“Is that all?” Eve asked shakily. “That’s enough. But Joe said that Salazar brought in some Taliban specialists they could be using. It might be—”
“Taliban?” Jock’s voice was sharp. “Shit. No IEDs. That’s not what they’re doing. I was sent to one of their training camps, and they’d go another route. Hang up. I’ve got to get through to MacDuff. Hell. No time. I’ll go after him. He should be getting near to Colin.” He didn’t bother to hang up, and she could tell he was running. He shouted, “MacDuff! Stop! Now! MacDuff! Get away from—”
Kaboom.
The earth shook, throwing Eve to the ground.
The thick fog ahead was lit by flames.
An explosion, she realized dazedly. Jock was wrong. There had been an IED …
She lifted herself on her elbow.
Or maybe not, she realized in horror.
MacDuff!
She jumped to her feet and ran toward the fire.
She had only gone several yards when Caleb appeared beside her. “No.” He grabbed her arm. “You don’t want to go there.”
“Salazar strapped explosives to Colin’s body, didn’t he?” she asked shakily. “He was the trap.”
“Yes, that way they didn’t have to stay close and risk being attacked by MacDuff’s men. They just pressed a button when their infrared showed MacDuff was close to the body.”
“Dear God.” Eve felt sick. She tried to shake off Caleb’s hand. “Let me go.”
Caleb’s grip tightened. “No way. We can’t be sure that Salazar didn’t stash a sniper in those trees just in case he might get lucky if one of the targets showed. Go back to the camp.”
“The hell I will. I have to get to MacDuff.”
“No, you don’t.”
Her gaze suddenly flew to Caleb’s face. “What do you mean? Is he dead?”
“I don’t know. The blast got him, but I don’t know how bad. Jock was examining him when I got there. He told me to secure the area and make sure you were all protected.”
“Maybe I can help him.”
“Not now. I promised you, I promised Jane, I promised Jock. You stay alive. No one touches you. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will. We go back to camp.”
He meant it.
“Then hurt me,” she said fiercely. “Because I won’t leave MacDuff without—”
“You don’t have to leave him.” Jock was coming out of the fog carrying MacDuff’s limp figure. MacDuff was a strong, tall man, but Jock seemed no more aware of his weight than if he were a child. “I’m bringing him back to camp.”
“Is he—”
“Dead? No, but I don’t know if I can keep him alive. I don’t know what’s wrong with him yet.” His eyes were glittering with unshed tears. He seemed to be in shock, the agony twisting his features was stunning to see. “I probably shouldn’t have moved him, but I couldn’t leave him there.”
“No, of course not,” Eve said gently. “Get him back to camp, and we’ll take care of him.”
“I will. They made a mistake hurting him. He’s my friend, almost my brother. It was a bad mistake.” He started toward the camp, then turned to look over his shoulder at Caleb. “There was someone in the trees when I got to MacDuff. He had a sniper rifle. After I was sure MacDuff wasn’t dead, I decided I had time to take care of him. I broke him, but I didn’t kill him. I thought that you might be able to get information out of him that might help.”
“I’ll do that.”
“You don’t have to hurry. I like the idea of his hurting.” His tone was completely without expression. “If he doesn’t talk, just leave him. He has to die anyway. They all have to die.”
He disappeared into the fog.
Caleb gave a low whistle. “I believe Jock may be right. Salazar made a very bad mistake.”
* * *
Eve called Joe the moment they got MacDuff back to his tent and settled.
“Thank God,” he said when he heard her voice. “Are you safe?”
“I have no idea. Salazar is out there somewhere, and he’s just blown up one of MacDuff’s men. MacDuff was hit by the blast, and we still don’t know if he’s going to live. But right now I guess we’re as safe as we can be. Salazar is trying threats and intimidation rather than going into attack mode.”
“That sounds like attack mode to me,” Joe said grimly.
“Where are you?”
“On my way. But I won’t be able to land anywhere near Gaelkar. You’re still fogged in. Can you get out?”
“I don’t want to leave MacDuff, and I have no idea—” A call waiting buzzed on her cell. She stiffened as she looked down at the ID. “I’d better take this call. It’s Salazar.” She put Joe on hold and accessed the call. “You failed, Salazar. I know you’ll be disappointed. You didn’t kill MacDuff.”
“I’m not sure I believe you. He must have been very close, or Franco would never have pressed the button to blow up Colin. It was a pity you didn’t see it, Duncan. His remains were scattered all over the clearing.”
“You’re a monster.”
“He wasn’t important. MacDuff was important. Aren’t you tempted to give yourself and that kid up and save anyone else you care about from being blown up? You’re trapped, you know. If you try to go through the hills, we’ll be on the lookout and catch you. If you try to take that road to escape, you’ll end up like Colin.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Am I?” He spoke to someone over his shoulder, then was back on the phone. “Look up at the road. On the count of three. One. Two.” He paused, then said softly, “Three.”
A shot.
And an explosion at the side of the road at the top of the hill!
“Trapped,” Salazar repeated. “IEDs. Think about saving the people who tried to save you.” He hung up.
She drew a deep breath as she gazed at the fire burning the grass at the side of the road. Then she went back to Joe’s call. “I guess we got an answer. No, we can’t get out. Salazar has planted IEDs on the road that leads out of Gaelkar.”
Joe muttered a curse. “How much time do you have before Salazar makes a move?”
She tried to think. “I have Jock. I have Caleb. I still have MacDuff’s men who are in the hills. But I don’t want to bring all of them here to make them sitting ducks. I’d rather they stay in the hills and be a constant threat to Salazar. I think maybe the reason Salazar hasn’t come after us yet is that he doesn’t have enough men to make it completely safe.”
“Then I have to clear that road fast,” Joe said. “I’ll take the helicopter as close as I can, then hike the rest of the way. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Joe…”
“Can you think of any other way?”
“No.” But she didn’t want Joe to have to fight to disarm those IEDs when it was impossible to see anything more than a couple feet in front of him. She felt sick at the very thought. “Damn this fog.”
“Don’t be too eager to condemn it. It may turn out to be a good friend to us.” His voice was suddenly rough with feeling. “You take care of yourself. I’ll call you when I get close to the lake.”
* * *
“How is he, Jock?” Jane whispered as she came into MacDuff’s tent two hours later. “Has he regained consciousness yet?”
Jock shook his head. “Not yet. He has a broken left forearm and at least two broken ribs. I don’t how much internal damage. Blasts can—” He stopped. “It can be bad. I might have hurt him myself by moving him.”
“You couldn’t do anything else. He was helpless. You had to get him to safety, or those bastards might have decided to strap explosives on him, too.”
“That wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t have left him.” He gently touched MacDuff’s temple. “He never left me. No matter what I did, he fought for me. I remember when I was in that mental hospital because I kept trying to commit suicide, he found me and he took me home. He was there for me until I healed.” He shook his head. “No, I never really h
ealed, but he was there until I was strong enough to face what I’d done and live with it.”
“It wasn’t you who did it,” Jane said. “You were a victim. You were just a boy, not even twenty years old, and those brainwashing chemicals they fed you made you helpless to think. You had no idea what you were doing. How many times do MacDuff and I have to tell you that?”
“I was a victim? That bastard, Reilly, proudly counted my kills at over twenty-two. All executed perfectly. I was an assassin par excellence. What about those victims?”
“MacDuff wouldn’t like to hear you talk like that.”
“And I don’t, when he’s around. I keep it inside so that he won’t feel that he’s failed me in any way.” His lips twisted. “He hasn’t failed me, Jane. You haven’t failed me. But I have to work my way through this hell, and no one else can help me at this point.” He looked back at MacDuff. “I love him, you know. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him. I’d die for him. Every bit of sanity and humanity I have left, I owe to him.”
“No, that’s not true. You were born with a soul, and, somehow, you were robbed and hurt. Even if MacDuff hadn’t been there, I think that, somehow, you would have survived.”
“We disagree.” He smiled without mirth. “Right now, I’m leaning toward the thought that without MacDuff, my soul would have vanished in a puff of smoke. So I have to keep him alive, don’t I?”
“Will you trust me to sit with him?” Jane asked. “I’ll call you the minute he stirs.”
He shook his head. “I trust you, Jane. But what if he doesn’t stir? I have the foolish idea that if he starts to fade away from me, I might be able to bring him back.”
“That’s not such a foolish idea.” She cleared her throat to rid it of tightness. She had felt like that when her Trevor had been dying. It had seemed impossible that he could leave her when she had wanted so badly for him to stay. “I’ll be outside. Call me, if you need me, okay?”
“Okay.” His gaze shifted back to MacDuff. “Thank you, Jane.”
She stood there, looking helplessly at him for an instant, then left the tent.
She didn’t move for a moment, trying to rid herself of this feeling of discouragement and sadness. She had known MacDuff for years and Jock for almost as long. They were part of her past, part of her life, and she couldn’t bear the thought of what was happening to them. There had to be something she could do.
“Is he still alive?”
She looked to her right and saw Cara sitting on the ground, leaning against the tent, her legs crossed, her face shimmering pale in the fog. “What are you doing here? I thought you were with Eve.”
“She knows I’m here. She said it was okay. She wouldn’t tell me, but I don’t think she wanted to bother about me right now. She’s worried about Joe.” She paused. “Is the Laird still alive?”
“Yes.”
“But Jock thinks he might die.”
“How did you know that?”
“I saw his face when he carried him into the tent. It … hurt me.”
“And you’ve been sitting out here ever since?”
“You were with Jock. He didn’t need me.”
“Well, evidently he didn’t need me either.” She wearily rubbed the back of her neck. “He told me to go about my business.”
“Then is it all right if I go in and sit with him?”
“It’s not the time, Cara. He won’t want you either.”
“May I try?”
Jane gazed at her. What could she say? The strain she saw on Cara’s face was almost an echo of Jock’s. “He might say things you won’t want to hear. He’s in pain.”
“I know.” Her lips were trembling. “And it’s my fault.”
Jane looked at her, shocked. “No!”
Cara nodded. “Salazar and Franco wouldn’t have come here except for me. The Laird wouldn’t have been hurt. Jock wouldn’t have lost … It’s my fault.”
“Nonsense.” She tried to make her voice firm. “It’s Salazar and Franco who did all this. MacDuff and Jock had a choice. Eve had a choice. I had a choice. Sometimes you just have to fight the bad guys when you run across them. It’s the way the world works. None of this was your fault, Cara.”
She didn’t speak for a moment. “May I go in to Jock?”
Jane wasn’t sure she had gotten through to her, but she didn’t want Cara sitting out here by herself. “I guess. I’ll be in my tent or Eve’s if you need me.”
Cara nodded, and the next moment, she was on her feet and running into MacDuff’s tent.
Jane shook her head and turned to go to find Eve, who was probably in just as much pain as the two people she had just left.
* * *
“What are you doing here?” Jock asked Cara, without looking away from MacDuff. “This is no place for you. You shouldn’t be here, Cara.”
“Yes, I should.” She came closer to his camp chair and sat down on the floor at his feet. “I have to stay with you.”
He shook his head. “Why? Do you want to see him die? That’s what might happen. Go away.”
“No. You need me.”
“I don’t need anyone.” He looked away from MacDuff and down at her. “You’re just a kid. Why should I need you?”
“I don’t know. But you said some things … I think you do.” She moistened her lips. “And I have to be here if you do.”
“You were upset. I wanted to make you feel better.”
“And you want to make me feel better now. You don’t want me to be here if the Laird dies.” She paused. “But I remember what you said when you told me you had to go to the Laird after he heard that MacTavish had been killed. You knew he needed you. If only to keep him company, or be someone to drink with to say good-bye to an old friend.” She tried to smile. “I can be company, Jock. If you want, I’ll even drink to the Laird if he doesn’t make it. But I’d rather pray that he does.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “I’d rather you pray, too,” he said gruffly. “Eve would have my head if I contributed to the delinquency of a minor.”
“I can stay?”
“God, yes.” He closed his eyes for an instant, then opened them and looked back at MacDuff. “Maybe I do need you.” His hand touched her head at his knee for the briefest instant. “Stranger things have happened in my life. Just don’t blame me if things don’t go the way we’d like them.”
“You’re not the one to blame,” she whispered. “I tried to tell Jane that but she wouldn’t—” She stopped. She had gotten what she wanted, and he would probably argue as Jane had done. None of them understood. Jenny and Elena dead. Salazar hovering over them, ready to pounce. “I’ll be quiet now. You won’t want me to talk.” She leaned her head back against his chair. “Thank you for letting me be with you, Jock…”
CHAPTER
14
“Joe?” Eve leaped for her cell when it rang. She had been on pins and needles worrying about him for the past three hours. “Where are you?”
“I’ve reached a point on the road that’s two miles east of the lake where I’ve just located and removed two IEDs. I’ll have to take it very slowly from now on. It appears as if these two were planted very hurriedly and hopefully so will the others. They’ll be a lot easier to disarm. But hurry breeds carelessness. I can’t let my guard down.” He paused. “Is either Jock or Caleb available? I haven’t seen any sign yet of Salazar’s men, but I could use another set of eyes and ears to watch my back.”
“I’ll check it out. I’ll find someone.”
“Tell them to stop on the slope and avoid the edge of the road and call me when they get close. I’ll guide them to a safe access where I’ve already removed the IEDs.”
“Right. Be careful, Joe.” She hung up and drew a deep breath. Her heart was beating rapidly, and her palms were damp. She ran out of the tent to look up the long, steep slope that led to the road. She could see nothing, of course, but she knew that Joe was somewhere in that thick gray fog. The knowledge was f
illing her with hope and joy and a terrible fear.
Because he was alone and needed help.
She ran to Jane’s tent. “Joe’s here. He could use some help clearing the road. Where’s Caleb?”
“He’s scouting the perimeter with three of MacDuff’s men.” She reached for her phone. “I’ll call him.”
“Wait.” She tried to think. MacDuff was down and perhaps dying. Jock’s care might be the only barrier between MacDuff and death. Caleb was the only protection Cara and Jane had, and he might be forced to extend that protection to MacDuff. She couldn’t let that protection be taken away from them. “Call Caleb. Tell him once he’s finished to come back and stay on guard here until we get those IEDs cleared.”
“We?” Jane repeated. She shook her head. “I don’t like the sound of that, Eve.”
“Neither do I. But we’re stretched too thin. Joe needs help.”
“Then let me go.”
Eve shook her head. “Joe and I are a team. Sometimes he doesn’t recognize that fact, but I’m not going to let him do that job alone. It’s not as if I have to have a particular set of skills. I just have to do what Joe tells me to do. I watched him change the settings on that damn bomb Franco planted in our car, and I hated every minute of it. I won’t let him push me out of the way now.” She grabbed her flashlight and gun. “You’ll keep Cara safe?”
“Of course, I will. But since she won’t leave Jock, I may not have the opportunity for much interaction.”
“Jock is more than enough protection. I’ll be back as soon as I can, and we’ll get the hell out of here.” She gave Jane a quick hug and tore up the hill toward the road.
* * *
“Colin…”
The word was so weak that Cara barely heard it.
But she knew Jock had heard it because his entire body had stiffened, galvanized. He leaned toward MacDuff. “Don’t talk. You’ve been—”
“Colin,” MacDuff said, his voice stronger. “What happened to Colin?”
“Dead. The bastard strapped a bomb to him.”