by Cherry Adair
All things considered, he'd like it a hell of a lot less if the blood were AJ's. He stepped cautiously out the door. The wide, dimly lit hallway was clear. For the moment.
Kane motioned AJ to stay behind him as he started out. They had six hundred feet to traverse to reach the stairs. Six hundred feet of nothing but shallow doorways to take protection in if Raazaq and his guards returned.
They ran toward the stairwell like bats out of hell. "Go. Go. Go."
They shoved open the door, and raced down three flights of stairs before Kane pulled her into a shallow doorway out of sight from above. "Give."
"Take off your shirt," she instructed briskly as she finished tearing the pillowcase into strips, wrapping his arm efficiently as she talked. "According to a deathbed confession, the biochemical agent is in a black leather briefcase. That's the only intel I have.
"Jesus God, Kane. You're a frigging sieve! Crap. Here, hold this. Tighter. Yeah, like that." She gnawed on another strip with her teeth, then tied it to the strip in his hand and slid her arms around his chest to wrap his torso. Her still-damp hair smelled of soap as she brushed his chest with her head.
"Whatever he's going to do," she said as she worried her lower lip with her teeth and inspected the gash on his underarm, "it's happening now. He's forcing everyone to gather inside the pyramid immediately. If they haven't evacuated the hotel in exactly one hour, he's promised to detonate explosives and bring the hotel down."
"Same deathbed confession?"
"Different guy. I always confirm my info from at least two sources." She grinned, then leaned back to inspect her handiwork.
"There," she said dryly. "That'll do you until you're rushed in for emergency surgery. The front courtyard is already packed with people."
"The sun's straight up and no one's watch works, so that hour's timing is going to be iffy, to say the least," Kane said grimly.
"Nobody's stupid enough to go into a confined space." But they were caught between a rock and a hard place. "They'll evacuate the hotel, and get far enough away from the building, in case he does follow through with that threat," he speculated. "But they sure as hell won't go inside that pyramid. Won't happen." The other alternative was Raazaq spraying the biochemical over the conveniently gathered crowd outside. "Airborne dispersal?"
"Yes. He has the container stolen from that Russian shipment. And it's bad, Kane, really bad."
"Did he say what it was? Any clue? Damn it, I wish to hell we had contact with the outside world. By now they must know what he got hold of, and will be bringing the antigen with them."
AJ rubbed her upper arms and shivered. "No one will make it if he pulls this off. They'll—shit, we'll either die from it, carry it in our bloodstream, or be afflicted with God only knows what hideous symptoms." She shoved away from the wall. "Come on, we have to find that briefcase."
"I'll find the briefcase," Kane told her grimly. "You neutralize Raazaq."
Raazaq's plan was simple. He'd gathered everyone onto the front lawn of the hotel, where there was no overhead covering. It was early afternoon, and the hot, bright sun shone down relentlessly from a cloudless blue sky. Armed soldiers had systematically gone through the hotel and forced everyone out at gunpoint. Those that had refused had been summarily shot.
Now that everyone was evacuated, Raazaq appeared to be in no hurry for them to move the several hundred yards to the pyramid.
Which either meant he was arrogant enough to believe he had time before the troops arrived, or he was planning to disperse the chemical right here into the crowd.
And they all knew it.
The circular area was large enough to hold everyone and leave a hundred-and-fifty-foot swath around the circumference for Raazaq's people to patrol. Several hundred heavily armed men encircled the crowd, herding strays like cattle into containment. The tension in the air was palpable. Every time a group tried to move off to the side beneath the dubious, but better than nothing, protection of the trees, they were shoved back into the courtyard by Raazaq's elite guards.
More than two dozen men and women, security people, lay dead on the ground. Shot when they'd attempted to take down one of the armed men or tried to make a run for it.
Unarmed security teams kept small, tight circles around their principals. But everyone knew the gesture was useless.
Kane had ferreted out Walsh and given him an update. Walsh had better news; one of his men had returned from the desert to report that a battalion of men was approximately ten clicks away. Judging distance was iffy, but even fifteen clicks away was better than Cincinnati.
The rest of Walsh's team had proceeded on to meet the troops and fill them in on the status of the situation.
After conferring for a few more minutes, Walsh melted back into the trees, and Kane scanned the area for Raazaq, but he was nowhere in sight. He spotted AJ on the far side of the crowd.
She'd appropriated a baseball cap from somewhere, which she now wore, hair scrunched up beneath it, as she prowled the perimeter of the milling and silent crowd, with Raazaq's people. If she kept her face down and didn't make eye contact, she'd pass as one of them. If a man didn't know every inch of her luscious body.
From his vantage point on the steps leading down to the enormous circular courtyard, Kane tried to pick out the President and First Lady next. No matter what his feelings were for AJ, he had to trust her to do her job. Watching her every move was counterproductive.
He scanned the crowd. While the First Family was as exposed as the rest of the masses, their security people had done an excellent job blending them in with everyone else. If Raazaq was planning a strategic strike, he'd be hard-pressed to find individual targets. It was impossible to tell who was a key player and who was a bodyguard.
The white marble pyramid towered over the distant tree-tops and glinted milk-pale in the sunlight. Clearly the threat to get out of the hotel and gather inside the other structure had been a ruse to clear the hotel.
This was where Raazaq wanted everyone. Outside. In the open. Out in the hot sun. Perspiring. A perfect conductor for a viral agent to be rapidly absorbed through the skin.
Kane stiffened. "Jesus. The pyramid!"
He did a controlled speed walk down the steps and started for the perimeter. Running now would cause panic and confusion. But Christ, he needed to run.
He caught up with AJ on the far side of the clearing near the tree line and grabbed her upper arm. "Come with me."
She gave him a wide-eyed, startled look as she matched her long stride to his. "What's happened?"
"Nothing. Yet."
"Then where are we g—"
"Raazaq is in the pyramid. It's the only place that he and his key people will be safe from the viral agent. They can't leave the area any more than we can."
Weapons drawn, they slipped into the wooded area between the hotel and pyramid. "Then why did he want everyone to go inside?" AJ checked the clip in each of the Rugers as she speed walked. Kane knew she'd checked them several times already. But this was show time. She wasn't going to chance anything going wrong now.
As soon as they lost sight of crowd, they started running. A winding path lined with grasses meandered between the dense shade trees up a slight rise. It was marginally cooler in the shade, but not much.
"Son of a bitch doesn't want them inside the pyramid," Kane told her, not releasing her hand as they ran. "He knew nobody would follow that order. He counted on it. He wants them out in the open. Sweating. Unprotected."
"They're out there like lambs to slaughter—Jesus God, Kane." Her feet hesitated, but Kane yanked her along with him, keeping her moving. "We have to go back. Warn the—"
"Walsh is working on it, if they haven't figured it out by now themselves. We have our jobs, he has his."
They ran the long mile silently, until they finally reached the shadow of the pyramid. The path widened slightly, leading them to a low, narrow doorway overhung with shrubs and long grasses—clearly intentionally left that way
for atmosphere, as the rest of the path had been cleared for foot traffic.
AJ looked up, and up. The pyramid was huge, at least five stories high. The twenty-ton blocks of white stone were smooth, and tightly interlocked, and rose in a direct line into the heavens, stark creamy-white against the blue of the sky.
The pyramid itself was a work of art, priceless in its antiquity, a testament to man's creativity. It had stood here for over two thousand years. Or had it? Was it, too, part of Raazaq's devious plan?
Either way, AJ wondered if it would survive today.
She used both hands to cup her weapon and stepped into the opening.
The temperature immediately dropped twenty degrees. There was enough light streaming in from the outside to show their way down a flight of rough-hewn steps descending at an angle of approximately twenty-five degrees. The ceiling sloped thirty feet above them as they raced silently down the stairs, their feet almost silent on the hard stone. A metal handrail and small recessed lights led the way down, disappearing into what looked like a black hole.
It got progressively darker as they left behind sunlight and fresh air and came to the bottom of the stairs, into a small chamber. Discreet spotlights illuminated unblemished walls of hieroglyphics. Clearly there was a generator or other power source here. Something not affected like everything outside this building.
The room smelled faintly musty, but there was also the pungent stink of sweat, and the sharp, acrid-sweet smell of Raazaq's cologne.
He's here, AJ signed. She indicated across the chamber to the ascending staircase.
Kane nodded, pointed to their boots. They undid laces and tugged off their footwear. At this point they needed every element of surprise open to them. Barefoot was quieter. AJ tucked their boots and socks out of sight behind a labeled display of baskets and small bottles. They started up the stairs. Past the mammoth stone that was marked to indicate it had been moved to reveal the ascending passage at the time of discovery.
AJ's heart raced as her feet padded up the cool steps. At the top of these stairs, or in the next chamber, was Fazur Raazaq. She was going to do her job and rid the world of a monster.
She halted when Kane grabbed the back of her shirt, then quickly spun around. What? she demanded with raised eyebrows.
You go back, he signed, get people to safety. I'll finish here.
She froze, stunned, one foot on the next step. She stared at him. He signed again. Go back. I'll finish.
He didn't trust her to do the job. Or do the job right.
Jesus God. The knowledge struck a blow to her heart. Ego. Struck a blow to her ego. After all they had been through… all they'd shared… No way in hell! AJ mouthed silently, shrugging off his restraining hand and spinning to race up the stairs.
Time was running out, she could practically hear the sand pouring out of an old-fashioned hourglass. And he wanted her to go back?
She felt his hand on her again, and angrily shrugged it off. He grabbed her arm and spun her around and she tumbled several steps down to stand just above him.
Let me go, you dumb-ass, she mouthed, fury whipping through her blood like a forest fire. What the hell do you think you're doing? She pushed at his shoulders. The stairwell was only a yard wide, the stone on either side of them dark with damp. The smell of Raazaq's cologne surrounded them.
They were eye to eye.
AJ shoved again, but this time Kane grabbed her face in both hands.
And kissed her.
The act shocked AJ so much, she almost screamed out loud in sheer surprise. What the hell was he thinking? The kiss was over almost before it had begun. Puzzled by the rage and desperation in the ill-timed kiss, she braced her hands on his chest.
"Wha—"
Be careful, he mouthed as he brushed his finger down her cheek. His hands were warm. Her skin, cold. AJ paused there for half a heartbeat, then nodded and took off up the stairs. She could hear the faint shush of Kane's bare feet running lightly behind her.
They emerged silently into a larger room at the top of the stairs. The Queen's Chamber, AJ would bet. It was lavishly decorated with hieroglyphs embossed and painted in vibrant colors, highlighted with gold. Across the marble floor lay a gold sarcophagus. The lighting here was soft and almost dreamy. Artificial palm trees, replete with dates, swept up to the unblemished limestone-gabled ceiling.
AJ pointed to one of three side corridors. Touched the tip of her nose and pointed ahead. Follow his smell.
Kane nodded.
The first corridor smelled flat and faintly musty. The second, blocked by a long-ago rockfall that had yet to be excavated. The third corridor—like the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears—was just right.
Raazaq's cologne. Bingo.
It felt to AJ as though slow, agonizingly slow, hours had passed since she and Kane had entered the pyramid. But logic told her they'd taken less then ten minutes to sprint through the staircases and rooms to get to this point.
Now the question was, were they in time to stop a madman?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
« ^
There was a metal door at the top of the stairs. Titanium by the look of it. The dull surface gleamed in the glow of the small, recessed lights on either side. Hardly part of the original decor. Someone had done some serious remodeling.
Weapon locked and loaded, AJ looked at Kane with raised brows. How the hell were they going to get inside undetected?
He indicated she cover him, crouched down, ran his fingers carefully around the paper-thin crack. A crack so fine, not a glimmer of light from the room beyond shone through. He ran his hands around, all the way around. Twice.
No handle, no keypad. No way in. Other than the faint sound of AJ's breath, Kane couldn't hear a damn thing. If Raazaq was inside the King's Chamber, then the room, the door, the fucking pyramid, were soundproof.
Christ. So near and yet so far. Nothing short of a nuclear blast was going to open that door.
May I? AJ mouthed politely, leaning over his crouched position. She rapped sharply on the door with her fist.
Kane rose to his feet. If it made her feel better to attempt… it—
The door slid slowly open.
Hot damn.
He shot her a quick glance. Ready?
A nod. Gleaming green eyes.
Weapons at the ready, they stepped into the room.
"Welcome, I've been waiting for you." Raazaq's voice was muffled inside the heavy white biohazard suit he wore.
Kane counted six other people suited up. No one seemed particularly concerned with their presence. But then, if he were the one holding a high-tech-looking laser gun, he would be pretty unconcerned, too.
"Shit," AJ whispered beside him.
That about covered it.
Bright white sterile walls, chrome, steel, computers blipping, monitors flashing. The King's Chamber had been converted into a lab.
"Impressive, evet?" Raazaq motioned several of the men forward to divest Kane and AJ of their weapons.
"Yeah, it is," Kane said dryly. On the wall above a bank of TV monitors, red numbers on three small digital clocks ticked away the countdown. One read nine minutes, two seconds. The next read zero. The third, four minutes, eighteen seconds. "Too bad we don't have time to admire your handiwork."
His eyes on Kane, Raazaq said to AJ, "So I was right, Miss Cooper. Your friend is not what he seemed. And clearly I underestimated you. Now, please to give your guns to my men, both of you. Any small spark at this point and you would go... pouf."
"But then, so would you," Kane pointed out, shaking his head no as two men approached them to relieve them of their weapons. The men hesitated, looking to Raazaq for direction.
Kane felt a slight brush of air against his back as the door closed silently behind them.
Four minutes, fourteen seconds.
If the clocks indicated what Kane believed they indicated, one batch of the virus had already been dispersed. They had four minutes and… eleven secon
ds… to stop the next one.
"Hand over your weapons or I will shoot the girl." Raazaq took one of the futuristic weapons from his men. It looked small and deadly in his gloved hands. Kane had never seen anything like it. He had no idea what the weapon could do, and he didn't particularly want to find out.
"Go for it," he said coldly, not looking back at AJ to see her reaction to his offer. He shifted his feet slightly to stand in front of her. "You'll be doing me a favor."
"Excuse me," she said indignantly, stepping forward and around him to give him a hard punch to his good shoulder. "Don't I get a vote?"
He pushed her back, flat of his hand to the middle of her forehead. Not lightly. Get behind me, damn it. "Lady, you've been a thorn in my side, and a pain in my ass, for days. I'd shoot you myself if I didn't object to wasting the bullet." He moved away from her, crossing the room while Raazaq's men grinned from behind their faceplates.
Four minutes, eight seconds.
"You low-life, unchivalrous bastard!" AJ shrieked. The baseball cap flew off her head, strands of red hair trailed behind her like a flaming banner as she charged him.
Fully entertained now, Raazaq's men started to laugh.
Kane sidestepped at the last minute. AJ kept going, hit Raazaq full force with the hurtling weight of her body, and took him to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs so perfect, so classic, Kane almost applauded. Damn, she was good.
He didn't wait to see who was where. He left Raazaq to AJ. There were a few other problems for him to deal with.
Three minutes, forty-nine seconds.
AJ thumped her butt down hard on Raazaq's chest, pressed her knees into his shoulders, and placed her feet on top of his flailing hands to subdue him. She pressed the barrel of the Sig over the faceplate, directly in line with the smallpox scar in the middle of his forehead. He bucked. She pressed down harder with her knees, leaning her entire weight into it. While he tried to twist and buck his way from beneath her, AJ used one hand to fumble for the fastenings on the helmet protecting Raazaq's brain from her bullet.
