Dark Summer

'Walt didn't hesitate to tell me what you planned.' She moistened her lips. 'I don't have to ask if you followed through, do I?'

'No. I'm behind the eight ball, and I have to find a way to survive.'

'By torture and killing?'

'Whatever.'

'Doesn't it bother you at all?'

'Maybe. On some level. But I can't let it stop me.' He paused. 'Would it matter if I told you he admitted he had orders to kill?'

'I don't know.' Her lips twisted. 'You haven't seen fit to tell me enough about this so that I'd have enough information to judge. I don't think I could ever sanction torture or murder, no matter what the circumstances.'

'You could. It would be difficult for you, but you could. We're all primitives. The anger would just have to be deep and blistering enough to tear away the last scruple.' He closed his eyes again. 'I'd hate to see it. There are few women like you. I like gentleness. Maybe because I have so little of it myself. You glow like a light…'

'Don't fall asleep, Marrok.'

'I'm not. I'm just trying to make a decision, and I can't think straight when I'm looking at you. You disturb me.' He was silent a moment, then called, 'Walt.'

'We're almost at the airport,' Walt said over his shoulder. 'I'll whisk you back to San Francisco in that kicky little jet to pick up the copter and we'll be at the ranch in no time.'

'We're not going to the ranch yet. I want to go home.'

Walt's brows rose. 'That's a surprise.'

'We won't stay long. I need to get something for this wound.' He paused. 'And Devon wants answers, and I'm going to give them to her.'

Devon's eyes widened.

'Shocked?' Marrok was gazing at her again, his lips curved in a reckless smile. 'There's no real reason not to bare my soul. Everything is heading toward an explosion anyway, and it will probably blow every safeguard I've put into place to kingdom come. You're right. You have a right to know everything I know. It may help to protect you if Danner manages to kill me.' He reached out and stroked Ned's head. 'And Ned will need a guardian. A very special guardian.'

'You're sounding very pessimistic.'

'I can be a moody bastard on occasion. It's an emotion I can't afford. That's when I go home and recharge.'

'Where is home?'

'Arizona. Only a short flight, and we won't be there for more than a few hours.' He held her eyes. 'But this time I'm asking, not whisking you off. Will you come with me?'

She hesitated.

'Come,' he said softly.

Why not? She suddenly knew she wanted to see the land of Marrok's roots, the surroundings that had created him. 'Why not?' She nodded slowly. 'If it's only for a few hours.'

CHAPTER 8

'I CAN'T GET IN TOUCH with Sherwood,' Caswell said.

Danner swore beneath his breath. 'Marrok took him down. Dammit, you should have hired someone better.'

'Sherwood was very good. He could still be alive. I may still be able to reach him.'

'Good? You don't send merely good against an expert like Marrok.'

'Sherwood came highly-'

'Forget it,' Danner said. 'Sherwood bought it. Now we have to find another way to get Marrok.'

'The decoding should-'

'I'm not counting on the decoding. It may take too long. Now that Marrok knows we have the computer, he'll set to work making it useless for me. No, Marrok is the key. He's always been the key. Try another way. You always have to have more than one arrow to your bow.' He shook his head with frustration. 'Why am I telling you that? You've never learned to think outside the box.' He gazed broodingly down at the computer for a few moments. 'The woman was with him tonight?'

Caswell nodded.

'Then she's definitely working for him.'

'So it would seem. But you saw the CNN story with her ex-husband. It seemed to be a little… odd.'

Danner thought about it, going over that CNN interview in his mind. 'Did Enright impress you as being intense, Caswell?'

'I didn't pay much attention.'

'I did. Enright is very, very intense.' And Danner had sensed something else in the detective that had struck an answering chord in him. 'Was it the situation or is he a little unstable?'

Caswell waited.

'Either way we may be able to use him. If handled right, he may lead us to the Brady woman.' Danner smiled. 'And she may lead us to Marrok. I think we need to know a good deal more about Lester Enright.'

'HERE WE ARE.' WALT WAS rapidly descending. 'When do you want to be picked up?'

'Four hours. No longer.'

'Good God, it's barren here,' Devon said. The small jet plane was landing in the middle of a stretch of flat plateau of red earth. The area was dotted with cactus and skimpy patches of grass and surrounded by low foothills leading to huge, sun-baked bluffs bordering a deep canyon. 'And I don't see any houses.'

'There aren't any.' Marrok jumped out of the plane, turned, and helped her down. 'We had a shack on the reservation down below, but I was never there. I always came up here and stayed with Paco when I wasn't at the local bar. Sometimes I'd bring up one of the girls I picked up in town, and we'd screw our brains out.'

'Where?'

'There's a cave.' He started down the path. 'Paco lived there. Though he never approved of my using his cave for carnal purposes.'

'Wait.' She was looking back at the Lab, who was still in the cockpit. 'Aren't we taking Ned?'

'No. He never wants to come with me to the cave. He starts grieving when he's around anything that reminds him of Paco.' He frowned. 'I've got to do something about that.'

'And who is Paco?'

'He was the Diyi, the shaman of the tribe. I told you, I was his apprentice. He took me on when I was twelve. It was considered a great honor by the elders of the tribe.' He grimaced. 'Not that Paco let me do much. He told me that the great spells were for the great shaman, and I was not going to be a great shaman for a long, long time. Perhaps never, unless I learned to curb my temper. I was allowed only to putter with his minor magic and brews. That was enough for me. It was better than staying in that filthy shack with a father who was shooting up every chance he got. Of course, the bureaucrats who managed the reservation called Paco a bizarre old faker.'

'Was he?'

'Probably. I always told him they were right about him, but he only laughed. He knew I was a cynical little bastard and didn't believe in his 'magic.' I do know he was great with herbs and healing potions. Every now and then I saw him do something that made me wonder.' He shrugged. 'But most of the time I was either drunk or breathing smoke. He kept shaking his head and telling me I could be a great and wise leader if only I'd tame my soul. I didn't want to be great or wise if it meant staying down in the dirt and bowing my head. That was what the council was doing, that was what my father did until he finally killed himself with heroin. Instead, I liked playing with Paco's potions and spells and making up a few of my own. It pleased my sense of the dramatic.'

'Slow down.' She was having to hurry to match his stride. 'Two hours ago I was afraid you were going into