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“It’s so dusty here,” Julia whispered beside him, her eyes on the hills around Lima that housed the sandy-coloured shantytowns The thousands of s and plywood sheets, were barely visible against the barren hills

“When we get things sorted out with your gran, I’ll take you to Cusco and the jungle Lots of green there for you to look at”

She stiffened beside hih her defences to the point where she was relaxed and comfortable around him He had to believe he would, because Julia Collins had beco

“Is she going to be okay?” Julia’s soft question broke into Joe’s ood?”

“Yeah” Joe placed a hand on Julia’s arm and watched her freeze in place When he didn’t htly Baby steps, Joe reminded himself, baby steps “He’s et your gran out of there, Ed can And she’s definitely going to be okay Patricia is in the safest part of the prison”

“But if Ed can’t get her out, she’ll be ht?”

“That’s not going to happen I promise you that”

Julia seemed to relax further at his vow, and Joe prayed he would be able to keep it To hell with that—he would definitely keep it He’d move heaven and earth to et her into their new hotel roo toabout theAlice Then he planned to talk to his boss, Callu was clear—things were a whole lot randmother had led them to believe

Chapter 2

Callue of his bed as he picked up the phone ringing on his nightstand Well, he sas left of his legs The parts that hadn’t been blown off when he’d been in the service He absently rubbed his thigh as he checked the caller ID

“It’s all gone to hell, hasn’t it?” Callu You’ve been there, what? Two hours?”

“Five,” Joe said

Calluhed “Spit it out, then It’s the ht over here” Not that he’d been sleeping, but Joe didn’t need to hear about his ongoing battle with insomnia

“We picked up a tail at the prison” Joe’s voice was hushed, and Callu the infor

“Law enforces Pain that shouldn’t have been there, because the part of his legs that ached no longer existed