Not only that, but to his wife and kids, had he been the epitome of the family dad? What had gone through their minds when they'd finally seen his true face?
What had his long-lost brother imagined when they'd first met? That they'd pick up on their missing past, that they'd shoot pool together, share a couple of beers, become bosom buddies? I bet he never imagined that he'd end up a scorched corpse in a house he'd never known, the ghosts of Cain's wife and children keeping him company.
'You're doing it again,' Rink said.
I looked over at Rink, who was doing a good job of looking at me without taking his full attention from the trail.
'Doing what?'
'Wearing that face.'
'What face?'
'The face that says you ain't worried about what's to come. The one you always wore on missions.'
'I'm worried, Rink.'
'Don't look like it.'
Then he changed the subject.
'Heads up, Hunter. The lights have just gone out.'
I peered into the darkness ahead. I couldn't see the Dodge's taillights, either. They'd long taunted us, and their sudden disappearance brought an uncomfortable feeling. Like a hole had opened up and the devil had escaped us by fleeing back to hell.
'You think he's stopped? Maybe fixin' to escape?' Rink glanced my way again, back to the road.
'No. He's running blind. He wants to get ahead of us so he can set up an ambush.'
'Time we played catch-up, then,' Rink said. The SUV surged ahead, bouncing over the higher ruts, blasting directly through others so that gravel and small rocks banged and clattered in the wheel wells.
Now the chase was truly on.
Again I checked my SIG. Full clip. Two spares in my waistband. Then I reached down and felt the hilt of my military issue KA-BAR where it was tucked in my boot. Somehow I suspected that the knife would be my weapon of choice when I finally came eye to eye with the murderous bastard.
Stars twinkled in the vault above us. Out here, in the middle of this empty space, the sky was endless, the starlight sharply defined. Shadows were stark, and the sand and gravel had a faintly luminous quality. Rocketing across the night landscape, the beauty of the desert was lost on me. I didn't give any of it a second's notice. How could I think of beauty when I was chasing something as loathsome as Tubal Cain?
I was inclined to lean out the window to check the night sky for another reason: as we'd used the technology Walter had given to us, I had no doubt we were being tailed as diligently as we tailed Cain. They wouldn't be coming in cars; they'd have command of helicopters, possibly even an AWACS aircraft high in the heavens to plot our course. In the end, I didn't bother looking. Helicopters would be piloted without running lights, and a high-altitude spy plane would be impossible to spot.
'When we find him we do him quickly,' I said to Rink.
'My intention all along.'
'Walter's goons will be coming,' I added.
'They won't try and stop us.'
'I know. They'll be coming to mop up, to make sure everything's clean. I don't want John falling into their hands.' I looked pointedly at Rink, and he jerked his chin in response. 'They'll make John disappear. They might even make us disappear.'
'They'll goddamn try, frog-giggin' punks.'
I returned my attention to the road ahead. The brush country was giving way to a higher elevation. On the skyline ahead, I could detect a deepening of the shadows, as if a colossal wall had been erected astride the desert.
'You any idea where we are?' I asked Rink.
'Nope.'
I looked for the GPS, switched it on, and studied the faintly glow- ing map on the LED screen. Tightly knit lines showed that the terrain was more mountainous ahead. The road wasn't marked on the map, but that came as no surprise. I placed the GPS down at my feet. 'Keep on going. Looks like we're heading for those hills.'
Rink obliged. But we'd traveled no more than a quarter of a mile before I slapped my hands on the dashboard and commanded him to stop. I craned around so I didn't lose sight of what was at the side of the road. Rink brought the SUV to a halt even as I was opening the door to get out.
I jogged back the way we'd come, slowed down, and came to a halt twenty yards from what I'd noticed protruding from a clump of brush.
I listened.
Nothing moved in the sandscape. All I could hear was the throaty hum of the SUV behind me and the rushing blood in my veins. Still, I remained motionless, using my peripheral vision to probe the shadows. What is often missed when viewed directly can be picked up in the peripheral, the slightest movement amplified tenfold. It's a prey animal thing, a throwback to the days when man was hunted by carnivorous beasts.
Finally satisfied that this wasn't part of Cain's ambush, I stepped forward. A quick inspection showed that
