He pulled out his phone and started to dial Eve to tell her to come and meet him.
It was time.
* * *
“I saw the truck headlights on my way here.” Jock appeared from the brush beside the tree line where Eve and Cheknof were waiting near the ranger station. “Abrams should be hitting that exit road in a few minutes. Get ready.”
“I don’t need to be told that,” Cheknof said. “You’re Gavin? I’ve heard of you. You should be the one going with me instead of this woman. Kaskov would like it better.”
“Tough. Wrong thing to say at the moment. I don’t take orders from Kaskov.” He gave him an icy glance. “And you’ll hear a lot more about me if you don’t do your job and get Eve and Joe out of there.” He glanced at Eve. “Trouble?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.” She glanced at the two guards in front of the house, then at the Remington 700 rifle Jock was carrying. “You don’t think Cara’s going to be able to cause a distraction? You’re going to shoot out the tires?”
“I’m going to be prepared to do it. I’ll give Cara her chance. But I just monitored a call from Abrams to Svardak.” His glance went back to the road. “They were very sure Cara was completely helpless.”
And that call must have been hell for Jock to listen to, Eve thought. The thought of it was scaring her, too.
Joe. Concentrate on Joe.
Her glance flew to the front porch of the station. In minutes, she’d be with Joe. In minutes, she’d be able to get him out of there.
Pray God, she’d be able to get him out of there alive.
She tensed as she saw Svardak strolling out on the deck of the front porch.
Her glance flew to Jock’s face.
“Still okay,” he whispered. “The arrogant bastard said he wanted to welcome her home. He’s playing mind games with her.” His hand tightened on the Remington. “One way or another, you’ll be able to get Joe away from him, Eve. We’ll just have to give Cara her chance to distract the son of a bitch first.”
* * *
The headlights were spearing the road ahead, and Cara could see that there was a drainage ditch on both sides of the road. The woods seemed deeper, thicker along this stretch. In the distance, she could see the lights of a building glowing in the darkness.
Where Svardak was waiting for her.
It was time to try the ropes.
And she had to trust Kaskov that they would even work.
She shifted her bare palm coated with the liquid to touch the rope binding her wrists.
No hiss. No burning sensation. Just a stretching, loosening …
Maybe not loose enough …
Stop doubting.
She moved her hand to the ropes around her body. It took an instant longer, but they loosened. She couldn’t touch the ones at her ankles yet. She wanted to wait until Abrams exited the main road, when the truck slowed down to a crawl to make the turn. How long had it taken her to loosen those ropes? Longer than she had thought. She was feeling the truck slow as Abrams put on the brakes to make the turn onto the exit.
Use the rope as a garrote, Kaskov had said.
What did she know about garrotes? But the ropes that had bound her wrists were the logical ones for the purpose.
She took the rope with both hands. The rope felt hotter than when she’d taken it off, as if it had been storing energy.
Imagination?
Then Abrams began to make his turn.
And Cara swung her legs to the floor and sat up! The next instant she’d looped the rope around Abrams’s neck and pulled it tight!
He screamed! “What the hell are you—”
His throat smelled like burnt flesh, and he frantically lifted his hands from the wheel and tried to tear off the rope.
Lacher was gazing at him with mouth open.
“Get her!” Abrams shouted, his eyes bulging. “Kill her!”
The truck bounced down in the ditch and careened toward an oak tree.
Cara let loose of the rope and covered her face with her arms.
Crash!
CHAPTER
18
“Holy shit!” Jock watched the truck hit the tree and the smoke and fire ignite beneath the hood. “What the hell did she do? That’s not a distraction. That could be suicide.” He was already on the move. “Go! Inside, Eve.”
“Right.” Eve knew they’d never get a better chance. She had seen Svardak run down the steps and start toward the wreckage at the side of the road. The scene was complete chaos. The brilliant headlights lit the oak tree it had smashed against. Someone was lying on the horn, and it was blaring raucously. The two guards were leaving the station and running toward the wreckage. Svardak was shouting and cursing at the driver as he saw someone crawling from the front seat. “Come on, Cheknof.” She was up the steps to the porch in seconds. Then she was pushing the glass door with its Red Cross emblem.
Joe!
She inhaled sharply as she saw him. Dear God, he looked ill.
Cheknof was pushing her aside. “Is he dead? No, he’s not dead. Kaskov won’t be upset unless he’s dead. We still have to get him out.”
She was sick to death of hearing about Kaskov at this moment, which was all about Joe. She wished Michael hadn’t seen fit to press that particular button. But now wasn’t the time to do anything about it. “Yes, we do.” She ran to the examining table. “You cut the ropes. I’ll get the cuffs.” She bent over Joe and pulled the wire she’d brought out of her pocket. She worked the wire back and forth in the cuffs. Her hands were shaking.
Hot. Oh, God, his skin is so hot.
She snapped off the cuffs.
“Eve…”
Her gaze flew to Joe’s face.
His eyes were open. “You shouldn’t … be here.”
“Yes, I should.”
He shook his head. “Have to … get you out.” He was trying to sit up. “Told Michael … shouldn’t be anywhere near here. Let’s go…”
“Right.” She put her arm around his waist. “Cheknof will help. Lean on him.”
Cheknof was already half lifting him from the exam table. “You’re worse than useless,” he told Eve. “Gavin should have come. Now we have to move faster, or he might die. He’ll probably die anyway. I’d leave him, but Kaskov wouldn’t be pleased.” He was dragging Joe across the room. “If I decide to do it, you’ll tell Kaskov it’s not my fault?”
“I won’t have to tell him. Joe’s not going to die.” She took out her gun and pointed it at him. “And you’re not going to leave him. If you try, I’ll blow your head off, and Kaskov will give me a medal. But you’re right, we do have to move fast.” She slipped the gun back in her pocket. The warning might be enough. Cheknof was looking at her with distinct wariness. He was very familiar with violence, he just hadn’t realized he could expect it from her. But she had to make certain she could do this alone if he caused problems. She looked up at Joe’s face as she helped him toward the outer door. His eyes were open, and they were fixed on her. “Walk, Joe,” she whispered. “Help us. This Cheknof is completely obnoxious, and he’s driving me crazy. I’m not going to let him be right about this.”
He nodded slowly, his gaze never leaving her face. For an instant the faintest smile indented his lips. “Ob … noxious … Eve?” He staggered forward.
Yes!
Then they were outside and moving down the steps. The truck horn was still blaring and she did not know how long they’d been inside. Not long. Svardak and the guards were still milling around the wreckage. She shot a quick glance to try to see where Cara had gone. Where was she, she wondered in agony. Not in the truck. Had she run into the woods? Svardak must think so since he was running in that direction.
She had to let it go. Not her job. Let Jock handle it. She had her hands full with getting Joe away from here. She didn’t know how long she had before Jock would blow that C-4. She tore her eyes away from the wreck and tightened her hold around Joe’s waist.
Another four
yards, and they’d get to the tree line.
Two yards.
One.
The ranger station blew, sending glass and wood into the sky!
Eve staggered and had to struggle to keep herself from falling.
Then they were in the woods, the black smoke from the blast hiding them from view.
If they’d not already been seen.
* * *
Her head was bleeding, Cara realized dazedly. She pushed herself off the floor, where she’d been flung by the impact.
That horn blaring … It was driving her crazy.
The ropes around her ankles. She had to get them off …
Easy … Just like the others had been …
She was sore, but there didn’t seem to be any broken bones.
A groan from the front seat!
She froze. Abrams?
Her gaze flew to the driver’s seat.
She nearly threw up.
That groan hadn’t been from Abrams.
His throat and neck were almost burned through, and the rope was still sizzling, eating the flesh and muscle.
Another groan.
It was Lacher. He was half out of the passenger seat and fell to the ground as she watched.
It jarred her into motion.
Svardak …
She had to get out of here, too.
The next moment she had thrown open the back door and was tumbling out onto the oil-wet ground. She lifted her head and saw that Abrams’s three guards, who had been riding in the truck bed, had been thrown out during the collision. They looked dazed but were slowly sitting up, one man already on his knees. Down the road, she saw more men running toward the truck from the ranger station.
And behind them she saw someone else.
Svardak!
Run.
She rolled over and bent to jerk off the rope still wound around her ankle.
Heat.
She could still smell Abrams’s seared flesh. Her hand instinctively started to open to drop the rope.
Svardak.
A weapon.
Her hand tightened on the rope.
She turned and ran into the woods.
* * *
“Dad!”
Michael jumped up and ran toward Eve, Joe, and Cheknof as they staggered out of the trees toward the bank of the lake.
“No, Michael. Get in the boat.” Eve shook her head as they came closer. “He’s really sick. It’s a wonder he’s still on his feet. But he’s getting weaker all the time. We have to get him out of here and over to the other bank. We don’t know what effect that explosion will trigger with those goons of Svardak’s. They could be searching the forest for the people who did it right now.”
But Michael was standing before Joe, his gaze on his face. “Not yet.” There was such a look of glowing love as he looked up at him that Eve remembered that golden moment at the lake cottage when she’d watched them working on the Jeep together. Then he wrapped his arms around Joe for just an instant. “You did good.” His voice was muffled against Joe’s shirt. “You got her out and took care of her. But it’s not over. Now we have to make sure she’s safe, and she won’t be safe unless you are. Just a little longer, Dad. You have to get across the lake and hold on until the doctors get to you.” He took a step back, and Eve saw his eyes were glittering with moisture. “Do you hear me? You know I’m right. You have to do it.”
Joe’s lids slowly lifted. He looked down at Michael. “Of … course … I … do … I was just … resting … Nag … Nag … Nag…”
Michael nodded. “Yeah, but only until we get you to the hospital. Then we’ll all be safe, and you can take over again.” He watched Cheknof and Eve pick Joe up and place him carefully in the canoe, with his head on Eve’s lap. Then he untied the boat and jumped in the canoe himself. “I like that much better, Dad. Mom will, too. I’ve been doing all kinds of things that she worries about.”
“Bad…” Joe murmured. His eyes were closing again. “Have to … keep you … in line…”
Michael nodded. “You do that.” He wiped his damp cheeks on the back of his hands. “Mom will tell you I’m getting out of hand. She needs you.”
“Yes, he’s right,” Eve said huskily as she looked down at Joe’s face. “How do you expect me to get along without you? Not fair, Joe.”
He nodded. “Not … fair. Together.”
“Right.” Eve was reaching for her phone. “And we’re almost on the other bank, so I have to call and get you some help. First, I’ll call 911, then I’ll call Kaskov as a backup.”
“Kaskov first,” Cheknof said. “He has to know what superior work I’ve done. If we can keep him alive…” He frowned. “Though we should really have gone after Kaskov’s granddaughter before we—”
“Shut up, Cheknof,” Eve said. “Or I’ll drop you into this lake.”
Michael was looking back over his shoulder at the burning ranger station and the black smoke rising into the sky. “Cara, Mom?”
“She’s not in that fire.” But she wasn’t going to lie to him. “And Svardak didn’t have her yet when we got your father out of that station.” But the memory of that twisted metal smashed against the oak tree was still before her. “But other than that, I don’t know, Michael. I guess we’ve just got to trust Jock.”
* * *
“Where are you, bitch?” Svardak’s shout was almost a screech of rage in the darkness behind Cara. “Do you think you can get away from me? Lacher told me that you killed Abrams, but I’m no Abrams. I don’t know how you did it, but I’m going to hunt you down and slice you to pieces.”
She ran faster, deeper into the forest.
She had to keep going.
Svardak might be alone now, but she was remembering Svardak’s guards, who had been streaming from the ranger station toward the wreck. And Abrams’s men picking themselves up after being thrown from the bed of the truck. Svardak would have help soon.
Jock would come.
Jock would help her.
But she didn’t know what was happening to Joe or how much help he’d need. She had to try to help herself.
“Ah, there you are,” Svardak called. “You look like a ghost in this darkness. Run, rabbit. Run.”
A shot hit the boulder ahead of her! She darted left, down another path.
The dark trees loomed on either side of Cara like the drawings from a child’s macabre Halloween coloring book as she tore through the woods. She had felt the explosion that had rocked the earth only minutes ago, and she could smell the acrid smoke of the fire that had demolished the ranger station. But Svardak wasn’t even mentioning the explosion, it was as if he hadn’t even heard it. He was so obsessed by the sheer rage that had consumed him when he’d realized that she had escaped him that he could think of nothing else.
“Was it Kaskov who gave you one of his toys to kill Abrams?” he asked mockingly. “He meant it for me, didn’t he? He didn’t really fool me. But nothing mattered as long as I got my hands on you. I was so tired of waiting. He sent you into the lion’s mouth and abandoned you. Did he tell you he was going to follow you and save you? He lied to you. No one followed Abrams. I had him check from the minute he left Copper Flats. You’re alone, Cara. As alone as you were at Lost Canyon.”
A bullet suddenly tore into the pine tree next to her!
“Almost got you.” Svardak was laughing. “I caught just a glimpse…” Then he snarled. “But you’re gone again. I’m getting tired of this.” He was panting now. “This damn wound is starting to bleed again. I’ll make you pay when I catch up with you.”
His wound …
He was sounding weaker. She probably had more strength than he did. But he had that gun, and that last bullet had been very close. If she kept on being his prey, then he might be able to get off a shot that would take her down.
She looked down at the rope in her hand. She also had a weapon, and it had worked before. But she had taken Abrams by surprise. She wasn’t sure that she could do the same
with Svardak.
She heard shouting coming from the direction of the road. It wouldn’t be long before Svardak would be reinforced.
No choice. Go on the offense before he had any of his men to join the hunt. Lure him. Then strike him down.
Lure him where?
The thick stand of brush near the boulders bordering the lake. It should give enough cover …
She started running toward it, darting back and forth through the shrubs. Talk to him. Make him angrier. Bring him to her.
“That wound may kill you yet,” she called back to him. “It’s what I meant to do. I can still feel your blood on my hands. Did it hurt, Svardak?” She jumped over a log on the path. “I wanted it to hurt. I was remembering Marian and what you did to her. All the torment…”
“I only told you bits and pieces.” His voice was a vicious growl. “I’ll show you the rest when I have you. Like I’ll show you what I do to Quinn.” She could hear him pushing through the bushes on the trail behind her. “He’s almost gone, but there’s still time for pain. You’ll see every minute of it.”
Pray that wasn’t true. Pray she’d given Eve and Jock enough time to free him.
“If you live that long,” she taunted. “Are those stitches breaking open yet? I told you that I’d win. It just took a little longer than I thought.” She was almost at the boulders. “If I keep you running long enough, I’ll only have to stand and watch you bleed out.”
She heard Svardak’s growl of sheer fury as his pace increased. “Bitch!”
Two more yards until she got to that tall stand of grass.
“Do you think your Anna will be there waiting in hell for you? Since she was the ringleader of all that ugliness that brought down your family, I’d think it only fair.”
She heard his cry of sheer rage as she ducked behind the grass.
Wait.
The Bullet Page 36
