Текст книги "Your Next Breath "

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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Текущая страница: 17 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

CHAPTER

15

Pain.

“Wake up, bitch.”

Catherine’s head jerked as she was struck on the side of her cheek.

She tried to open her eyes.

Another blow, this one splitting her lower lip.

“I don’t want you lying there like a zombie. Open your damn eyes.”

Santos. It had to be Santos. Catherine forced her lids to open.

Santos’s face was only a foot away from her own, and his eyes were blazing, his lips drawn back from his teeth like a feral animal. “Yes, that’s what I want. Pablo shouldn’t have hit you. I’m the only one who’s permitted to cause you pain.” He raised his hand and whipped it again across her face. “Maybe later. Maybe when I get tired and just want to watch your final throes of agony.”

“How … dramatic. Was that supposed to intimidate me?”

He hit her again.

Okay, don’t taunt him. She had to stop him from hitting her until she could clear her mind. Where was she?

Sand. She was lying on … sand. Darkness. Palm trees. She could hear the ocean’s surf close by. She must be on the island.

Yes, there was a speedboat anchored a short distance away, and three men standing, watching Santos. She recognized one as the man she’d kicked. The other two she didn’t remember.

How long had she been here? Had Cameron had time to get around to the other side of the island yet?

Ask.

“I don’t remember anything after I was struck on the head. How long have I been here?”

“Too long. A couple hours. I thought Pablo might have spoiled everything. I couldn’t wake you.”

“I could have shot her.” One of the men stepped forward. “I only hit her.”

“Shut up, Pablo,” Santos said. “I wanted her to be clearheaded and able to appreciate everything I’m going to do to her. Go on up to the tomb and wait for me.”

She watched the man scurry up the beach. “Two hours. He must have hit me very hard. Though I’m sure you were ever so gentle about bringing me around.”

He hit her again.

Two hours. It could be long enough for Cameron. She would have to see.

“You’re suddenly very quiet,” Santos said softly. “Are you feeling how alone you are? All your friends, and none of them can help you now.” He reached down, grabbed her arm, and jerked her to her feet.

“At least I have friends,” she said. “You have no one, Santos. No one cares whether you live or die.”

“They care. Because I’m the one who says whether they live or die.” He pushed her down the beach toward a path winding beneath the overhanging palms. “But now it’s time for me to take you to Delores. You’ve kept her waiting. I meant to have more time with you on my own, but you’ve spoiled that.” He shrugged. “Oh, well, perhaps I’ll enjoy it even more thinking how she would feel when I begin on you. Delores was always more imaginative than I was when it came to discipline. She could stretch punishment out for days, and she would try so many new toys…”

“I’m sure that she was everything you say she was.” She gave him a cool glance. “And I couldn’t be happier that I blew her away. I wish she were alive, so that I could do it again.”

Rage. Twisting, ugly, rage that contorted his features. “She is alive,” he hissed. “You’ll see. You couldn’t kill her. You’re not good enough. She fooled you. She fooled everyone. She’s alive. She’s only waiting.”

“You’re crazy,” she said. “And Delores was just as crazy to lead you down the path toward such a bizarre scheme. It’s all pretense and lies, and you can’t even see it.”

“Pretense? Lies? Was it a lie when I showed you that photo of your son? You didn’t think so. I could sense your fear. Delores would have loved that moment.” He smiled. “As she’ll love the moment when I give the order for your Luke to be shot.”

She stiffened. “I’m here. I’m the one you want.”

“But I have to feel your pain. You keep it so well hidden that it takes a great deal to make you reveal it.”

“That was a freak incident when Luke was targeted. Hu Chang takes good care of him. He’ll find the man you’ve planted outside my home stalking Luke. I’ve told him not to let my son leave the house for a while. It might never happen again.”

Santos laughed. “No? You think he’s just skulking in the shadows and dodging your people? That photo was taken through a window while Luke was in his bedroom. I have a shooter in the attic of an old Victorian house over a thousand feet away. Donald Lambell is an expert marksman I hired in Iraq and he answers only to me. I didn’t even trust Dorgal to know about him.”

Panic raced through her. Oh, God, and the fact that they’d told Hu Chang to keep Luke inside had actually set him up for the shooter.

Don’t let Santos see the fear that was tearing at her. He was waiting for a reaction. Don’t give it to him. “And I thought that you and Dorgal were soul mates. Both tarred by the same brush.”

“Delores never trusted him. Why should I? She’s the one who hired Lambell in case I ever had to use him to take Dorgal out if he becomes too troublesome.” He smiled. “So you can see, Lambell is my ace in the hole. If Dorgal’s men can’t make the hit, Lambell will do it. I called him last night and told him to be ready for the kill. So all your safety measures are going to be for nothing. As soon as I give the word, he’s going to blow your Luke’s handsome head off.”

Catherine felt sick. He was so terribly certain.

And he could see what she was feeling in spite of every effort to keep it from him. “Yes, that’s what I want from you. Horror. Your worst nightmare. No more photos. I might just let you get a Skype shot when he pulls the trigger. What a terrible feeling. And you wouldn’t be able to give him his chance to live, as I gave Delores. No Dr. Montez for your son. No chance for him. No chance for you. It gives you a different perspective, doesn’t it?”

“It makes me wonder if there’s a hell that’s horrible enough for God to send you to.” She swallowed. “It won’t happen. You’ll fail, Santos.”

“Shall I take out my phone and give the word?”

She didn’t answer.

“You’re frightened. I like that. But I’ll wait until we’re with Delores to kill the boy. She was always one to appreciate the turn of the knife.”

“She’s dead, dammit.”

“Only in your eyes. But you may change your mind when you see her.” He gestured up the hill. “You see that granite tomb? Isn’t it splendid? The finest black granite, the doors crafted of Italian bronze. Everything about it is meant to be a frame for a queen. My queen. You were so interested in Montez and what he was doing for me. Now you can see for yourself.”

“Montez is here?”

“Of course. I would have had him killed in Guatemala if I hadn’t wanted him as an insurance policy for Delores.”

“And for you.”

“Yes.” He shrugged. “But I have no intention of needing his services.”

“Neither did Delores.”

“But she was always more cautious than me. I went along with her, and I’m glad I did. For her sake. I intend to live for a long, long time before I need Montez. But when I do, he’ll always be here … waiting. Just as he’s doing now. You see him standing there by the door of the tomb? I thought you should see that you’d failed with him, too. He came to me last night and told me that he wouldn’t cause me any more trouble if I spared him and his family.”

“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 tightened 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 was 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?”

“No, that wonderful Persian carpet on the floor behind the coffin. It hides a trapdoor that leads past the cryogenic equipment to an underground passage ending at a boat dock. I’ll be off the island five minutes after I kill you. Then I start over.”

“How?”

“Bribes. Murder. Intimidation. It’s a corrupt world. I’ll survive and climb to the top again.”

He believed it. And he was making Catherine believe it, too. He had survived her killing Delores and managed to get out of prison. He had caused the death of three of her friends and threatened others. If he got out of here, she had no doubt that threat would be realized.

“You wouldn’t abandon your Delores.”

“She will be fine until I can get her back. Montez’s work is a breakthrough. There will be people standing in line who will want to make sure that the formula and process of what he did with Delores can be used on others.” He added harshly, “But I’m not going to forgive or forget your making us go through this. I’ll go down the list, and everyone you’ve tried to keep alive will die. Luke, first. Then Hu Chang. And I’ll go from there. You might remember that in these last few minutes you have.”

She could tell he had moved again. Was he heading for that trapdoor?

No! He was to her left. Very close.

And he had a clear shot.

She dove behind the chair.

Pain.

She cried out.

The bullet had burned the flesh of her right shoulder.

“Got you.” Santos’s voice was triumphant, then more regretful. “I wish I had more time…” He was moving toward the trapdoor. “But if you’re not dead, you will be. And I still may have the pleasure of doing those kills while you watch. Just a postponement…”

She heard the trapdoor open.

No! She struggled to her knees. “Not a postponement, Santos. You’re through.”

But he was disappearing down the steps to the tunnel. She jumped to her feet and ran toward the door. “Cameron, dammit, do it!” She called, “How long?”

“One minute. No more.”

But in one minute, Santos could be out of danger and halfway to that dock.

She whirled back and ran toward the trapdoor. She could see Santos on the second landing of the spiral staircase. Make him stop. “Santos, come back here. I’m waiting for you. Delores is waiting for you. Do you know what’s going to happen? You know all those explosions that blew up your hill? Cameron still had some of his clever little devices left over. So he set a few outside the tomb at strategic points. Montez helped him to make sure the blast would be strong enough to send this tomb straight to hell. To send Delores straight to hell.”

“You’re lying. He wouldn’t destroy his work.” But he had stopped and was looking back up at her. “He was proud of it. Proud of her.”

“Maybe proud of his work, but he always knew what a monster he’d created.”

Thirty more seconds.

Distract him. Keep him talking.

“I have a present for you.” She took Jane’s gold dog tag out of her pocket and threw it at him. He automatically reached out and caught it. “I promised Eve I’d give it to you after you had Jane shot.”

He smiled. “And killed.”

“No, she’s still alive. You’ve been had, Santos.”

His smile faded. “I don’t believe you.”

“Yes, you do. You’ve failed all around. Including with Delores. You said she’d never be vulnerable. That blast is going to do considerably more damage than a bullet to that pretty coffin.”

“No.” His eyes were wide, glaring with rage and panic as he turned to face her. “Stop it. They can’t do that to her.”

Ten seconds.

“Watch us. She’s dead. So are you.”

Five seconds.

“Catherine.” Cameron had burst through the door and was by her side. “Get the hell out of here.” He was dragging her toward the entrance. “Leave him.”

“I am.” It was safe now. She had kept Santos away from the tunnel.

And time had run out.

As they reached the bronze door, she glanced back over her shoulder at the gleaming coffin, where Delores lay in pagan splendor. At the gaping hole where Santos was probably now scrambling for safety.

“Out!” Cameron pushed her ahead of him out of the tomb.

The earth was rumbling beneath their feet.

“Down!”

Cameron jerked her down and fell on top of her.

Crack.

Kaboom.

Searing heat. Debris falling around them like missiles.

Kaboom.

Another blast.

More debris.

Granite. It was black granite. The tomb …

The heat was intense.

She could see patches of fire igniting the grass around them.

And burning sparks on the shoulder of Cameron’s shirt next to her cheek.

She put them out, then pushed him away. “We’ve got to get out of here.” She jumped to her feet. “Come on. We’re too close.”

“Tell me about it,” Cameron said dryly, as they ran for the trail. “You’re the one who ran back in there. You’d better have a damn good reason.”

“Tunnel.” She was coughing from the choking smoke. “Escape tunnel. I had to keep Santos from using it.”

“And did you?”

She nodded as she looked back at the tomb.

Only there was no tomb.

It was a pile of granite rocks and blazing flames that were incinerating everything around them.

“She’s gone,” Catherine whispered. “Even Montez’s coffin couldn’t survive those blasts.”

“He made sure of it,” Cameron said. “He did the calculations even before I told him what we wanted. He was going to find a way to destroy them himself if we couldn’t do it. He told me that Santos and his Delores would probably be vaporized by the force of those explosions.”

“As you both almost were,” Dario said grimly as he strode down the hill from the bunkhouse. “You look like hell, Catherine. Blood…” He took a step closer and examined her shoulder. “Bullet wound. Do we need to get you back to Port of Spain for medical attention?”

She shook her head. “It’s only a flesh wound. I’m not going anywhere for a while.”

“Why not? We’ve about wrapped everything up here.”

“Not everything.” Her gaze went back to the burning pyre that had been Delores’s tomb. “I didn’t see him die. I can’t leave here until I know that Santos is dead.” She glanced at Dario. “There’s a tunnel beneath the tomb that leads down the hill to a boat dock. Will you have it checked to make sure that boat is still at the dock?”

He nodded. “Right away.” He turned and headed toward the beach.

“Come on,” Cameron said. “We need to find water and a first-aid kit to bandage that shoulder. It’s at least got to be cleaned if not—” The text ring on his phone went off, and he glanced down for the message. “It’s from Hu Chang.” He read her the text. “Situation resolved. Seth Caleb enjoyed his visit to the Victorian house. Lambell did not.”