“I’m sure you do. Everything from killing and blowing up fireworks factories to rescuing idealistic reporters from the bad guys.” She changed the subject. “Does this shooter have a name? Venable hasn’t been able to trace him yet.”
“Carlos Nagoles.” He smiled teasingly. “And my techs were able to track and identify him within eight hours. It’s wonderful what you can do without government red tape. He’s a killer for hire who works principally out of Hong Kong and Beijing. Very efficient. Very expensive.”
“You’re sure he’s the sniper?”
“Quite sure. I don’t make mistakes like that, Catherine,” he said gently.
“I thought he might have ties to the South American drug cartels.”
“And he might, but he’s freelance.” He paused. “You thought he might be connected to Santos.”
Her eyes widened. “How do you know about Santos?”
“Erin didn’t know enough about what was going on with you, so I had to tap Hu Chang. I would have gone to you, but I was pissed off that you hadn’t told me yourself.” He paused. “I’m still pissed off.”
“And, of course, Hu Chang told you everything he knew.”
“He’s a wise man. He wanted to enlist all the help he could to protect you. But we’ll go into that at another time.” He straightened. “I have to leave. I hear the helicopter. By the way, when we intercepted the message from the pilot to Nagoles, he mentioned that he’d been sent by Santos to pick him up. If you had any doubts it was Santos who was targeting you, that should put them to rest.”
“Wait. Do you have help to take Nagoles down?”
“It’s only a helicopter pickup. Nagoles is hiding in the rocks near the plateau. When the helicopter lands, he’ll surface, and I’ll have him.”
“Is that a no?”
He got to his feet. “I’m touched by your concern.”
“Cameron, listen,” she said urgently. “I don’t want this Carlos Nagoles dead. I want to ask him questions.”
“I thought that might be why you were trying to contact me.” He was heading for the cave opening. “I don’t promise you anything, Catherine. Santos’s errand boy piloting that helicopter will definitely go down. Nagoles? He tried to kill Erin. I’m not going to let him get a chance to do it again.” The glance he gave her over his shoulder was cool, narrowed, and razor sharp. “If you’re lucky, I might place a few questions to him. Emphasis on might.”
“Damn you. I need to—”
But the cave was suddenly gone.
And so was Cameron.
She was only surrounded by the shadowy darkness of her familiar bedroom.
And Cameron was somewhere on that mountain in Tibet, running toward the shooter.
And she wanted to be with him.
Who knew what kind of firepower the pilot on that helicopter would have?
Why was she worried? Cameron was totally remarkable and could certainly take care of himself.
And the bastard had refused to give her any reassurances about Nagoles. Cameron would do things his way and to hell with what she wanted. Which meant that she might lose her chance to get the information she needed about Santos’s location. So it was ridiculous for her to feel anything but anger at Cameron.
And stupid of her to still want to be on that mountain with him.
* * *
Cameron could feel the blood coursing through his veins as he ran down the rocky path to the plateau. Seeing Catherine again had made every sense come alive. Long, dark hair, sleek and shining, a slight tilt to those dark eyes that were bold and fierce and brimming with life against the gold of her skin. A mouth that was shaped as beautifully as the rest of her features. A slim body that was still sensual, sexual as well as strong. He loved her strength as much as that sexuality. In spite of his anger, she’d had the same explosive sexual effect on him as she’d had from the moment he’d met her. Sex and obsession. As Guardian, it wasn’t wise for him to form obsessions, but Catherine had definitely become an obsession. That was why he’d resented the fact that she’d not come to him for help when she’d been targeted. She had left him out, and it angered him … and hurt.
Stop thinking of Catherine. There was work to be done.
His gaze raked the clusters of rock ahead for signs of Nagoles. By nature, he was a hunter, and Nagoles was fair game. Not only was he a killer, but he was a threat to Erin and Catherine. Besides, he didn’t often get the chance to go one-on-one. To his infinite disgust, the committee regarded him as too valuable to the project to risk.
He could see the red-and-cream helicopter on the horizon. It was losing altitude, preparing to land.
Nagoles had still not come out of the rocks.
Wait.
Watch.
He dodged to one side for cover as he reached the rocks.
The helicopter was hovering.
Shit. There was a missile mounted on either side of the copter.
A complication.
Where the hell was Nagoles?
Then the helicopter was on the ground, rotors blowing snow in all directions.
“Here!” Nagoles was running through the boulders toward the helicopter, his right hand clenching on his rifle.
In a minute, he’d be out of the rocks and a few yards from the helicopter. That would be the time to take him down.
Just a little closer …
He carefully aimed his rifle at the door of the helicopter.
He’d do better to send the bastard straight to hell, but Catherine wanted information. He’d see if he could get it for her without damaging his own agenda.
Nagoles sprinted into view, only four yards from the helicopter.
Now.
He pulled the trigger.
Nagoles screamed as the bullet hit his back. He stumbled and went down.
Blood on the snow.
Cameron could hear the pilot cursing as he started to lift off.
And his second act would be lethal.
Move.
Cameron dodged to the right, just as a missile exploded and shattered the rocks where he’d been only seconds before.
Get in position for another shot. Fast. If that pilot gained altitude, he’d have a clear shot of anyone on the ground below him.
He was already ten feet off the ground when Cameron reached a boulder and rested his rifle on the surface and aimed at the helicopter.
Fifteen feet.
He aimed five feet above his actual target.
Gas tank. Take out the gas tank.
The pilot swiveled the aircraft around, spoiling the shot.
Aim again.
Now.
He pressed the trigger.
The helicopter exploded into a fiery ball as the gas tank blew.
Cameron moved to the edge of the plateau and watched as the flaming remnants of the aircraft fell out of the sky to the valley below.
Nagoles groaned on the ground behind him.
Cameron turned and looked at him.
Bleeding. Snarling. Trying to crawl to reach his rifle.
Conscious enough to want to kill.
Therefore, he should be conscious enough for Cameron’s purpose.
Before he made sure that the bastard was never a threat to either Erin or Catherine again.
“Hello, Nagoles, I’m Cameron.” He squatted next to Nagoles and shoved the man’s rifle farther out of his reach. “We have to have a chat. You need to pay close attention, because I have a terrible temper, and that could bring you intense pain…”
* * *
“The shooter’s name is Nagoles,” Catherine told Venable as soon as he picked up. “Cameron’s men tracked him down. And he’s freelance, not one of Santos’s usual goons. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have information that I can use.” She added in frustration, “If Cameron will give me the chance to get it out of him.”
“Cameron?” Venable wasn’t pleased. “Where is he? I’ll send agents to intercept him and make sure we get our hands on Nagoles.
”
“Fat chance. Cameron is being protective, which means that Nagoles is a dead man. I just hope that he deigns to get me some of the information that I need before he sends Nagoles to hell.”
“Where is he?” Venable repeated.
“Tibet. Don’t send anyone near him. You know that Cameron and the CIA have been dancing around each other for months. You don’t want a confrontation with him unless it’s over something important to global security. Not about some drug dealer trying to take an agent out.”
“I’ll do what I please, Catherine. We want Santos back in custody on a charge that will stick. Or we want him dead. You’re important to us, but there are other motivations. Once Santos is finished with revenging himself on you, he’ll turn his attention to rebuilding the empire we tore down. So Cameron can keep his hands off anything to do with Santos, or I’ll have to take him down.”
“Good luck.” She hung up.
The last thing she wanted was for Venable to go after Cameron. As she’d said, so far their encounters with Cameron and the committee had been glancing blows, not worth extending their full strength. He was more a figure of mystery, an enigma, than an enemy. But that could change in a heartbeat, and where would that leave her?
Why was she even questioning? She was an agent, and she would do her duty and go after Cameron if given the command.
But the order hadn’t been given, and she’d let Cameron deal with his own problems. God knows, she had enough to worry about at the moment. She would lie here and rest and try to sleep.
And hope that Cameron would call her back and tell her that Nagoles had given him a hint where she could find Santos.
She would not think of what she’d felt when she’d first seen him in that cave. The shock, the erotic sensation that had electrified every muscle, the searing memory of the ways he had touched, probed, rubbed—
And she was doing exactly what she had sworn she would not do.
She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. Relax. Cameron was being Cameron, and that meant totally his own person, stubborn, and unpredictable. Both his men and the committee under whom he worked regarded him more as crown prince than Guardian of the project. Which also meant he was arrogant as hell.
But she didn’t have to accept that arrogance. She didn’t have to accept anything about the man.
She closed her eyes.
Go away, Cameron. I’m through with you for tonight.
* * *
“There’s been a problem.” Manuel Dorgal hung up the phone. “The helicopter we sent to get Nagoles crashed as he was attempting the pickup. According to the villagers in the area, they think it was shot down.”
“What?” Santos’s hand clenched on his glass. “Nagoles?”
“We don’t know if he was on board or not. There wasn’t much left of anything on the helicopter. Cinders. Nothing but cinders. We know Nagoles hasn’t surfaced anywhere in the area. We haven’t been able to reach him.”
“And we don’t know who shot it down?”
Dorgal shook his head. “No word on the grapevine. Nagoles was our only contact in the area, and he’s disappeared. Maybe CIA? We know that Sullivan was taken away by a CIA agent. It would make sense.” He frowned. “Though I don’t know how they’d manage to get more agents there so soon to track Nagoles.”
“Find out,” Santos said grimly. “And find out whether Nagoles is dead or not. If he’s not, kill him. He’s been targeted, and I can’t afford for him to be forced to answer questions.”
“He doesn’t know that much. You kept him out of the loop after you went to prison.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” he asked harshly. “But Ling is clever. She might be able to tap something, anything, that would give her a hint about where to find me.”
“There’s a solution. You could take her out right now. All you have to do is toss an explosive through a window of her house, and everyone is dead.”
“And admit that I had to hurry the bitch’s death because she’s getting closer to me? Would Delores understand that I stopped short of total victory over the woman who killed her? That I stopped before I could wring every bit of mental and physical pain from Ling?”
“Death is a pretty awesome victory. Delores is dead. You can’t—” Dorgal stopped as he met Santos’s eyes. He forced a smile. “You’re right, of course. We’ll work around the problem. I’ll locate Nagoles or whoever took him down.”
“Yes, you will.” His gaze lifted to the portrait of Delores over the fireplace. “But this is the second time Ling managed to block me. I have to move quickly to make sure that she gets no satisfaction from it.” He reached for his phone, his gaze still on Delores’s smiling face in the portrait. “Which one shall it be?” he whispered. “Which one, Delores?”
* * *
“What the hell do you mean by going to Joe and not directly to me?” Eve Duncan demanded when Catherine picked up her call the next morning. “Not good, Catherine.”
“Sorry. I had to make a decision on how to protect you as quickly as possible. Joe was my answer.”
“Not a good answer. Though I admit that he’s notified everyone who has a stake in keeping me alive, and they’re rallying around me. But that’s me, not you. This is all about you. You risked your butt to save my life not long ago. Yet you think I’m going hide out in this lake cottage while some drug king tries to kill you?”
“I’m hoping you will. I’m not first on his agenda. Santos is going to go after the people I care about first.” She sighed. “Think of yourself as bait. Joe can spring a trap and save you and me at the same time. Does that work for you?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think it would. But there’s still value in the idea. Talk to Joe about it.” She added firmly, “Because it’s all you can do for me. Stay where you are. I’m not letting anyone who might be a target near me. Santos would love to kill someone I care about in front of me.”
“Yeah, I’ve been doing some research on him. He’s a nasty piece of work.” She paused. “Is Hu Chang with you?”
“Not right now. He’s trying to stave off Erin Sullivan from doing the same thing that you want to do. She’s flying here from Hong Kong.” She paused. “And she’s already been wounded. Apparently, she was next on Santos’s list.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yes, but it could have ended differently. She almost ended up dead. You could end up dead, Eve.” She shivered as she said the words. “Anyone who I care about, anyone I love. I thought I was pretty alone in the world, but I’m finding that I care about a lot of people. And that scares me. Santos has evidently spent a lot of time doing his research. I don’t know where he’ll strike next.”
“Then I should be there to—”
“No, Eve. I don’t need you. I have guards all over the place. Do you think I wouldn’t protect Luke?”
“No.” Eve was silent. “You call and tell me that Hu Chang is back with you, and I might wait. I’ll give you until tomorrow.”
“He may not be back by—”
“Tomorrow.” Eve broke the connection.
Catherine grimaced as she hung up the phone. It was no more than she had expected. It was what Catherine would have done in the same circumstances. But she’d hoped that maybe Joe would be able to keep Eve from acting. Evidently, he’d had some success but not enough.
“Eve is upset?” Sam poured Catherine a cup of coffee before sitting down across the kitchen table from her. “You’re lucky she’s not mounting her trusty steed and riding to rescue you.”
“I think Joe is holding the keys to the stable at the moment.” She lifted her cup to her lips. “But that’s not going to last long. Tomorrow. She doesn’t like the idea that Hu Chang isn’t here.”
“And I’m chopped liver?” Sam asked mockingly. “I’m insulted.”
“You shouldn’t be. Hu Chang left you to guard Luke. That’s a compliment beyond price.”
“He also told me to keep an eye on you,
or I would end up dying a very slow and painful death.” He took a sip of his coffee. “And from what I gathered, he’s fully qualified to make that happen. Is he really a master poisoner?”
“No, but he’s magnificent at creating them. He’s been known to sell certain of his poisons for fabulous amounts.” She shrugged. “But only to those he chooses and who meet his code. I don’t know if he started out as ethical as he is today. I’ve never asked him. He’s my friend, that’s enough for me.”
“A strange relationship.”
“Why not?” She smiled. “It goes with the territory. Hu Chang and I are both a little strange. Haven’t you noticed?”
“‘Unique’ is the correct word. Do you want breakfast?”
“Just orange juice. Where’s Luke?”
“In the library. He was up at six and ate his breakfast then. He’s playing an online video game with Kelly Winters. She beat him last time, and he’s out for revenge.”
“He’ll have his work cut out for him,” she said dryly. “You’ve met Kelly when she’s visited here. She’s not in that think tank at the university for nothing. She may be only sixteen, but she’s extraordinarily intelligent.”
“But so is Luke,” Sam said. “They’re a good match. He has trouble adjusting to kids his own age, but he has no trouble with Kelly.”
“Because she’s smart about people, too. I’ve tried to get her to come here to study, but she likes the professors at her school in Virginia.” She shook her head regretfully. “Too bad. Luke really likes her.”
“And so do you,” Sam said softly. “It was like watching a family when she was here visiting. It was good for you.”
“Of course I like her. She was my friend before she was Luke’s. She’s sharp and funny and has a wry sense of—” She stopped and drew a deep breath. “Oh, shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m wrong. I should have ignored the fact that Kelly would have to be brought here kicking and screaming if we tore her away from that project she’s working on. I told Luke that Santos would have Kelly listed as low-priority since she wasn’t family. But when I was talking about her just now, I realized that she might as well be family. And Santos has done his research, he’ll know that she’s not just Luke’s friend. He would have found out that I rescued Kelly in Colombia when she and her father had been kidnapped by bandits. He’ll know I care about her, too.” She reached for her phone. “I’m so damn stupid. I could get her killed.” She dialed Venable. “She could very well be high on his death list.”