Seth looked down at the plasticuffs, and back at the McClouds. Two sets of disembodied green eyes glowed with hot anticipation out of the ski masks. “You guys are really into this, aren't you?”
'Those bastards put Connor in a coma for two months,” Davy said softly. “And they killed Jesse.”
“Jesse was our friend, too,” Sean said. “We wouldn't miss this party for any money.” He reached into the back of the Cherokee and pulled out another case. “Check this out, Seth. You're not the only one with a few magic tricks up his sleeve.” He popped open the lid and held the case out for Seth to see. Seth peered in. “What's this?”
“Gas powered air pistols converted into tranq dart guns. With super-fast acting tranquilizer darts,” Sean said triumphantly. “I got 'em from Nick, one of Connor's task force buddies. He specializes in just this kind of situation. When a guy wants to even up the odds without having to cope with all the red tape of an all-out bloodbath.”
Seth stared at him. “No shit,” he said slowly. “You mean to tell me you've already used this stuff? What do you do for a living, anyway?”
Sean shrugged noncommittally, and gave him a bright, impenetrable grin. “Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I get by. Here. I brought along Connor's for you. A Beretta M92, with a power scope. A laser sight, too, if you want, but I personally think that kind of takes the fun out of it.”
Seth took the proffered gun and stared down at it, starting to grin. His mood had unaccountably lightened. “You McCloud boys are a strange breed.”
Davy grinned back. “You're not the first to make that observation,” he said.
Another man was lying on the ground.
Raine crouched beside the second motionless body, checking with trembling fingers beneath the dark hood to make sure it wasn't one of the McCloud men. She sighed with relief when she saw that it was not. It was a young man with buzz-cut red hair. He was alive, a tiny needle dart sticking out of his neck. Plastic bonds were ratcheted tightly around his wrists and ankles.
She looked around, but she saw no one in the murmuring forest besides her and the unconscious man. It was like the enchanted forest of Sleeping Beauty. Everyone but her had gone to sleep.
She had parked as near as she dared to the abandoned mansion, and sneaked through the woods as quietly as she could, using the monitor to guide her. Seth and the McClouds must be roaming around, taking out Novak's guards one by one. That was heartening.
It had started raining again, but she was too keyed up to feel it. Her metabolism must be raging like a grassfire. The raindrops that hit her skin felt like they ought to hiss and sputter like water on a griddle.
She huddled by a tree trunk and looked around, clutching Ed's Glock with a white-knuckled hand. Racing to Seth's rescue had seemed like such a good idea at the time, but now, in this silent, creepy forest, doubts were racing back. She was out of her depth, as always.
But it was far too late for good sense or second thoughts. She couldn't just abandon Seth with that necklace in his pocket; and besides, she had nowhere else to go, nothing else to do. Nothing existed but this moment, this place, this task. It pulled at her like a vortex. It was the key to unlock the whole wretched puzzle of her life.
The culmination of everything.
The monitor indicated that the necklace was less than three hundred meters from her to the northeast If she sneaked along under the cover of those willow trees, maybe she would see—
Something hit her between the shoulder blades with incredible force, knocking her face down in the muddy leaves. Something heavy was on top of her. It moved and breathed and stank of cigarettes.
It pried the pistol out of her hand and jammed it against her neck. An arm slid under her chin, pressing against her windpipe. She hunched her back up with the strength of terror, giving herself just enough space to shove the flat monitor beneath a soggy drift of leaves.
The thing on top of her grabbed her hair, pulled her face around to the side. She saw white-blond eyebrows, pinkish eyes, a hooked nose. The thing grinned at her with big, yellow teeth.
“Hello, pretty girl. The boss is going to be real happy to see you.”
Chapter 27
Finally Seth was back in the zone. His concentration was almost back to normal; instincts razor sharp, utterly focused. He was almost to the punchline of this crazy joke, and nothing would keep him from it—as long as he didn't pay attention to that burning cloud that hung in the middle of his mind. Raine.
He wrenched his concentration back with a savage jerk. Nothing existed but here and now. He was on his belly, fifty meters from the house. Cameras were a sure thing, but there was no way to tell if Novak had motion detectors. He doubted it, with that army of sentries on the grounds. Besides, this wreck didn't look like a place that warranted a hard-core security installation. It looked like a creepy haunted mansion. Trust Novak to go for atmosphere over security.
He allowed himself to feel cautiously optimistic. Between him and the McClouds, they'd evened out the odds quite a bit. The monitor told him that the Corazon was in that house. Getting in was going to be an interesting challenge. He wiggled another few feet closer, under cover of an overgrown shrub. The line on the earpiece clicked open.
“Yo, Seth.” Sean's voice was strangely subdued. “Hate to tell you this, but... your lady friend has decided to join us.”
Seth’s mind went blank.
No way. She was supposed to be wrapped in a blanket, sipping a cup of herbal tea under Connor's watchful eye. Nowhere near here.
“Where?” he snapped into the little mike clipped to his collar.
“She must've come through the hole I made on the western side. One of the goons has her in a twist. He's taking her into the house.”
“Can you get him?”
“Too far,” Sean said. “Too risky. I might hit her. Sorry.”
“Shit” he hissed. “I can't believe it. I cannot fucking believe it”
“I hear you, man” Sean said sympathetically. “She's a handful. Have to say, though, that chick sure does get around. Wonder what she did to Connor. Jesus. I hope she didn't hurt him, or anything.”
“Shut up, Sean. Davy, how’s hunting?”
“I've bagged some real beauties “ Davy responded promptly. “Trussed up and ready for dressing out.”
“How close are you to the house?”
“About a hundred meters “ Davy said.
Seth tried to crowd emotion out of his mind, to get back to that perfect realm where instinct ruled. But it was hopeless, it was pure hell, with Raine popping up, getting nabbed, blocking his line of fire, fogging his brain with her beauty. That was her special gift, to turn something that was supposed to be as clear and simple as a rifle blast into something hellishly complicated.
“Get closer” he said. “Listen up. This is what I have in mind...” Kurt Novak stared at the screen that showed him the library where Victor Lazar was waiting. The man was seated comfortably on an overstuffed Victorian armchair, smoking a cigarette. At his ease. Daring to think that he had checkmated the master of the game. How gratifying it was going to be, to watch him grovel and beg.
It was risky to hold the meeting here, but he'd been cowering in windowless holes for too long. Enough. He dialed Riggs's number, one last time. Still nothing. Riggs had failed in his simple mission, even with the assistance of one of the most talented assassins in the area. The girl's lover must be very skilled.
The timing of the game was off. How annoying. He had the cellar room all prepared, and he had wanted the girl right here, so he could play Lazar like a fish on a line. As it was, he would have to improvise. But uncertain outcomes created space for unexpected flashes of genius.
In any case, Riggs would pay for his incompetence. Or rather, his daughter would pay. He began to punch in Georg's number. He wanted Georg to be particularly creative with the Riggs girl.
A radio transmitter beeped. He picked it up. “Yes?”
