Chapter Nine
He almoststepped on her.
Hedwig had taken shelter beneath the ragged boughsof a big juniper bush. Will spotted the white of her jeans.Probably the only white patch left.
He squatted, keeping a wary eye on her hands. Shewas clutching a thick, short branch, and he didn’t think it was tochew on during labor. “All right. Come out of there.”
“I…can’t.”
He controlled himself, but it wasn’t easy. Everytime he thought about Taylor wandering around in that undergroundcavern, he felt he felt the rein he was keeping on his emotionsslip. “Kelila, get your ass out of there, or I’m coming in afteryou. Believe me; you don’t want that.”
She stared back defiantly. “The baby is coming.”
“We’ve all heard that before. Tell the baby sheneeds to postpone her flight.”
“He. It’s a boy.”
“I don’t care what it is.” He felt a warning prickledown his scalp, that sixth sense that had kept him alive and in onepiece as a marine and later in the DSS. Turning, Will spotted twodark-clad figures switchbacking down the golden hills behind him.From the way they seemed to study the ground, he didn’t thinkthey’d spotted him yet.
“Company’s coming, so unless you want an audiencefor the delivery, you better get moving.”
Kelila half crawled, half rolled out from under thebush. Will helped her to her knees.
“Don’t stand up. Where the hell did you think youwere going?”
“Mexico.”
“On foot?”
“Plenty of people do it on foot.”
“I don’t think most of them are ready to drop a kidany second.”
“I could make it.”
He was beginning to believe she could.
He felt her stiffen as she spotted the sleek figuresmoving down the hill in the fading light. “You recognize them. Whoare they?”
“Gretchen and Victor Hart. They work forMikhail.”
“Let me guess. Not bill collectors?”
“No. Mikhail must have found out about thebaby.”
“You mean it would be news to him?”
“I left when I realized I was pregnant. I didn’ttell Mikhail.”
Will had been helping her crawl along from bush torock perpendicular to their pursuers, but at that he stopped. “Ithought you left when you realized your life was in danger fromsomeone highly placed in the DEA.”
Kelila nodded. “Yes. That was why I knew I had torun. I had to think of my baby at that point.”
“And who were you thinking of before then?”
She looked confused, throwing nervous glances at thefigures still relentlessly combing the hillside blocking their wayback to Taylor.
Will said, “You had a thing about Bashnakov from thetime you were in high school. You apparently broke up his marriage—”
“He was widowed.”
“But then before you ever know you’re pregnant, youstart working for the DEA as an informant. Why?”
“Why? Because I learned my husband — mywonderful, charming, handsome husband — was a murderer and a drugdealer.” Will must have looked as baffled as he felt. She spat out,“That’s not okay!”
“I know it’s not okay. Are you saying you wentvoluntarily to the DEA?”
“Yes.” She met his eyes unswervingly. Not that thatmeant much. Will had met plenty of bald-faced liars in histime.
“You volunteered to act as an informant for theDEA?”
“Yes.”
“And what’s the name of the highly placed DEAofficial you believe set you up?”
“Deputy Administrator Ted Bell.”
If it wasn’t the truth, it was a damn goodfacsimile. Even Will had heard the rumors about DA Ted Bell.
She said, suddenly alarmed, “Where’s your — Where’sAgent MacAllister?”
“He’s waiting for us. I hope.” Will scanned thehills. The Harts had reached the flatland now. If they couldcircumnavigate them, if Will could get Kelila up the hill withoutbeing seen…
That still left the problem of Taylor.
One thing at a time. Getting up that hill unseen.That was the first thing.
And it was liable to be the last thing. They’d besitting ducks all the way up that hillside.
He glanced at Kelila’s drawn face. If ever a girlwas game, it was this one.
* * * * *
Hiking down, the hills had seemed reasonably gentle.Climbing up felt like scaling Everest. Their progress wasagonizingly slow. Hedwig labored ahead of him, mostly on hands andknees, panting hard. The bare stretches with only the gold-tippedgrass swaying in the breeze for cover seemed miles long.
It was inevitable that they would be spotted. Willknew it, was prepared for it, but the first blast sent his heartinto overdrive. Kelila let out a shriek and scuttled away.
“Get down!” Will yelled.
She was a slow-moving target, awkward as ananteater, but for some reason neither Gretchen nor Victor took theshot. In fact, all their firepower seemed to be trained on Will.Bullets chewed up the earth around him, took bites out of thesparse vegetation, nibbled at the rocks and sent them flying.
Will flattened himself to the warm soil, locked bothhands around his SIG, and laid down a steady return barrage. It wasonly a matter of time before one of them nailed him, but he wouldgive Kelila every possible second. He was aware of her making herspiderlike way up the slope to the left of him. Panic in slowmotion.
Will changed clips.
Sorry, Taylor. Sorry, sweetheart. If it wasgoing to end like this, Will was actually glad Taylor was safelytrapped belowground, no chance of him doing anything stupid andsuicidal until the danger was past.
His finger tightened on the trigger, squeezing — hewas down to his last rounds.
Like a thunderclap from overhead came the loudbang of a .357 SIG.
Will’s heart jerked with each bullet crack.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
That rapid, even staccato was as familiar, aswelcome as like the voice of a lover calling down themountainside.
It was his ticket home. He turned, relying on Taylorto cover his retreat, and sprang up the hill in a couple of bounds,catching Kelila a few yards ahead and half dragging her along withhim.
They reached the top. Taylor was lying in the deepgrass, looking remarkably unruffled. He had that tight-jawed,implacable expression Will recognized from other tight corners, andthough his eyes flicked briefly over Will, making sure he was stillwhole, his attention was focused on the two he had pinned downbelow.
“Can she make it to the car?” he asked.
“She’ll make it.”
“I’ll cover you.”
“Don’t
