlocked the door. “Oops, sorry. More military garbage.” He disappeared inside the house but returned in a few minutes. “All clear.”
“Galen would have been upset if it hadn't been,” Alex said as she entered the house, whose furnishings reflected the same hominess as the exterior. It was all chintz slipcovers and pine cabinets. There was even a rocking chair in the corner. “He seems to take pride in his ability to move us around like chess pieces.”
“He's proud that he's good at his job.” Morgan was at the fireplace, kneeling to light the kindling. “But he has no desire to move the pawns around the board. Neither do I. Too many people in my life have pulled my strings. All I want is to be left alone.”
“But evidently you made an executive decision when you snatched me.”
He shrugged. “I'd committed myself to keeping you alive. I had no choice.” He rose to his feet. “I'll go raid the kitchen and see if I can find coffee and some food. Those three doors leading off the living room are bedrooms. Why don't you choose one and wash up?”
“I will.” As she moved toward the first door, she noticed a television set against the far wall. “And why don't you see if you can get some news on that television? I want to see if I'm wanted for the murder of any of those FBI men you shot as well as for blowing up the dam.”
“I was as careful as I could be. I hit them when they were almost down to the valley and wouldn't go off the mountain. I targeted the tires. You said you didn't want anyone hurt.”
“Jurgens was holding his arm. I think it might have been broken.”
“So I'm not perfect. I try to make sure I don't have to calculate car speed on a target. It's very tricky. And no one has ever wanted me to take out cars instead of men.” He opened a cabinet over the sink. “Ah, coffee. If you want to take a nap, I promise not to drink the entire pot.”