Shattered Mirror

by Iris Johansen

  Examine.

  He had heard of one way that might be possible.

  Slim. So damn slim.

  Grab it.

  No time for any other choice.

  He reached for his phone and dialed Kaskov. “Listen, before you leave for Black Pool Swamp, there’s something you have to do.”

  “You persist in giving me orders, Gavin.”

  “Do you want me to beg you? I’ll do it, Kaskov.”

  Silence. “No. I might go into shock. What do you want, Gavin?”

  CHAPTER

  18

  FIVE HOURS LATER

  “You’re sure it will work?” Eve asked Jock as she waited for Joe to finish packing the weapons to take to the island. It was an idiotic question, she realized. But it had been terrible waiting here for these last nerve-racking hours after Jock had told her what Norwalk was planning for Michael. “Sorry, Jock. I know there aren’t any guarantees. We’ll just do the best we can and hope that we can all survive.”

  “We have a chance,” Jock said curtly. “With you and Joe on his side, the odds on Michael may be better than for Cara. Remember to remind Joe he has to get Michael out of that shack right away. It’s primed with explosives, and we don’t know what orders Norwalk has given his men if the camp is attacked.”

  “Joe could hardly forget it,” she said dryly. “He knows what he’s doing, Jock.”

  “I know. I’m just hoping Kaskov does.” He grabbed his rifle and checked it. “I’ll go around to the north side of the island and take out the two guards there. That will leave you and Joe with only the two on the south side. Their absence shouldn’t be obvious to Norwalk when he takes Cara from the shack and puts her in the boat. It’s dark, and there will be no sound.”

  “Damn him,” Eve said shakily. “And we have to stand there and watch him and not do anything?”

  “Unless you want to watch him press that button on the detonator,” Jock said. “But one way or the other, I promise he’s not going to live long, Eve.”

  “No, he’s not,” she said quietly. “As I told my son, he has to go away.” She saw that Joe was ready, and she turned and started to follow him. “I’ll see you at the island.”

  * * *

  Jock let the guard fall to the ground and wiped his knife on the front of his shirt.

  One down.

  He moved silently around the edge of the north bank, using the cypress trees for cover.

  The other guard was using earphones, probably bored and listening to music. Not good discipline for a sentry. But he wouldn’t have to worry about it soon.

  Jock stepped behind him, and his arm snaked around his neck. Quick. No sound. End it.

  He broke his neck.

  He dropped him on the ground.

  Done.

  Now go closer to the shack and make certain Norwalk wasn’t changing plans at the last minute.

  * * *

  “It’s time. Are you ready, bitch?”

  Cara couldn’t see anything in the doorway but Norwalk’s dark silhouette behind the brilliant, glaring beam of the flashlight he was holding. “It wouldn’t matter, would it?” She got to her feet and turned to Michael. She had been preparing herself for this moment, but it was still difficult. “I have to go. Remember, I told you it might happen?” She put her arms around him. “Don’t worry, I’ll be—”

  “Touching. But it’s not according to my plan,” Norwalk said as he grasped Michael’s shoulder and jerked him across the room and out the door. “He’s going with us.”

  “No!” Cara ran after them. “You said I was going alone.”

  Michael was looking over his shoulder as Norwalk pushed him down the incline toward the dock. “It’s okay, Cara. Don’t be scared.”

  “Oh, do be scared,” Norwalk said mockingly. “That’s the entire purpose.” He stopped beside the motorboat tied at the makeshift dock. “You were being entirely too calm and disgustingly brave. I needed to see the panic.” He smiled at her as he quickly tied her hands behind her. “No, I haven’t decided to make him accompany you. I just wanted to bring him out here to bid you good-bye.” His waved at a man standing a few yards away. “Macvey here will keep him company until I call and tell him it’s time to bid him good-bye. Then he’ll toss him over that metal gate and send him to meet those alligators who want so desperately to welcome him.” He glanced at the other island. “Which will be at the exact moment when you meet your fate with Kaskov. I thought it would increase the pain enormously for you to know that was happening.” His gaze raked her face. “Yes, I can see it starting now. Mission accomplished. You may say good-bye to the boy now.”

  She wanted to strike out. She wanted him to die. She could do nothing unless she wanted him to start the death cycle right now. At this moment, she was bitterly aware of the helplessness he’d wanted her to feel. The only thing she could do was to hide that fear and panic as much as possible. “I’ll do that.” She fell to her knees in front of Michael. “You’re going to be fine, Michael,” she whispered. “Don’t be afraid. Like I told you, I can’t believe that they won’t come for you. As for me, it’s only for a little while. And if it stretches out to be a little longer, then you just play my CDs I sent you, and when the music starts, I’ll be there. Understand?”

  He nodded. “But I’m not afraid.” His dark eyes were shimmering in the light. “Don’t you be afraid, Cara. I tried to tell you…” His arms were suddenly around her neck, and he was holding her tight. “No one’s going to hurt me.” He whispered in her ear, “They’re not close, they’re here. Mama’s here.”

  She stiffened. Oh, God, make it so. Whatever miracle you have to perform. Keep him safe.

  “Enough,” Norwalk said. “Into the boat.”

  “Do whatever you have to do, Michael,” she whispered. “No one must hurt you. Your mama wouldn’t like it.” She kissed his cheek. No good-byes. “See you later.” She turned and got into the boat. She glanced at Norwalk as he jumped in and started the motor. “You don’t look pleased. Wasn’t my response satisfying enough for you?”

  “Not entirely. But you’ll make it up later when it comes home to you how many deaths are going to be triggered by you when you do your Viking bit.” He was guiding the boat carefully through the shallow waters of the bayou. “Including that kid back there. I can hardly wait to stroll back from bidding you farewell to see that big alligator finish him off.”

  She looked back over her shoulder. Michael was standing on the dock, his legs parted, looking after her. An eager smile lit his face. Then he turned and gazed into the thick, impenetrable darkness of the cypress trees of the swamp across the bayou.

  Oh, God, protect him, she prayed.

  Let it be true.

  * * *

  “You can change your mind,” Kaskov said as he glanced at Darcy standing beside him at the wheel of the speedboat. “If you’re seen, you probably won’t survive.”

  “And you sound so concerned,” Darcy said as she gazed out at the darkness of the water whipping in front of the powerful white boat. “I’m surprised you’re trying to talk me out of it. I’m your ace in the hole, Kaskov. What would you do without me?”

  “I usually manage. But I’m also surprised that I’m offering you a choice at the eleventh hour.” He looked at her. “You’d better live up to all that PR you gave me. It’s got to be done right or not at all.”

  “I always live up to my PR,” she said. “And I won’t be cheated, Kaskov. I can do this. I will do this.” She tensed as she saw the lights of a small boat appear from the jutting edge of darkness of the swamp ahead. “Is it showtime?”

  “We shall see.” He cut the engine. “Let’s have Norwalk tell us. I imagine he’ll give us a proper greeting.” He looked at Nikolai coming up behind in another speedboat, with two men on board. “Be ready,” he called.

  Nikolai raised his hand and cut his engine.

  “Is she there?” Darcy asked, her eyes straining on the boat. “It wasn’t a lie? It’s Cara?�
�

  “It’s Cara.” He handed her the infrared binoculars he’d used. “Much worse for wear. But she must not have your talent and access to makeup.”

  Darcy quickly focused the binoculars on Cara. “That wasn’t funny,” she said. “That bastard.”

  “Just your usual, garden-variety sociopath. But I admit I’m having problems with what he did to her. I’m getting quite anxious for the action to begin.” His phone rang. He murmured, “And that must be the bell to signal the start.”

  * * *

  “Welcome, Kaskov,” Norwalk said. “Do you know that until this moment, I wasn’t positive you’d actually accept my invitation? You must actually care something for Cara. That will make the prospect to come much more entertaining.”

  He was practically salivating, Cara thought bitterly. All the malice and ugliness had come to the forefront in these final moments. He believed only triumph was ahead. She could only pray that he was wrong.

  “I have a certain sense of family,” Kaskov said. “And as you said, it was a move that was politically correct. I believe it’s your move. What’s next?”

  “I told you, it’s very simple.” He jumped back on the shore. “In a few minutes, I’m going to start the motor on this boat and send Cara toward you. If you wish to help her, you can try to retrieve her. In which case, I will press the button, and she will blow you away. Or when you think she’s getting close enough to be a threat, you can fire off that heavy artillery I’m sure you’re carrying at her boat and save yourself. That’s probably what you’ll decide to do. But it will mean that you’ll kill Cara yourself. Which will be very satisfying for me.”

  “I’m sure it will. But not totally satisfying. How do you dispose of me then?”

  “Did I forget to mention I have pretty heavy artillery myself?” He gestured to a white tube on the ground at his feet. “A small surface missile by some standards, but heat-activated, and big enough. The moment you start to run, I blow you and your men in that other boat out of the water. Are you getting nervous, Kaskov?”

  “Terrified,” he said dryly. “Is that what you want me to say?”

  “That’s what I want you to feel. And you will. Is Eve Duncan there?”

  “Right beside me. I couldn’t keep her from coming. You said that you’d let her be with her son. She still thinks she can save him.”

  Cara went rigid. “Eve?”

  Mama is here. Michael had said.

  But not if Eve was on that ship. Michael was wrong. And there was no way Eve would be able to save him.

  “I want to see her face,” Norwalk said. “Turn on the boat lights. And I want to talk to her.”

  The speedboat lit up, and Cara could see Eve standing there, red-brown hair windblown, every muscle appearing tense, strained. She took the phone from Kaskov. “Where is my son?”

  “Hello, Eve,” Norwalk said. “It’s so good that you showed me how much power I have over you. I’m sorry that you appear so stressed.” He smiled. “But I’m afraid that I’ve changed my mind. The boy will be alligator food by the time this little standoff is over.”

  “No!” She grabbed an automatic rifle from the seat and began firing at Norwalk. “You can’t do that. You can’t kill my son! I won’t let you—”

  “You fool. I make the rules here.” Kaskov grabbed the rifle, swung it, and hit Eve’s head with the barrel.

  She fell backward over the rail, into the water.

  Cara screamed!

  She leaned forward, trying to catch sight of Eve in the water.

  Not Eve!

  Nothing. No sign. Nothing.

  She must have been unconscious when she hit the water and sank immediately out of sight.

  Cara felt sick, her gaze still frantically searching.

  “A fine way to begin,” Norwalk said. He had his binoculars lifted and was also scanning the water. He lowered the binoculars. “I was looking forward to doing that myself, but I’ll accept being the cause of it.” He bent forward and started the motor. “And now I’m eager to see the rest of it.” He shoved the small motorboat in the direction of Kaskov’s speedboat. “There you go, Kaskov. Choose which way you want it to happen.”

  Cara could feel the movement of the water beneath the boat, she could see Kaskov’s speedboat in the distance, but all she could think about was Eve’s terrible cry as she reached for the automatic weapon and her face as she plunged off the speedboat into the water.

  The tears were running down her cheeks as she remembered Michael’s excited whisper.

  Mama is here!

  * * *

  Norwalk’s face was lit with hunger and a feral joy as he watched the motorboat chug slowly toward Kaskov’s huge speedboat.

  Jock was feeling that same hunger as he gazed down his sights at Norwalk from the branches of the cypress tree above him.

  Not yet.

  Something could still go wrong.

  Hell, something might already have gone wrong.

  He didn’t want to think about that possibility.

  Focus.

  Don’t look at Cara’s small motorboat that was already too close to Kaskov’s speedboat. Soon, Norwalk would decide that she was close enough to allow him to take down both boats with that detonator.

  Move Kaskov!

  And Kaskov was moving, he was starting to reverse, backing away from Cara’s boat.

  And Jock could see Norwalk stiffen, his entire attention on Kaskov’s apparent defection.

  Now!

  * * *

  She was going to die.

  She was too close to Kaskov’s speedboat, Cara realized. The blast was going to come soon. What would it be like to die? What was out there? Music? Surely there would be music …

  But there were so many things that she had left undone. Jock … Michael … Darcy … Eve … They were all there before her as she saw that white speedboat in the bayou ahead.

  And Kaskov. Was there something left undone there?

  She didn’t know, but there might have been.

  And if she was going to die, she didn’t want to give Norwalk the satisfaction of using her as a weapon to destroy him.

  The only way she could keep that from happening now was to work her way to the edge of the boat and roll into the water. Her hands were tied, so that would mean a good chance of drowning, but the alternative was giving Norwalk what he wanted, and he’d already taken too much from the people she loved.

  She moved a little closer to the edge.

  She started to rock the boat. If she tilted the boat, she might be able to slip over the side into the water and that would—

  “No! For God’s sake, don’t do that, Cara. You’re going to screw up everything!”

  She froze, her gaze flying to the water several feet away. “Darcy?”

  “Well, I’m not a mermaid. Listen, don’t ask questions. Just do what I say, okay?”

  She nodded dazedly. “Okay.”

  “Keep on the edge of the boat, but get up as far as you can and draw up your legs. Quick. Kaskov can only keep Norwalk distracted for so long.”

  Cara was already moving, curling up at the top of the boat. “Darcy, I don’t want you to—”

  “Be quiet. I have a job to do.” She was pulling out a plastic-wrapped object that looked like an oval ball and was hurriedly unwrapping it. “I’m going to toss this grenade into the bottom of your boat, and I can’t jerk you into the water until it goes off. You have to be close to it for it to work. So expect an explosion…”

  “Grenade? How much of an explosion?”

  “I have no idea.” She pulled out the metal grenade. “Just brace yourself.” She pulled off the safety and tossed the grenade into the boat. “He said no more than a minute until—”

  The bottom of the boat exploded, rocking Cara almost into the water.

  “That wasn’t too bad.” Darcy was swimming toward her. “You’re not hurt?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but jerked Cara the rest of the way into the water and was pull
ing her away from the sinking boat. “I’ll check you later.”

  “Darcy, get away from me.” Cara was struggling, trying to push her away, but her hands were still tied. “Norwalk will have seen that explosion. He’s going to press that—”

  “Let him. I’m not leaving you. What do you think this is all about? I’ve got to get you out of this stinking bayou.”

  “I’ll go with you. Let me try to swim. Just don’t get close to me.”

  “It’s okay,” Darcy didn’t let her go. “I’ll explain later, but Norwalk must have pressed that damn button already. And you’re still in one piece. I think the bastard is probably in a tearing rage and going to focus on Kaskov instead.” She started to swim toward the bank. “Jock will take care of it. I’ve done my part.”

  * * *

  Yes.

  Jock watched the smoke rise from the sinking motorboat before he swung back to see Norwalk’s reaction. Rage. Frustration. Confusion. Wild rejection. Norwalk was looking at Cara’s head bobbing in the water, and he still couldn’t realize what was happening. He had the detonator in his hand and was pressing the button over and over in disbelief that it wasn’t exploding Cara’s vest.

  No way.

  But there was still a small danger, and he couldn’t permit Norwalk to continue to press that button. It might trigger some random response in that bomb.

  Jock quickly aimed carefully and pressed the trigger. He blew the fingers off Norwalk’s right hand. The next shot exploded the phone he was holding in his other hand. Norwalk screamed, looking wildly around and up at the trees as he dove instinctively for the missile at his feet. But Jock had already targeted the missile, and he blew the firing mechanism.

  Now for the head shot, Norwalk …

  But Norwalk was no longer there, he’d rolled into the shrubs at the side of the path.

  Son of a bitch.

  Jock was climbing down the tree even as he called Joe. “Cara’s safe, but Norwalk’s still on the loose. I’ll be there as soon as I can. But I have to get Cara out of that damn vest. Go get Michael. Now!”

  He jumped the rest of the way to the ground and ran to the edge of the water, where Darcy was now struggling to help Cara onto the bank. He took Cara away from her, lifting her onto the mossy shore. He took out his knife, cut her out of the vest, and hurled it into the bayou. Then he cut the ropes that bound her wrists. “Is she okay, Darcy?”