Your Next Breath (8 page)

“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.”

“And she might not,” Sam said quietly. “Stop blaming yourself. He can’t be targeting everyone.”

“But I don’t know who he is targeting,” she said unsteadily. “And it’s driving me crazy. Who am I going to miss?” Venable picked up the call, and she spoke quickly, “Look, Venable, I need you to check on Kelly Winters’s surveillance. I’m getting pretty uptight about having her out there alone. I’m going to call her myself later and see if I can’t persuade her to let us come and get her. Don’t let her go anywhere on campus without a tail, okay?”

“That goes without saying. If there were a problem, I’d know about it.”

“Okay, so I’m paranoid. Just do it.” She hung up.

CHAPTER

4

“I am paranoid,” she said to Sam after she’d finished speaking to Venable. “I can’t help it.” She leaned back in her chair and tried to compose herself. “I guess that’s all I can do right now.” Her hand clenched on her coffee cup. “I
hate
this. I want Santos.”

“So do I,” Sam said.

“He has me on the defensive. I feel so damn helpless. All I can do is wait for something to happen.” She moistened her lips. “Or someone to die.”

“You’re not helpless. Erin Sullivan is alive, and she wouldn’t be if you hadn’t acted.”

“Even that wasn’t a complete victory. A priest died in that village.” She waved her hand as he started to speak. “But I can’t think about that. I’ll accept partial victories.”

“And it probably pissed off Santos big-time. All of his elaborate schemes down the tube.”

She smiled. “You’re great, Sam. I’m actually beginning to feel a little optimistic.”

“No, you’re not. But you might be seeing things a little clearer. You’re going to beat the son of a bitch, but you’re probably going to have to go the distance before you do. Right now, you have the weight of all those lives on your shoulders. You’ll feel better once you’re on the offense.”

“You bet I will.” She got to her feet. “And I won’t get there until I find a hook to hang him. I’d better get back to the computer. Not that I’ve found anything worthwhile yet. It will come.” And she might have had that hook if she’d been able to talk to Nagoles. Think positive. Cameron had not actually refused her.

And she hadn’t heard from Cameron since he’d run out of that cave after Nagoles. How did she know he was even alive?

She quickly rejected the thought. Cameron was alive. She wouldn’t have it any other way. He was too clever, too trained in every form of combat, too much the complete warrior to be brought down.

And she somehow felt she would have known if he wasn’t still on this Earth.

“I’ll go check on Luke in the library, then go to my room and hit the computer to see if I can find that hook.” She headed for the kitchen door. “There may be something in the files Venable sent me on Manuel Dorgal. Santos was in prison, but Dorgal was flitting around the world doing his bidding. It could be that one of those errands might be the purchase of a hideaway. It can’t hurt to—” She broke off as her phone rang. She glanced down at the caller ID.

She stiffened. Hell and damnation.

T. Santos.

Shock and excitement exploded through her.

“Sam, call Venable and have him try to trace this call.”

She punched the access button. “Catherine Ling. What do you want, Santos?”

“Your suffering. Your death,” Santos said. “That might satisfy me. Or perhaps not, but it will have to do. Don’t try to trace me, I have a protected phone and I won’t be talking to you for long. I just wanted to touch base with you in case you’re getting too smug. One destroyed helicopter. One inadequate fool who could not perform a simple kill is nothing in the scheme of things.”

“Nagoles is dead?” Relief. Then Cameron must be alive. “Then I think it’s considerably more than nothing to you that he was taken out. Things aren’t going your way, Santos? What a pity. Get used to it, you son of a bitch.”

“I’ve no intention of getting used to failure. I knew you’d cause me a few problems once you realized what I was doing. I’ll work through them.” His voice lowered to silky menace. “And I’ll make sure your pain will only be the more intense when it’s your turn.”

“What a coward you are, Santos. Why not come after me directly? Are you afraid? It’s easy to send your goons to kill my friends. Olena Petrov, a helpless woman in her home, Jantzen and Kirov by ambush. But it’s getting a little harder now. Erin Sullivan should have been simple, but it didn’t turn out that way. Why not cross any other targets off your list and let’s see if you can take me down.”

“Why should I do that? Because you’re hurting,” he said softly. “I can hear it. You’re trying to mask it, but the pain is there. And that means I’m winning.”

“The hell you are.”

“I didn’t choose those targets because they were easy. I chose them because they were your past. The woman who helped you as a child; Jantzen, your friend, who worked with you during the first years you were with the CIA; and Slantkey, who furnished you with information that set you on the path to save your son.”