Luke made a rude noise. “No way. You should have—”
She interrupted. “And I just met your friend, Cameron, and he almost broke my ribs. Shows you what a good judge of character you are.” She added, “Catherine says you should tell me what all this means. So stop being rude and tell me.”
“Hu Chang would say you have no gratitude or appreciation.” He was silent a moment before he said gruffly, “I’m glad nobody cut your throat, Kelly.”
“Me, too.” She smiled. “Now talk to me.”
* * *
It would be all right, Catherine thought with relief as her gaze shifted away from Kelly and Luke. Luke would not treat Kelly as a victim and that would keep her from thinking of herself as one. It was the best thing for Kelly right now.
“I don’t appreciate your pointing that gun at me,” Cameron said softly. “It hurt my feelings.”
“Bullshit.” She shot him a glance as she fell to her knees beside the man Cameron had garroted. Dressed in jeans and black leather jacket, Cameron was every bit as powerful and sexual as she remembered. And his expression was just as mocking and challenging. “I didn’t know it was you when I came down that trail. And, if I had known, I would still have pointed it at you when I saw that you were holding Kelly helpless. How did I know what you were doing?” She was searching through the pockets of the dead man. “What are you doing here anyway? For all I knew, you were still in Tibet.”
“I was finished with what I had to do there. I flew out almost immediately. I was already only minutes from landing in Louisville when Hu Chang contacted me and told me you were on your way here. So I just picked up a helicopter and extended my flight plan a little.”
“And you didn’t think to let me know what had happened or if you’d found out anything from Nagoles that I—”
“I was planning on telling you eventually.” He knelt beside her as she flipped open the wallet she’d taken out of the man’s jacket. “Who is he? He was definitely not Grade-A material.”
“He didn’t have to be,” she said harshly. “He only had to kill a sixteen-year-old girl.” She glanced at the driver’s license. “Raymond Shaw. Issued in Richmond, Virginia. Local boy. Probably not one of Santos’s regular goons. That might have some significance.”
“And that is?”
“I don’t know.” She looked through the rest of Shaw’s pockets and pulled out only a Shell gas receipt and a phone. “We’ll check the phone records, but it’s a disposable pay phone. It probably won’t help us.” She held up a small device. “And this is a signal blocker that he probably used to take out Kelly’s phone. Nothing else.”
“He had a gun. He tried to draw it when I was disposing of him. He would have been smarter to shoot Kelly than to try to use that knife. He could have picked her off from behind those trees.” He shook his head. “But some killers just like the thrill of the cut. Santos would have been displeased at his self-indulgence.”
“Maybe he ordered it. It would have made her death all the more ghastly for me.” She sat back on her heels and said jerkily, “And that’s what he wants. Pain. Shock. Terror.”
“He didn’t get it this time.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “Your Kelly is alive and well.” He smiled. “And amazingly ferocious for such a fragile-looking young girl. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I might have had to put her out if you hadn’t come along.”
Cameron’s hand on her shoulder was warm and comforting. Strange. “Comforting” was the last word she would have applied to Cameron. When he touched her, it was always sheer erotic combustion.
“Evidently there’s a time and a place. I find it strange too.”
“Get out of my head, Cameron. You promised me.”
“It was only a temporary fall from grace. I was concerned, and it caught me off balance. I had to make sure that you were safe when I reached the woods.”
“Get out of my head,” she repeated. She stood up. “I have to get Kelly out of here. She’s been through too much.”
“Are you taking her back to the campus?”
“Hell, no. I’m taking her home with me, where I can keep an eye on her. Just because we were able to save her this time is no guarantee that Santos won’t send someone else.”
“I have a helicopter parked at the heliport north of the dam. It will be closer than for you to go back to the university.”
She nodded. “And I won’t run into the State Police. I’ll call Venable and tell him Kelly’s safe, and I’m going home with you.”
He smiled. “Oh, that will please him. I’ve been sensing a certain antagonism in his actions toward me lately.”
“You can hardly blame him.”
“I never blame anyone who plays fair. It just makes the game more interesting. When Venable begins to show his fangs, I’ll rethink and adjust.”
“And go after him?”
He didn’t answer. “It shouldn’t take us long to get to the helicopter.” He turned and moved toward Kelly, Luke, and Sam. “Coming?”
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
It was raining harder.
Jane could barely see more than a few yards ahead of her.
The windshield wipers on the Toyota were having to work overtime as she got off the freeway and turned onto the gravel road leading to the lake cottage.
Just go slow and don’t slide off into that ditch already overflowing with water, she told herself.
And it would have been easier if that car behind her wasn’t hugging her bumper and didn’t have his bright lights on. That brilliant beam reflected in her rearview mirror was blinding.
Just concentrate on the road.
Only a few miles more.
But, dammit, turn off those high beams.
VIRGINIA
Catherine turned around as soon as they were airborne to look at Kelly in the back with Luke and Sam. “Okay? We’ll be home soon, Kelly.”
Kelly nodded. “It all seems like a bad dream or one of those screamer movies. It doesn’t seem real.”
“It was real enough,” Luke said. “Why did you go tearing off like that? You said something about a note. What did it say?”
“Just a couple words. With deepest regret. And a photo from a newspaper with the story about how Daddy was killed.”
“No signature? Postmark?” Catherine asked.
“No signature. Local postmark. I thought it was maybe a student in one of my classes.”
“Do you still have it?”
“Sure, it’s in my backpack. I dropped the backpack on the trail. But I picked it up on our way to the copter. Will it help if I show it to you?”
“It could. I’ll check it out when we get home.”
“Look, I should go back to school. I’ll be missing classes. I’m working on a project that—”
“No,” Catherine said firmly. “I’ll make sure you’re excused, and your project can wait.”
Kelly nodded wearily. “I guess that’s okay. It will have to be.” Suddenly, her lips tilted with sly amusement. “After all, I have to take care of Luke. He’s just a kid.”
“Who wasn’t the one who caused us all this bother,” Luke said. “Running around the woods. Talk about being—”
“Break it up,” Sam said. “It’s amazing that the two of you can be so mature alone and like this when you’re together.”
Truly amazing. And very healthy, Catherine thought as she turned back around in her seat. She looked at Cameron. “So tell me about Nagoles. Santos said he’d disappeared, but he didn’t know at the time if he’d crashed in the helicopter.”
“He did not. You wanted me to question him.”
“But you wouldn’t promise me to do it.”
“You should have known that I would.”
“Why? You were angry with me.”
“I still am, but that doesn’t alter the fact that I’m involved.”
“Did Nagoles talk?”
“Eventually. Not that he knew a great deal. He’d worked for Santos a number of ti
mes before, but he generally dealt through Dorgal.” He paused. “He was the one who killed Olena Petrov, but Santos hired someone else to take down Jantzen and Slantkey. Santos wanted Nagoles available to do the Erin kill.”
“All very efficient and well planned,” Catherine said bitterly.
“Why not? He’s had a long time to think about it.” He shook his head. “And Nagoles didn’t know where Santos is now. He was to pick up his money in Hong Kong. That was all I could get out of him about anything connected to you. Though I did ask him specifically about any jobs he did for Santos while he was in prison that struck him as unusual.”
“And were there?”
“Only one. He was contracted to kill some doctor in Guatemala. A Dr. Jorge Montez. An example killing. Very bloody.”
“And not that unusual for Santos. He’s been known to dangle the heads of his enemies off the bridges of their home cities.”
“But it seems Jorge Montez had a brother who was also a doctor. Eduardo Montez. Nagoles was given orders that on no account was he to harm Eduardo.”
“No reason?”
“Nagoles just obeyed orders and asked no questions. It was safer for him.”
“I can see that. Nothing else?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
“I wish I’d been there to question him.”
“Do you really think you’d have gotten more out of him than I did?” His eyes were glacier cold. “I’m not an amateur. You’ll have to be satisfied. I was not about to let him live one more minute than I had to after what he did to Erin.”
No, Cameron could be more ruthless than she could ever be. She was just frustrated that he’d not been able find out more. “Where is Nagoles? Santos said he just disappeared.”
“They’ll find him in a cave in the rocks if they look hard enough.” He reached into his jacket and pulled something out of his pocket. “It was difficult for me to finish questioning him after I found this little trifle on him.” He dropped it into her palm. “It made me exceedingly angry.”
A gold dog tag with her name engraved on it.
Her lips twisted. “Santos’s signature for all of his targets. He must have meant it for Erin. Very elaborate planning, even down to this macabre piece of jewelry.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“You are angry.” She looked at him curiously. “Why?”
“It bothers me. I don’t like anyone using you, dirtying you like that.”
“Neither do I.” She shrugged. “But as I said, it’s just something he does with every target and—” She stopped. “Oh, my God.”
“What?”
“Every target. He does it with every chosen target.” She moistened her lips. “But there wasn’t one of those dog tags in the pocket of that killer, Shaw, who went after Kelly. I was very thorough searching him, but there was no dog tag. Why with all the other people Santos targeted and not Kelly?”
His eyes were narrowed on her face. “I think you’re about to tell me.”
“Because she wasn’t the principal target.” She shook her head. “My God, she was only meant to be a distraction. Maybe someone to keep me occupied while he went after the designated target. Santos said to guess who was next on his list. I guessed wrong.”
“Easy. Perhaps not. There’s no doubt Shaw meant to kill Kelly. It could be that he screwed up about leaving the dog tag. I told you he wasn’t Grade-A material.”
“And why would Santos have someone who wasn’t absolutely expert to do the job? That’s not Santos. Maybe because Kelly was a last-minute addition to his plan. And Shaw used a knife, not a gun. You even said that wasn’t as smart.” She was going down the list, and it was leading her where she didn’t want to go. “And Kelly said he trailed her for a long time in those woods. He wasn’t in a hurry. He had to be stalling. Waiting for word to take her out.”
“And you believe he got it.”
“I think that he was told to get rid of her because they’d managed to make the target kill. I wouldn’t be able to stop it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.” She tried to steady her voice. “I tried to make everyone safe. Hu Chang is with Erin. Joe is taking care of Eve. But Santos is finding other targets. He’s not just going after the ones I thought he’d kill. He told me that I could never be sure.” She reached for her phone. “Maybe he’s found a way to get to Erin or Eve. Or Hu Chang. I always think that no one can touch Hu Chang, but maybe Santos found a way.”
“I doubt it. I’ve found that he’s pretty well bulletproof. Who are you calling?”
“Everyone. I have to make sure that they’re all safe. That maybe I’m wrong. God, I hope I’m wrong.” She dialed quickly. “I’ll start with Eve.”
* * *
The car crashed into Jane’s Toyota from behind!
Her head snapped back from the whiplash impact.
Crazy. That driver had to be crazy. It had to be deliberate. The road was treacherous from the rain, but that impact had intent behind it.
Crash!
He’d done it again.
Her Toyota skittered across the gravel, and she was barely able to keep it on the road.
Again!
And the driver of the car who hit her was drawing beside her on the road. Metal scraped against metal as his passenger door screeched against her car.
Jane struggled desperately to keep the Toyota on the road, but she was being pushed toward the ditch.
“Idiot!”
But he had to be more than just stupid. Deadly. She could see the driver only dimly through the pouring rain, but she recognized the body language. Tense, intent, every muscle aimed at what he was doing.
And what he was doing was shoving her into that ditch.
He crashed against the side of her car again.
And the Toyota went out of control, and she headed for the ditch.
She went off the road and into the water in the ditch.
Her head hit the steering wheel.
Pain. Dizziness.
The air bag deployed, whipping her back in the seat.
More pain.
Her horn was blowing. She must have hit that, too, she thought dimly.
Her driver’s door was opening.
She dazedly raised her head.
Someone in a brown jacket was standing in the road, the rain pouring off him.
He was smiling.
And he had a Luger pistol in his hand.
She instinctively tried to reach over, to grab her handbag, and throw it at him.
The air bag got in the way, and the handbag fell to the mud of the ditch.
The gun fired, exploded.
Agony.
Her chest …
He was throwing something at her. Something gold … a chain …
It didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered.
The pain was going away. The rain was going away. Everything was going away but the warm, golden light that was suddenly surrounding her.
And beyond that light was Trevor. Tall, strong, his blue eyes shining and full of love.
He was shaking his head, but she didn’t care. She could see the love, feel the everafter that was there for them.
“It’s okay, Trevor.” She was running toward him. “Do you hear me? It wasn’t my fault. I would have lived. I would have done what you wanted me to do. But this just happened. I couldn’t help it.” She was getting closer, and the golden light was around her, in her. Soon she’d be in his arms. “So you must be wrong. It must be okay that we’re going to be together…”
CHAPTER
6
“I’m fine, Catherine,” Eve said. “So is Joe. He’s right here.” She was trying to be soothing since Catherine was obviously upset. But her own heart had plummeted when Catherine had rattled out that frightening suspicion about Santos’s intentions.
“Jane.” Joe was at Eve’s elbow. “Jane’s not here. She should be home by now.”
“Call her.” She said
to Catherine, “I’ve got to go. Jane was driving here from the airport. We have to check on her.”
“Jane…” Catherine repeated. “God, yes. Make sure she’s safe.” She hung up.
“No answer, Eve,” Joe said as he hung up his phone.
“Call that policeman who was supposed to be following her.” Eve was already shrugging into her rain anorak as she headed for the door. “We’ve got to go look for her.”
“It’s raining.” He was following her down the porch steps. “It could have slowed her down. Maybe traffic…”
“I’ve been telling myself the same thing,” she said jerkily as she jumped into the Jeep. “But I’m scared, Joe.”
“So am I.” He hung up the phone. “Particularly since I can’t rouse that security black-and-white that should have been following her. That’s damn strange. I’d call the precinct but … that can wait.”
And Jane might not be able to wait, Eve thought as she tore down the gravel road toward the freeway.
Not if Catherine was right.
Not if that bastard had decided to target Jane.
God, she wished this rain would stop. She could hardly see anything ahead of her.
No, that wasn’t true. She could see bright headlights ahead.
But not on the road.
The car was in a ditch, but the headlights were still blazing.
“Dear God,” she whispered. She stomped on the accelerator, and the Jeep jumped forward. They were stopping beside the Toyota in the ditch in seconds.
“The driver’s door is open,” Joe said. “But I don’t see the driver.” He jumped out of the Jeep and ran toward the Toyota. “Maybe the driver got out and is looking for help. It’s a poss—” He broke off as he reached the car. “No, she didn’t get out.”
Eve was beside him, looking at Jane pinned back against the seat by the air bag. Blood. Her chest was covered with blood. “Oh, baby.” She knelt beside the driver’s seat, tears pouring down her cheeks. “Jane…”
Your Next Breath Page 10
