The Search

  Another shot tore by Sarah’s ear as she huddled over Margaret’s body, both hands pressing above the wound.

  “Sarah!” Logan was running toward her from the house with Juan Lopez behind him. “Get yourself and Margaret into the trees, dammit.”

  “I’m going to. Go take care of Bassett and Booker. They’ve both been shot.”

  “Lopez, call 911,” Logan shouted.

  There was a screech of tires outside the gate, and a dark Camaro tore down the street.

  Lopez ran out the gate and stood looking after it. “Son of a bitch.”

  “Forget him. Call 911.”

  “Is she going to be okay?” Bassett was standing over Margaret, still clutching his wrist. “This shouldn’t have happened. I thought we were safe here. Is she going to live?”

  “She’s going to be fine.” Oh, God, she couldn’t stop the blood. “Don’t you dare fall asleep, Margaret. Stay with us.”

  Eve walked to the back porch and stood beside Jane in the doorway. “I called Logan but couldn’t get an answer. I left a message on his voice mail. You’ve caused him a world of trouble. I was able to get hold of Joe. He’s hopping the next plane. He says he’s going to scalp you. I told him I’d tie you to the stake for him.”

  “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Jane’s gaze was fastened on the wolf. “But you’re right, she’s crabby. It’s a good thing I’m here to take care of her.”

  “You?”

  “Joe didn’t like you being here with the wolf. I could tell. So I came to take care of her.”

  “And me?”

  Jane’s gaze shifted to Eve. “Sure. This is something I can do. I’m not Bonnie. I’ll never be Bonnie to you. I don’t think I’d want to be her. I talked to your mother about her, and Bonnie was so nice, I don’t even know if I’d have liked her.”

  “You’d have liked her.”

  “Maybe. But I know I like you.” She looked back at the wolf. “Maybe I even . . . love you.”

  “That’s nice. I know I love you.”

  Jane nodded. “I went up on the hill and visited Bonnie’s grave after you left yesterday afternoon.”

  Eve went still. “Why did you do that?”

  “I don’t know. I just did. And I decided it doesn’t matter that you still love her. I’m not nice like she was, but I can do things for you that she couldn’t. She wouldn’t have been able to take care of you like I can. I’m smart and I know the same things that you do. That’s got to mean something.”

  “It means a great deal.”

  “So you’re lucky to have me.”

  “Oh, yes.”

  Jane gave her a disparaging glance. “You’re not going to cry?”

  Eve shook her head. “I wouldn’t think of it.” She cleared her throat. “When you’re only being sensible.”

  “Good. Crying would be silly.” Jane walked toward the wolf. “Now show me what to do to take care of Maggie.”

  Sarah tensed as Logan walked into the hospital waiting room. “Is she going to live?”

  “I don’t know. They were able to get the bullet out, but she’s in critical condition. It’ll be touch and go for a while.” He sat down and buried his face in his hands. “I just don’t know.”

  She was silent a moment. “She’s been with you a long time.”

  “Almost fifteen years.” He raised his head to reveal a haggard face. “We’ve worked together for so long, she’s like family. But I didn’t think Rudzak— I thought she’d be safe.”

  “She was behind electric fences with security guards.”

  “It shouldn’t have happened. I should have been more careful. I should have stopped her and Bassett from taking those walks.”

  “It was safe as long as they stayed away from the gates. That’s the only place where there’s a clear view to get a shot. You couldn’t know that the shooter would target Booker first to draw us to the gates.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m not responsible. I should have—”

  “Shut up, Logan.” She took his hand and held it between hers. “You did the best you could. You’re not a fortune-teller and you’re sure not God. So stop blaming yourself.”

  He smiled with an effort. “Thanks for the sweet words.”

  “You want sweet?” She blinked the tears back. “Sorry. I can only be myself. If I could take this away from you, I would. At least Booker and Bassett are going to be okay. The doctor said Booker is being taken off the serious list, and Bassett’s only got a nasty wound in the hand.”

  “He’s pretty shaken up. He wants to finish the research at Dodsworth.”

  “He knows Dodsworth may not be safe either.”

  “He’d rather take his chances there. I tend to agree. Dodsworth is safer.” He stood up. “I need to move. Do you want some coffee from the machine?”

  She shook her head.

  “I’m having Lopez pack your bag. Galen’s going to pick you and Bassett up and take you to Dodsworth.”

  “Me?”

  “I have to stay here, and I want you where Galen can protect you. He has to be at Dodsworth.”

  “Did it occur to you that I might want to stay with you?” she asked unevenly.

  “It occurred to me. In spite of your lack of tender feelings for me.” He gently touched her cheek. “But if you want to help me, you’ll go to Dodsworth. I don’t need to worry about you too.”

  “I don’t want to—”

  “What about all those people at Dodsworth? Have you forgotten you may have to blow the whistle on me?”

  “I haven’t forgotten.”

  “Then go and make sure Galen is doing his job. I’ll be there as soon as Margaret takes a turn for the better.”

  Dammit, he was in pain and she didn’t want to leave him. She wanted to hold him and get him through this horrible night as he had held her after Apache Lake.

  “Rudzak is going to be at Dodsworth, Sarah. I couldn’t be more sure. And I don’t need you or want you here.” He left the room.

  She caught up with him halfway down the corridor. “Don’t you dare try that bull with me.” She spun him around, her arms around his waist, and she hugged him with fierce strength. “I won’t let you. You do want me here. I know you care something about me and I could help you.” Her arms fell away from him. “But I’m going to Dodsworth. To make sure nothing happens to those people so you won’t end up feeling guilty for the rest of your miserable life.” She stepped back. “I’m going to Bassett’s room. Tell Galen to pick me up there.”

  The ivory mirror was in the shape of an ankh. An asp was intricately carved around the teakwood handle. It had been his last present to Chen Li.

  It would be his last present to Logan.

  “An ankh?” Chen Li held up the mirror. “It’s the symbol of immortality, isn’t it?”

  “That’s why I brought it to you. To show you that you’ll live forever.”

  She made a face. “I don’t feel immortal at the moment, Martin. Though I’m much better than I was last week. Maybe I am getting well after all.”

  She wasn’t getting well. Sitting there in that chair by the window, she looked thin and weak and pale. She would never be the same Chen Li again. Death was stealing her from him just as Logan had stolen her. And Logan would keep her his until the very end, giving her hope and yet telling Rudzak that she was not well enough to see him. “Did you go to sleep early last night? Logan said I couldn’t come in.”

  She looked away. “I was a little tired.”

  “The weariness will go away soon.” He stepped behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “This mirror is very special. It belonged to a high priest. It will make you live forever.”

  “Perhaps we should tell my doctors about it. They could use a little help.” She leaned forward and his hands fell away. She was trying to avoid his touch, he realized with incredulous fury. She was already lost to him.

  But he could get her back. He could take her away from Logan.

  “Let’s try i
t,” he said. “Look in the mirror.”

  “I don’t like what I see in any mirror these days.”

  “But you should. You’re beautiful.”

  “Yes, sure. That’s what John says.”

  He didn’t want to hear what Logan said. This moment was his alone. “Because it’s true.” He bent over her and put his hands on her nape. “You can see it in my eyes. Look in the mirror. If you won’t look at your reflection, look at mine and you’ll know that you’ll live forever and always be as beautiful as you are to me at this moment. Lift the mirror.”

  She slowly lifted the mirror. “Why, Martin, what’s wrong? There are tears in—”

  The mirror fell from her hand as he snapped her neck with one violent twist.

  “Good-bye, Chen Li.” He tenderly kissed her cheek, then picked up the mirror. “Good-bye, my love.”

  He tucked the tissue paper carefully around the mirror and placed it in the box. He slipped the note he’d written on top of the mirror and closed the lid.

  He addressed the box to Sarah Patrick at Dodsworth.

  Municipal Courthouse

  Dodsworth, North Dakota

  Had he heard something?

  A door swinging shut?

  Probably not. He’d been imagining sounds in this creaky old building all evening, Bill Ledwick thought. When you were as bored as he was, your imagination had a field day. He’d be glad to get back with the guys at the facility.

  Better check the sound. Galen didn’t like anyone taking anything for granted.

  He got up from his chair and moved down the long, dark corridor.

  Silence except for the soft thud of his rubber soles on the marble floor.

  He paused at the glass door of the record room. He stepped to one side and threw open the door. He waited a minute and then reached in and flipped on the light.

  No one was in the room.

  Of course not. Imagination.

  Check. Just to make sure.

  He moved to the file cabinet across the room and pulled open the drawer. He knew exactly where the file was kept. He’d checked it often enough.

  He opened the file folder.

  Shit!

  “I heard from my man at the courthouse,” Galen said when he called Logan the next day. “The blueprints of the facility disappeared from the record department.”

  Logan was silent a moment. “I thought that would happen. Rudzak’s not the type to rely on a truckload of dynamite parked near his target. No random hits for him. He wants to be sure of me.”

  “Then he should have had his hired gun shoot you instead of Margaret.”

  “That wouldn’t have satisfied him. It’s not a big enough statement. He wants to bury me at Dodsworth like I buried him in that prison. A final tribute to both him and Chen Li.”

  “How is Margaret doing?”

  “Not out of danger, but better. They’re going to let me see her in a few minutes. Her folks got in from San Francisco last night and they let her brothers visit her in intensive care.” He paused. “How’s Sarah?”

  “A pain in my ass. She and Monty have been over every inch of the facility looking for cracks in my security. She knows emergency procedures better than my second-in-command, and I think she’s memorized every corridor in the damn building.”

  “Did she find any cracks?”

  There was a hesitation. “One. But it was more of a hairline fracture.”

  “So she’s satisfied that Dodsworth’s safe?”

  “Yes, but now she doesn’t see why Rudzak would persist in targeting it.”

  “Tell her about the blueprints.”

  “I’ll tell her. She may still worry about all your other facilities.”

  “Your job is to keep her from worrying.”

  “Until she makes another one of her four A.M. inspection tours.” His tone was distinctly sour. “I’d rather take care of Maggie. When are you coming to get her out of my hair?”

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can, but I assure you that Rudzak isn’t going to start without me. No word from him?”

  “Just the missing blueprints. That’s a pretty decisive statement. Give Margaret my best.” He hung up.

  Logan slipped the phone in his pocket and headed for intensive care. It was no surprise that Sarah was giving Galen a hard time. She wouldn’t care how much she liked someone if it got in the way of her job and, in this case, her job was to keep Dodsworth from becoming a disaster area.

  “What are you doing here?” Margaret’s voice was only a breath of sound, which he could barely hear from where he stood in the doorway.

  He crossed the room and took her hand in his. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like shit.” She glared at him. “And mad. Why are you here moaning and groaning instead of going after the asshole who shot me? Did you think I was going to die?”

  “The thought never occurred to me.”

  “Liar. But I’m not going to die and”—she had to pause to get her breath—“and I have enough problems with my brothers being overprotective. So get out of here.”

  He stood looking at her.

  “Okay, okay, I promise I won’t die, John.” She showed her teeth with tigerlike ferocity. “And instead of flowers, why don’t you send me Rudzak’s head?”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “Good.” She closed her eyes. “Now get out of here. I’m tired.”

  “Shall I call a nurse?”

  “His head, John.” She didn’t open her eyes. “Stop standing there worrying and just get out of here and bring me his head.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He turned toward the door. “Right away, ma’am.”

  7:45 P.M.

  “Joe got here yesterday,” Eve told Sarah on the phone. “He’s going to be here as long as you need me. Do you have any idea yet how long that will be?”

  “I wish I did.”

  “No problem. I just like the idea of being home with my family.”

  “Jane is okay now?”

  “No thanks to me. She worked it out for herself . . . I think.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s funny how clear and simple everything is when you don’t let baggage get in the way. What are you doing there at Dodsworth?”

  “Keeping myself busy.”

  “Is the security as good as you hoped?”

  “Better. And that bothers me. Why would Rudzak think he could take down this facility?”

  “You’re afraid he’ll target another place?”

  “I seem to be the only one. Galen and Logan think the stolen blueprints are cast-iron proof. I’m afraid it might be a red herring.”

  “Logan’s nobody’s fool.”

  “I know that. It’s just—” She stopped, frustrated. “I’m afraid we’re on the wrong track. It doesn’t smell right.”

  Eve chuckled. “You sound like Monty on a search.”

  “Monty’s usually right.”

  “I’m the last one to disagree. You should follow your instincts. I’ve got to go. Time to feed Maggie.”

  It was time to feed Monty too. “Come on, boy.” Sarah hung up the phone and headed toward the cafeteria with Monty at her heels. She’d packed one of the kitchen cabinets with his food and vitamins, and she tried to feed him in the evening when he wasn’t distracted by the constant attention of the scientists. Monty was already practically a mascot, and he’d rather have gotten belly rubs than eat.

  Bassett was sitting at a table, and he looked up when Sarah came into the room. “Got time to sit down and have a cup of coffee with me?”

  She shook her head. “I just came to feed Monty. I’m nervous enough without the caffeine.”

  “Are you? I feel a lot safer here.” He got to his feet and followed Sarah and Monty into the kitchen. “Funny. I felt fine until that last day in Phoenix. Have you heard how Margaret’s doing?”

  “She’s still alive.”

  “I complained a lot about her, but I really liked her.”

&nbs
p; “I know. How do you like your lab here?”

  “Fine. They’ve assigned Hilda Rucker to work with me. She’s brilliant.” He wrinkled his nose as he looked down at his bandaged left hand. “And she’s got two good hands to operate the computer. That’s nothing to sneeze at.” He finished his coffee in one swallow. “I’d better get back to the grind. Hilda’s no Margaret, but I can’t let her get ahead of me. Let me know about Margaret.”

  “I will.”

  Galen passed him at the kitchen door and gave him a casual nod before coming toward Sarah. “Logan’s on his way. He just called and told me that Margaret had kicked him out. He should be here within a few hours.”

  “Good.” She leaned down and put Monty’s dinner before him. “Then she’s better?”

  “Well, it’s clear she’s functioning in her usual manner.” He made a face. “I’m glad she’s in Phoenix. I don’t need another high-powered woman here.”

  “Yes you do. But you’ll have to be satisfied with me. Speaking of high-powered females, I talked to Eve a little while ago. She thinks Maggie is either pouting or mourning. She won’t stop howling.”

  “Then why don’t you go home and take care of your wolf yourself?”

  She gave him a sly glance. “Maybe I should send for Maggie and Eve, have them come here instead.”

  “Forget it.” He headed for the door. “I’m out of here.”

  “Can’t take the heat?” But he’d already gone.

  The large kitchen was suddenly cavernous and lonely. Her smile faded as she leaned on the counter and watched Monty eat. Sparring with Galen was an outlet she badly needed. The tension was growing with every hour, and she needed it over.

  Monty looked up at her. Sad?

  She shook her head as she filled his water bowl. Not sad, uneasy. And lonely. It was strange how lonely you could feel when you’re apart from one special individual. “Eat your dinner. You haven’t eaten decently since we left the cabin.”

  Sad.

  “This is our job. I had to take you away from Maggie.”

  Sad.

  “Heaven save me from a lovesick—” Why was she blaming Monty, when she’d been mooning around herself only a few minutes before? “It’s okay,” she whispered as she reached down to scratch behind his ear. “I know it’s bad, but we’ve got to go on. Now eat your dinn—”