“Now you,” Nemov told Taylor. “Slowly.”
Taylor obeyed, unspeaking. The fact that he wasunspeaking was a very bad sign, but there was nothing Will could doabout that now. In some ways Taylor was as direct as an arrow tothe heart. It was possible he was never going to understand — Willwasn’t sure he understood — the choice Will had just made.But Will couldn’t stand by and see Taylor die. Not if there was anychance in hell of avoiding it.
“Get your cuffs out.”
“They’re on the girl.”
“Oh? Agent Brent. Take your cuffs out and walk overhere. The right side of the car, please.”
“My right or yours?”
Nemov chuckled. “I like you, Agent Brent. You are ofa pragmatic nature. As is Nemov.”
Will walked around the front of the car, passingHedwig, who was crying quietly. He joined Taylor in front of thesawed-off shotgun.
Taylor didn’t look at him. Will clenched his jawagainst the protest, the explanations. In the end there was nothingto say, no excuse, and — for him — no choice.
“Cuff yourself to your partner.”
Still not looking at Will, Taylor shoved his armforward, offering the lower part of his forearm.
Good thinking, MacAllister.
But it was a no-go. Nemov said, “Uh-uh. I know thattrick. He has skinny arms, your partner. Make sure the cuff istight around the wrist.”
In stony silence, Will snapped the cuff aroundTaylor’s bony wrist. Will clicked the metal circlet around his ownwrist, joining them.
“Keys to the handcuffs?”
Will handed them over.
Nemov smiled at Taylor. With tight, quick movements,Taylor used his free hand to pull his ID out and awkwardly removethe key from behind his badge.
“You are the wily one, yes? Not so wily as Nemov,though.” Nemov took the key with every appearance of good humor.“Throw the car keys as far as you can. And do not throw like alittle girl.”
Taylor gave Nemov a baleful look, felt around forthe keys in his Levi’s, dangled them fleetingly in front of Nemov’slong nose, and then hurled them with ferocious energy across theyucca and Spanish bayonet. They glinted as they fell like ashooting star.
“Nice. You play baseball, I bet. All right, milayamoyna. Time to go.”
Footsteps dragging, Hedwig came slowly around thecar.
“Just do what he says,” Will told her. “You’ll beokay.” He felt he was speaking as much to Taylor as Hedwig.
“Listen to Agent Brent. He is a smart man.”
Will couldn’t seem to tear his gaze from Taylor’saverted face.
“Start walking,” Nemov ordered. “I will be rightbehind you.”
Hedwig stumbled past them and started up theincreasingly muddy dirt trail.
Nemov said quietly, “Now, my young friends, you findout what teamwork is really about. Take my advice. Forget aboutKelila Hedwig. If anyone asks, tell them you followed a cold trail.She was gone by the time you found Ramirez’s. No need to wreck yourcareers over this, you will agree.”
A pulse jumped in Taylor’s temple, but to Will’srelief, he restrained himself.
Nemov backed away, keeping the shotgun trained onthem until his tall figure dissolved into the darkness. They couldhear his quick stride down the road as he followed Hedwig.
Taylor swung on Will. “What the hell were youthinking?” he half whispered. “For God’s sake, Will. Yousurrendered your weapon —”
“I know what I did.”
“You let him take our prisoner.”
“I know.”
“You allowed him to take you hostage.”
“I know.”
Will’s quiet response seemed to confuse Taylor. Hepeered at Will through the rain-swept gloom. “I don’t get it. Helpme understand. How could you do that?”
Will shook his head.
Taylor’s voice rose again. “Goddamn it. It’s notonly against agency policy and training, it’s against commonsense.”
“I don’t need to hear this from you. Not rightnow.”
“Will…” Will could practically see the wheelsturning. Taylor said, “He was not going to shoot me.”
Despite Will’s determination not to defend hisdecision, he heard himself arguing, “You don’t know that. Myinstinct is he would have shot you. Maybe he wouldn’t havekilled you, but he was ready to shoot you.”
“Then you’d have shot him, right?”
It took a second to work past the sweepingobliviousness of that. “Right. You’d still be dead.”
“Your way, we both could have been dead. Andthe girl too. It’s totally against policy, and you damn well knowit.”
“Don’t you throw policy at me.”
“Anyway, there’s no way he’d have shot a federalofficer.”
“Of course not. That never happens.”
“For Christ sake, Will. The fact that I got shotonce —”
“Twice.” Will said fiercely, “I’ve seen youtake a bullet twice.”
“You didn’t even see it the first time!”
“What the…? Like that makes a difference? I saw theresult, Taylor. I saw you lying there in what looked like alake of your own blood. I saw you choking, trying to breathe with ahole in your lung.”
The anger drained out of Taylor. “Will,” he saidhelplessly. “You’ve got to let it go. We’ve talked about this. Youcan’t make decisions in the field based on my safety.”
He was right. About all of it. Which was one reasonWill had never wanted their relationship to move from friends tolovers. But that was ancient history. They were lovers, andthere was no going back from it. Not for Will. Not now.
“Like you wouldn’t have done the same goddamnedthing?”
Taylor’s expression — what Will could see of it —was decidedly weird. “No. I wouldn’t have.”
He could hear the rain pattering off the stiffmaterial of their vests. “You don’t —” Will stopped. “Look. Thisisn’t the time.”
The rumble of a car’s engine drifted across thedistance.
“Come on.” Will started to move in the directionTaylor had thrown the car keys. “I hope you took time to pick alandmark.”
Taylor didn’t budge, and the steel tether yankedWill back. He whipped around, his temper suddenly soaring. Maybe itwas true that there was nothing he feared as much as losing Taylor,but for one blazing instant, he was ready to kill his partnerhimself.
If Taylor saw his anger, he gave no sign. He saidmildly, “I didn’t throw the car keys.”
“What? I saw you.”
“I threw my own keys, not the rental car keys.”
Will stared at him and then, surprising himself,started to laugh. “You’re kidding.”
Taylor shook his
