After several hours’ sleep, Dominic and Elspeth started their journey back to Killara. The pace was slower due to the heavily burdened pack animals, and the mood was subdued and dispirited. Dominic deliberately kept them on the trail until well after dark to make sure they would both be too weary to think of anything but sleep.
But sleep didn’t come to either of them. They lay together watching the fire, wide awake, thinking.
“Do you suppose it was my fault?” Elspeth asked. “If I hadn’t insisted on going to Kantalan, none of this would have happened. Rising Star wouldn’t have died.”
“How can you ask that? She could have taken a fall anywhere and she might have gone to Kantalan regardless. Patrick said she wanted the treasure for the child.” Dominic’s lips brushed her temple. “Rising Star blamed no one.”
“Oh, I know.” Elspeth was silent a long time, gazing into the fire. “Do you suppose she’s happy now? Everyone is supposed to be happy in heaven, aren’t they?”
“So the priests say. I guess I’ve never thought much about it.”
“Neither have I.” She was silent again. “I think Sayan and Dalkar must be happy, but they’re together. Rising Star was so alone.”
“Perhaps that was why she was given Ko-Do.”
“Yes.”
Elspeth was quiet so long that Dominic thought she had fallen asleep. “We’re so lucky to be alive, Dominic. I don’t want to be in heaven with you yet. There’s so much I want to do on earth. I want to see you build your kingdom of Killara. I want to have your children and watch them grow up.” Her cheek nestled in the hollow of his shoulder. “I won’t let you die, Dominic. I couldn’t bear it.”
“I’d have a little trouble adjusting to it myself.” For the first time since they had left Kantalan there was a note of dry humor in his voice. “Particularly since I’m not sure I’ll qualify for pearly gates and streets of gold. Well, with the Kantalan treasure maybe we can pave our own streets with gold.”
“I guess I haven’t thought much about the treasure. I was so concerned with proving my theory about Atlantis and then when Rising Star died…”
Elspeth’s voice was becoming husky and Dominic quickly sought a subject to distract her. “We could form an expedition and go back to Kantalan.”
She shook her head. “It would take years to excavate the ruins.”
“We could still try to do it.” He paused. “If that’s what you want. I’ve got what I came to Kantalan for. I’d like you to find your treasure too.”
“I have found it,” she said softly. “I saw it. I know it exists. I’d rather remember Kantalan as I first caught sight of it than as it is now.”
“Then what about those mounds in, Wisconsin or Illinois you told me about?” Dominic asked. “Maybe the mound where they found the statue of the elephant. We could go there and see if it has any link with Atlantis.” He frowned thoughtfully. “We could drop off some of the treasure at the Wells Fargo office in Tucson and let Da take care of the rest. He could pay off the mortgage and start expanding our holdings.”
“The Cahokia mound would be more likely. Its shaped like a truncated pyramid.” Her eagerness faded and anxiety clouded her face. “Now? You’re talking about going to Illinois immediately? What about Killara?”
“I’ve been away from Killara for a long time.”
“But not because you wanted to be. Are you still trying to protect your family?”
“Nothing has changed to make my being there any safer for them. I guess you know I’m going to surround you with a small army of Pinkerton men while we’re in Illinois.” His arms tightened around her. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“Pinkerton men?”
“A company that provides guards for hire among other services.”
“But Killara-”
“Illinois will be safer for both of us.” He hesitated before adding haltingly. “And I want our time together to be happy.”
His words sounded frighteningly temporary, she thought. He wanted to make these moments as happy as possible because he feared they would not have a lifetime together. She started to protest, then thought better of it.
There had to be something they could do. She would not accept the fate of Sayan, Dalkar, and Rising Star. She would find a way. “Very well, we’ll go to Illinois,” she said as she relaxed against him and closed her eyes. “It would probably be better to go before I’m with child. A dig can be very strenuous, and besides, I think you’d like your son to be born at Killara.”
His child, Elspeth, their life together. Dominic lay there thinking about them long after Elspeth had fallen asleep. God, how he wanted to be able to hope again. Yet how could he hope for anything when he knew men like Torres were constantly on his trail?
Torres. He was close. Dominic could feel it. They were probably moving toward Torres now that they were on their homeward journey. Torres could pounce tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after. He stiffened as he realized he was thinking like a goat staked out for a tiger. Hell, he might just as well meekly bare his chest for Torres’s bullet. And if he waited for Torres’s attack, Elspeth might be caught in the crossfire.
He carefully released Elspeth, rolled away from her, and quickly put on his boots. He bent swiftly and kissed her lightly on the temple before reaching for his guns. He hesitated, looking down at her. Dammit, he didn’t want to leave her. Then he stood up and moved silently from the fire to where the animals were tethered.
It was time the prey turned hunter.
The flames were leaping high, and delicious visions danced before Ramon Torres’s eyes. He always enjoyed this moment of meditation preceding slumber. It was almost as satisfying as dreaming of Dominic. It would be soon now. The death would come soon. He must be close and-
The flames of his campfire suddenly erupted in a series of explosions.
Torres rolled to the side, reaching for his rifle.
“Afraid, Torres?” The voice wafted out of the trees that surrounded him. “Pine nuts. A little trick my nephew, Patrick showed me. Almost as noisy as firecrackers, aren’t they?”
“Dominic?”
“You wanted me. Now come and get me.”
It wasn’t supposed to be this way, Torres thought with indignation as he cautiously crawled out of the glare of the firelight.
When he reached the cover of the shrubs behind him, he balanced the rifle against the bole of a tree, his gaze anxiously searching the darkness. Nothing. Not a whisper of sound, not a stir of movement. Where had Dominic’s voice come from? Behind that big cluster of rocks? He would have to draw him out again.
“It was very stupid of you to warn me with your little joke,” he called out. “A clever man would have cut me down before I could make a move. But then, I’ve found honorable men are seldom clever, and you’re an honorable man, Dominic.”
“Am I?” The voice was mocking.
He
“Why are you so determined to get me, Torres?”
Torres moved closer. A large boulder overlooked the cluster of rocks where Dominic had taken cover. He would circle around behind it and rush him from the rear. “Because I have a fondness for you.” It was the truth. His powerful passion for Dominic was coursing through every vein as he thought of the pleasure his prey was going to give him. “Because you deserve to be killed by a great hunter, Dominic. You deserve to be killed by me.”
“Torres, you aren’t a great hunter.”
Anger sparked through Ramon. It was unfair of Dominic to insult him when he had only kind thoughts for his prey. “I will show you soon, my friend.” It was time to be silent as he circled the rocks. He mustn’t give his position away because of vanity.
