Your Next Breath

by Iris Johansen

  And dread was beginning to turn him cold with fear. No, it didn’t have to be—

  Then he heard the screams.

  And he realized what was on fire.

  The monastery.

  CHAPTER

  12

  Her cell phone was ringing, waking Catherine from sleep.

  She jerked upright in bed and grabbed it from the bedside table.

  Montez. Thank God, it was Montez.

  “You’ve made up your mind?” she asked as she answered the phone. “I knew that—”

  “Come and get me,” Montez said hoarsely. “I told you that I’d ask for a sign. Well, I have it.” His voice was strained with agony. “Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus, I have it.”

  “Sign?” She was on her feet. “What sign? What’s wrong, Montez?”

  “They set the monastery on fire. I’m standing here watching it burn. Screaming. I hear the screaming. I think they locked the monks inside, but some must have escaped because I see a few running for the forest. But they’re on fire. Burning—screaming and burning. I’ve got to help them.”

  “Listen, Montez. It’s a trap. The minute you show yourself, Dorgal will pounce.”

  “They’re burning up. Dear God, I can smell them. I’ve got to help. I’m a doctor.”

  “I can see that.” She tried to think. “Stay away from the monastery itself. It won’t help anyone for you to be trapped. I’ll have Dario and his men rush over there and free anyone locked inside. Cameron says they’re in the area. If you need to help any of those monks who ran into the forest, do what you have to do. Just try to keep Dorgal’s men from catching sight of you. Okay?”

  “If I can—” He hung up.

  And Catherine was running out the door and down the hall to Cameron’s room. “Call Dario and tell him to get to the monastery. Dorgal has set fire to it,” she said when she threw open the door. “Montez says that he locked some of the monks inside.”

  Cameron didn’t question, he was on the phone in seconds.

  And Catherine was darting back to her room, tearing off her nightshirt, and throwing on her clothes. She dashed into the bathroom and splashed water in her face, then was hurrying back down the hall to Cameron’s room again.

  He was just hanging up the phone. “Dario’s no more than eight minutes away,” he said tersely as he got out of bed naked and started dressing. “I told him to release those monks and try to gather up Montez if he could find him. He’s at the monastery?”

  “In the forest trying to help the burn victims who escaped. It had to be a trap, Cameron.”

  He nodded. “And it will be a miracle if Dario gets there before Montez is caught.”

  “I know.” She rubbed her temple. “I tried to warn him. But I knew I couldn’t stop him. I wouldn’t have stopped. You wouldn’t have stopped. He talked about terrible evil and the sign he’d been given.”

  “No longer a pacifist?”

  “He said to come and get him. I’m going to do it. I want to head for the airport and fly down there right away. But it may be too late.”

  “And it might not. Dario might get there in time. Or if Montez has already been captured, he might have been able to track them.”

  “To where? The nearest airport? What good would that do?”

  “Don’t be negative.” He smiled. “I have a feeling that all is not lost.”

  “Feeling?”

  Cameron was entirely too confident, she realized suspiciously. And Cameron was never confident unless he had a reason on which to base it. Who knew if that basis was something connected to the psychic ability he undoubtedly possessed. Though she didn’t really believe he could read the future, she thought impatiently. But she didn’t really know the extent of what he could do. He hadn’t ever shared any in-depth information with her about his capabilities. “You wouldn’t care to tell me why you have that ‘feeling’?”

  “I’m an optimist.” He grabbed his jacket. “And, since you have a tendency to see right through me, I like to have the ability to occasionally surprise you.”

  “Occasionally?” She moved toward the door. “I never know what the hell you’re going to do next. But if you’re hiding something that concerns me, I’m not going to be pleased.”

  “My dear Catherine, I like the thought that everything that concerns me, concerns you. So the chances are that you’ll not be pleased somewhere along the way.” He followed her down the stairs. “I believe I’ll keep my surprises to myself.”

  “As if there was any doubt.” She stopped short as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Wait here.” She turned and ran back up the stairs. “Luke…”

  “Ah, you’re not going to risk his being angry with you again?”

  “I have to tell him…” And she wasn’t looking forward to it. She had no time to argue. But she had been a coward before because she hadn’t wanted to face Luke’s almost certainly wanting to go with her. She wouldn’t do it again.

  She drew a deep breath and quietly opened his door.

  Luke was asleep, curled up in a ball in his bed across the room.

  “Luke?” she said.

  No answer.

  She moved across the room to stand beside his bed.

  So deeply asleep, so beautiful in his tousled disarray, half boy, half young man. Dear God, she loved him.

  And dear God, she was glad she had an excuse not to face him at this moment. She would only have been able to hurl the information at him before running back down to Cameron.

  She glided over to his desk and scrawled a note on a Post-it.

  Sorry. I tried, Luke.

  Catherine.

  * * *

  He would know that it had been a halfhearted effort, but he would also know that she had listened to him and been here.

  She turned and quietly left his room.

  * * *

  “No pilot?” Catherine said as she climbed the steps of the jet and saw the open door of the cockpit. “The committee won’t be pleased you’re not taking a backup bodyguard to protect their golden boy.”

  “Too bad. As we discussed, I prefer to be in control, and I haven’t had enough of that lately.” He strode down the aisle. “It might have been tolerable if I’d had a sexual reward in view for putting up with being a passenger instead of pilot, but that’s not going to happen. So come up to the cockpit and keep me company.”

  She nodded and followed him up the aisle. “Shouldn’t we have heard from Dario by now?”

  “Anytime.”

  Cameron got the call from Dario as they were about to taxi down the runway.

  Cameron pressed the speaker and answered. “Montez?”

  “Too late,” Dario said. “We released the monks locked in the monastery. Three dead of smoke asphyxiation there. Then we found that monk Montez was trying to save in the forest. He was coherent enough to tell us that the man who had been helping him had been attacked and knocked unconscious by four men, who dragged him away into the forest. He heard rotors. Evidently, Dorgal had a helicopter waiting about a mile from the monastery. He’s probably on his way to San Esposito to transfer aircrafts.”

  “Then you’ve lost him?” Cameron asked.

  “I didn’t say that,” Dario said. “I said I was too late here. That doesn’t mean I totally failed. It’s just a postponement.”

  “Postponement to what?” Catherine asked.

  “I called my people in San Esposito and told them to locate a plane that’s being readied for takeoff. I told them to put a GPS tracker on the plane.”

  Hope flared. “We’ll be able to trace Dorgal to Santos?”

  “If that’s where he’s going,” Dario said.

  “Where else would he go?” Catherine asked. “He’s taking Montez to where Santos needs him. Even Montez thought that Santos would keep Delores near him. He’s taking Montez to Delores.”

  “You’ve lost me,” Dario said.

  Yes, Dario had not been privy to anything to do with Delores, Catherine thought. No ti
me now to fill him in. “I mean we’ll be able to track him to Santos. Don’t try to stop him at the airport.”

  “I wouldn’t anyway. I have only a few men there. Look, I’ve got to get back to that monastery. I’m trying to get help from nearby villages to take in those monks. Are you done with me?”

  “Yes, right now,” Cameron said. “Let me know if they manage to attach that GPS.”

  “Of course. But they’ll do it. And I’ll let you know the final destination.” He hung up.

  “He sounded very certain,” Catherine said.

  “And if they do, we’ll get our shot at Santos,” Cameron murmured. “So do we still go to Guatemala?”

  “Probably not,” Catherine said. “But we get in the air and head in that direction. We’ll let that GPS on Dorgal’s plane dictate our destination.” She glanced at him. “As if you wouldn’t do that without asking me.”

  “You’ve constantly pointed out that this is your show. Naturally, I’d ask you. Otherwise, you might cast me into outer darkness.” He readied for takeoff. “Which terrifies me to no end…”

  * * *

  “We’ve got him,” Dorgal told Santos as soon as he picked up the phone. “I told you that I wouldn’t fail you. We’re heading for San Esposito Airport now.”

  “Why are you so pleased? It took you too damn long.” Santos’s voice was sarcastic. “All you had to do was pluck him up so that Ling couldn’t get to him. He was just an interference, not an objective.”

  Dorgal tried to restrain his own impatience. Santos had obviously been sitting on his island, seething. It only reaffirmed his conviction that to maintain his own position in the cartel hierarchy, he had to give Santos the bloodbath he needed soon. “I realize that it took longer than we thought it would,” he said soothingly. “I suspect that was Ling’s fault, too. So the fact that we managed to get him was still a triumph. Not enough. But Delores will still have him as insurance, and it frees me to move on to more important items on your agenda.” He paused. “That I believe you may have also decided are more urgent. Isn’t it time you crushed Ling as she deserves? We can take out the people she cares about in a grand climax rather than one by one.” He added quickly, “If that’s what you want. If I’m reading you correctly.”

  Silence.

  Dorgal was beginning to sweat. If he’d guessed wrong, Santos would have an unpleasant surprise waiting for him when they next met.

  “You didn’t guess wrong,” Santos said shortly. “I don’t think Delores would like Ling to live one more minute after all this trouble she’s been causing. Let’s put an end to it.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  “Grand climax…” Santos was mulling the concept. “I like the idea. But it has to be done right. I have to be able to watch her face when she realizes what she’s losing.”

  “Of course,” Dorgal said. “I’ll make the arrangements. Most of the people who are on your list to exterminate are gathered like chickens in a henhouse. I’ve had information from my man watching Ling’s place that Erin has recently been seen there, too. Jane MacGuire is the only one who we may have to go after individually. She’s out of her coma and may be recovering.”

  Santos muttered a curse.

  “But think of the agony of lost hope Ling will feel when we step in and kill MacGuire.”

  “You’ve told me that there are guards all around the hospital. Can you get to her?”

  “I’ll get to her. There’s an orderly, John Chalce, with wonderful credentials and security clearance, who is permitted on her floor. Fortunately, he’s also highly corruptible. So I’m sending Montez with Juan Pablo on that plane to you, and I’m heading to Atlanta to give MacGuire my personal attention. I’ve already started making preparations in Louisville for the major show. As you can see, I haven’t been spinning my wheels while I was searching for Montez.” He paused. “I hope that you approve and realize that I’ll give you whatever revenge Delores would deem necessary.”

  “What I deem necessary.”

  Mistake? Who knew whether it was that bitch or Santos who seemed to be guiding the ship. It appeared to change from hour to hour. “That’s what I meant.”

  “But not what you said.” Silence. “Do you think I don’t know you believe I’m crazy to have done all I’ve done for Delores? It doesn’t matter. Not as long as you do as I order, as you’ve done in the past. If you don’t, you’ll end up dead with no magic coffin, no hope, and Delores and I will laugh at you as you decay into dust.”

  “I don’t think you’re crazy. That’s totally untrue.” He tried desperately to sound sincere. “And I’ll do everything you wish and more. I’ll be in touch, Santos.” He hung up and drew a deep breath. Conversations with Santos were always perilous, no matter what he said. Anything could be taken the wrong way.

  And anything that offended the bastard could end with fatal consequences.

  But the bloodbath would not offend him. Not if Dorgal did it right.

  Blood.

  Pain.

  And visible agony for Catherine Ling.

  * * *

  It was the right decision, Santos thought sadly, as he gazed at Delores’s tomb. It was disappointing that the torture for Ling could not be drawn out indefinitely, but he couldn’t bear the thought of her alive, thinking, hoping, moving. It was becoming torture when he entered this tomb and saw his Delores so beautiful but still, so still.

  He took a gardenia from the bouquet beside the door and entered the crypt. He was hit by the scent of rotten flowers and rotten flesh. The body of the young whore he’d offered up to Delores lay huddled on the floor beside the clear plastic casket where she lay. He usually kept any sacrifice here at least a month, but after that he had one of his men toss her into the sea.

  Not that he minded the stink. He was sure that Delores would not either. But room must be made for any other offerings. He moved to stand beside the glass coffin and gazed down at Delores.

  Beautiful.

  Vibrant.

  Serene.

  Montez shouldn’t have made her serene. Delores was never serene. Maybe he should have Montez try to—

  No, Montez had warned him that any change would be dangerous now that the creation was completed, he remembered regretfully. Oh, well, he would imagine that the serenity was Delores dreaming of him, of the things they did together, the things they would do in the future.

  He put the gardenia on the glass. It would stay fresh a long time on that cold surface. “I’ve decided to get rid of this stupid whore and give you a more worthy offering. Catherine Ling. It’s time we started to punish her. Don’t you think so, my darling?”

  Serenity.

  But beyond that serenity, beyond that cold beauty, was Delores smiling?

  * * *

  Catherine received a call from Kelly a few minutes after their plane crossed the Texas border. “Hi, Catherine. I’m pretty sure I’ve connected a major dot. We may be able to trace Santos.”

  “What? How sure?”

  “I’m sure, but that’s not saying anyone else would be. It’s all theory and calculations.”

  “Cameron and I may be able to track him without your theory and calculations. We planted a GPS on the plane taking Montez to Santos’s compound.”

  “Plane? Helpful, but you’re not going to connect.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m figuring that there’s no air access to where Santos is hiding out with his Delores. I believe that he has to take an aircraft to a nearby jumping-off place, then go by boat to the final destination. I’d bet it’s probably a small island.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Fuel.”

  “What?”

  “I told you, Venable tracked down all of Dorgal’s credit cards under his name and known aliases. You remember that I told you that Dorgal visited all kinds of Caribbean hot spots while Santos was in prison?”

  “Yes.”

  “He was very careful. He didn’t concentrate on a
ny specific destination. And he changed credit-card use frequently.”

  “Use for what?”

  “Motorboat rental and gas. The cartel probably has its own boats, but Dorgal wouldn’t want anyone but himself in the cartel to know anything about Santos’s location. It would have made him a target for a takeover by a member of his own organization or a rival cartel.”

  “I can see that.” She was thinking quickly. “But Venable had credit-card records. Gas usage?”

  “Yes. If you measure gas usage to and from each jump-off destination. Then you compare the results and map the distances, you can zero in on Santos’s possible headquarters.” She paused. “Or you could talk to Luke once you know where that plane is dropping off Montez and his guards. For the last day and a half, Luke’s been working on possible scenarios for me.

  “I’m not sure that he’d be willing to talk to me,” Catherine said ruefully. “I’d better try to do it myself.”

  “He was very annoyed,” Kelly said. “But he wouldn’t let that interfere in the balance of keeping everyone alive. He’s more grown-up than you think.”

  “No, just more than I want him to be,” she said.

  “Trust him, Catherine.”

  “I will. I’ll throw myself on his mercy when I know where Montez ends up. Thanks, Kelly.” She hung up and turned to Cameron. “You heard her. It’s not as easy as we hoped.”

  “But that would have made the hunt so much less interesting.” He glanced at her. “And it gives Luke a chance to save the day and make you proud of him.”

  “I’m always proud of him.”

  “Then it will make him able to enter your world for a brief moment or two. That may be of even more value to him. Why do you think he’s fighting you so hard?”

  “He thinks he’s thirty years old instead of twelve.”

  “Maybe he is.”

  “Don’t say that,” she said sharply. “I won’t have those years stolen from him.”

  “Then you’d better strike a delicate balance.” He shrugged. “But who am I to offer advice? You’ll do what you wish anyway. I just see Luke from a different viewpoint than you do.”

  “As a possible recruit,” she said tartly. “No way.”