He was silent. “You get her out of that place, and I’ll stay on that ledge until they bring out the big guns.” He grimaced. “No, maybe even a little longer.”
“No, this isn’t going to be a suicide mission. I’ll need you later. You leave us on our own and get out of there if you have to do it. What kind of equipment do you have for me aboard the copter?”
“Cold-weather protective gear for both you and Sullivan, Emergency equipment, first-aid pack, radio, usual weaponry. Have you ever been on your own in conditions like that?”
“Not in those mountains. I’ve been working in South America lately. Four years ago, I was on a mission in Mongolia. I nearly froze to death before I got to the rendezvous. Not pleasant.”
“You’ll find it less pleasant to be stranded in Kadmus’s little kingdom.” He docked the speedboat at the heliport. “You’d better hope you get out of there in time for a pickup.”
“I haven’t been hoping anything else since I told Venable I was on board.” She jumped out of the boat and followed him to the cream-and-tan helicopter. “What info does Kadmus want from her? You must know something.”
“He wants to find a man. He thinks she knows where he is.”
“Find whom?”
“How the hell do I know?” he asked harshly. “I told you, she won’t tell Kadmus. But he won’t give up.”
“No names?”
“No names.” He opened the door of the helicopter. “If you get her out, you can ask her yourself.”
“I will.” She got into the helicopter. “Because, unless I kill him, Kadmus is just going to go after her again if he still thinks he can get what he wants.”
Who the hell was the man Kadmus wanted to find?
And what was his value to the son of a bitch?
A friend asked me to bring her out, Hu Chang had said.
Why? Because he was the same man for whom Kadmus was searching? Was he was afraid Erin Sullivan would break and reveal his location?
Or maybe Hu Chang’s friend was just some charitable philanthropist who had been touched by Sullivan’s plight.
He’s probably the most dangerous man either of us will ever meet. That didn’t sound like anyone who might be driven by humanitarian aims.
Guesses. With Hu Chang, one never knew.
“Let’s get moving.” What she did know was that Hu Chang was not going to be pleased when Chen Lu handed him her note in the morning. By that time she had to be deep in Tibet.
GOLDEN PALACE
Hu Chang recognized Catherine’s handwriting at the first glance. Forceful, scrawling, every stroke finished but impatient and brimming with vitality.
“Catherine gave the note to her maid last night and told her to give it to me at breakfast,” Chen Lu said. “And you’re not to scold the poor lass. She just obeyed orders.”
“I would never be so rude. Obedience is a fine quality.” He tore open the envelope. “One that Catherine has never developed.”
“And you would be disappointed if she did.” Chen Lu poured tea into a cup. “You like her just the way she is.”
“Not entirely.” He quickly scanned the note. “She still has much to learn if this is any sign.” He kept his face totally expressionless as he tossed the note on the table. “Where is Luke?”
“In the garden. I thought there might be a disturbance, so I sent him on an errand with the head gardener.” She met his gaze. “Is there a disturbance, Hu Chang?”
“Oh, yes. On the scale of an earthquake.” He rose to his feet. “I think that I will go and make adjustments to accommodate it. Tell Luke I will talk to him soon.”
He moved quickly down the hall toward the library. Keep control. Don’t let emotion interfere with intellect. Do not think of Catherine at Daksha Palace.
Not possible. He could do that with anyone else but not with Catherine. She was too much a part of him to block her out.
He sat down in the executive chair at the desk and reached for his phone. He quickly dialed Venable. “Where is she now?” he asked bluntly. “Has Catherine contacted you since she left here?”
“You sound a bit upset,” Venable said. “My, my, and you’re usually so serene.”
“I told you that she was not to be involved in this. Have you heard from her?”
“They should be arriving at Daksha Mountain at any moment. My pilot will contact me when she starts for the palace.” He paused. “And I will not cancel the mission, Hu Chang.”
“As you wish, but all actions have consequences.”
“Threats?”
“Statement.”
“I take it that you just found out about it. A note?”
“A very brief and concise note.” He quoted, “‘I’m on my way to get Sullivan out. It shouldn’t take long. Take good care of Luke, or I’ll never forgive you.’”
“Not exactly touching or sentimental. Typical Catherine. She stated her purpose, then tried to tie your hands and protect Luke at the same time. Did she do it?”
He didn’t answer. “Does she have a chance?”
“Catherine always has a chance. It’s at least fifty-fifty. I’d give her better odds if she wasn’t on her own once she reaches the palace. If she gets back to the helicopter in one piece, she’ll be home free.”
“You will call me the minute she takes off from the mountain.” He paused. “You threw too many ifs into that answer. I do not like ifs, Venable. I will not tolerate the idea that poor planning or rashness would cause me to lose her. You would not like my response to that possibility.”
“Threats, again? This is Company business. We’ll do what we have to do.”
“And so will I.” Hu Chang hung up and leaned back in his chair. Stifle the anger unless it was needed. Difficult. Very difficult. Anger was burning inside him, and he wanted to embrace it. Anger against Venable, against Kadmus, against a world that had created a special creature like Catherine, then tossed her into an existence where she could be destroyed at any moment.
Accept.
Release.
Consider consequences and look beyond the present to how to save the situation if it became necessary.
Catherine should have landed by now and be on her way to the palace.
The chances are fifty-fifty.
The muscles of his stomach clenched.
Banish fear. Look beyond.
And summon help.
His lips twisted as he looked down at his phone.
Modern technology at its best.
And not worth anything to him at the moment.
He closed his eyes.
Concentrate.
Look beyond.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Beyond …
He was there.
Cameron!
CHAPTER
4
She couldn’t breathe.
This damn altitude.
Catherine took several deep breaths to fill her lungs as she moved up the slope toward the palace. It was still dark and snowing. Both good things to hide her from the sight of the guards. She’d slipped the white protective parka and suit on in the helicopter, and she hoped she blended into the landscape. She’d also memorized the guard stations as well as the layout of the palace. There should be a sentry a hundred yards around the next bend …
Go around him or kill him?
It would be easier to avoid, but she might have to face him on the return trip to the helicopter with Erin Sullivan.
Get rid of him now.
No gun. Silence. Knife or injection.
He’d be dressed in the same layered garb she was, and injection would be too chancy. She took out her knife and glided toward the bend.
There he was, holding an AK-47 and facing the road leading down the mountain. Tense, huddled with cold, standing near the rocky path to the palace. He was probably wishing he was the hell out of this weather and back at his quarters.
Move silently. Unless his instincts were superb, he shouldn’t k
now she was behind him.
His instincts sucked.
Three minutes later, she lowered the guard to the ground and wiped her knife on the snow before she returned it to her holster. The guard wasn’t supposed to be relieved for another forty-five minutes. It should give her enough time.
Maybe. No place to hide the body anyway. Just his absence from his post would set off an alarm.
She set off up the path. The wall to the north was the least guarded according to Caudell. Climb it. That would put her into the courtyard. Get rid of the guard at the steps leading to the roof. There was another staircase across the roof that led down and emptied into a hall approximately ten feet from Erin Sullivan’s quarters.
And that might be the most dangerous part of the mission. Catherine could count only on herself. Erin Sullivan was a wild card. She might panic and cause them both to go down.
Stop worrying. She had freed hostages before and not lost them.
Focus on getting to that roof.
Then she’d concentrate on Erin Sullivan.
She checked her watch. The guard in the courtyard was due to be changed in thirty minutes.
She had to take down the guard and get Erin Sullivan out of the compound by that time.
Her pace increased to a trot as she headed for the north wall.
Thirty minutes.
It was going to be damn close.
SEVENTEEN MINUTES
Catherine pressed back against the wall of the stairwell as she slowly opened the carved-wood door that led to the hall of the palace.
The scent of mildew, spice, and the candles in sconces on the walls assaulted her.
No one in the hall. Caudell had said Sullivan had the run of the place, but she hadn’t been sure that could be correct. She hoped that he was right. It would help if she didn’t have to spend time picking that lock. It could mean the difference between success or failure, and that meant life or death.
No time to waste. Find out. She’d still have time to get out of here if rescue wasn’t possible. She moved out of the stairwell to the door.
The door swung open.
Darkness.
“Again, Kadmus?” The woman’s voice was weary. “Come ahead, it won’t do you any good.”
“Erin Sullivan?” Catherine asked softly as she moved into the room toward the bed and shut the door. “Catherine Ling. I’ve come to get you out of here. I’m going to turn on my flashlight. Please don’t ask questions. I don’t have time to answer them.” She turned the flashlight on the dimmest setting. “I have to make sure you’re Sullivan and able to travel.”
She could see the woman tense, heard the sharp inhale of her breath. “I’m Erin Sullivan.”
Catherine focused the light on her face. “Yes, you are. Bad bruises. Anything worse?”
“Burns. Pulled muscles. No broken bones.” She swung her legs to the floor. “This isn’t one of Kadmus’s tricks? Who sent you? Cameron?”
“Cameron? I don’t know any Cameron. I’m CIA.” She opened her backpack, pulled out a pair of boots, and tossed them to her. “Put these on. We don’t have time for you to put on anything else but a parka. Where’s Kadmus? You thought I was him when I opened the door.”
“His bedroom is in the other wing.” She smiled bitterly. “But he likes to surprise me. He thinks it weakens me psychologically.” She already had the boots on. “Where’s the parka?”
Catherine tossed it to her. “We’d better hope that this isn’t one of the nights he chooses to do that.” She checked her watch. “Come on. I’ve got ten minutes to get you over the wall and down the mountain to the helicopter.”
Erin was on her feet and awkwardly shrugging into the parka jacket. “Who else is here?”
“No one.” She headed for the door. “Hurry.”
“You’re crazy,” Erin said. “Kadmus has more than fifty soldiers at this compound. We’ll never make it.”
“We’ll make it.” She turned, and said fiercely, “I have a son, and I intend to go home to him. And I can’t leave you because I’ll just have to come back for you. So get your ass in gear and help me.”
Erin gazed at her for an instant. Then she was moving after her. “Which way?”
“The roof.”
“One of Kadmus’s men guards the staircase down to the courtyard.”
“Not any longer.”
“What about the wall?”
“I have a fireman’s ladder that’s attached to the top.” Catherine was in the stairwell and running up the curving stone steps. “Listen, I know what I’m doing. No matter what happens, I need you to do what I tell you. Will you do that?”
Erin nodded. “Yes.”
“Then don’t talk until we get out of the compound. No noise. Just follow me.”
“Right. I’ll do—” When Catherine gave her a glance, she shrugged. “Sorry.”
Erin Sullivan had nothing to be sorry about, Catherine thought. Considering her condition and the hell she had gone through, she was behaving with extraordinary guts and intelligence. She just hoped Erin didn’t make a careless mistake that would blow it for both of them.
She was on the roof and running toward the exterior staircase. Still no one in the courtyard, and she had stashed the guard’s body beneath the staircase.
Erin Sullivan was her shadow as Catherine flew down the stairs, then dashed toward the north wall.
Seven minutes.
They reached the wall, and Catherine pushed Erin toward the fireman’s ladder she’d fastened to the top.
“Up and over,” she whispered. “And then straight down the slope toward the—”
“And what do we have here?”
Catherine froze as she turned to face a tall, blond man in a navy parka. The accent had been South African, and he had to be Brasden. He was smiling and pointing an automatic weapon at them as he strolled forward. “Going for a stroll, Erin? And who is your friend?”
Two more steps, and he’d be within range. Catherine had to get him to take those steps. “Climb the ladder, Erin. Get over the wall and take off. He won’t shoot you. Kadmus wants you alive.”
Erin didn’t move.
“You promised me that you’d do what I told you. Do it.”
Erin started to quickly climb the ladder.
“Stop, you bitch,” Brasden said harshly. He took three steps toward the ladder. “I won’t kill you, but I’ll put a bullet in your—”
Close enough.
Catherine did a karate kick that struck him in the throat, then leaped forward, and her hand came down on the side of his neck.
He fell to the ground.
Catherine grabbed his automatic rifle and hit him in the head with it. The next instant she was on the ladder, pushing Erin ahead of her. “Move!”
Erin didn’t speak. She was climbing quickly and reached the top of the ladder.
Catherine was right behind her and reversed the ladder. “Three minutes,” she whispered, and she pushed Erin toward it. “Head for the helicopter. Don’t wait for me. I’ll be right behind you, but I may have to stop to clear the way.”
Erin nodded and started down the ladder.
Catherine glanced back at Brasden. Was he stirring? She’d hit him hard, but he’d been wearing that damn parka. It had probably cushioned the blow.
No time to worry now.
She followed Erin down the ladder and jumped the last three rungs. Erin was streaking over the hard-packed snow ahead of her in the direction of the north ledge.
Good. No hesitation. They just might get out of this alive.
Catherine tore after her, past the body of sentry she’d had to kill on her approach to the palace, down the rocky path to—
A bullet whistled past her. Then more gunfire, shouts as the gates of the compound were thrown open.
Shit.
It didn’t matter whether Brasden had recovered from the blow she’d dealt him or that the other guard she’d taken down had been found. They were blown.
Sh
e cast a glance over her shoulder.
The moonlight was glinting on the two missile launchers that were being carried out of the compound.
No way she could take them down.
And they could blow the helicopter out of the air.
She put on speed and caught up with Erin.
“We’re not going to make it,” she said. “I have to tell the helicopter to take off without us. Once we get off the plateau and can’t be seen, head for the road that leads down the mountain.”
Erin didn’t argue. “I know that road. There are a few places we could hide if we get past the village. But it’s the—” She broke off as another spatter of bullets rained around them. “There are at least two guards who patrol that road.”
“Not right now. They’ll all be headed here.” She pulled out her phone. “Caudell, take off. There’s no way we’ll be able to make it before they blow you out of the sky.”
“I can wait a little—”
“Take off. Now. But if you can put on a show after you get a safe distance away we could use the distraction.”
“You’ve got her?”
“I’ve got her.” She added grimly, “And I’m going to keep her. I’ll be in touch.” She hung up. They had reached the edge of the plateau, and Erin was half running, half sliding down the slope. Catherine followed her.
Dammit, Caudell hadn’t taken off. The idiot was trying to give them a chance to fool Kadmus that they were on board the copter. The soldiers from the compound would be here in just a few minutes, but they were out of sight now that they’d left the plateau.
If they could get down the rocky path toward those few stunted trees in time, it might work.
Erin was already flying toward those scrubby trees.
And Catherine had asked her if she could function, she thought ruefully.
Erin slipped on the ice, tumbled, fell to her knees, and hit the ground!
For an instant, she didn’t move but then she was on her feet again and running.