Текст книги "Live to See Tomorrow "

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

“Then why isn’t he?”

“He didn’t get the chance. He was tortured and murdered when he was eighteen years old.”

Cameron’s tone was without expression. Yet Catherine could sense the pain.

“How?”

“He was kidnapped and taken to Iran. They’re building their own psych think tanks there. Brad and I were both on their radar, but he was easier to grab. I was older, and my training made me fairly formidable.”

“Why would they kill him?”

“The Iranians didn’t know how to handle what they had in Brad. They tried to force compliance. He wouldn’t do what they wanted, and they went too far. He bled to death before they could save him.”

“Dear God.”

“I wasn’t sure there was a God at that point. He was the person I loved most in the world. I couldn’t see why God would take him away.” He voice was suddenly bitter. “And then I realized that if that could happen to Brad, then there was something terribly wrong with the world as I knew it. I told the committee if they wanted me as Guardian, I’d do it.”

“I don’t understand all this Guardian business.”

“From what I’ve read in your mind since I got here, it seems you’ve already figured most of it out for yourself. I’m sent to take care of security problems, to keep anyone from knowing about the committee and what it’s trying to do. I also try to recruit those with talent of all kinds and descriptions who have the right moral character and mind-set and send them to the committee to train and incorporate into the organization.”

“And what is the committee trying to do?”

His lips turned up at the corners. “Are you afraid I’m going to say that they want to take over the world like something from a James Bond movie?”

“It occurred to me.”

“No, go back to what you read about the myth of Shambhala. What was the purpose of those who lived there?”

She thought about it. “Supposedly to live in peace and gather riches and knowledge. Because they knew that the world around them would grow worse as time went on and destroy itself. Then Shambhala would be there for those who still remained and came seeking the way to rebuild and live an enlightened life.” She gazed at him skeptically. “Are you telling me that this huge conglomerate capable of doing all the things that you say it can do would spend its time and resources on trying to save the world?”

“No, they don’t believe civilization as we know it can be saved. They just want a shot at building the next one.”

“Crazy.”

“If you say so.”

“What’s the name of this conglomerate?”

He shook his head.

“Then do you believe they’re really trying to do what they say, or are they working under the table for their own ends?”

“I wouldn’t be Guardian if I didn’t believe they’re doing what they think is right.”

“But you could be brainwashed. They had you and your brother from the time you were young and impressionable. And your brother’s death could have tipped the scales.”

“It’s a difficult task to brainwash anyone with a convoluted brain like mine.” He smiled. “If you think it’s crazy, you have to think I’m crazy, too.”

“It’s a cold world out there, and big business is even colder.”

“And what if the business was started decades and decades ago and created with that one underlying purpose?”

She shook her head. “I still can’t believe it.”

“I didn’t think you would. Questions over?”

“No, you say you also recruit. You were trying to recruit Erin, weren’t you?”

He nodded. “She was a perfect candidate. Intelligent, talented, strong, idealistic. The committee could have helped and used her in a hundred situations.”

“She wouldn’t like to be used.”

“Only with her consent and cooperation. Force is what the committee is battling against.”

“Except where you’re concerned.”

“But then I’m the Guardian,” he said simply.

“Which means that the gloves are off, and all the rules are your rules.”

“I told you that from the beginning.”

“I didn’t realize that you were out to remake the world as we know it.”

“After Brad died, I decided I didn’t like the world the way it was being run. Why not change it?” He was studying her expression. “You’re getting more upset. No one is targeting innocents, Catherine. There has to be a balance to keep the operation from crashing down. Sometimes that balance is very delicate, and I have to make decisions how to maintain it.”

“So you go out and kill someone.”

“Is it different from your having to take down one of the bad guys? Don’t you have to make judgments?”

“Yes. It’s just that you seem more … autocratic.”

“I am what I am. Are we finished?”

“No.” She added honestly, “But my mind is so messed up right now I need time to absorb.”

“Then by all means absorb.” He leaned back and gazed at her. “It’s a wonderful mind and not that messed up even now. It was the first thing that attracted me to you when I was searching for someone to go after Erin. Such a clean, beautiful mind with none of the static most people broadcast.” He smiled. “Of course, that particular attraction faded into the background in short order. Lust is a very domineering master. Perhaps someday I’ll be able to combine the two, but it may be a while.”

Lust.

Yes, it was with her now, again. She could feel a flush heat her cheeks. “Listen, Cameron. I’m not going to lie to you. It would be stupid to tell you that I don’t want you to—” She moistened her lips. “You can see I do, damn you. But I’m not going to do it.”

“I know. Not now. It’s not the time. Now that we’ve crossed the first barrier, I can wait. I just had to clear up the Celia hurdle.”

Good God, she was disappointed, she realized, shocked.

“Me, too,” he said thickly. “And don’t think I’m not going to have you as soon as I can justify doing it. I’ll be thinking of all the ways that we can try. Not that I haven’t been doing that already. Every time I have a moment to myself, you’re there.”

“I don’t have any moments to myself without your butting in,” she said tartly. “You said that you wouldn’t do that. It’s totally unfair, Cameron.”

“I’ll try to stay out as much as possible. It’s difficult when I feel so close to you.” He paused. “And I’m not sure if there’s a threat. I have very strong protective instincts. That was one of the reasons I was chosen as Guardian.”

“That’s not a good excuse for snooping,” she said dryly. “I don’t care if your instincts say go for it. I’m the one who should be able to block you from doing it.”

“I’ll try, Catherine. That’s all I can promise.”

She gazed at him with exasperation.

“I’ve learned to be disciplined, and usually it works,” he said quietly. “But I’m not disciplined with you. It all goes out the window.”

“Why?”

“It’s not only the sex. Though God knows that’s a gigantic part of it. I feel as if I’m turning a new page with you. I don’t know what I’ll find, but I know it’s going to be important to me. And sometimes what you make me feel blows that discipline to hell.” He reached out and touched her lower lip with his forefinger. “I know you don’t feel the same, but there are moments when you come close. I think that’s why I slip inside. I need to know that I’m not alone.”

Alone. She knew about loneliness. Her life had been nothing but loneliness before she met Hu Chang. How much worse must have been Cameron’s loneliness. He had been shut in isolation and rejection most of his childhood. Even after he had been put with the woman who had raised him, he must have come to realize how different he was from everyone else. That was loneliness in itself.

“Stop feeling sorry for me. I do just fine.” Then he smiled. “Or maybe I should tell you to go ahead. I don’t mind sympathy if it makes you melt like this. It could lead in all kinds of interesting directions.”

“No, it can’t. And you’re snooping again.” She slapped his hand away from her mouth. “And I’m not melting. You’re the last person I’d feel sorry for.” But she couldn’t resist asking, “Hu Chang once said that he thought that you were relieved when you were forced to not use all that mental firepower. Is that true?”

“He’s a wise man. It’s both relaxing and a little annoying. I get impatient.” He tilted his head. “You have the most beautifully shaped lips. I keep wanting to touch them. And your breasts are magnificent. My tongue still tingles from—”

“Cameron.”

He nodded. “I know, later.” He turned on the windshield wipers, and the interior of the car was flooded with daylight, destroying the cocoonlike intimacy. “We still have forty-five minutes before Blake should start the action.” He was gazing at the entrance of the hospital garage. His hands closed tightly on the steering wheel. “He’s probably in the hospital now seeing to the stretcher and getting it up to Jack Sen’s floor.”

Her gaze was narrowed on his face. “You’re on edge. You said you trust Blake.”

“I do. I just want to be there, doing it myself.” He grimaced. “That’s what I always want, but it’s against the rules. Only occasionally are the circumstances just right for me to be able to step in. I have to remain the invisible man.”

“Frustrating. It would drive me crazy.”

“You bet, intensely frustrating. But I’ve become accustomed to—” He stopped, and a reckless smile suddenly lit his face. “But why should I have to put up with it on this job? I’ve already broken the rules. Why not break a few more?” He opened the driver’s door and got out of the car. “Get in the driver’s seat. Come and pick me up when I run out of the garage.”

“What? You can’t interfere with a plan in motion. It would screw everything up.”

“I won’t interfere.” The rain was pouring down his face, and his dark hair was already wet. His expression was alive with vitality and that excitement. “I’ll just be there on the spot and get them out of the garage faster.”

“And not be the invisible man,” she said softly.

“Right. Will you wait here and pick me up? Will you be there for me?”

She didn’t want to sit here and wait. She wanted to go with him.

He shook his head. “Not this time. I need you to be on call outside the hospital. Will you do it?”

She made a face as she nodded resignedly. “I’ll be there for you.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” He smiled brilliantly as he turned and walked toward the garage. “I don’t know anyone who I’d rather have beside me, but this will have to do.”

“But you did it again,” she called after him. “Stop that snooping…”

He waved and disappeared into the garage.

The rain was falling harder again, closing out the sight of the garage entrance. She turned on the windshield wipers once more. She had to see, dammit.

She checked her watch. Forty minutes until the action started. Then it would probably escalate at warp speed. Cameron had said five minutes, if everything went well.

But she would be on the alert from this time forward. She had never trusted that every detail in an operation would necessarily go well. Cameron was brilliant, and his plan was probably just as brilliant, but there were usually slipups. She would watch and make sure that Cameron was not caught in one.

She had promised to be there for him.

CHAPTER

14

Catherine checked her wristwatch.

Forty-five minutes.

They should be in the garage by now.

Forty-six minutes.

She felt tension grip her.

Soon.

Unless something had gone wrong.

An ambulance tore out of the garage, tires screeching, as it turned and barreled down the street toward the light on the corner.

Yes.

She put the Mercedes in gear and stomped on the accelerator. The car jumped forward, and she drove toward the garage entrance.

Come on, Cameron, I’m here for you. Where the hell are you?

“Right here.” He ran out of the garage and jumped into the passenger seat. “Let’s go!”

She was already moving. She glanced sideways at him as she went through the light on yellow. His eyes were glittering, his mouth taut, and she could almost feel the tension and excitement. He was loving this. “Everything went okay?”

“Right on schedule. Blake did very well. And with me helping with the transfer, we had Sen out of the garage two minutes early.”

“It must have been like the pit team at a car race.” She glanced in the rearview mirror. “We’re not being followed.”

“They’re still scrambling. There will be someone tearing out of that garage any minute. Turn left at the next street.”

She turned left. “Where do I go from here?”

“Set your GPS for Celia’s place. We should get off the street. Someone could have seen you scoop me up in that grand getaway.” He smiled. “You had a certain dash about you. Have you done this before?”

“Once or twice.” She set the GPS. “In Colombia. There always seemed to be a reason for a getaway down there.” She started following the GPS guidelines. “Were you really useful, or were you just enjoying yourself?”

“Both. They could have done it without me. But Kadmus’s local team had a man stationed down there waiting to see if someone would show. He came out from behind a car when he saw me disabling the security cameras in the garage and the elevator. He had a knife and an attitude. I took care of him and gave Blake a little extra time that bought them insurance.”

“And had a good time.”

“Life is always more exciting on the edge.” He glanced challengingly at her. “Isn’t it?”

She couldn’t deny it. She had lived on the edge all of her life. At one time, she had thought she wanted peace and normalcy, but that had faded into the background as life exploded around her. “As long as something is accomplished.”

“How very solemn and dutiful. But today you didn’t know exactly what could be accomplished, and you wanted to go with me anyway.”

“I don’t like to sit on the sidelines.”

“And I would have loved having you beside me,” he said. “Anytime. Any way. I usually have to fight alone, and I like it that way. But it would be different with you.”

It would be different with him, she thought. He wouldn’t try to keep her from doing what she’d been trained to do.

Or would he? He’d said he had highly protective instincts.

“You’ll have to see, won’t you?” he asked.

“Out,” she said succinctly.

He smiled. “I’m working on it.”

“And one other thing that’s puzzling me. Why didn’t you have one of Blake’s men come down earlier to disable those cameras?”

“I wanted to do it myself.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to make sure that those cameras showed what I wanted them to show. I disabled the ones that were trained on the elevator and the ambulance. I kept the one that showed me taking out Kadmus’s man and heading for the elevator.”

“That’s crazy,” she said, stunned. “You spend all your time trying to avoid being recognized or connected to anything that might have a police investigation.”

“There are exceptions to every rule.” He paused. “I had to show myself to distract Kadmus’s men when I was trying to get you off the mountain. A photo was taken, and by this time, he knows my face and name.”

“No,” she whispered.

“That’s what the committee says. They’re not pleased. But they can rectify the problem with a little high-priced erasure. But I might as well use the fact that Kadmus now knows who he’s looking for as bait.”

“You mean using yourself as bait.”

He nodded. “Before he had only Erin to go after here in San Francisco. But after he sees the security disks, he’ll know I’m here protecting her.” He glanced at her. “Don’t you think that might draw Kadmus out of his palace on the mountains to come here and go after me personally?”

“Yes. And he might not bring an army with him, but you can bet he’ll have enough firepower to be damn intimidating. Nagle will have to step up to the plate. But how’s he going to get hold of that security disk?”

“The police will pull the disks, and Kadmus will pay to get a copy of what’s on them. That’s what I’d do.”

“But you have unlimited funds for bribery.”

“Kadmus will pay whatever he has to pay to find Shambhala.” He tapped his chest. “And right now, he sees me as the key to Shambhala.”

“Does he really think of Shambhala as the proverbial pot of gold?”

“He sees the power, he’s been watching and knows that I’ve been plucking the brightest, the most talented brains in the world. That’s an incredibly valuable asset in itself. As for the myth that there are untold riches stored in a hidden city, perhaps he believes that, too. He certainly believes that he deserves to be emperor of his world, and the Shangri-La myth riveted his attention enough to invest a sizable amount of his ill-gotten gains in it.” He thought about it. “Yes, he probably does think there is an actual Shambhala.”

“And is there?”

He didn’t answer for a moment. “That’s been the argument for centuries. Is Shambhala an actual place? Or is it a mythical concept that philosophers developed of a perfect world that might save us all?”

“You’re not answering me.”

“No, I’m not, am I?” He leaned back in the seat. “Now chauffeur me back to Celia’s, and we’ll wait for Blake to call and tell me Sen is on a jet back to Hong Kong.” He added grimly, “And then we’ll start getting a plan together to bring Kadmus down.”

*   *   *

“Jack Sen had been taken from the hospital. Someone snatched him from beneath the police guard’s nose,” Brasden said as he hung up the phone. “And one of Nagle’s men was killed in the hospital garage.”

“Son of a bitch,” Kadmus said. “I don’t give a damn about that bungler. I told Nagle to stake out that hospital. He was supposed to either get his hands on anyone who tried to get Sen away from the police or follow them and try to get Erin Sullivan. Did they do either?”

“No.” He held up his hand as Kadmus started to curse. “It was evidently a crack team who did the job. The lookout in the garage was supposed to call upstairs to the lobby if he spotted anyone.” He shrugged. “But it seems someone spotted him first. The ambulance carrying Sen got away clean as a whistle. Nagle is outside the garage questioning everyone about what they saw at the time. He said two nurses saw a dark-haired man jump into a blue Mercedes that skidded to a stop near the garage entrance.”

“License plate?”

“Not so far. Listen, give me a minute. The police are pulling the video cameras out of the garage. That may tell us something. Shall I give Nagle the okay to spend the money to get a copy? It will be steep.”

“Get them,” Kadmus said curtly. “And get Erin Sullivan. I’ve got to have a bargaining chip when we locate Cameron. Have you heard anything about him yet? Do you even know if he’s still in Tibet?”

“No word. But we have the photo that we’ve been showing around. I’ll find a lead.” He paused. “Providing I have the motivation.”

Kadmus stiffened. “I’m tired of this, Brasden. I’ve put up with your damned arrogance for too long. One more word, and I’ll have you shot.”

“Not do it yourself? Ten years ago, you wouldn’t have been afraid to go after me. But you’ve changed. You’ve gotten softer.” He said silkily, “And I’ve gotten stronger. You’ve let me take over running your little army, and now they listen to me, not you.”

“The hell they do.”

“Would you like to call my bluff?” Brasden’s hand rested on the butt of the pistol in his holster. “Go ahead.”

The bastard was too sure of himself, Kadmus thought. He had been so absorbed in getting that crucial information from Erin Sullivan that he had ignored the possibility that Brasden could be insinuating himself into a leadership position. Had he really undermined Kadmus’s power with his men? Loyalty could be bought with promises and extra pay as well as intimidation. It was possible.

Be cautious until he could determine the consequences.

“Motivation?” he repeated slowly. “What motivation?”

“I’m tired of doing all the work and having you take the biggest percentage of the profits.”

“Percentage? You work for me. I hired you to do a job.”

“That’s not good enough any longer. I want 50 percent of every fee I earn for you.”

“Screw you.”

“And I want to start with the money you’re trying to squeeze out of Erin Sullivan … and this Cameron. You want me to find them? Then don’t make me go at it blind.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out something shiny and gold and very familiar. “I went through your desk last night and found this pretty piece.” He dangled the chain of the lotus necklace. “I remember you took it from that priest you killed three years ago. You were angry because you said he died too soon.”

“Give me that!”

“And then you had us take Erin Sullivan. You tried very hard not to let her die too soon. I want to know what we’re supposed to be looking for.”

“You son of a bitch.”

“Tell me, Kadmus. I’ll still let you have half of whatever I find.”

And he was supposed to believe him? Kadmus hadn’t survived all these years by being taken in by a prick like Brasden. Play him, then take him down. He was silent a moment. “You have me over a barrel. We … may be able to work together.”

“Tell me,” Brasden said again.

“You won’t believe it. It takes a man with vision.”

“Tell me.”

“I’ve heard rumors for forty years about a city in these mountains that has a treasure trove of jewels and gold. At first, I didn’t believe it; and then I began to wonder why shouldn’t it be true when so many people I ran across thought it existed? After all, I’d always known that I was meant to rule. It’s my destiny. It could also be my destiny that I came to these mountains so that I’d find a place worthy of me. So I started searching for clues to find Shambhala.”

“The priest,” Brasden prompted.

“That priest I took the necklace from told his children about a wonderful place he would take them to one day. Yes, where there were jewels and gold and wonderful, wise people. He said that he was one of the chosen, and he’d been given the pendant by one of the wise ones who would lead him to the place of wonder.” His mouth twisted. “Old fool. He only talked about it. He stayed in his sod hut in that village when he could have gone to Shambhala.”

“Shambhala … I’ve never heard of it.”

“Because you’re an ignorant fool. Like that priest. He didn’t die quite right away. Not before he told me that those who were given the necklace were the sanctioned who would be permitted to join the wise ones in Shambhala. It was given to him by a man, a Westerner, but I wasn’t able to get a name. He kept calling him the Guardian. And I couldn’t get any other information out of him. I would have done it if I’d only had the time. But he cut his throat with a knife one of the villagers slipped him.”

“You actually believed him?”

“It’s true,” he said fiercely. “There’s a Shambhala, and it was meant to be found by me.”

“Or me,” Brasden said. “If it exists.”

“It exists. Find Cameron, and he’ll take us to it.”

“Us,” Brasden repeated. “That sounds like a partnership.”

“I’m not a fool.” It would be a partnership until Kadmus rooted out any Brasden supporters among his men and destroyed them as well as Brasden. “There’s kingdom enough to share in Shambhala. Just find Cameron.”

Brasden stared thoughtfully at Kadmus, then contemptuously tossed the lotus necklace to him before he turned on his heel. “I’ll find him.”

*   *   *

Erin and Hu Chang were the only ones in the library when Catherine and Cameron got back to Celia’s house.

Catherine felt a jolt of anxiety. “Where’s Luke?”

“In the kitchen with Celia,” Erin said. “He’s helping her with the dishes. I offered, but she chose Luke. They seem to have bonded.”

“Did you really think that I’d let anything happen to him?” Hu Chang asked. “He wasn’t at all happy that you left without him. I thought it best to keep him busy.” He glanced at Cameron. “He wants to believe in you, but Tashdon made that hard. I’d go and reinforce to him that you’ll never hurt Catherine.” He paused. “If that’s possible?”

“Not only possible but certain.” He turned and headed for the door. “Tell them about Sen, Catherine. I’ll go make sure that we don’t have any trouble with Luke.”

“I should be the one who—” But he was gone, and Catherine shrugged and turned back to Erin and Hu Chang. “Jack Sen is on his way to an airport outside the city, where he’ll be put on a flight to Hong Kong,” she said curtly. “Everything went well. Except Cameron killed one of Kadmus’s men staked out in the garage.” She told them briefly about the security cameras and Cameron’s decision to let himself be recognized. “Now we’re waiting for word that Jack Sen is on that flight.” She added, “And then we wait to see if those security-camera videos are compromised and will target Cameron. Cameron said Blake has contacts in the police department who might be able to let us know.”

“It appears that Cameron is changing his modus operandi,” Hu Chang said dryly. “Exposing himself on camera is most unlike him. And so is guaranteeing your safety. Life and death are always ebb and flow depending on his duties as Guardian.”

“That doesn’t mean he won’t change his mind,” Catherine said. “But perhaps it does mean that he’s thinking that his precious committee isn’t always right.” She looked at Erin. “He must have gone through a lot with you. He’d have to be completely callous not to have it affect him.”

“It did affect him,” Erin said. “I could feel his pain as he did mine. But he won’t betray what he believes in. I wouldn’t want him to do that.”

“Erin, I don’t know what to say to you,” Catherine said helplessly. “What the hell is so worthwhile to you that you’d go through what you did to keep from sacrificing it? I can’t comprehend it.”

“I think you know more than you did when you left here this morning,” Erin said shrewdly. “Cameron has a way of blowing away the mist and making things clear.”

“That’s Cameron. He’s in a class by himself. I’m talking about you. What makes it that important to you?”

“The dream,” she said softly. “And the people who are willing to work and sacrifice to keep it alive. I wasn’t brave enough to do it. What Cameron goes through must be terrible at times. I think that’s why I wore the lotus necklace when I knew I shouldn’t. I wanted to show support even though I didn’t have the courage to become one of them.” She met Catherine’s gaze. “You’d have the courage. I can see you and Cameron together fighting for a cause.”

“Only if I believed in it.” She added gently, “And you have an enormous amount of courage.”

“I have endurance. It’s different from having the guts to take a step into the unknown.” She paused. “But I’ve been thinking about it, and I may have grown during the last months. I hope that’s true.”

“You didn’t need to grow. You’re a person who—”

“I just talked to Blake,” Cameron said as he strode into the library. “Sen’s flight took off ten minutes ago. He’ll arrive in Hong Kong in eighteen hours and be taken to a secure hospital just across the Tibet border. We won’t know about the security disks for several hours.” His eyes were glittering, his face taut. “But by that time, we should have most of the preparations made.” He looked over his shoulder. “Isn’t that so, Luke?”

Good God, Catherine thought as she watched Luke come into the room. Her son had the same expression of barely restrained excitement as Cameron.

Luke smiled at Catherine as he stopped beside Cameron. “He’s trying to make you think that he and I are planning this together. It’s not true. But he promised to make sure I’d be part of it.” His smile lingered as he looked up at Cameron. “And that’s enough for me.”

Cameron returned his smile. “Smart boy. You see right through me.”

“No.” His brow furrowed. “But it’s funny you should say that. I’ve been thinking that sometimes I get a crazy feeling that you see right through me.”

Cameron’s smile faded, and he gave a low whistle. “You might have to give him to me for a few tests, Catherine.”

“No way,” she said flatly.

He shrugged. “We’ll talk later.” He turned to Hu Chang. “The first thing to do is get the Mercedes away from the front of Celia’s house and placed in a spot that will throw out a red herring for Kadmus to pick up as soon as the Mercedes is identified from either the security cameras or any witness accounts. I’ll take care of it. By now that cabdriver who brought you to Chinatown will have given a description of all of you to Kadmus’s men. We don’t want you to be seen again until the right time. Stay here with Celia.” He glanced down at Luke again. “Take care of Catherine. I’ll be back soon.”

“You told him that before. We’ll take care of each other. Just as we always have,” Catherine said coolly. “Where are you going to drop the Mercedes?”

“I’m not sure. I have an idea, but I’ll have to call and have a little research done.” He smiled as he turned and headed for the door. “But I’ll be sure and ask your approval.”

Bastard, she thought as she watched the door close behind him. What research? She hated that he had left her behind. He was right that it wasn’t smart that they be identified, but that hadn’t stopped him from practically yanking her out of this house this morning.

But that hadn’t had anything to do with cool calculation. That had been fire and smoke and lust that had driven both of them to the brink.

She could feel her body start to ready as she remembered just how intense that lust had been.

No. Don’t think of it. Particularly with Hu Chang’s gaze fastened on her. Cameron wasn’t the only man who could read her emotions. She turned to Luke. “I haven’t had breakfast yet. Cameron and I were a little busy. How about going with me to the kitchen while I fix something?”

He nodded. “Cameron told me how good you were at being a getaway driver.” He followed her out of the library. “He said he thought you enjoyed it.”

“Did he? It was serious stuff.”

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Maybe. A little.” He was looking at her. “Okay, maybe a lot. But it’s not something that most people with any intelligence would want to do.”

“But you’re very intelligent.”

“You’re grinning. Are you making fun of me?”

“Yes.” He paused. “And I like it that you told me the truth. Truth is important.”

“And do you think that Cameron told you the truth?”

“Yes, there are things he’s hiding, but he’s mostly telling the truth.”

“You might have to give him to me for a few tests, Catherine.”

Oh, shit. It’s not going to happen, Cameron.

“And do you trust him?”

“I believe that he won’t let you be hurt.”

“I’m not the only one involved in this, Luke.”

“I think everyone else will be all right, too. I just know that you’ll be okay, and Hu Chang is always fine. And that’s the only thing that’s important to me.”