Your Next Breath

  “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?”

  “E
ventually. 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.”

  Erin was silent, thinking. “Santos would have the money, power, and the killers needed to bounce all around the world as needed to accomplish those three kills. And the attempt on me wouldn’t have been easy. I was working on a mountain in Tibet. Not the usual target for one of Santos’s goodfellas. He had to be motivated.”

  “Santos can definitely motivate,” Catherine said. “And he’s not going to stop. He’ll try again, Erin. Stay with Chen Lu.”

  “Not likely. Chen Lu’s palace is beautiful, and she’s wonderful, but I don’t belong here. I’m coming to you, Catherine.”

  “Bullshit. Stay away from me.”

  “I can’t do that. You didn’t stay away from me when I was being tortured and hunted down like an animal.”

  “I was just doing my job.”

  “No, you weren’t. It might have started out that way, but by the end, you were doing it because you wanted me to stay alive. Life is a great gift. I won’t be cheated of trying to return the favor.”

  “Erin, I don’t—”

  “And I won’t be cheated of the justice that sniper deserves for murdering that village priest. As soon as I make sure that Les Caudell is going to be okay, I’m on the next plane to you.”

  “That’s not safe.”

  “Then have Venable make it safe.”

  “Look, stay there. I’m going to be on my way to Tibet to track down that shooter anyway.”

  Silence. “I don’t think that will be necessary.” A flicker of expression crossed Erin’s face. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Of course, I do. He’s my only lead to—” She caught another flicker of expression, and her eyes narrowed. “Why won’t it be necessary?”

  “I don’t think that sniper will be around much longer.”

  “Erin.”

  “Les kept blacking out on the way to Hong Kong.” She moistened her lips. “And I don’t know how to fly a helicopter. I had to find a way for both of us to survive.”

  Catherine knew what was coming. “So you asked for help?”

  Erin made a face. “Cameron. I yelled his name like a banshee. Just the way I did when I was being tortured by Kadmus. I was praying he was still linked to me.”

  It was one of Cameron’s bizarre and annoying psychic abilities to be able to go into a mind if he chose and either read or take control. He had been able to do that with Erin when she was being tortured, to keep the pain at bay. “You should have known he would be.” She made a face. “He considers you one of his chosen ones whom he has to guard.”

  “Things could have changed. I never accepted what he had to offer. I was lucky he was there for me before when I needed him.”

  “And how did he help you this time?”

  “I told you, I don’t know how to fly a helicopter. Cameron came in and took me through every motion, everything I had to do to get us to Hong Kong. I couldn’t count on Les. Though he did manage to land when we got to the city. Cameron was able to leave me about five minutes before that time.”

  “Came in” Catherine knew what that meant. Erin was telling her that Cameron had linked with her mind and virtually took over, as he’d done when he’d made Erin impervious to pain while she was undergoing those months of torture when she was being held captive by Kadmus. Cameron was probably the most skilled and talented psychic that either of them would ever encounter. Catherine had had experience with the psychics the CIA had recruited. She’d even attended a workshop in Rome to teach her how to deal with foreign agents who might possibly be able to read minds. None of Venable’s parade of gifted psychics could hold a candle to Cameron. He was totally unique in that area. Not to mention having several other lethal talents that were exceptionally intimidating. “He took over right away?”

  “Yes, thank God. He told me exactly what to do. I was pretty scared, Catherine.”

  “Since you were probably bouncing around on air currents and dodging mountaintops, I can see that you might be,” she said dryly. “So you think that in between making sure that the two of you got safely to Hong Kong that Cameron was gathering information about how you got into that position?”

  She shrugged. “Cameron always knew what I knew when we were linked before. This time I know he was angry. I could feel it.”

  “That doesn’t mean he’s going after that shooter.”

  “It doesn’t mean he’s not or sending someone else to intercept him. He has a good many men in Tibet.” She added quietly, “It would be a waste of your time to come here. It’s a very long trip, it will all be over by the time you get off that plane.”

  She was probably right, Catherine thought with frustration. Particularly if Cameron was as disturbed as Erin had said. No one could take action with more lethal efficiency than Cameron. “I don’t want that shooter dead. I need information. Cameron will ruin everything.”

  Erin was silent.

  What could she say? Catherine thought. They both knew Cameron would do exactly as he wished. “Can you reach him?”

  Erin shook her head. “Only if I’m in need. Otherwise, the contact always comes from him.” She paused. “Can you? Most of the time after the two of you came together before, he contacted you, not me.”

  “Because we were both in warrior mode trying to keep you alive.”

  “Really.” Erin’s brows lifted. “I suppose that was part of it. Try it. He might be willing to listen.”

  “I will.” She grimaced. “It would be pleasant if I could just pick up the phone and call the blasted man. But he probably wouldn’t answer his phone unless it suited him. And it wouldn’t suit him if he thought I’d be interfering in what he thinks is his business. I hate this psychic crap. I’ve told him I don’t want to deal with it.”

  “Evidently, you may have to.” She looked over her shoulder. “I think the surgeon is finished with Caudell. I’m going to go and get a report. I’ll call you later from the airport.” She disconnected, and the screen went blank.

  “I assume you are not going to Hong Kong,” Hu Chang said, as Catherine closed the computer. “And that Erin is not being cooperative and obeying you. Unfortunate, but I’ve always told you that you can’t run quite all the world to suit yourself.”

  “The pot calling the kettle,” she said through clenched teeth. “And I needed Erin to do just this one thing, so I could stop worrying about her ending up dead.” She added, “But she’s heading for the airport as soon as possible. So we have to make it as safe as we can. I’ll call Venable and have him assign an agent to her from the moment she leaves Chen Lu’s palace.”

  “A commercial flight is not wise. Have him get her passage on one of the military planes heading for the States,” Hu Chang said.

  Catherine nodded. “And then you meet her flight and find a way to keep her as far away from me as possible.”

  “Not an easy task.” He held up his hand as she started to protest. “But I’m superb at meeting challenges.” He turned and headed for the door. “However, I believe I will leave the challenge posed by Cameron in your hands. Unless he proves a danger to you. Then I’m at your service.”

  Cameron was dangerous but not to her, she thought as the door closed behind him. To her he’d been more troublesome tha
n a danger. Though their encounters, admittedly, had an element of threat to both her physical and mental well-being. Their sexual chemistry was too raw and wild, and he had made her feel possessed, almost … weak. She had never felt like that with a man before. It was one of the reasons she had been glad Cameron had been called away and out of her life. Not that she wouldn’t have been able to handle it. It was just easier this way.

  But Cameron was back, and nothing was going to be easy.

  He was angry, Erin had said.

  So what? She didn’t need to worry about what he was feeling when her world was falling down around her.

  Screw you, Cameron.

  She punched in Venable’s number to try to set up a way to keep Erin safe from that disaster.

  * * *

  “Dammit, I’ll do everything I can,” Venable said sourly. “It’s not easy to get a civilian on a military flight at the last minute. Get her to stay with Chen Lu.”

  “That’s not going to happen. Keep her safe, Venable.” Catherine paused. “Or Cameron will do it. You don’t want him to intrude on your space. All your control will be out the window.”

  Silence. “Cameron is involved?”

  “You didn’t get Erin off that mountain without incident. You should have known he’d be upset.”

  “Ask me if I care. I’ve got more things to worry about than whether your old friend Cameron is going to get in my way. It may be time to take him down anyway. The only reason I haven’t done it yet is that his aims usually coordinate with the Company’s.”

  “And you’ve found him annoyingly ghostlike when he’s in action. Look, neither of us wants to have to deal with Cameron. So get Erin into the U.S. and keep her from being taken under Cameron’s protective, big-brother wing.”

  “It might be possible.” He knew damn well he’d do it, but he didn’t want Catherine calling the shots. She had a tendency to always want to run the show. He hadn’t known when he’d picked her up from the streets of Hong Kong and trained her as an agent that she’d be this dominant. Though he should have realized that when he saw how brilliant and intuitive she was in every aspect of the job. She was his best agent in the field, and he found it worthwhile to put up with her total independence—most of the time. “I’ll assign an agent to her right away and try to set her up on a flight.”