Текст книги "Your Next Breath "

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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“It seems that could be a reasonable assumption.”

“There’s nothing reasonable about this. It’s all ugly and crazy.” She looked down at the notebook. “What did you tell Luke?”

“Exactly what I told you I would tell him. O’Neill is in the process of bringing in extra security from his friends among the ex-CIA elite. All will be well.”

She prayed he was right.

“Those other names on that list,” she said brusquely. “We have to protect them. Until this is over, I’d like Erin to leave Tibet and go to Chen Lu’s golden palace in Hong Kong. Chen Lu has enough of a security force to make it fairly safe. Can you arrange it?”

“But of course I can. Erin Sullivan is very stubborn, but she has a great regard for my vast intellect.” He smiled. “Is this what they called in the Old West encircling the wagon train?”

“That sounds very strange coming from you. Yes, approximately. I’ll call Eve Duncan and give her a warning. If Joe’s at the lake house, that will be security enough for her.”

Hu Chang nodded. “Joe Quinn has a reputation for being very competent in that area.”

“Exceptionally. He’s an ex-SEAL and a police detective. That’s an effective combination.” She picked up her phone. “Get busy, Hu Chang. You forced me to mentally go over those scumbags who want to see me dead, and I’m tied up in knots. All these years, I’ve managed to block them out of my mind and forget them, but that’s gone now. I can’t have any other deaths.”

“You’re calling Eve?”

“No, not right now. I changed my mind. I’m calling Joe Quinn. He’s a police detective with Atlanta PD, and there’s no way he’ll let anything happen to Eve. If I called Eve direct, she’d want to come here and help. The only help I want is for her to keep safe. Right after I talk to Joe, I’m calling Venable. I want to check on the status of Corliss and Santos.”

“Wise.” He turned toward the door. “And I will go call Chen Lu and tell her to circle her particular wagons and prepare for visitors.”

“Good.” Joe Quinn’s phone was ringing, then he picked up. “Joe, Catherine Ling. Look, God, I’m sorry, but I have a problem, and you and Eve may become involved in it.” She filled him in quickly. “If you can protect Eve without letting her know what’s hanging over her, it might be a mercy.”

“Eve and I don’t play those games,” Joe said quietly. “She wouldn’t thank me.” He was silent. “You’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Just take care of Eve.”

“No one will touch her,” he said flatly. “She’ll probably call you back. You’re her friend.”

“I thought as much. I just wanted to be sure that you were on top of it.”

“I’ll contact Venable and see if I can do anything to help out.”

“If you do, it’ll be from behind a desk or at your lake cottage. I don’t want you more than a few yards from Eve.”

“Bossy female.” There was a hint of amusement beneath the grimness in Joe’s voice.

“You bet. Bye, Joe.” She hung up.

CHAPTER

2

Catherine took a moment after talking to Joe, then dialed Venable.

“I expected to hear from you before this,” Venable said testily when he answered. “When I turned that information over to Hu Chang, it didn’t mean I was opting out. Jantzen was a good man, and I’m mad as hell.”

“Yes, he was, and so am I,” Catherine said. “Any more news about Slantkey?”

“A gold dog tag with your name in the pocket of his motorcycle jacket. He’s definitely one of yours.”

One of hers. One of the victims killed in her name. The casual words were cold, the responsibility even more chilling. “Hu Chang told you about Olena Petrov?”

“Yes, definitely a pattern.” He muttered a curse. “Jantzen was smart, he wouldn’t have walked into a trap if the bait hadn’t been presented with a cleverness that was impressive. It was a tip on an arms shipment that came out of the blue. It didn’t have anything to do with the mission he was currently working on.”

“And Olena wasn’t clever at all. She’d made wrong choices all her life. Maybe she felt safe in that home we’d given her and just threw open the door for her killer. Either way, they were both victims, and I have to find the bastards who killed them.”

“We have to find them,” Venable said. “I told you, I won’t let them kill my people and just walk away.” He paused. “And you’d be hard to replace. It would be easier just to take the son of a bitch down.”

“Sentimental, as usual. I’m touched.” She and Venable had been together since she was fourteen and selling information on the streets of Hong Kong and he was a CIA agent trying to strike a balance between the British and Chinese. He had trained her, schooled her, but he had never pampered her. She was an agent and took her risks. She would have thought it bizarre for him to do anything else. The job was everything to Venable. “I’m glad we’re thinking along the same lines. I came up with two names, Corliss and Santos. Give me an update on them.”

“Good choices,” he said dryly. “You pissed both of them off royally.”

“Corliss?”

“He’s off the list. He was killed in Pakistan over a month ago.”

“Then, Santos. He’s still in that prison in Caracas?”

“He was until three days ago.”

She went still. “What?”

“He received a release because two witnesses who testified at his trial recanted their testimonies.”

“Why didn’t I hear anything about it? Santos is big news.”

“Money, influence, threats. I’d make a bet both the witnesses and the judge who issued the release were scared shitless and wanted only to do what they were told, then fade into the woodwork.”

“But you knew about it?”

“I was there at the prison when they let him go. I felt helpless as hell.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was busy. I had an agent down. Jantzen was more important to me at the time.”

“Do you know where Santos is now?”

“I tried to get a trace on him, but it was a no-go. We think he left South America but don’t know where he was headed.”

“What about Manuel Dorgal? He’s practically Santos’s shadow.”

“He didn’t meet him at the prison.”

“No?” she said grimly. “He was probably busy with Olena Petrov and couldn’t get back for the grand occasion.”

“You’ve zeroed in on Santos?”

“Until I hear something different. Santos has been in that prison for two years, but the killings didn’t start until he was certain he was going to get out. He didn’t want to miss any of the fun. He’s been plotting and planning, and now he’s ready.”

“Ready for you?”

“Eventually. Hu Chang thinks that he’ll want to hit a few more people I care about before he gets around to me. I tend to agree. I saw his face after I shot his wife. He’ll want me to suffer.”

“Crazy son of a bitch.”

“That goes without saying.” She was trying to think. “But if he wants me to suffer, he’s going to want to taunt me, to take credit. It’s what I remember about his psychological makeup. He’ll call me or send me an e-mail or something. Put a trace on all my electronic devices.”

“Okay. But he’s not stupid. We may not get anything.”

“It’s the only thing I can think to do right now. Except warn the people I care about. I just called Joe Quinn. And I told Hu Chang to get Erin Sullivan to go to Chen Lu’s palace in Hong Kong.” She frowned. “But that may take too much time. I don’t know how much time we’ll have. Erin’s doing humanitarian work with the people in that village in Tibet. You have agents near there, and I remember that Les Caudell actually knew her. Can you tell him to keep an eye on her?”

“Why don’t you call on your friend Cameron? He knows Tibet like the back of his hand. As I recall, there was a connection between Erin and him, wasn’t there?”

“They’re … close.” Connection? That was both descriptive and an understatement when applied to Cameron and Erin. She had thought at first they might be lovers, but that was far from the truth. As security chief for the conglomerate for which he worked, one of Cameron’s duties was to recruit brilliant, idealistic people to the global movement in which he believed. As a Pulitzer Prize winner, Erin fell in that category, and their closeness came from an intimacy based on Erin’s gratitude to him for banishing the pain and terror of torture she was experiencing after her kidnapping by a warlord in Tibet. Soon, Erin had become caught up in the mystery that surrounded Cameron.

And Catherine had become caught up with both of them while freeing Erin from the warlord. Erin had become her friend. Cameron had become … she still didn’t know what Cameron had become to her.

“And Cameron’s not in Tibet at the moment,” she said. “The last I heard he was in Copenhagen. Besides, Erin wouldn’t want Cameron involved. She’s very protective of him. Just tell your agent to keep an eye on her until she gets to Hong Kong.”

“Okay. Anyone else who would be on Santos’s short list?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe Kelly Winters, who’s at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. She and Luke are friends, and she spends weekends with us sometimes. Assign someone to keep an eye on her.” She paused. “I thought I was a fairly solitary person, but we touch everyone around us. When I was going over the list of possible victims, I found that out. Someone I might not consider as close, Santos could decide was worth killing.” Her hand tightened on the phone. “I just have to find him soon. Get me phone numbers. Any way to trace him. Start searching, Venable.”

“What do you think I’m doing? I’ll get back to you when I know something.” He hung up.

Santos. He still wasn’t a definite, but he was emerging as a clear favorite. Time to go over his history and favorite locations to see if something popped out at her.

She Googled his name.

A newspaper article and photograph popped on the screen.

Slick black hair, Castilian features, sensual mouth. He looked to be in his thirties, but she knew he was forty-four. A rap sheet that was violent and terrifying. He dealt out vengeance with swift and cruel efficiency. He’d risen from the gangs on the streets of Caracas as a child to head the most powerful crime organization in South America. His corruption of the political systems in Bolivia and Venezuela had kept him safe and at the top of the heap.

Where are you, bastard?

He’d spent a lot of time on the Riviera. He’d had a home on the coast in Bolivia, but that had been confiscated by the government when he’d been convicted. He’d also invested in a castle in Morocco, where he and Delores had entertained royally. Had that been taken away from him, too? She’d have to check into it. Not that he would be there now. He’d expect her to be on the hunt. Wherever he was hiding out, it wouldn’t be anywhere that was obvious. But he must have had other places that the government hadn’t been able to track down. She doubted if he’d establish himself at any totally new place. He’d want the comfort and protection of his own goons around him.

But he liked the sun, as demonstrated by the choices he’d made in the houses she knew about. Sun. Sea. Areas where he could control his surroundings. Helicopter pads? More than likely. She’d start checking into that possibility.

If she had time before Santos started moving against the people she loved.

“I brought you your tea.” Luke was standing in the doorway with a tray. “Hu Chang said he’d bring it, but I told him it was my job.” He came forward and set the tray on the coffee table in front of her. “You’re my job, Catherine.”

“I keep telling you, it should be the other way around.” She poured the tea. “You don’t have a duty toward me. You’ve got our relationship all wrong, Luke.”

“No, I’m starting to get it right.” Luke sat down across from her, his back straight, his dark eyes holding her own. “It took me awhile after you took me away from Rakovac. I wasn’t used to worrying or caring about anyone. It’s still … hard for me. But I’m learning, Catherine. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I can’t do that.” He grimaced. “Rakovac taught me all kinds of ugly ways that would prevent anyone from hurting you.”

“I know he did.” She felt the familiar rage soar through her. “That’s why I killed him. And I wanted you to forget that ugliness, not use it for me.”

“Too late. I’ve tried to tell you. I can’t change, I can’t be a normal kid.” His face was pale, grave. “But I can be your kid. Just don’t try to shut me out. Hu Chang told us about this Santos. I heard Sam on the phone, and he’s trying to build a wall around me.”

“Good.”

“But who’s going to build a wall around you?”

“At the moment, I appear to be last on Santos’s list. Maybe I won’t need a wall.”

“And maybe you will. But you’re not going to let me be there.” He was suddenly smiling recklessly. “But maybe I’ll be there anyway.”

“No!” Panic was soaring through her. “Let me work my way through this, Luke. It will be more dangerous for me if I have to worry about you. Can’t you see that?”

“But I want to—” He frowned. “Maybe. But I don’t like—”

“Forget what you don’t like.” She reached out and touched his hand. “You and Sam take care of each other, so I don’t have to be thinking about either one of you.”

“Someone has to protect you.”

“Hu Chang and I have gotten along very well for years protecting each other. You trust Hu Chang.”

“But Hu Chang lets you do everything that you want to do. He says it’s your right and privilege.”

“Thank God,” she said emphatically. “Which just goes to prove he’s the wisest man either one of us will ever know. Doesn’t that tell you anything?”

“It tells me that I don’t think like him.” He smiled. “And he would say that’s my right and privilege.”

“You’ve been around him too long,” she said in frustration. “Promise me that you’ll do what Sam tells you to do.”

He was silent. “I’ll have to think about it. Maybe until I can’t do it any longer. If I see that no one is protecting you.”

And, hopefully, he wouldn’t be anywhere near her that he would be able to see that. But it just emphasized to her how quickly they had to catch Santos.

“Drink your tea, Catherine,” he said as he got to his feet. “And call me if you need me.”

“As a matter of fact, I do need you.” She’d had a sudden thought. “Kelly. I’m having Venable assign an agent to watch over her, but I really want her with us.” Kelly Winters was only sixteen, but she was superintelligent and thinking out of the box and being able to detect patterns that no one else could detect had earned her a place in her university’s science think tank. But that also meant that she could be obsessive about her work. Not that being absorbed was usually bad for her. Hard work had saved Kelly after Catherine had saved her from being killed in the jungles of Colombia. “Can you persuade her?”

He shook his head. “She’s working on a special project for her think tank. It’s important to her. She said that it’s innovative and a groundbreaker. Maybe in a couple days. Unless you want me to tell her that she should drop everything and come and take care of you. Then she’d do it.”

“I’m tempted.” She thought about it. Kelly’s science think tank wasn’t turning out just student projects. They were occasionally written up in prestigious journals. She hated the idea of letting Santos destroy that for Kelly. “No, I guess not. She’s not actually family, and she isn’t able to come to see us very often. She’d probably be low on Santos’s list of priorities. And I already have her protected.” She frowned. “I suppose she doesn’t have to know about this until that damn project is finished. But do me a favor, keep in constant contact with her. Okay?”

“Sure. I’ve got a new game that’s pretty cool. It should be enough to tear her away from that project occasionally. You know how she likes games.”

“Thanks, Luke.”

“You’re welcome, Catherine.” He moved a step closer to her. “I don’t think you can use this now.” He took the scarlet chiffon hat from the table where she’d tossed it and smiled down at it. “Too bad. I liked the way you smiled when you saw yourself in the mirror.”

She made a face. “Because I looked ridiculous.”

He shook his head as he headed for the door. “No, because it was something we were sharing. You taught me that sharing is good, Catherine.”

She watched the door shut behind him. My God, she loved him. He had been damaged and suffered horribly from those nine years of captivity, but somehow he’d had the will to survive with a strength that often surprised her.

And exasperated her.

And scared the hell out of her.

KADMUS VILLAGE, TIBET

“Stop nagging me. I am hurrying, Les.” Erin Sullivan stopped packing to frown over her shoulder at Les Caudell, the CIA agent whose helicopter had suddenly appeared fifteen minutes ago on the plateau above the village. “You can’t just show up and expect me to drop everything and go with you. I had to explain to the elders and priests of the village that I wasn’t abandoning them. They went through a hell of a time living under the heel of that monster Kadmus, who took over their mountain.”

“So did you,” Caudell said grimly. “Torture. Captivity. God knows what else. I’d say the villagers got off lucky in comparison.” He grabbed her duffel. “And Venable does expect you to drop everything. I have my orders.”

“Venable doesn’t give me orders. He’s your boss, not mine.” But Caudell’s urgency had impressed her in spite of her words. She had known Caudell for years while she was a freelance reporter traveling from village to village in these mountains. Everyone in those villages knew that Caudell worked for the CIA and was keeping an eye on the Tibetan-Chinese conflict. But he had never been obtrusive or involved any of the villagers in U.S. political shenanigans. He had watched and waited and reported. She had never been able to do the same, she thought ruefully. She had become involved with the people and the mystical traditions of this austere land. There was such need and yet strength in these simple villagers. She couldn’t see how anyone could turn away from that need. Still, she had grown to like Caudell over those years of contact. “And it’s not as if there’s any real threat to me any longer. I don’t understand it.”

“Okay, you don’t want to listen to Venable. But Hu Chang was supposed to call you. Did he?”

“Yes, he said I had to go to Chen Lu’s. Something about Catherine Ling’s being in trouble.” She followed Caudell out of the hut. “But it’s all wrong. I should be going to Catherine, not Chen Lu. I tried to tell him that, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“You can call him from Chen Lu’s palace and make him pay attention. Right now, I have to get you off this mountain.” He was striding toward the helicopter a few yards away. “And if it will make you move any faster, it was Catherine Ling who said she wanted you under Chen Lu’s protection.” He opened the door of the helicopter. “Now will you—” He stopped as he saw a young priest in a yellow robe approaching Erin. “Oh, shit.”

“It’s just Kerak Li,” Erin said. “He works with me at the orphanage. I didn’t get a chance to speak to him. It will only take a moment.”

“One minute,” Caudell said.

Or as long as it took, Erin thought. She smiled at the young priest, and said in Chinese, “You’ll have to take over for me for a little while. I’ve been called away.” She bowed ceremoniously. “I know you’ll be able to—”

Kerak Li’s head exploded!

“My God!” Caudell pulled Erin to the ground and covered her with his body.

She couldn’t breathe.

Shock. Horror. Sickness.

Another shot.

“Get off me,” Erin pushed Caudell away. “Get under cover, Les. Get to the helicopter and—”

She saw blood blossom on the shoulder of his brown jacket.

“No.”

She was on her feet, pulling him up and half dragging him the few feet to the helicopter.

A bullet burned by her cheek as it buried in the open door of the aircraft.

She pushed Les inside the cockpit and dove into the backseat.

Pain.

Her calf …

She struggled to shut the door. “Les, are you able to fly this thing? If not, can you tell me how to do it?”

He was already starting the rotors. “If the bastard doesn’t shoot the gas tank … I’ll drop off the mountain and worry about altitude later.” The helicopter was plunging erratically even as he spoke.

Another shot.

“The shooter’s on that cliff to the north,” Les said. “We’ll go south. Did he shoot you?”

“Just my calf.”

“Bleeding?”

“A little.” Actually, quite a bit. She was getting dizzy. Fight it. She couldn’t let herself go unconscious. Les might need her.

And that shooter was still firing.

Stay conscious.

Help Les.

Oh, God, they both needed help.

The helicopter was plunging toward the rocks in the valley below.

She couldn’t count on staying conscious.

They were going to die.

Unless she could get the help to stay alive.

Unless he could help her.

“Cameron!”

*   *   *

“Erin Sullivan has reached Hong Kong,” Hu Chang told Catherine. “But she’s not at Chen Lu’s palace yet. Venable is having her and Les Caudell taken there now.” He paused. “There were problems.”

“Problems?” Her gaze flew to his across the library. “What do you mean problems?”

“It seems that she was already targeted by the time Caudell got to her. There was a sniper.”

Catherine’s heart leaped. “Erin?”

“Leg wound. Caudell has a shattered collarbone. Unfortunately, a village priest was killed.”

“My God.”

“But Erin and Caudell are alive and will remain alive,” he said. “They’ll be safe with Chen Lu.”

“Maybe.” She felt sick. “I need to talk to Erin.”

“I’ll let her know that is your wish. Right now, it would not be wise.”

“Because she’s already been shot, dammit.”

“And you’re angry and want to reach out and punish Santos.”

“You’re damn right I do. I’m feeling helpless. That’s not going to go on. What about that sniper? Can Venable catch him before he gets off the mountain?”

“There was no other helicopter except Caudell’s on the mountain. That means the sniper’s on foot or in a vehicle. It’s a possibility we can catch him, but it appears to be doubtful considering the time lapse. Still, there may be an alternative. I will see what we can do.”

“No, I’ll see what we can do,” Catherine said. “He’s our only lead, and I’m not going to let him get away.” She got to her feet. “I’m out of here.”

“As you wish. May I ask where you’re going?”

“I’m catching the first flight for Hong Kong, then on to Tibet.”

“May I suggest you wait until you talk to Erin? She told Caudell she wasn’t staying at Chen Lu’s. She’s coming to you.”

“No! She can’t do that. I don’t want her anywhere near me.”

“That’s not going to happen. She’s your friend and feels she owes you a great debt. You saved her life.”

“It was my job. I had to get her out of Tibet and away from that bastard, Kadmus.” She looked him in the eye. “Or you would have done it yourself. I’m CIA. I was trained to do it. You might not have made it.”

“Oh, I would have survived. But it’s true that you’re more competent than I at killing and mayhem.” He paused. “But I would have had help from someone who is your equal, if not your superior. It was only fair that he be involved, since he was the one who brought Erin to my attention.”

Cameron. He was talking about Richard Cameron. She couldn’t argue that Cameron was a superb fighter as well as having other psychic talents that were fairly incredible.

And sexual skills that were absolutely mind-blowing.

Don’t think of that. Her relationship with Cameron was in the past, and it had to stay in the past. They had been ships that passed in a night so tumultuous that it had shaken her to her core. Very dangerous. They had radically different beliefs, and she couldn’t trust him to be anything but what he was—the Guardian. It was the name by which the villagers in Tibet had known him. A mysterious man who moved in and out of the mountains, taught by monks and fighters to be expert in many disciplines and who had incredible skills.

Hu Chang’s gaze was narrowed on her face. “You’ve not heard from him lately?”

She shook her head emphatically. “Why should I have heard from him? We live in different worlds. The last I heard, he was on his way to Copenhagen. Probably to promote something totally illegal and revolutionary of which Venable would absolutely disapprove.”

“It’s possible.”

“It’s probable.” She made a dismissing gesture. “And why are we talking about Cameron? He has nothing to do with this.”

“No? Cameron has a habit of intruding on situations surrounding people he considers his own.”

“You mean Erin.” She frowned. “Yes, he does consider himself her protector. Well, he can just stay out of this.”

“If he chooses.” Hu Chang looked down at his phone as it buzzed. “They’ve arrived at Chen Lu’s. Shall I set up a Skype on your computer for you to see for yourself that Erin is well?”

She hesitated. “Yes.”

“Excellent.” He took her computer and set it up on the desk. “It will give you comfort and permit you to expend a little of that anger I can sense in you.”

“I just want to see that Erin isn’t badly hurt.”

“That, also.” He was adjusting the input buttons. “It will just take a moment…”

*   *   *

“What do you mean you didn’t take her down, Nagoles?” Santos said softly. “She was next on the list. It was one step closer.”

“I had to move too fast,” Carlos Nagoles said quickly. “That CIA agent was rushing her off the mountain. I had a bead on her when she turned to talk to some priest. I would have had her if she hadn’t bowed to the bastard. I shot the priest instead.”

“Stupidity.”

“I wounded her. I got Caudell in the shoulder.”

“Not good enough.”

“I’ll go after her. You said you think Ling will send her to Chen Lu’s palace?”

“It’s very likely.” Santos was trying to keep his temper under control. Nagoles was in an optimum position to go after Erin Sullivan, and he was usually competent. He’d been working for Santos for over eight years, and the kills had all been clean or bloody, whatever Santos preferred. He might have to get rid of him later, but he needed this kill. “I don’t have to tell you that I won’t tolerate another failure, Nagoles. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Everything has to go smoothly.”

“It will. I had it all set up. It should have been easy. She had virtually no protection before Caudell showed up.”

But it hadn’t been easy, and it had to be because that bitch, Ling, had learned of the deaths and set up a stalemate to prevent any more. The thought sent the rage curling, searing, through Santos. She probably thought she had beaten him with this move.

As she had triumphed over him in that penthouse when she had killed his Delores. That sudden memory was like salt rubbed in a raw wound.

He couldn’t let even a temporary triumph stand. He had planned too long, researched too deeply, while he was in that stinking prison. She had to be shown who was the master. “It’s just going to be harder now that she has Chen Lu’s security forces at her disposal. But you will do it, Nagoles. I won’t have Ling think I’ve fumbled this kill.”

“She won’t. I’m already off Kadmus Mountain and on my way to the next mountain over, where you can arrange to send your helicopter to pick me up.” He paused. “I won’t disappoint you, Santos. Trust me.”

“I did trust you. From now, on you’ll have to earn it. I don’t have to tell you what will happen if you fail me again.” He hung up, turned to Manuel Dorgal, and said curtly, “She’s still alive. He bungled it.”

“You should have sent me.” Dorgal smiled. “Never let an errand boy do an executive’s job. I know how important Erin Sullivan’s death was to move your plan forward. Do you want me to go after her?”

“No, I’m giving him another chance. I have another job for you.”

“Whatever. But you’re very tense,” Dorgal said. “I brought you a pretty little sixteen-year-old when I came in from Caracas today. She may even be a virgin. Why don’t you try her? It will relax you.”

“Not now.” He got to his feet and moved toward the French doors. He had to get out of here. The taste of this failure was bitter, and he needed to take it to his love, to share it, as he always had. “I’ll talk to you later.”

The sun was on his face as he moved down the garden path. Hot. Soothing. The heat was making the blood pump in his veins. Taking away the coldness of defeat. Making everything exciting and right for him as he hurried to her.

Just as she always had made it right.

I’m here Delores. I’m coming to you. That fool, Nagoles, has upset me. I need you.

Then he was there, standing before the grand granite tomb that was covered with bouquets of fresh roses.

He immediately felt the easing, the feeling of coming home, of being welcomed into her arms.

It’s only a slight delay, Delores. I know you would have told me to just kill that bitch, Ling. But I can’t do that. She has to suffer for what she did to you, what she did to us. She mustn’t die until she’s suffered as much as I did when she took you away from me.

He looked at the names he’d written in black charcoal on the wall of the tomb. Slantkey, Petrov, Jantzen. He’d planned on adding Erin Sullivan today. Another surge of searing rage went through him. I didn’t mean to cheat you, Delores. Forgive me.

I promise I’ll make it right. But first maybe we should let Ling anticipate what’s in store …

*   *   *

The Skype picture of Erin Sullivan was bright and clear and showed both the strain on her face and the blood on the front of her shirt.

“What’s that blood?” Catherine asked sharply. “Hu Chang said that it was your leg that—”

“For heaven’s sake, Catherine, it is my leg,” Erin said with exasperation. “And it’s only a flesh wound. I just bled a bit. This blood is from Les Caudell’s wound. I had to help him into the helicopter. They’re working on his shoulder now.”

“And he’ll be okay?”

“Eventually. Not for a long while. The pain was excruciating. He kept passing out on the way here.”

Catherine bit down on her lower lip. “I’m sorry about this, Erin. I never dreamed that this would happen. It came out of the blue.”

“Or out of the depths of hell,” Erin said grimly. “A young priest was killed back on the mountain. He was only eighteen and was going to Hong Kong to study teaching. That bullet was meant for me.”

“If you’re looking for someone to blame, I come first on the list. I’m the prime target, Erin.”

“That’s what Hu Chang told me when he was setting up this Skype. Why?”

Catherine briefly went over both the facts and her own suppositions. “I’m thinking it’s Santos, but it could be someone else. Venable is trying to confirm.”