Deadlock

and Pauley. It should only take you a few minutes. Don't argue. I'm going to need help.'

Then why isn't he coming with me, she thought desperately as she stomped on the accelerator. He had darted to the side of the road and disappeared into the brush. She wanted to go after him. If he needed help, she wanted to be the one to give it to him.

But Dardon was better equipped to deal with a situation like this.

Hurry, get Dardon and Pauley.

And get back here before Garrett is killed.

'STAY HERE, EMILY.' 0 A R D 0 N jumped out of the car and started slipping and sliding down the slope toward the ditch. 'Pauley!'

Emily ignored him and was right behind them as they reached the car. The driver was crumpled against the wheel. There was no sign of Garrett or the fair-haired man who had been shooting at them.

Pauley checked the driver. 'Dead. Broken neck.'

The impact of the car or Garrett? Emily had a memory of Gar¬rett's arm around Shafir Ali's neck in that tent in the mountains.

Dardon was already moving toward the brush, examining the way the leaves were lying and the broken branches. 'This way, I think.'

'No.' Pauley was moving toward the north. 'I think I heard something…'

'Dammit, Pauley.'

'I heard something.'

Emily had heard it too. Low, scarcely audible. A groan? A scream? She started at a run after Pauley.

But they had gotten only a few yards into the woods when they saw Garrett moving toward them.

Dizzying relief surged through her.

'You're not hurt?'

He shook his head. 'But we'd better get out of here before anyone comes. Someone might have heard those shots. Two dead bodies are hard to explain.'

Dardon's gaze went to the direction from which Garrett had come. 'Do you know who he was?'

'The shooter was Sal Caprini. I don't know the name of the other man. The address on Caprini's driver's license was in New Jersey.' He turned to Emily. 'Staunton sent him. Orders were to kill me, take you.'

'He told you that?'

'Yes.' He smiled faintly. 'It was sort of a deathbed confession.' He tossed a phone to Pauley. 'See if you can retrieve Staunton's number from Caprini's phone, in case we need it. It won't be easy. Staunton would be very careful.'

'A challenge,' Pauley said. 'You do like to keep me stimulated.'

'Yes. That's the only stimulation I want you to indulge in while you're on my payroll.' He took Emily's elbow. 'Come on. We have to get out of here. Dardon, is the plane ready?'

'Almost. Fifteen minutes after we get to the airport.'

Emily looked back at the Toyota crashed in the ditch as they reached the road.

'Forget it,' Garrett said. 'Caprini and his friend would have served you up to Staunton and not given a damn what he did with you.'

'I know that. It just happened so… quickly.' And with brutal efficiency. She realized that Garrett hadn't really needed Dardon. He'd only wanted to get rid of her. Then he'd gone down and taken care of those men, those murderers, himself. There were moments that she forgot how lethal he was, but then it could be brought back to her with jarring suddenness. Had he killed the driver, too? She wouldn't ask him. Nor would she talk to him about Caprini. He had probably saved her and certainly his own life. She had no right to question how he did it. 'Will the police be after us about this?'

'They will unless I can get in touch with Ferguson and use him to run interference. He has contacts. We'll see if he can get a cleanup crew out here.'

She looked at him in surprise. 'Again?'

'He won't like it, but he might as well make himself useful. It shouldn't be as hard as the one in Kabul. They both died of broken necks that could have happened in the accident. I'd bet Caprini has a record as long as my arm.' He shrugged. 'I can only try.'

And Garrett would probably be successful if he tried, she thought. He seemed to be a master manipulator. She would never have guessed that Ferguson would have agreed to the deal in Kabul. Garrett seemed to know how to press just the right buttons.

'What are you thinking?' His gaze was narrowed on her face as he opened the car door for her.

'I was thinking that you're a very talented man.'

'Oh, yes.' He glanced back at the ditch. 'And you particularly ad¬mire one of my talents.' He slammed the door, ran around, and got into the driver's seat. 'I've validated your opinion again, haven't I?'

'I'm not saying-' She stopped as Dardon and Pauley reached the car. It was just as well. She was too emotional right now to think, much less speak clearly. But she had to say one thing. 'You saved my life. I'm not about to judge you.' She looked straight ahead. 'Now, can we please get out of here?'

Tangiers, Morocco

BORG STRAIGHTENED AWAY FROM the curved archway as he saw Irana Povak come out of the Roman Catholic church across the street. She slipped her scarf off her head and started down the winding street toward the clinic. Watch and wait, Staunton had said. Find an oppor¬tunity. Any repeat routine activity might be the ticket that would let him get his hands on her.

The Povak woman had only been inside the church for forty-five minutes, but that might be an opportunity. The bitch had once been a nun, and she might make regular visits to the church for prayer and confession.

That could be his chance. God knows, he didn't see any other way. As he'd told Staunton, she was never out of the sight of one of Dar¬don's guards. Even now he could see a security guard who was strolling after her at a discreet distance but still staying close.

It might be better to be inside the church when she got there to¬morrow. He'd managed to bug her cell phone, but that might not help get the information he needed. He'd ask some discreet questions at the clinic or bribe someone to tell him when she left the clinic to go to the church.

And, if he was prepared, there might be no more waiting and watching. He'd swoop down and take her before she knew what was happening and give her to Staunton. He smiled at the thought. Borg knew Staunton, and if he was frustrated about Emily Hudson, he wouldn't hesitate to play games with Irana Povak. Borg was beginning to look forward to those games.

By all means, go to church and say your prayers, bitch. You'll need them.

EMILY LOOKED DOWN AT THE Atlantic as their jet took off over the water. 'So easy,' she murmured. 'No customs. No Homeland Se¬curity…'

'Not easy at all. It takes a great deal of money and knowing the right people,' Garrett said. 'Bribes for this kind of thing are very ex¬pensive in this day and age.'

'But all it takes is money.' She looked up at him. 'It scares me. All these terrorists' threats, and all it takes is money to skirt around the tightest security measures.'

'What can I say?'

'Nothing. I'm abusing the system, and I have no right to com¬plain. But I am complaining. I resent the fact that it can be done. I re¬sent the fact that my country is at risk.'

'Not from me, Emily.'

'No.' She leaned back in her seat. 'Not from you. In your way, you're one of the good guys.'

He chuckled. 'Whatever gave you that idea?' 'Irana told me.'

'Then of course it must be true.' He shook his head. 'And after what happened before we got on this plane, your faith in her judg¬ment isn't shaken?'

'No.' Emily reached for the envelope containing the court rec¬ords. 'Because it's not entirely her judgment. Now, I'm going to read these translations and see if I can get a handle on Mikhail Zelov.'

'Do you want me to take some of that testimony and work on it?'

'No, I want to do it myself. Why don't you go see if Pauley has managed to hack into that phone company database?'

'I'm obviously being sent on my way.' He stood up. 'By all means let me run along. I wouldn't want to disturb