The first time she had seen Cameron in that firelit study in Tibet. Standing before a fireplace in jeans and a close-fitting black shirt, his body outlined by the flames. Power. Grace. Electricity. Sexuality. Brilliant blue eyes gazing at her with humor and curiosity. Everything about him beautifully lithe and masculine …
Stop feeling. Stop remembering. Cameron would know, and she would be at an immediate disadvantage. Go on the attack. “No one can crush you, Cameron. You’re unbreakable. I found that out a long time ago. A very long time. Why are you calling me now?”
“Ouch. That stung. And completely unfair by the way. I wanted to take you with me. You wouldn’t come. I thought I’d give you time to change your mind. I was being patient.”
“Bullshit. We both know that there was no way that I was going to change my mind. We’re so different, we might as well have come from different planets.”
“But we managed to integrate magnificently,” he said softly. “And someday you might decide that’s enough reason to come to me. Until then, I’ll have to be content with the fact that you haven’t seen fit to go after me with guns blazing. As a CIA operative, that must have been a significant sacrifice.”
“Not really,” she said curtly. “I couldn’t have proven any of it anyway. You’re too clever. You don’t leave any loose ends. A scientist disappears, a Tibetan war lord is assassinated, plans for a technical invention that could change the future suddenly can’t be found, an acclaimed teacher leaves her post in Beijing, disappears into the mist and isn’t heard from again. It goes on and on.”
“Then there must be a reason,” he said quietly. “Except for an occasional military encounter, there doesn’t appear to be any force being used. Life is just shifting to accommodate change.”
“And yet you have military teams in all sectors of the world who ‘assist’ in those changes.”
“But so does the CIA, and the armies in every country. Venable has sent you on missions to that end many times. We both know it’s sometimes necessary.”
“And it’s necessary that you’re stealing brains and talent and the best and brightest from all walks of life? You set them up with new identities in the back of beyond and tell them they’re preparing to save the world after the bad guys destroy it.”
“It must be very attractive to them if they believe me,” he said gently. “Sort of like the knights of the round table?”
“Or Shangri-La. Neither concept will work in this world.” Though she couldn’t deny that idealism was one of the principal attractions that drew his followers to Cameron. “But you also lure them with money and opportunity and the chance to break new ground. Irresistible, Cameron.”
“No force. Their choice. Always volunteers.”
“Of course not, they have you. They don’t need force. You’re possibly the most persuasive man in the world.”
He chuckled. “You think so? Yet I couldn’t persuade you to come with me.”
“You know what I mean.” And she had come so close that night. She hadn’t even realized how close until the next night when she had lain in bed aching … and remembering … “That was … different.”
The difference between pure erotic obsession and the telepathic talent that had made him known as the Guardian. He had told her once that he worked for an international organization with worldwide membership. When they had been looking for someone to set up their private little haven to survive any catastrophe, they found Richard Cameron. A man who possessed mind-control abilities that were even more astonishing than his military skills. “No one really has a chance with you if you decide that they have the qualifications you need. Your superpack chose well when they brought you into the fold. You step on the scene, and you control it.”
“I have to remind you that your CIA also has a similar program, Catherine. So do most governments. I understand they’ve had some success.”
“Not like you,” she said flatly. “Not only mind reading but the ability to go in and actually mold the will if you choose.”
Silence. “No, not like me. Maybe someday. And, if your government did succeed, they’d be the ones to have the power to use those people or destroy them. I was given choices. Which is why I never use the control option unless absolutely necessary.”
“Because your superpack has the money and power to afford you as the Guardian of their grand dream of a perfect society. They know they couldn’t choose anyone who would come near to you.”
“It is a grand dream, Catherine,” he said quietly. “And sometime we’re going to need a new dream when the hatemongers decide to blow up the one we have now.”
“Then you should be out there fighting to keep them from doing it instead of building your own glorious Shangri-La,” she said fiercely.
“As you’re fighting? Really? How’s it coming along with Huber on one border and ISIS across the pond?” He didn’t let her answer, but immediately said, “That wasn’t fair. I didn’t call you to rehash our differences of opinions and philosophies. I should have known that your first instinct would be to attack. I know how you feel. You’re very vocal on the subject.”
“Yes, I am.” He, on the other hand, never really discussed who and what he was unless she demanded it. She just knew he was the warrior, the Guardian, the designated crown prince who would someday control the project he now protected so zealously. “Because I get so frustrated that I can’t get you to understand that our government could use all those brilliant minds you’re so carefully nurturing.”
“Until they choose to break them.” He added quickly before she could reply, “Hush, now. I thought this might be a bad time but I had to call you anyway. Forget about who and what I am. I just talked to Hu Chang. He told me about Venable. I knew you’d be upset. I wanted you to know that I’m with you, that I’m thinking about you.”
The mockery had vanished, and she couldn’t doubt his sincerity. Her anger and defensiveness ebbed away. She was touched in spite of herself. “That’s very kind. You didn’t really know him, did you?”
“True. My main agenda with Venable was always to avoid making contact with him. That way I’d avoid scrutiny from the CIA, and that was always a plus. I usually prefer to be the invisible man.” He paused. “But you told me that he’d helped you as a child in Hong Kong. That meant that he was my friend whether I liked it or not.”
“He was a good man,” she said unsteadily. “My life would have been different if he hadn’t been there.”
“That’s the best epithet you can give a friend. Is there anything I can do for you … or him?”
“No, I’m handling it.”
“I know you are. Hu Chang says that you’re doing more than that. Venable’s daughter?”
“She doesn’t need you either. She’s very strong.”
“So I’ve heard. She’s extraordinary…”
She stiffened. “Have you been watching her, Cameron?”
“Perhaps. I knew she was your friend, and that aroused my interest. She was worth watching. Doctor, expert apothecary, innovative, original thinker … survivor. As I said, she’s extraordinary.”
“And you look only for the extraordinary when you’re trying to recruit talent for your damn new world. Back off. She’s got the life she wants and needs here. I don’t want you near her. And I don’t want to hear she’s disappeared into the mist someday.”
He chuckled. “No mist. It was just a thought. You’re very protective. I understand that concept.” He paused. “I’m having a few protective instincts of my own rearing their heads. Hu Chang didn’t call me, I called him. Because I had a report from my agents of something very ugly going down in San Francisco. And who is usually called in to sterilize that ugliness when it occurs in the CIA realm? So I decided to check in with Hu Chang and see where my Catherine was spending her time these days.”
“I’m not your Catherine.”
“It’s a matter of semantics and viewpoint. I immediately felt very possessive when Hu Chang told me you were
in San Francisco.” His voice was suddenly dead serious. “Get out of there, Catherine.”
“That’s not going to happen. My job is here right now.”
“Because rumors are flying about Max Huber. It’s no rumor. Get out of there. You can trust my information.”
She knew she could. She was aware of the enormous depth of Cameron’s contacts. If Catherine had any doubts that Red Star was bluffing about their threat, they would have vanished. “I can’t do it. Even if wasn’t my duty, Rachel Venable is here, and I won’t leave her alone.”
Cameron muttered a curse. “Maybe I should rethink the mist. If Venable’s daughter wasn’t there, I might have a better shot at getting you out.”
“No you wouldn’t.”
Silence. “No I wouldn’t,” he agreed. “I only wish Venable was there with you. Will you at least call and let me know if you run across anything I’d consider unacceptable? I don’t like what I’m hearing.”
“Neither do I.” She added brusquely, “So I’ll just have to take care of it. That’s how people in the real world handle problems. They don’t run away. They don’t disappear into the mist and wait for Armageddon. They stay and fight. Thanks for calling and giving me your condolences, Cameron.” She hung up.
No one hung up on Richard Cameron. Not because he was arrogant or vindictive. It was that silent power hovering over him, waiting to move forward out of the shadows. Or maybe it was the charisma that made everyone want to please him. She didn’t know, and she didn’t want to analyze it. She just knew she had done it because she couldn’t bear talking to him any longer. Their relationship had been too hot and tempestuous, and she was still feeling the emotional earthquake he always brought into her life.
It was almost laughable that only last night she had been so irritated and frustrated about Claire Warren. Having Cameron coming on the scene could be so much more disruptive and traumatic. It was just like him to ignore her for months, then just pop back into her life and attempt to take control. And that could mean a struggle far greater than she’d face with Claire.
But she didn’t even know that Cameron was in a position to interfere with anything she did. He’d been gone all these months and had probably been bouncing from country to country, wielding power, infiltrating universities and prisons, hijacking whatever target he chose as being worth his interest. Who was to say where his priorities lay?
And Rachel had clearly been worth his interest, she thought with exasperation. She had warned him off, and she thought that would be sufficient. However, no one could tell what Cameron would do next. It was best to always be on guard.
Tell Rachel there might be another player on the scene?
No, she had too much to worry about now without fretting about a threat that might not materialize.
Just keep watch on him herself as she was doing with Claire Warren. Do her job as she had been trained, recognize that Cameron could be either an enemy or an ally depending on what he deemed best at any given time. Or perhaps that he would fade back into the shadows and not be involved at all. That last would probably be the best choice of the three for all concerned.
Yes, that should be the game plan.
And, dear God, try to forget that jolt of pure lust that had gone through her when she had first heard Cameron’s voice today.
SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT
“You told Catherine Ling you were coming to San Francisco, didn’t you?” Brandon asked Rachel quietly as they started down the jetway at their arrival gate. “What am I to expect when we get outside the terminal?”
Her gaze flew to his face. He had not made any comment nor asked one question during the connecting flight they’d taken out of Trinidad. “I didn’t call Catherine.”
“No, you wouldn’t do that since you’d told me you wouldn’t. I’ve begun to know you, Rachel. But you would see nothing wrong in phoning Hu Chang and leaving the decision up to him. You have infinite faith in your friend.” He grimaced. “And you certainly have no faith in me. Not that I blame you.”
“I have faith that you would not hurt me intentionally. If there had been a danger of that, my father would not have sent you to me. He must have even thought you could save me.” Her lips twisted. “And he certainly must have thought that you’d be smart enough to use me to stop Huber from blowing up this city. Yes, I have faith in you, Brandon.”
“Great.” He muttered a curse. “What the hell? I don’t even know why it makes a difference to me. You don’t seem to have had much more faith in Venable than you do in me.”
“I have the faith that my father was a great patriot.”
“But not such a great father?”
She could feel the tears begin to sting. “When I was a little girl, he was wonderful to me. Later, I didn’t see much of him. But I’m not talking about him anymore. He was what he was. He had priorities. We all have priorities.” She looked away from him. “How did we get on that subject? You wanted to know what you should expect because I told Hu Chang I was coming here? Nothing. Neither he nor Catherine would interfere with your arrangements for me. They want me safe. They care about me. Anything I tell either one in confidence remains in confidence. That’s why I thought it ridiculous you should try to shut them out.” As they reached the gate area, she whirled on him. “There will be no one following us, but I don’t guarantee that they won’t find me. Hu Chang knows this city. He had a laboratory here when I first came to live with him. He has another house near Catherine in Louisville, but he liked the availability of the plants in the redwood forest. He thought it would be easier for me.”
His gaze narrowed on her face. “Plants?”
She shook her head. “You really don’t know much about Hu Chang, do you?”
“It appears not as much as I need to know.” He took her elbow and nudged her toward the escalator. “But I’d already promised myself I’d rectify that omission. I believe I’d better up the priority on that immediately. Now, since you assure me that we’ll be free of surveillance, we’ll get out of here and get you to that safe house.”
“You’ll trust my judgment?” she asked skeptically. “You weren’t ready to listen to me before.”
“I’m not accustomed to trusting many people. Particularly in situations like this. But it seems I have no choice in the matter. You will clearly do as you like if you find it meets with your rather unique sense of honor. I’m something of a cynic, and I haven’t been exposed to the concept of honor very often.” His lips twisted. “And honor can be interpreted is so many ways, according to the person expressing it. But I find myself wanting to believe I can work with yours.” He shrugged. “At any rate, we’ll make the attempt. Okay?”
It should have made her more wary of him to realize that he had been watching, analyzing, and had still been willing to take the chance of a possible threat. He was getting to know her far too well.
But she had known when this began that he also could be a threat, and this was only a part of it. Yes, there was wariness, but she was beginning to feel a frisson of excitement and challenge as well. It was strange it should come in the midst of this time of emotional trauma. She gazed at him and nodded slowly. “I think I can deal with that, Brandon.” She looked away from him. “Now where is this safe house you’re going to take me to?”
BEACH HAVEN
“The sea?” Rachel looked out the window of the Toyota rental car at the blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean, then to the gray stone house on the cliff. “The boat out of Georgetown and now a house on the beach. Am I detecting a pattern here?”
“Perhaps.” He drove up the driveway and parked. “It’s called Beach Haven, and you’ll find it comfortable. I told Nate I wanted something out of the city with multiple ways to exit. There’s a private helicopter pad down there on the beach where a helicopter can land, the ocean is an obvious exit.” He smiled as he got out of the car. “And, of course, Nate knows my preferences.”
“And that you grew up on a boat.”
He
nodded. “I usually choose a sea view wherever I am.” He opened her passenger door. “Predictable. It might become dangerously predictable at some time.”
“But you do it because it reminds you of the years with your father?”
“Maybe. Though, as I told you, those memories could be bittersweet.”
She looked up at him. “But you didn’t tell me why.”
He smiled crookedly. “Perhaps I thought you’d guess. Three years ago, my dad was blown up in his sailboat in Venice. Courtesy of Max Huber.”
She stiffened in shock. Maybe she should have guessed, but she had been so involved with her own tragedy that it had obscured everything else. “Why?”
“Huber sent word ordering my father to find a way to get his men into a gallery in Brussels, so that he could steal a few masterpieces, then stage one of his famous disasters. He probably thought it was an entirely reasonable demand since my father had a reputation for having slipped into some of the most high-security museums in Europe at one time or another. But my dad wasn’t about to get involved with a terrorist like Huber. He sent back a message to Huber that he was no longer in that business. The next day, his boat blew up as he took it out to sea.” His lips tightened. “I couldn’t find enough body parts to bury him.”
And that was why he’d said that it might get easier to talk about his past someday, but that time wasn’t now. His expression was controlled and so was his tone but she could feel the pain. He had told her that it helped him to give something when he took something away. This had been something very personal for him, even more personal than she had thought. He had known he was taking her father away, so he’d replayed his own pain. It was a strange and remarkable gift. “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” she said haltingly. “You were very kind to me. It probably brought back—”
“Yes, it did,” he said curtly. “And your reaction nearly tore me apart. Now let’s forget it.”
She didn’t know if she could forget it. Somehow, the pain they had both felt and how he had dealt with it was having a profound effect on the way she was seeing him.
Vendetta Page 11
