“Poor bastard.”
“He’s learned his lesson. Now it’s time you learned yours, Catherine.”
They had reached the tomb, and the sheer massiveness of the structure was overwhelming, Catherine thought.
Weapons.
Had Cameron managed to hide her gun and knife?
Gardenias. The scent of the ivory-colored blossoms drifted heavy and fragrant on the air.
She could see the large, oval, granite tray before the ornate bronze door, and heaped on it were the bouquets of gardenias. She couldn’t tell if her weapons were stashed beneath them, but she had to assume that they were.
Or pray that they were.
How to get to them?
“Hello.” Eduardo Montez stepped forward. “I told you that what you were doing was useless, Catherine. I couldn’t fight against him, and neither can you.”
Did he mean it? Cameron had been sure he’d influenced him, but she couldn’t be sure. Had Montez finally caved to the pressure?
“Speak for yourself,” she said jerkily. “I’ll fight him until there’s no breath left in my body.”
“Which will be very soon.” Santos chuckled. He took her arm and shoved her toward the tomb entrance. “Let’s start the process right now. I guarantee seeing Delores will take your breath away.”
“No.” She stopped before the door and then spun around to stand defiantly in front of the gardenia tray. “I won’t go and pay some kind of sick homage to that bitch,” she said fiercely. “If you want to kill me, do it here.”
“You will go in that tomb.” Santos’s face was flushed, and his eyes were glittering with rage. “You’re going to know that you failed.”
“The hell I will.” Push him just a little more. “Screw you, Santos.”
She spit in his face.
He made a sound of pure animal rage.
He backhanded her across the face with all his strength.
Pain.
Ignore it.
Use it.
She cried out, spun away, and fell.
Straight down into the granite tray of gardenias.
The scent of flowers was overwhelming as her face buried itself in the soft blossoms.
Dizzy. Her head was whirling from the blow. For an instant she couldn’t move.
That was okay. He had struck her with such force, he would expect her to be stunned.
Her hands reached out blindly beneath her.
Where was it?
Cool metal …
Her right hand closed on the butt of her Luger. Too big. Too risky. She wouldn’t be able to hide it in her jacket.
Her dagger …
She found it!
She flipped it under her jacket sleeve.
“Are you all right?” Montez was kneeling beside her, his expression concerned. “I told you not to fight him.”
“Get away from her,” Santos said harshly. “Get on your feet, you stinking whore.”
“In a minute.” She made a show of struggling to get to her feet. While pushing the bouquets of gardenias back over the gun.
“Call me whatever you want.” She could feel the blood running down from her split lip to her chin as she finally stood before him. She glared at him defiantly. “It was worth it, you know. Has anyone else ever spit in your ugly face?”
He drew back his hand, then dropped it to his side. “I think you must want me to kill you. Do you? That would avoid having to admit that you’re responsible for my butchering your son.” He opened the bronze door. “But I’m not going to let you get away with it. You have to experience it all. Come in and see my Delores.” He pushed her inside the dim interior. “And you’ll see why I permitted Montez to stay alive.”
She glanced at Montez over her shoulder. If she expected some sign of encouragement, she was disappointed. His face was without expression.
“You’ll excuse the chill. Delores requires it. But it doesn’t interfere with the décor. All the mechanics are in an underground room.” Santos was turning on the gothic torchlight beside the door, and the dimness suddenly came alive. The flickering bulbs revealed a room that was magnificent in every detail. It looked like a cross between an Egyptian temple, with stately, gilt chairs and statues on malachite pedestals, and a Persian palace, with thick carpets that covered the cold stone of the floor. There were dozens of photos of Delores in gilt and bejeweled frames on the walls. “The lowered temperature cuts down on additional power needs.”
And then Catherine saw Delores lying on what appeared to be a glass-enclosed pedestal in the center of the crypt. She was dressed all in gold, like an ancient pagan empress, her dark hair shining on her bare shoulders. She looked vibrantly alive and wonderfully beautiful. So alive that anyone might have expected her to open her eyes at any moment, sit up, and step out of that coffin.
And that’s what Montez had planned, Catherine thought. In this moment, she could believe that it would only be a matter of time before Delores would be able to conquer the ravages of death.
And then all the evil and ugliness that was hidden behind that beautiful mask would return and come alive again.
“I told you.” Santos’s gaze was raking Catherine’s face. “Now you know that you couldn’t destroy her.”
“I know that Montez did a fantastic job. I saw the Lenin exhibit and studied Stalin’s embalming. This far exceeds the skill they used.” She turned to look at him. “But I did destroy her, and if necessary, I’ll do it again.”
“No!” His lips curled. “You fool. You can’t touch her. I’ll kill your son. Then I’ll kill you and lay you on the floor beside her coffin. You’ll rot there, while she goes on forever. I’ll come and visit here, and Delores and I will laugh.”
“I don’t doubt you’d make the attempt, since you’re completely wacko.” She put her right arm half behind her as she took a step closer to the casket. “But I imagine she’d have problems with changing expressions, wouldn’t she? Did Montez fix that, too? Let me take a closer look…”
“Don’t touch that glass.” His hand grasped her shoulder, and he jerked her back. “Keep away from her.”
“Whatever you say.” She moved her arm so that he wouldn’t touch the dagger in her sleeve. “It sounded as if you wanted us to be best buddies.”
“I don’t want your foulness near her. Not until you’re—”
Kaboom.
The explosion caused the tomb to shake.
Santos froze. “What the hell?”
He grabbed Catherine’s arm and jerked her out of the tomb. His gaze flew up the hill.
Flames. Smoke.
The house that must have been Santos’s residence was almost entirely destroyed, flames clawing the night sky. Pablo was giving orders to the two men with him as he ran up the hill toward the house.
Kaboom.
Another explosion.
The bunkhouse?
“Venable?” Santos screamed. “I’ll kill that bastard, Pablo. He swore he wasn’t followed to the island.”
“Not Venable.” She jerked her arm away from him. She jabbed her elbow in his belly with all her force. He bent double with pain. “And Pablo didn’t lie.” She dove around the side of the tomb just as Santos fired a shot that ricocheted off the granite.
Another explosion down at the beach.
“Come back here, Catherine,” Santos said. “Blow up everything in sight, and I’ll still win. Because I’m taking out my phone. I’m dialing a number … In two minutes, your son will be dead.”
“No.” She let her dagger drop down her sleeve into her hand.
Position. Throw.
Aim for the hand holding the phone.
“You heard her,” Cameron said from the road behind Santos. “She said no. It’s not going to happen.”
He dove forward and tackled Santos, knocking the gun from his hand.
Thank God.
Catherine moved from behind the tomb.
But Santos had his hands around Cameron’s throat. Her hand tighte
ned on her dagger.
Cameron kneed him in the groin, and when his grip loosened, he flipped him over his head.
Santos crashed against the side of the tomb and slid down to the ground. He lifted his head dazedly. Then as he saw Catherine, his face contorted with rage. He reached for his phone again.
She was on him in seconds, her dagger pinning his hand to the ground.
He screamed!
“No way.” She bent down, and her eyes gazed fiercely into his own. “You’re not going to touch my son. Not now. Not ever.”
“The hell I’m not.” He screamed again as he jerked the dagger out of his hand and ran back toward the entrance of the tomb.
“Dammit, get out of the way, Catherine.” Cameron’s gun was aimed at Santos. “You’re blocking my shot.”
“Let him go.” She watched Santos disappear into the tomb again. “He’s not going anywhere. There’s no back door to the tomb. He’s trapped in there with his Delores. I’ll go after him in a minute. Give me your phone. I’ve got to call Hu Chang.”
“Why are you—”
“Now!” He took one look at her strained expression and tossed her his phone.
Her hand was shaking as she dialed Hu Chang. She started speaking as soon as he answered. “I can’t talk more than a minute. Don’t let Luke go to his room. If he’s there, get him out. Dammit, I don’t know where else in the house he’ll be safe. Not near any window. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you. Now slow down and tell me why.”
“No time. A Victorian house over a thousand yards from my house. The attic. A shooter named Lambell. Did you get all that?”
“I’ve got it. Are you safe?”
“Yes. No. Maybe. I’ll call you when I know for sure.” She hung up.
Safe. Luke would be safe.
As safe as she and Hu Chang could make him.
“Lambell?” Cameron repeated.
“A surprise from Santos. His ace in the hole. But I think Hu Chang will be able to block it.” She was trying to catch her breath as she glanced at Cameron, then up at the burning hillside. “It appears you decided to blow up the island. Is there going to be anything left?”
“Very little. Dario is rounding up the rest of Santos’s men, and they don’t seem to be enthusiastic about defending it.” His gaze was fixed on her face. “Your face looks like it went through a nasty blast, too. Santos?”
She nodded. “He didn’t like a few of my comments about Delores.” Her gaze went to the crypt. “So he brought me here to join her.”
“I thought this was where you’d end up.”
“So did I. Delores was where it all started.” Was it fate that had led Santos to run back into that crypt? She wondered. She had a strange feeling that it had been. “This is where I want it ended.”
“I was wondering why you blocked my shot.” Cameron’s lips tightened. “And I noticed you said I, not we, will go after him. What are you doing, Catherine?”
“What do you think? This battle was always aimed at me, and I’ve got to end it. He killed, he wounded, he terrified people I love in the name of Delores. I’m going to punish him.”
“Not without me.”
“Don’t be selfish; you practically blew up the whole damn island yourself. Leave Santos to me.”
“Not without me,” he repeated. He looked her in the eye. “Absolutely not.”
And if she didn’t accept that help, he’d go in after Santos himself. His entire being was poised, ready, glittering like the dagger with which she’d stabbed Santos. “Okay, I won’t shut you out. But it probably won’t be in the way you might prefer. Give me a couple minutes to get my breath, then I’ll tell you what I need.” She gazed at the bronze door of the tomb. He was in there waiting for her. She could feel his waves of hatred, the frustration, the bloodlust.
Well, she had a bloodlust of her own.
I’m coming for you, bastard.
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
“Lambell?” Caleb shook his head. “Dorgal gave me five names and locations here in Louisville. None of them was Lambell, Hu Chang.”
“Then he lied,” Hu Chang said. “And it doesn’t matter. Catherine says that he exists and is a danger.” He headed for the door. “A Victorian house that’s at least a thousand feet from this one. Do you recall such a house, Sam?”
“Two blocks away. Three-story. Green shutters and trim,” Sam said. “It’s the only one within that distance.”
“I’m on my way,” Caleb said as he headed for the door. “Call me if you hear anything more from Catherine.”
“She called and asked my assistance,” Hu Chang said. “I do not appreciate being told to monitor the phone.”
“She told you to take care of Luke,” Caleb said. “How can you do that if you’re busy cutting that bastard’s throat? And Sam’s got to protect the house. I’m the outsider. Much better that you leave Lambell to me. I was getting restless anyway.”
“How could we tell that? Just because you’ve been prowling like a panther since you arrived here?” Hu Chang said. “Outsider. Yes, that describes you.” He shrugged. “Very well. I’m disappointed, but I yield to logic if not to your selfish desire to indulge yourself.” He stared him in the eye. “But do not fail her, Caleb. You do not want me to be displeased with you.”
“You won’t be.” Caleb smiled recklessly. “I’ve got it. Victorian house. Green trim. One shooter soon to be deceased.”
The door slammed behind him.
CHAPTER
16
“I’ll give you four minutes.” Cameron pushed Catherine back against the tomb. His face was taut, his eyes glittering as he stared down at her. “And that’s cutting it close. Then I’m coming in after you.”
“Whatever.” She met his eyes. “It should all be settled by that time anyway.” She smiled faintly. “Or it will be two minutes later.”
“Not funny.”
“No, you’re very serious. Not like you at all. You usually have a lighter touch.”
“I’m having a problem with watching you walk into that tomb when we don’t know what’s waiting for you.”
“Santos’s gun is lying there on the ground. He has my dagger, but he’ll have a tough time using it with that wounded hand.” She held up her Luger. “And I have a gun, and I’ll have no trouble using it.”
“Santos may have run back into that tomb for a reason.”
She shrugged. “Maybe he feels safe with his Delores.”
“Or maybe he’s setting a trap for you.”
“Possible.” She knew it was more than possible that Santos might have other weapons in that tomb. But she’d tried to distract Cameron from dwelling on it. Obviously not with any degree of success. “But I won’t know if you keep me pinned to this tomb instead of letting me go inside.” She pushed him away from her and slipped away. “It’s going to be all right, Cameron. It’s not as if we didn’t know this was going to happen. It was always in the cards. Now stop treating me as if I don’t know what I’m doing.” She moved quickly toward the bronze door. “Four minutes.”
“And I won’t forgive you if you get yourself killed before that,” he said roughly. “You be careful, you stay alive. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you.” She gave him a faint smile over her shoulder. “I’ll do my best to obey. Now get out of here and do your job.” She pressed to one side of the door and drew a deep breath.
Throw the door wide.
Go in low and fast.
Count to three.
One.
Her hand closed on the bronze handle.
Two.
Position.
Three.
She threw the door wide, bent low, and dove through the doorway! She rolled on the floor behind the shelter of one of the gilt throne chairs.
And a bullet splintered the wood next to her head!
Santos did have a gun.
“Welcome, Catherine, I’ve been waiting for you. You took long enough.” Santos’s voice wa
s mocking. “Were you afraid?”
“Of whom? You? That corpse?” She moved to the side. “You’re cornered like the rat you are. Your Delores is nothing, nonexistent.”
“Liar. Stupid bitch. She does exist.”
Another shot, this time striking the floor beside her leg.
The shot had come from somewhere behind that glass coffin. Make him speak so that she could judge the exact direction.
“Where did you get the gun, Santos?”
“Delores. Do you think I’d put her to rest without her favorite weapon? She loved this gun. I bought it for her in Paris, then gave her a target to practice on. She made him last four days, almost tore him apart.” He paused. “She had it the day you killed her. It took Dorgal weeks to negotiate that gun away from the police. But I placed it in a pearl-and-gold case on the table by the coffin.”
From the sound of his voice, Santos had to be near the foot of the coffin.
“Touching. Very touching. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind your using it as she would.” She got off a shot.
He muttered a curse.
She must have been close.
She heard him moving. To the left, perhaps beside that oak table …
Bring him out in the open.
“Let’s see how durable that coffin is,” she said. “How does it withstand bullets?”
She fired four shots in rapid succession at the coffin.
They pinged, then flew off the transparent surface in all directions.
“Did you think I’d leave her vulnerable?” he said scornfully. “Montez had orders to make sure it was indestructible. The worst that could happen is that Montez will have to polish that Plexiglas surface to get the scratches out.”
“I don’t believe you’ll get Montez to do that service. He has other plans.” She got off another shot. “And you won’t be around to try to change them.”
“Yes, I will. I could have been out of here a few minutes after I ran through that door. I was only waiting for you.”
She tensed. “Bluffing?”
Your Next Breath Page 29
