“That’s ridiculous.”
“Where did you get him?”
She didn’t answer.
“Tell me.” He kicked Danella in the ribs. “Or I’ll call the guards to come and play with this little girl until you do. Don’t make me do that.”
He meant it. Try to tell him as little as possible, just enough to satisfy him. “Boujois bought him from Antonio Rossi, a breeder who ran a horse farm near Naples. It’s the same breeder who sold him the other four horses. He’s a three-year-old whom Rossi hoped would bring him big bucks when he sold him to a racing stable in Kentucky. But he couldn’t be broken, and Rossi didn’t want to injure him and destroy his value. Then Chaos bucked Rossi off him and trampled him. His back was broken, and it took him a year to recover. After that Rossi just wanted to get rid of him. He sent word to Boujois that he’d sell him Chaos if he thought he could tame him.”
“Or if he thought you could tame him?” Masenak asked silkily. “Boujois never had that reputation, but you did, Sasha. Of course he’d buy that horse as long as he knew he had you in that stable. How close have you come to breaking him?”
“No one can break him,” she said flatly. “Some horses are like that. Rossi was right: Try to break him, and you’d destroy him.”
“Except if it was you. You were able to get him in that trailer after you’d freed him. So you must have gotten very close to doing it. Isn’t that true?”
She didn’t answer.
He kicked Danella again. She screamed!
“True?” Masenak asked again.
“Yes,” Sasha said quickly. “Stop hurting her.”
“You’ve actually ridden him?”
“Sometimes. Not often.”
“With speed like that, it doesn’t have to be often.” He released her hair. “I’m going to have Davidow send me a video of him running. I want to see for myself.”
“You’re making a mistake. Chaos loves his freedom.” She added desperately, “If they try to force him to run, he’ll kill them. Or they’ll kill him. They can’t treat him like that.”
“Then I believe I might have to take you up to the mountains to keep him company. No matter how profitable and entertaining your friends are proving to be, I may have to put the negotiations on hold for a bit. The race is a hell of a lot more important to me than those sluts. I’ve waited a long time to beat that son of a bitch Reardon, and you might need to spend a little training time with Chaos before he’s good enough to do it. I’ll make a decision after I see the video, but I think we might be flying up there very soon.”
“Listen to me. You’d be sorry. Chaos is good, but not that good. Your trainer lied, and you should—”
“I trust Davidow. I’m done listening to you,” he said savagely. “I’ve always known you were lying. It even amused me to toy with you and play the game because I always knew I’d win. But I’m finished with it now. I know what I need to know about those horses, which is the most important thing.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. “As for who brought you and those horses to that school, I’ll find that out soon enough. There are security video cameras mounted all over the grounds at St. Eldon’s, and I had my men pull them during the raid. You can never tell what might prove valuable when you’re dealing with rich parents and their spoiled chicks. My lawyer’s clerk went through them. Most of them were no help, but this one was interesting.” He handed her his phone. “It was you sitting on the paddock fence and smiling down at a woman. A very affectionate smile. The woman is older than you but not nearly old enough to be your mother.”
It was Alisa on her last visit to the school when Sasha had been so eager to show her Chaos’s progress. “She was just a visitor. She liked the horses.”
“Another lie. You look eager, almost loving. As I said, not your mother. Sister? She doesn’t look like you. Though she’s extremely hot. Perhaps she’s your father’s mistress come to check on his daughter? Possible?”
“She was just a visitor,” Sasha repeated.
“No, she wasn’t. But I’ll find out the truth. Now that we have this photo, we can run a facial recognition program.” He turned on his heel. “Not that it matters right now. Chaos is more important than what I might be able to get for you later.”
She watched him walk away and then turned back and knelt beside Danella, who was sobbing in terror. She felt as panicky as the girl as she took her in her arms to comfort her. These last minutes had been fraught with terror and confusion for her, too.
Masenak was getting much too close to finding out who Alisa was and what she meant to Sasha.
He’d mentioned a race. What race?
Who was Reardon?
And Masenak knowing about Chaos’s potential might bring sudden and complete disaster.
The only thing that was perfectly clear to Sasha was that time was running out.
Chapter
8
1:40 A.M.
Masenak’s camp is just ahead.” Margaret turned to Alisa as she closed her computer and slid it into her backpack. “We’ve got all the measurements we need. From here, the drones would only have to take a sharp right over the camp clearing before they zero in on Masenak’s troops using infrared.” She grimaced. “And then if Korgan gets his technical calculations right, we’ll have a very satisfying big boom.”
“Korgan always gets his technical calculations right,” Alisa said as she came to stand beside her. “And if he said those drones will get through this blasted jungle without crashing, they’ll do it.”
“Such faith,” Margaret murmured.
“You said yourself he gets things done. I knew if I could get him to commit, that would be half the battle. And the other half was you. You get things done, too. I know every one of those measurements you took was correct.” She was frowning, her gaze searching the darkness. “Where’s Juno? I haven’t seen her for the past two miles.”
“She’s close. She probably ran ahead. You know she’s gotten used to checking on Sasha whenever we’re near the camp. She seemed particularly anxious tonight.”
Her gaze flew to Margaret’s face. “Why?”
“I don’t know. It might be nothing. Dogs don’t always think the same way people do.” She paused. “But I think we’ll wait for a moment or two before we start back. Juno has become very attuned to Sasha during these last weeks. I don’t want to—”
Worried. Should I go to her?
Margaret broke off, her head lifting. Juno?
Alisa tensed. “What’s happen—”
“Hush.” She held up her hand to stop the flow, her expression intent as she concentrated. Where are you, Juno?
Sad. Worried. Want to go to her. She says no. I should go to you and tell you. Can I go to her anyway?
Is she hurt?
Not hurt. Worried. Afraid. Needs me.
If she’s not hurt, then do what she told you to do. She’ll know best.
Needs me.
Stubborn as always. Come back. You can help her later. She could sense reluctance that might soon become rebellion. She concentrated firmly: Come back, Juno.
Wrong.
But she was coming reluctantly, Margaret sensed with relief. Now reinforce it with what Sasha had told Juno to do. And while you’re on your way, will you tell me what Sasha wanted me to know?
* * *
“Am I allowed to speak now?” Alisa asked as Margaret turned back to her a few minutes later. “Is Juno okay?” She swallowed. “And please tell me nothing’s happened to Sasha?”
“Juno will be back any minute. She’d staked herself out in the forest watching Sasha’s tent, and she didn’t want to leave. I had to persuade her.” She looked her in the eye. “I’m not going to lie to you. Something probably did happen to Sasha that wasn’t good. But Juno said she wasn’t hurt, only worried and afraid and sad. She wanted Juno to give me a message. I think the reason Juno was so on edge coming here is that Sasha managed to reach her.”
“She’s not hurt?” Ali
sa’s relief was enormous. But it was immediately followed by another wave of terror and impatience. “Why should I pay attention to Juno? You know she doesn’t always understand or interpret the way we do. I need to go see for myself.”
“Which is why the message went to me,” Margaret said dryly. “Sasha knew that would be your first impulse. But I might mention it was also Juno’s, and that should let you know that you’re reacting with the same degree of need and response as my dog. I had to talk her out of being unreasonable. Don’t make me go through it again.”
Alisa frowned. “What was the message?”
“Just a few words, and she probably made it as clear and simple as she could since she was going through Juno.” She paused. “‘Everything changed. Mountains. Hurry. Get them out.’”
“That’s not enough. We need more. I can go and—” She stopped. “I know. We can’t take a chance on me being caught and ruining everything when we’re so close to rescuing them.” She whispered, “I’ll have to leave her again, won’t I?”
“She didn’t give you details, but she was clear enough about cause and effect,” Margaret said. “And I believe the main word she wanted you to grasp was ‘hurry.’ So don’t you think you should go put a little more pressure on Korgan? As if he didn’t have enough.”
Alisa gave one last look at the path leading to Masenak’s camp before she nodded jerkily. “He thrives on pressure. This will only be a little bit more.” She turned and started back toward the border. “And he’s going to particularly dislike the idea we’re applying it because Juno told us to. I might decide to wait and go into that detail later…”
* * *
But she didn’t wait or hedge about anything that had happened on their mission to the camp. She was done with avoiding the truth as she knew it. He could believe what he liked about Juno, but it was beginning to be important to Alisa that he believe in her. Hell, beginning? Be honest, it had started before she had even met him. Everyone needed someone to respect and look up to, and it was natural that she had chosen him. Just as it was natural for him not to feel the same way.
“You believe what Sasha told Margaret?” Korgan leaned back in his camp chair, his gaze on her face. “You think that we might be in trouble if we don’t strike hard and fast?”
“I think it might not happen at all. Sasha said there had been a change and to hurry. She was scared, but she doesn’t panic. She was trying to tell us that she’s afraid everything might fall apart. You have to get those girls out right away before it does.”
“Just like that?” He muttered a curse. “Do you know what that entails?”
“No, I don’t, but you do. So go ahead and do it.”
He looked at her incredulously and then smiled. “Damn you.”
“Damn Masenak. He’s the one who’s caused all this. How quickly can you adjust your plans and go in to attack?”
“You’re pushing again.”
“Yes, I am.” Her hands clenched on her lap. “And Sasha’s pushing even harder, and I’ve got her back. How soon can you do it?”
“What time is it?” He glanced at his watch. “Maybe twenty-four hours? Is that too long? I’m almost ready. I just don’t like to be rushed.”
Twenty-four hours. She tried not to let him realize how excited those words had made her. “Too bad.” She was frowning. “But even that might be too late. We don’t know what’s happening, but it has to have to something to do with a change in Masenak’s plans. Sasha mentioned mountains…You probably know more about that than I do.”
“I know a good deal more about them now than I did before Gilroy had his in-depth discussion with Baldwin today. Jubaldar. I can only guess about what else Sasha meant.” He shook his head. “Regardless, I can’t move before at least midnight or later. I’ll send Gilroy up there today to keep an eye on what’s going on as far as an unexpected exit from that camp is concerned. But don’t expect me to wake him up right now. He’s going to be very busy later.”
“I could go instead.”
“No, you couldn’t. You’re going to be busy, too. You and Margaret are going to be in that munitions room with me going over those measurements you gave me as I program those drones. Then you’ve got to brief the teams about every detail of Masenak’s camp and the locations of all the sentries, so they won’t have any surprises when they go calling. I want you to pay particular attention to the troops protecting Masenak’s helicopter pad. He’s so arrogant that no one gives orders to his troops but him. We might have to do something to lure him away from the main camp.” He frowned. “Or eliminate him entirely. Though I don’t want to do that if I can avoid it. I want to use him for bait for Reardon if I can manage it. I’ll have to think about it.” He got to his feet. “I’ve got work to do. If you want to grab a nap now, I’ll wake you when I need you. Any objections?”
He was moving, planning, already four steps ahead of where anyone else would have been. Heady excitement was suddenly zinging through her. He was going to make it happen. No, they were going to make it happen. She shook her head. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“Bullshit.” He grinned at her over his shoulder. “You’d dare anything. We’ll just have to make sure you don’t get killed doing it.”
* * *
Masenak’s Camp
5:40 A.M.
Message sent.
It was all she could do, Sasha thought. Now stop worrying about it.
Easy to say. She drew a deep breath as she tried to relax on her blankets. She had been on edge about whether she was going to be able to get through to Juno, and she was still tense hours after she knew that she’d communicated with Margaret. She realized it was because she felt so powerless, but that didn’t help. She hated the idea of leaving the fate of those girls in anyone’s hands but her own. She knew Alisa and Margaret would do everything they could to stir Korgan into moving faster, but it might not even be possible.
And what if Masenak decided to jerk her away from the camp later today? He’d been so damn eager…
Think positive. She’d given warning and she had to trust in them to follow through. She’d done all she could do for the time being. She’d done what Gilroy had told her to do about weakening those chains. She had the signal jammer device tucked away safely to stop any detonation.
But hell, she had no idea what time she was supposed to press that button!
Think positive, she told herself again. Gilroy had told her they wouldn’t leave her alone to do this and she believed him. He’d find a way to give her that information and anything else she needed to know even though she’d told him she didn’t want him here.
It would get done.
All she had to do was to have faith, watch, and wait.
None of which was easy for her.
Okay, then just be alert and ready for any emergency. She could do that.
She was definitely ready.
* * *
Border Base Camp
7:05 P.M.
At last.
Alisa saw Gilroy stride out of the jungle and head for Korgan’s tent. She’d been waiting for him for the last two hours and rushed to intercept him. “Korgan’s not there,” she said quickly. “He’s at the munitions shed with Vogel and a roomful of team leaders discussing strategy. Unless you have something urgent to tell him, you have a few minutes to talk to me.”
“And even if I did have something urgent, you’d still make me take the time,” Gilroy said impatiently. “I called Korgan when I started back and told him that Masenak was still at the camp and showed no signs of leaving. He must have told you that the attack was still a go.”
“Yes, but that’s all he told me. He’s been too busy to take a breath all day, and he brushed me off like a mosquito buzzing around him. He’s been making decisions on all fronts and he doesn’t want to deal with me.” She added shakily, “And that’s okay. I’m not stupid enough to get in his way right now. I’ve watched him, and he knows exactly what he’s doing.”
“Ye
s, he does.” Gilroy’s voice was no longer impatient. “He’s almost as good at this kind of thing as I would be. But he lacks a certain finesse in the details. He’ll never be Indiana Jones.” He smiled. “For instance, I would never treat you like a buzzing mosquito. I’d realize, if I did, your bite would give me West Nile virus.”
“Right. But I have certain priorities, and Korgan is providing almost all I need. The only thing missing is information. So I waited to get it from you. I’ll let you go as soon as you just answer a few questions.” She swallowed. “Did you see Sasha?”
“I thought that would be the first question,” he said gently. “Only from a distance. It would have been dangerous for both of us for me to make contact with her. I saw her going in and out of the prisoner tent several times, and she seemed in fairly good shape. If you were worried about any mistreatment by Masenak being part of the reason for the SOS she sent out, I believe you can rest easy. Something else must have triggered it.”
“Of course I was worried.” She grimaced. “Sasha has been the one who’s taken all the punishment since this nightmare began. It drives me crazy that I can’t seem to stop it. I knew you were doing surveillance today, but I didn’t know if you’d get close enough to the camp to catch a glimpse of her.”
“I said I couldn’t contact her, but there was no way I could keep from going into the camp,” he said quietly. “After Korgan decided on the exact time of the drone attack, I had to let Sasha know. I waited until after dark, and then paid another visit to her tent to leave a message.”
She inhaled sharply. “You shouldn’t have done that. If you’d been caught, you could have ruined everything.”
“But I wasn’t caught, and I didn’t. Korgan and I both agreed it had to be done, and he wasn’t going to trust info like that to Margaret’s canine friend.” He shrugged. “And how else was I to get a message to her? Climb a tree and shoot an arrow into her tent? I’m not Robin Hood, Alisa.”
Chaos Page 18
