Don't look at him.
She sat down in a chair by the door. She'd hoped to have a way to defend herself until help came. The call from Renata had been an obvious stall. When Renata had first come into their lives, she might have shown that tough facade, but she had changed. God, they had all changed in these last days. Megan, Renata, Harley, Grady.
Grady.
Whatever Renata was planning, it had to involve Grady. Don't let anything happen to Grady. Don't let anything happen to any of them.
But she couldn't rely on wishful thinking. She had to be ready to find a way to act.
GRADY HUNG UP THE PHONE from talking to Renata and turned to Venable. 'She thinks he took the bait.' He picked up his rifle. 'I'm out of here. I'll let you know what's happening on that hill.'
'I have twenty men sitting on their asses in these damn woods,' Venable said. 'When am I going to be able to tell them to start? Give me a chance to do my job.'
'You move one man out of cover before I give the word and I'll shoot him myself,' Grady said harshly. 'If Molino's men catch a whiff that anything's going on, Megan's dead.'
'I'm a professional. I wouldn't let that happen.'
Grady shook his head. 'Renata's right. When she called me, I didn't want to go along with her. I wanted to be there waiting when they got back and blow the damn place up.' His lips twisted. 'But she ran that scenario and says that Megan would have an eighty-seven percent chance of dying. That's too high. It scared the hell out of me. So we're going with Renata's plan. First, there has to be a built-in delay to make sure Molino keeps his hands off Megan. Renata and the Ledger. Then we needed a man in the woods on the hill to feed us information. Since Harley was on the spot, he was up there before Molino brought Megan back. Next, we have to have someone go up and take out the sentries.' He headed up the path. 'That's me.'
'And what kind of percentage did your friend, Renata, give Megan on this scenario?' Venable asked.
'Thirty-two percent,' Grady answered. 'If everything goes right.'
Lord, the odds were still too high and the chances of everything going exactly right was laughable, he thought. Nothing ever went exactly as you thought it would.
He called Harley when he was halfway up the hill. 'Brief me.'
'Megan's in a room in the basement,' Harley said. 'Molino took her down stairs and came back alone. He's in the main house now.'
'Renata made the call five minutes ago,' Grady said. 'It bought Megan some time, thank God. Where are you?'
'In the pine woods about a thousand yards down the road from the house. There are three men patrolling the grounds and I've seen four men moving around inside the house. There may be more but that's-Wait a minute. Two men are leaving the house. I think Molino took the bait. They're heading for the helicopter pad. They may be going to pick up Renata.' He paused. 'It might be a good time for me to try to get closer and see if I can slip Megan a weapon in case something goes wrong.'
'Nothing's going to go wrong,' Grady said. Maybe saying the words would make it true. 'And I'm on my way up to clear the way for Venable's men. I'll take out the perimeter sentries and then move toward the house. Just stay put, dammit. I need to know everything that's happening in that house and you have to be there for Megan. I want to be told the minute Molino goes back to that basement.'
'Whatever you say. If you're going to join me, you might want to know that there's one guard with a rifle behind the house. The other two are patrolling the woods bordering the cliff about a quarter of a mile from the house. One rifle. One handgun.'
'That's it?'
'That's it. The helicopter is off the ground. You're sure you don't want me to-'
'Keep to the plan. Stay put.' Grady hung up.
'COME OUT, MEGAN,' MOLINO called as he opened the door of the basement apartment. 'I've just had word that our little friend is going to be landing in a few minutes. We're going to meet her so that she'll feel safe and know my intentions are above reproach.'
'And what are you going to do to her once you verify the pages?' she asked as she climbed the stairs.
'Why, I'm sure you're aware that there are many ways to get what you want without negotiation. I just have to make sure that she has the real thing.' He was nudging her toward the helicopter pad. 'And then you can go back and join Sienna. I'm sure he's missing you. Ah, here she comes.'
A tan-and-cream helicopter was landing on the pad. Two men jumped out of the helicopter as soon as it landed. 'Permit me to introduce you.' Molino gestured to the tall, spare, red-haired man. 'This is David Condon. He was flying the helicopter that brought you here, Megan. The other gentleman is Ben Stallek. I was a little distracted or I would have been more careful of the amenities. Did you bring Notting?'
A small man in a plaid shirt got out of the plane. 'This will cost you. I was practically yanked away from my golf game to come here.'
'It will only take a short time. Just a preliminary examination.' Molino said to Megan, 'This testy gentleman is very knowledgeable or I wouldn't put up with his rudeness.'
'He's also very greedy.' Renata got out of the helicopter. She handed Molino a large envelope. 'Be careful of those pages.'
'I always take care of what's mine.' He moved toward the house with Notting. 'Condon, you stay here. Stallek, you come with us.' He glanced back over his shoulder. 'Oh, Condon, if either of the ladies decide to be foolish please feel free to shoot them. The stomach, I think. Stomach wounds are so painful.'
Condon drew his gun and pointed it at Megan.
Renata ignored him. 'Did Molino hurt you, Megan?'
'Not much.' She looked at Renata. 'You're the one who looks terrible. How did you get those bruises?'
'They did a strip search. I objected.' She looked at Condon. 'And he enjoyed it. I'm going to remember that.' Her glance shifted to Megan. 'That test probably won't take over fifteen minutes. Notting has the chemicals he needs to do the job. But Molino won't be in a hurry once he knows that the pages test genuine.'
'Will they?'
'Yes. Where's Sienna?'
'Dead. Molino claims he went mad, that I did it, and he had to kill him. I think it's bullshit. Molino was looking for an excuse to kill Sienna.'
'I don't care why he's dead. I'm only concerned that he's out of the picture.' She looked at the grove of pine trees about a thousand yards down the road, to the left of the cliff. 'That broken pine looks dead, doesn't it? These jokers have probably been using it for target practice. But I bet it isn't dead.'
Megan frowned in puzzlement. What did pine trees have to do with anything? Dead or not.
'Is it dead, Condon?' Renata called out to the guard. 'You've been living here. You should know if that pine tree's-'
The guard frowned and started toward them. 'What are you-' Condon arched and opened his mouth in a soundless scream. He stumbled forward and fell.
There was a knife in his back.
'Grady,' Renata murmured. 'Good job.'
Grady appeared out of the utility shed. 'Get Megan out of here,' he said curtly. 'Now!' He disappeared behind the shed.
'Go.' Renata pushed Megan toward the trees. 'The pines. There's a gun there and I hope to God Harley's there too. He's supposed to be.'
'What are you going to do?'
'Help Grady take out the men in the house. Tell Harley to call Venable and tell him to get up here. Hurry. And get that gun.' She disappeared after Grady.
Megan wanted to run after her. No, she didn't even have a weapon. The gun! She had to get the gun and get help from Venable.
Megan flew down the cliff road toward the pine trees.
'Bitch!' Molino's enraged howl shrieked behind her.
