“That was before I jumped through that skylight,” Cameron said dryly. “Actions like that tend to aggravate a wound.”
“Let me see it.”
“Later.” He grabbed Kadmus’s legs and started to pull him toward the freight elevator. “But you can help me get Kadmus and Brasden on that elevator. I don’t want to bleed any more than necessary.”
She was dragging Kadmus’s upper body. “Why do you want them on the elevator?”
“We’re going to send them both down to the second floor to rendezvous with those ten or fifteen men Kadmus told to wait for word to attack. It should cause a satisfactory amount of confusion and give us a chance to get away from the factory before they recover.” He opened the elevator gate, and they pushed Kadmus inside. “Now for Brasden.” He smiled at Catherine. “I was impressed. I was watching from the skylight, getting ready to jump. You handled him very well.” His brows rose. “But cherry bombs, Catherine?”
She shrugged. “You use what you have on hand.” She strode back toward Brasden’s body. “And I wasn’t expecting help from above.”
“You didn’t need it,” Hu Chang said as he came out of the darkness. “I thought I might have to intercede, but I’m glad I didn’t have to do it. I was quite busy trying to keep young Luke from breaking out of that storage closet. He didn’t have the same faith in you that I do.”
“I have faith in her,” Luke said as he came to stand beside Hu Chang. He added simply, “I was just scared.”
“So was I,” Cameron said. “But can we stop talking and get Brasden’s body on that elevator? We need to get out of here.”
“I’ll help,” Luke said quickly.
Catherine opened her mouth to protest but then closed it. It might not be what she wanted for Luke, but this was minor compared to the violence to which he could have been subjected tonight. “Hurry.”
Hu Chang smiled. “Very wise.” He helped Luke drag Brasden’s body toward the elevator and glanced at Cameron. “I heard that you were bleeding. I’ll take a look at it once we’re out of here.”
Cameron shook his head. “I don’t wish to insult you, but I have to deal with physicians the committee authorizes.” He smiled. “Unless I’m bleeding to death. Which I am not.” He slammed the gate of the freight elevator shut and pressed the button. He whirled and headed for the window exit. “I’ll go first and clear the way. I saw some activity down there when I was on the roof.” He had reached the window and swung his legs over the sill. “Hurry. Don’t waste any time.”
Catherine pushed Luke ahead of her and watched him climb to the window.
“After you, Catherine.” Hu Chang bowed.
An uproar from the second floor. Shouts.
Nagle had opened the elevator door.
She was at the window and looked back to make sure Hu Chang was behind her.
“Catherine.” Luke was looking down at the alley below him. “Cameron.”
“What’s wrong with Camer—”
Nothing was wrong with Cameron, she saw. He had evidently been confronted by three of Kadmus’s men in the alley and he was fighting them off with the speed and skill of a Jackie Chan. She had never seen anyone with that degree of lethal karate technique. He had the three men down in less than a minute.
“Neat,” Luke murmured.
“Keep going,” she said.
“I hear the elevator,” Hu Chang said from behind her. “Evidently, the lack of leadership didn’t confuse them enough to stop them.”
“They’re drones,” Cameron said as he reached up to give a hand to help Luke to the ground. “Nagle had orders, and he’ll try to obey them. He doesn’t know who will take over for Kadmus but he’ll want them to use him and his team.” He added grimly, “But his men won’t have the brainpower to make good decisions, and we’ve thrown them into a turmoil. That’s why I wanted to be out of that building. Blake’s men were breaking into the first floor and I called and told them to get out, too.” They were all on the ground now. “Let’s get away from it.” He started down the alley at a dead run. Hu Chang, Luke, and Catherine followed.
Shouts. Curses.
Catherine looked back over her shoulder. She could see shadowy figures at the third-floor window. Someone was trying to climb out on the fire escape.
Shots.
A bullet struck the brick wall next to her.
More shots.
“Run,” Cameron said tensely.
Those shots …
Didn’t they realize the danger of those shots? Just one random shot could ignite those fireworks.
Another shot.
The factory blew!
Not all at once, a series of explosions as it moved from box to box on the third floor.
Then, as it reached the main fireworks supply, the explosion shook the ground.
Luke was knocked to his knees by the blast.
She pulled him to his feet and kept on running.
Explosion after explosion.
Then just the crackling suction of flames.
She stopped and looked back.
The factory was totally engulfed in fire. From the street shops to the third floor, the entire structure looked like a garden house in hell.
She was only vaguely aware that Hu Chang and Luke were standing beside her, staring at the inferno. “No one could survive that fire…” She looked at Cameron. “You told me that it wouldn’t be like that horrible fireworks blast in Vietnam.”
“And it isn’t,” Cameron said. “I had the majority of the gunpowder and chemical papers moved out of the building. And I placed the other explosives in such a way that it caused them to principally implode. It won’t hurt anyone outside the factory. The only deaths will be Kadmus’s men who caused the blast.” He smiled crookedly. “And the fire is so intense that even the firemen won’t try to enter the building to save them.”
She was staring at him. “But you knew they’d react like that. Nagle’s drones you called them. You wanted it to happen.”
He shrugged. “I’m the Guardian. If Nagle’s men hadn’t died, they’d have been in my way again next year or the year after. It was the efficient way to handle it.”
She shivered at the sheer, cool calculation that had brought Cameron exactly what he needed to happen. Yes, those men in that building had been murderers and a threat to them, but they really hadn’t had a chance against him. “You’re very formidable, Cameron.”
“It’s what I was hired to be.” He met her gaze. “Don’t expect anything else of me.” He cast one more look at the burning factory and turned to Hu Chang. “Get them out of here. The place is going to be surrounded by fire trucks and police any minute. Take them back to Celia’s. I’ll call Blake and tell him that it’s safe to take Erin back there, too.” He glanced at Luke. “I have to leave for a little while to get this wound sewn up and bandaged. You take care of Catherine for me.”
“I won’t do it for you. I’ll do it for myself.” Luke paused. “And I’m sorry that you got shot because of me. I wouldn’t let it happen again.”
“Not if I had the schooling of you.”
“Which you won’t,” Catherine said as she started toward the street down the alley. She stopped and looked back at him. “You won’t let us help you?”
He smiled and shook his head. “Rules.”
“Heaven forbid that we interfere with your committee’s idiotic rules.”
“The rules are actually meant to protect me. No one is more vulnerable than when under the care of a doctor. I’ll let Hu Chang know where I am and what’s happening.” He moved quickly past them and turned left at the street. The next moment, he had disappeared around the corner.
Luke was gazing after him. “Should we have let him go? I’m kind of worried.”
“Feeling responsible?” Catherine asked. “Now you know how I feel about you. Responsibility does lead to interference. We may not like it, but it’s the human response to caring for someone.”
“You didn’t answer me,” Luke said. “I think you’re worried, too.”
She nodded jerkily. “But we can’t do anything to help Cameron against his will. He doesn’t belong to us. He doesn’t belong to anyone.” Except to that damned committee that appeared to be the center of his existence. She drew a deep breath. “As soon as Hu Chang finds out where he’s staying tomorrow, I’ll go check on him. Okay?”