The survivor, p.11
The Survivor, page 11
“I didn’t know about her. I still don’t, we were too busy for personal conversation.” She added quietly, “But after today neither of us can doubt that she has big-time trouble on this island.”
“I haven’t doubted that since I got that call that you were in the hospital,” he said grimly. “That brought it all home to me with a vengeance.” He turned and headed for the door. “I’ll call you when I’m through out there tonight.”
She couldn’t let him just walk out of here. “No need. It’s not as if I won’t be waiting for you when you get back to the village.”
He grinned at her over his shoulder. “Waiting for me,” he repeated. “I like the sound of that. Kind of homey. But this isn’t like Cambry House, is it?”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
He tilted his head. “Because you never felt as if it was really yours? I always meant you to know that what was mine was yours. It seems I failed there, too.”
She didn’t want him to feel that way when he’d never been anything but generous to her. She found the words tumbling out. “It didn’t matter. It was just a place. I liked it because you were there. I’ve never felt anything about a place like Eve does about the Lake Cottage. But that was because of her memories. I’ve never been in any place long enough to have a lasting memory.”
He was suddenly smiling. “It’s not only places that furnish memories. I think we’ve created a few together that had nothing to do with brick and mortar. We’ve just got to combine and embroider a little more.” He winked. “See you later, Riley.” Then he was gone.
And Riley was left to look after him and try not to think about what he was going to face within the next minutes. It was all very well to tell Maya how good he was and that she shouldn’t worry about him doing what he said he could do. It was different having to stay here and watch him walk out that door.
Then why do it? she thought recklessly. She was done here; why not go find Maya and wait with her until Cade came back? She left the first-aid room and caught sight of Maya across the square, standing gazing at the glow of the fire in the forest. She started across the village to join her.
“Why is it so quiet out there?” Maya murmured. “We’ve only heard four shots since they went into the forest. That was thirty minutes ago. What’s happening?”
“As long as those four shots didn’t go into Cade or Kirby, I don’t give a damn.” Riley’s voice was shaking. “And I’m not sure they didn’t. Why the hell couldn’t he have waited until midnight when they’d have backup?” Her eyes were straining as they focused on the flames. “I haven’t even seen any of those bastards who were guarding that blasted fire since I came to stand beside you. Though I thought I caught a glimpse of someone on the far side of the fire five minutes ago.” She shrugged. “But then he was gone. It might have been a shadow or my imagination.”
“Or it might not.” Maya grabbed her arm. “Because I just caught sight of Kirby.” She pointed to a shadowy figure emerging from the smoke. “Though there’s no sight of Cade yet. But don’t start worrying again. Kirby doesn’t look as if he’s on edge.”
But Kirby was definitely alert and carrying his rifle with care and purpose Riley noticed. The next instant Cade was beside him and then they were both running toward the wall.
Riley was on her feet as they slid behind the wall. “What’s happening? Why didn’t we hear any guns?”
“Because there wasn’t anyone to fire them,” Cade said. “Kirby and I were very slick about slipping behind enemy lines, and we were about to start picking off the snipers.” His lips twisted. “But we couldn’t find any. What a conundrum.”
“What are you talking about?” Maya asked hoarsely.
“I think you might have an idea,” Cade said. “Nadim’s snipers had flown the coop. They must have slipped away earlier in the evening and taken off for their designated pickup place.”
“Why?” Riley asked blankly.
“My guess is, their job was done,” Cade said. “Just to be sure, we did a thorough look around the area. It was entirely clean of all the vermin who had been tormenting the village. I set a few of the island guards to reconnoiter, but I don’t expect to find anyone else.”
“It’s too soon,” Riley said. “Why would they leave almost as soon as we got here?”
“Yes, why?” Cade turned back to Maya. “Would you like to hazard a guess?”
“No, I’d like to have an answer.” She moistened her lips. “Did you do as I asked you?”
He nodded. “Would I disappoint you?” He held out his hand to her. “Back out. I don’t want to do this. You won’t want to do this.”
“But I have to do it. You’re just making it harder.”
He muttered a curse. “Then are you ready to come with me?”
She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. “Not ready, but I have to do it. I’ll be right back, Riley.”
Riley shook her head as she examined Maya’s pale face. “I don’t think so. I don’t like the way you look. What’s happening here?”
“Maya just wants a closer look at the bonfire those snipers built for us,” Cade said through clenched teeth. “I promised I’d show it to her. Of course, she could back out. She won’t do it.”
“Then I’ll go with her,” Riley said.
“No, you won’t,” Cade said sharply. “You stay here.”
“To hell with it.” Maya shook her head and started across the field. “They wanted me to see it. I’ll see it.”
Cade caught up with her in six steps. He muttered a curse. “Why don’t you give it up? I think you know what’s there. I’ll tell you about it.”
“Then he’d win. He wants to hurt me. I have to show him he can’t do it. But I’ve got to see it.” She was looking at the glow of the fire as she grew nearer and nearer. “They must have put fresh wood on the flames before they left or it would have gone out by now,” she said dully. She could feel the heat now, the scent of the wood and something else…
Keep going.
Don’t let him hurt you.
She was next to the tentlike enclosure now. Her hand was shaking as she pushed aside the cloth to go inside.
The heat blasted her face as she entered.
Dear God.
The fire was in the center of the room. But to the left of the fire was a pallet on which lay the corpse of a young girl, maybe eleven or twelve. She was naked, her eyes were wide open, her hands tied above her head. Her expression reflected a terrible horror.
Maya couldn’t stop staring for an instant. But then she couldn’t stand it any longer and turned her eyes away.
And that was when she saw the red streamer fastened across the tent with a single name dancing in the heat of the blaze.
Bailey.
It was too much. She staggered to the opening of the tent and threw up again and again.
Then she was aware of Riley beside her, holding her steady as her stomach was wrenched by spasms. “Cade! What the hell did you do?” Riley was gazing around the tent with the same horror Maya had felt. “Why did you let her come here?”
“I couldn’t stop her,” he said roughly. “I should have known you’d run after us. I didn’t want you to see this.”
“Why?” Riley repeated.
“She said she had to come,” Cade said. “You heard her. She wouldn’t be told no. She would have come by herself if I hadn’t brought her.”
“You shouldn’t have paid any attention to her.” She was wiping Maya’s face with a handkerchief. “Come on, we’re getting out of here.”
“No,” Maya said hoarsely. She took a deep breath and then turned and went back to the naked girl on the pallet. “We can’t leave her here. Look at her face.” She gently closed the girl’s eyes. “She must have already gone through hell and now Nadim is using her as part of this hideous charade. I won’t have it.” She turned to Cade. “Take down this tent and wrap her in it. Have her taken back to the village. We’ll find her parents and give her a decent burial.”
He nodded. “That’s exactly what I would have done if you hadn’t insisted on seeing Nadim’s ugly scenario.”
“No choice. I had to do it. I knew it had to be something horrible like this. I couldn’t let him force me to hide my eyes and pretend I didn’t see it. I can’t let him take anything away from me or anyone on the island. I can’t let him beat us.” She swayed and closed her eyes for a moment. “But dear God in heaven, what he’s done already.”
“Can we go now?” Riley slipped her arm around Maya’s waist and was helping her from the tent. “We’ll do anything you want after we get you out of here. I think you’ve had enough for one day, Maya.”
“I’m sure Nadim thought so, too,” Maya said as they started to cross the field toward the village. Her voice was still shaking. “He must have taken a long time setting up that horror for me. His instructions to that sniper team must have been very explicit.”
“Don’t think about it.” Riley kept her grip strong around her, giving her whatever support she could in a world where she must be feeling bereft of all humanity and solace. “I know it’s hard but try not to let that bastard do this to you.”
Maya looked at her wonderingly. “How can I help it? You saw what they did to her.”
Riley didn’t know what to say. All she could do was tighten her grasp and look behind her at that column of smoke spitting up from that damn tent. She couldn’t see Cade. He must still be in the tent, taking care of getting that poor child away from that hellish cocoon where they’d placed her. But Kirby was only a few paces behind them following them back to the village. As he saw her glancing back, he put his hand on his rifle and nodded. Cade must have sent him to guard them in case Nadim had planned some other beastly addition to this hideous night. Riley nodded back at Kirby and increased her pace until they reached the stone wall.
Then she turned to Maya and said gently, “I believe we’ll go to the first-aid room so that you can have privacy. I’ll see if there’s anyone else I can help.”
Maya looked at her dazedly and then shook her head as if to clear it. “No.” She sat down beside the wall. “I’ll stay here until they bring that child to the village. She’s the one who should have privacy. They can take her to the first-aid room while we try to find out who she is.”
“I can do that for you,” Riley said.
“Yes, you could. But it’s my job, and they’ll talk to me.” She looked her in the eye. “Don’t argue with me right now. It’s difficult for me to think. There’s one other thing I have to do before I concentrate on helping that child.” She took her phone out of her pocket and punched in the number. “I have to call Tashi…” Two rings and Tashi answered. She cut her off before she could speak. “I can’t talk right now. I just have to ask you a few questions. Are you at the temple?”
“Yes, I told you that I would be.”
“Is Bailey still safe?”
“Of course.”
“There’s no ‘of course’ about it. Double the guards. Nadim knows about Bailey.”
Tashi didn’t speak for a moment. “You’re sure?”
Maya closed her eyes for an instant as she remembered those obscenely dancing letters reflected in the flames. “Absolutely. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”
She ended the call and looked at Riley. “I can go on now.” She got to her feet. “We have to find out who the girl is. She can’t be from this village, or we would have heard about a missing child after we arrived here. We can’t ask Jelsko for help. He’s had enough death to deal with today. We’ll go around the village and talk to the women. The villages talk to each other on the phone, and mothers always talk about their children.” She had to stop for a moment as she remembered her first glimpse of that poor girl. “And she was probably eleven or twelve but that’s close enough in age to be considered a child by family members. Someone had to be worrying about her.”
“Perhaps we should split up and each take a share of the huts near the chief’s house,” Riley said. “If you won’t let me do it by myself. I shouldn’t have any trouble communicating. I remember that most of the villagers on the island speak English as a second language.”
Maya nodded. “That might save time.” She headed for the center of the village. “I want this over as soon as possible for these people so the healing can begin. The people in this village were probably innocent victims of Nadim. They had nothing of value that he would want. The attack came out of nowhere and seemed aimed at killing and sending a message.”
“To you?”
She nodded. “I told you that he hated me.”
“You told Cade you wanted him to show you what was in that tent where they were tending that fire. How did you know?”
“I didn’t. It was guesswork.” She swallowed hard. “I certainly never expected to have Nadim use an innocent child to hurt me. That was the height of depravity. One of the first things Tashi said when she met us at the plane was that those bastards had mentioned me when they attacked during the night. When we got to the village, the chief said the same thing. Why would they be so persistent about taunting me unless they had orders?” Her lips tightened grimly. “And that fire and tent were made a focal point, and there had to be a reason. When I showed myself so they could recognize me, after that one shot, they didn’t attack. Not necessary. They knew that they’d drawn me, and their job was done. Nadim probably didn’t mind that they hadn’t killed me. He’s probably looking forward to doing that himself.”
Riley gave a low whistle. “You’re right, he must hate you.”
“I told you that the night I called you.” She shrugged. “It’s the endgame, Riley. But he’s upped the ante and I’ll have to go after him right away. I can’t risk him getting any closer to Bailey.”
“Bailey,” Riley repeated. “I was surprised when you mentioned her before. When I researched you and the island on the way here, I didn’t see anything about a daughter.”
“No one knew about Bailey if they didn’t have to. There were reasons why it was best no one connect her with me. I had to keep her safe. But that devil evidently managed to track her down.” She changed the subject. “You take these four houses in the row. I’ll take the ones across the street. I’ll meet you back at the first-aid hut when we’ve finished.” She was crossing to the other side of the street as she spoke. “Be careful, Riley. After what we saw in that tent, I wouldn’t put it past Nadim to have left another hideous booby trap to surprise us…”
CHAPTER 6
NADIM’S LAUNCH
AN HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER
Bevan turned and strode down the deck toward Gunter. “I caught sight of the snipers heading for the other launch. Did they report in to Nadim yet?”
“Why don’t you ask me?” Nadim asked sarcastically as he came up from belowdecks. “And the answer is yes. It all went beautifully, just as I planned. I knew it would, once I was able to zero in on Maya’s weaknesses.”
“I don’t mean to correct you,” Bevan said. “But I’m the one who was able to find out about Maya’s daughter and sent that info to you. Don’t you think I deserve credit?”
“No. It would have been worthless if I hadn’t arranged to use the girl I’d been toying with to give Maya a foreshadow of what was to come. My men said Maya was in a panic while she was running around the village. I would have loved to have seen her face when she finally saw what I had waiting for her in the tent.” He added grudgingly, “Though perhaps you do deserve a bonus for getting me the info about where that maid was taking the kid when she left that house in the city.”
“How generous,” Bevan said ironically. “I only hope to continue to please you. But locating that temple may be worth a lot more than a bonus considering what we may find there other than the kid. You’ve heard the rumors about the treasure. I’m your best chance at finding that temple. I’ve spent two years paying off my men whenever they’ve brought me any information about it.”
Nadim reached out and grabbed his arm. “You know where it is?”
“I know where it might be.” He shook off his grip. “It’s evidently difficult to access, and I’ll need a little more time to learn how. But I’ve recently been able to hire one of the pickers in the groves who was formerly with the temple guards.”
“I want his name,” Nadim said harshly. “Are you playing with me, Bevan?”
“I wouldn’t be such a fool,” Bevan said. “But if I gave you his name, you’d no longer need me. Let me do the prep work and then I’ll turn him over to you… for a very moderate fee.” He wasn’t getting through; he’d better sweeten the pot quickly. “I’ll make certain you get Maya and any troublesome friends she may have brought to plague you.”
That did it. Bevan could see Nadim’s tension ease. “You’d better be superior to the sniper who took a shot at her at that village,” Nadim growled. “He was a total asshole.”
“But you wouldn’t have wanted him to kill her,” Bevan said. “My way is going to be much more satisfying for you. The daughter and then Maya. I can hardly wait to see it.” He turned and headed for his speedboat. “I’ll be in touch. You won’t be disappointed in me…”
“Wait just a minute,” Nadim called.
Shit. Bevan turned to face him. “Another problem?”
“Since you’ve been bragging about all your contacts, maybe you can help me with something else. I’ve been having trouble with breaking into that damn mountain stronghold that Maya has guarded like Fort Knox. We haven’t been able to get near it. Maybe that’s where the coffers are located and not the temple.”
“It’s possible.” Bevan tried not to show his annoyance. “I’ll work on it. I do have a few men I’ve sent up there to look around. They haven’t been able to get very far, but a little applied pressure can work miracles.”
“That’s what I’ve found, too.” Nadim’s smile was totally malicious. “So get me a complete report on what I can expect to find up there.” He met his eyes. “And I want it right away, Bevan. That little game I played today wasn’t nearly enough. I’m hungry for more. I want to see Maya and all those friends she brought to help her start to bleed…”
