Countdown

  She pushed him off her and looked down at him. His eyes were wide open in disbelief—and death. She shuddered as she sat up in the snow. She couldn’t seem to move. She should get out of here. They were only a few miles from Reilly’s headquarters. Maybe they’d heard the shot.

  In a minute. She’d killed a man, and the realization was just hitting her. She kept remembering the Mario she’d first met, the man she’d thought him to be. In death his features were softer, boyish, as they’d been that night.

  All pretense. All deception.

  Get a grip. Get out of here.

  She got to her feet.

  “What the hell happened to—” A voice behind her.

  She instinctively whirled with the gun raised.

  “Hold it!”

  MacDuff. She dropped her arm to her side.

  “Thank you.” He moved forward to stare down at Mario. “Grozak or Reilly?”

  “Me.”

  He swung around to look at her. “Why?”

  “He was in Grozak’s pay and made a deal with Reilly on the side. He was going to turn me over to Reilly.”

  He smiled faintly. “And you didn’t choose to go.” His smile faded. “What word of Jock?”

  “I haven’t seen him since he left me at the shack. Where’s Trevor?”

  “Here.” Trevor came toward them. “I was farther back than MacDuff. I ran into an encumbrance.” He looked down at Mario and his lips tightened grimly. “I wish the bastard was alive so that I could kill him myself. Did he hurt you at all?”

  She shook her head. “What encumbrance?”

  “Wickman. His body was under a pile of snow near the shack.” He looked at Jane. “We found Grozak at the cabin. Mario?”

  She nodded.

  “And Wickman?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think so. Grozak was supposed to meet him. I guess Mario could have killed him.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. But we have to get out of here. Someone might have heard the shot.”

  MacDuff shook his head. “I barely heard it and I was close to you. Maybe it’s this snow muffling the sound.” He glanced at Trevor. “What do you think?”

  “I heard it. But very dimly.” He looked at her. “So tell us what happened while we’re on our way back to the car.”

  “Back to—” She went still, her gaze on the tree line. “I’m not going back.” She turned quickly to Trevor. “Mario arranged with Reilly to take me through the trees toward the house. Reilly was going to deactivate the booby traps as the video cameras sensed our passage. We could still do it.” She held up her hand as Trevor started to protest. “The video cameras won’t be able to tell the difference between you and Mario in this snowstorm. You’re about the same height and weight. If you keep your head covered and down and the gun visible, I’ll be going first so I’ll be the first one they see.”

  “And what do you do once you reach the house?” MacDuff asked.

  “Play it by ear. We were supposed to be met at the door by Kim Chan and another of Reilly’s protégés, Norton. If we can get past them, I doubt if there are any booby traps inside the house. Maybe we’ll get to see the great man himself right away.” She started toward the tree line. “Let’s go.”

  “No way,” Trevor said roughly. “Get the hell back to the car and out of here.”

  She shook her head. “It’s a good plan considering the circumstances. We can nail Reilly and get the information we need to stop Grozak’s attack.”

  “It’s a lousy plan,” Trevor said.

  She turned to MacDuff. “Will you go with me? You’re not as good a physical match, but it could work. Jock is probably positioning himself somewhere near there. You’ll be able to contact him. That’s all you care about, isn’t it?”

  He smiled. “That’s all I care about. Lead on.”

  “No!” Trevor drew a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll go with you.” He pulled the hood of his anorak up. “Go. We should know by the first hundred yards whether they can tell the difference between me and Mario.”

  MacDuff shrugged. “It seems I’m out of a job. I’ll guess I’ll just have to go after Jock on my own.”

  “How?”

  “I’m pretty good with booby traps. I had a lot of experience with land mines in Afghanistan. It will take me a long time to block the cameras and deactivate the land mines, but I’ll get there eventually.”

  “If you don’t get blown up,” Jane said.

  He nodded. “But then just think of the distraction I’d give you.” He moved toward the tree line, angling to the left. “I’ll wait five minutes after you start through the woods. With any luck they’ll be concentrating all their attention on you as soon as the video camera picks up on you.”

  “I could go with him,” Trevor said as he watched MacDuff walk away from them. “You should go back to the car and let us do it, dammit.”

  She shook her head. “They’re expecting Mario and me. If they don’t see us, they’ll come looking.” She started toward the tree line. “I’d rather go looking for them instead of trying to hide in those woods in a snowstorm.”

  20

  Another camera.

  MacDuff studied the angle at which the camera was pointed and moved to the left to avoid the shot.

  Careful.

  Slow.

  Stay close to the trunk of the trees. Most of the time booby traps were set up on the most likely traveled paths.

  Most of the time.

  Christ, he was sweating blood in these frigid temperatures. Booby traps had always been one of his pet hates. He’d lost too many men to land mines. You couldn’t see them. You couldn’t fight them. You just had to try to avoid them and hope. Or pray.

  He couldn’t have gone more that twenty yards since he’d left Jane and Trevor, and this excruciatingly slow pace was not making him a happy man.

  Better a patient man than a dead one.

  Another video camera up ahead. Christ, they were hard to see through the driving snow and camouflage Reilly had set up.

  He studied the angle; it was aimed at the path to his left.

  But that didn’t mean there wasn’t another camera behind that pine close to—

  “Don’t move.”

  MacDuff’s head whipped around to see Jock standing a few feet away.

  “It’s a triple.” Jock carefully stepped across the snow. “Every now and then Reilly planted three land mines in a row across the paths. It would catch anyone trying to avoid the main booby traps.” He was right next to MacDuff. “You shouldn’t be here. You could have gotten hurt.”

  “Tell me about it,” MacDuff said grimly. “I could say the same about you.”

  “I know these woods. I know where every one of those land mines is planted. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come through here in the pitch dark.” He turned. “Come on. I’ll take you out of here.”

  “No, but you can take me to Reilly.”

  Jock shook his head.

  “Don’t say no,” MacDuff said roughly. “I’m taking him out, Jock. Take me to him or I’ll go by myself.”

  “There’s no reason to go. I’ve taken care of it.”

  MacDuff stiffened. “You’ve killed him?”

  He shook his head. “Soon.”

  “I can’t wait. It has to happen now.”

  “Soon.”

  “Look, you like Jane. She and Trevor are on their way to Reilly’s headquarters now. They don’t know what’s going to happen when they reach there, but it won’t be easy.”

  Jock went rigid. “How long ago?”

  “They should be there any time.” His gaze narrowed on Jock’s face. “Why?”

  “They shouldn’t have gone. I told her to stay at the shack.” Jock wheeled and started in the direction of Reilly’s headquarters. “Follow me. Hurry. Step in my footprints.”

  “Believe me, I will.” He carefully placed his boot in Jock’s print in the snow. “Go ahead. I’ll keep up.”

  “You’ll have to. I took ou
t both the sentries, but that won’t keep her from—” Jock was flying over the snow. “She’ll die. I told her. She shouldn’t have gone. . . .”

  They had to be close to the house, Jane thought. It seemed as if they’d been trekking through these woods forever. Her gaze rose to the branches of the tree in front of her. The cameras were so well camouflaged that she’d only been able to spot two on the way here. How was MacDuff going to take them out if she couldn’t even see them?

  Let him worry about that. She and Trevor had their own problems.

  “There it is.” Trevor’s low voice in back of her. “Straight ahead.”

  She could see the lights too. About a hundred yards from where they were standing. “The snow’s lessening again. Keep your head down.”

  “It’s so low it’s practically up my ass now,” Trevor said. “I can’t do any— Get down!”

  A shot.

  “Jesus.” Jane hit the ground. “The video cam— They know. They saw—”

  Another shot.

  Trevor grunted with pain.

  She looked back at him. Blood. High on his chest. Panic knifed through her. “Trevor?”

  “I’m hit,” he said harshly. “Dammit, get the hell out of here. They’ll be streaming out of that house any minute.”

  Christ.

  “Get out of here!”

  “Can you walk?”

  “Hell, yes. It’s a shoulder wound.” He was wriggling on his belly toward the trees. “But not as fast as you. Run.”

  “You run. They’re not going to shoot me. They were aiming at you. Reilly wants me alive.” She got to her knees. “I’ll run toward them with my hands up and give you time to get away. And don’t you dare argue with me. Find MacDuff. Call the CIA. Do something. I want someone to be out here to come after me when I’m in there with Reilly.”

  Another shot.

  She heard the thunk of the bullet in the snow close to Trevor’s head.

  Her heart jumped to her throat.

  No more time.

  She sprang to her feet, raised her hands above her head, and started running toward the house.

  “No!”

  “Stop yelling and move your ass, Trevor. I’m not doing this for nothing.” She glanced over her shoulder and relief surged through her as she saw him rising to a low crouch and running behind the trees.

  Relief? He might be dodging those bullets, but what about those damn land mines?

  Oh, God, be careful.

  Someone was standing in the driveway. A man?

  No, a woman. Small, delicate features and a slim, compact body that still managed to appear strong.

  And a pistol in her hand pointed straight at Jane.

  “I’m not resisting,” Jane said. “I’ve no weapon and I can’t hurt—”

  An explosion shook the earth!

  She looked over her shoulder at the place where Trevor had disappeared. . . .

  Smoke was curling up to the sky.

  The tall cedar trees were on fire.

  “No,” she whispered in horror. “Trevor . . .”

  The land mines.

  Dead. He had to be dead. No one could live through that inferno.

  But she couldn’t accept that and give up. He might have survived. There might be some way she could help him. She took a step back toward the woods. He could have been thrown by the blast and—

  Pain.

  Darkness.

  Stone walls. Creamy beige, cracked, and appearing very, very ancient.

  “You really shouldn’t have tried to run away. I was disappointed.”

  Jane’s gaze swung to the man who’d spoken. Fiftyish, fine features, dark hair with white sideburns. And he’d spoken with an Irish accent, she realized suddenly. “Reilly?” she whispered.

  He nodded. “And that’s the last time you’ll be allowed to address me with such disrespect. We’ll start with ‘sir’ and progress from there.”

  She shook her head to clear it and then flinched as pain shot through her. “You . . . hit me.”

  “No, Kim hit you. You’re lucky she didn’t have Norton shoot you. She doesn’t approve of my interest in your reprogramming and would be delighted to be rid of you.” He turned to a far corner. “Isn’t that right, Kim?”

  “It’s an indulgence.”

  Jane’s gaze flew to the small woman sitting in the chair by the window. It was the Eurasian woman who’d met her in the driveway. From this close she looked even more fine-boned and delicate and her voice was soft, gentle. “And she was too expensive. You may never see that gold and you sent two of our best-trained men to Grozak to pay for her.”

  “I can afford to be self-indulgent.” There was an edge to Reilly’s voice. “And it’s my decision what I wish to pay. You might remember that, Kim. You’ve been getting entirely too arrogant of late. I tolerate it because you’re—”

  “Trevor!” Jane sat upright as memory flooded back to her.

  An explosion that shook the earth.

  Trees burning.

  Trevor. She had to get to Trevor.

  Her feet swung to the ground and she struggled to get to her feet.

  “No.” Reilly pushed her back down on the couch. “You probably have a concussion and I don’t want you damaged any more than you are.”

  “Trevor. He’s hurt. I have to see if I can help him.”

  “He’s dead. And if he’s not, he will be soon. It’s freezing cold out there. Hypothermia is dangerous to a healthy man; a wounded man has no chance at all.”

  “Let me go and see for myself.”

  He shook his head. “We have to leave here. After you appeared with Trevor, I sent my man Norton out to see where Mario Donato had gone. Lo and behold he found a body. Who killed him? Trevor?”

  “No, I did.”

  “Really? Interesting. I approve. It shows a quality that’s rare in a female. There was also another body. Your work too?”

  She shook her head. “Wickman. Mario probably did it.”

  “His neck was broken. I wouldn’t think Donato would be capable of killing like that. Now, my Jock was very accomplished in that type of murder. He came with you?”

  “What did Donato say?”

  “Nothing about Jock. Donato was trying very hard to cover all the bases. He knew I wouldn’t be pleased if I knew that he’d let Jock come this close and not handed him over to me.”

  “I’m sure he would have betrayed anyone if he’d been able to do it.”

  “I’m sure too. Is Jock out there now?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “I’ll take that as a yes. It casts a new light on the situation.”

  She changed the subject. “Let me go and see if Trevor’s alive. He can’t hurt you if he’s wounded.”

  “But he can’t help me either. Sorry, I can’t appease your curiosity now. It may be getting a little uncomfortable for me soon. Even though Trevor may be dead, Mario Donato told me when he called me that MacDuff may be heading in this direction.”

  “And you’re afraid of MacDuff?”

  “Don’t be absurd. Not afraid. Just cautious. Even though it’s not in his best interests, MacDuff might decide to call in the authorities if he thought Jock was in danger. He’s seems to be very protective of him.”

  “Somebody has to be. You nearly destroyed his mind.”

  “He did that to himself. He could have gone on for years performing the function I ingrained in him. It was the rebellion that broke him.” He shrugged. “Actually, I’m more wary of Jock than of MacDuff. Jock’s my creation, and I know the damage he can cause. Of course, if I could confront him face-to-face I could sway him, but that might not be possible. And I’m a man who doesn’t take chances.”

  “You took a big one when you made a deal with Grozak. The U.S. government would never have stopped hunting for you if you’d gone through with it.”

  His brows rose. “But I did go through with it. The men are all in place and will carry out their designated duties as soon as I call
and tell them it’s a go.”

  She gazed at him in shocked horror. “But it would make no sense to do that. Grozak is dead. You don’t have a deal any longer.”

  “But I do. When Grozak started to quibble about payment and Mario offered his services, I contacted a few of my extremist Islamic friends. There was no use letting a lucrative project go down the tubes if I decided to shut Grozak out of it. The Middle Eastern contingent will be taking over the operation and supplying me with all the protection I need.”

  “We should get out of here,” Kim said as she rose to her feet. “You have her, now let’s go.”

  “Kim’s a little impatient,” Reilly said. “She’s been nervous since Jock wandered away from us. I told her that I could control him, but she didn’t believe me.”

  “I was right,” Kim said. “In the end he broke free. I always knew he was stronger than the others.”

  “It’s not a question of strength.” He looked pained. “How many times do I have to tell you that? I can control any subject with the right amount of exploration and effort. I didn’t have quite enough time to search out that little foible he had or he wouldn’t have broken.”

  “Little foible?” Jane stared at him incredulously. “Objection to killing children is a ‘little foible’?”

  “It’s all in the way you look at it.” He smiled. “The whole world rises and falls on the way we see the events that take place around us. If I’d had more time, I’d have been able to convince Jock that killing that child would make him a hero.”

  “Good God, that’s sick.”

  “Cira would probably have admired me for being able to control those around me. She was a manipulator herself.”

  “Cira would have recognized you as the slimeball you are and ground you into the dirt.”

  His smile faded. “It’s true there would probably have been a few battles. But I’m the one who would have won. I always win.” He turned to Kim. “Call for my helicopter and start packing up the personnel records. Then call the compound and tell everyone there to disperse immediately until I call them. Don’t panic them. Tell them it’s just a precaution.”

  Kim headed for the door. “Where are we going?”

  “Canada first and then North Korea. I have contacts there. After that, I’ll play it by ear. Those religious terrorists are volatile. I’d prefer to deal with them at a distance.”