She picked up Diaz's fallen flashlight and shone it down on his face. His eyes were wide open and staring up at her. Yes, dead. But Montalvo still wasn't moving to get off him.
She shone the light on Montalvo's face and inhaled sharply. Blood lust. She had seen that expression on Joe's face in the heat of battle and it still shocked and terrified her. "I believe you can get off him now," she said quietly.
He stared blindly at her and then shook his head as if to clear it. "Yes." He slowly released Diaz's throat. "It's… done." He got to his feet. "You should have gone out the back door as we agreed."
"I didn't agree. You told me to do it. I decided that wasn't what I wanted. I had to know for sure that Diaz didn't get away. He's hurt too many people."
"Yes, he has." He was still staring down at Diaz. "He believed until the very end that he'd be the one to survive."
Her lips twisted. "Survive and prosper."
"I wanted him to know he was defeated and going to die. I'm not sure he did."
"Unless it's a sudden death, I think everyone knows before the last breath." She paused. "There was an explosion. I saw the light in the sky. That wasn't supposed to happen. It scared the hell out of me. You promised me that Joe would be safe on that helicopter."
"He is safe. I set it up so that-"
"You can't be sure of that," she said fiercely. "What was that explosion?"
"I'll find out." He dialed the phone as he walked toward one of the arched windows. "It looks like something from that American movie Independence Day out there. Come and look."
She followed him to the window. The castle was engulfed in flames, and smoke wreathed the ruins and cast a dark haze over the village.
Men running toward the castle.
Screams.
Shots.
A machine gun mounted on a truck was driving down the street and spewing out bullets and death as Diaz's men returned the fire.
Montalvo had finally made a connection and was talking into the phone.
She tensed, her gaze on his face. No expression, dammit.
He listened for a moment and then said, "No, go back to the compound. We'll meet you there."
"What's happening?" she asked as he hung up the phone.
"Quinn is alive and free and angry as hell. That's what you wanted to know, isn't it?"
Relief poured through her. "That's what I wanted to know. It's not that I didn't trust you but-"
"But you didn't trust me." He smiled faintly. "Not entirely. But at least there was some trust there or you would have been hysterical instead of mildly suspicious."
"Sometimes the best-laid plans go awry."
"Not usually. I've never believed in that saying."
"What about the explosion?"
"The tower was too inaccessible to send a force in to bring down the sniper."
"You sent twenty men to meet Galen and take care of it. That wasn't enough?"
"There would have been casualties. It turns out that Galen has a horror of casualties. He camped out in the jungle outside the tower and checked out the missile launcher last night. He thought he could disable it. So he waited until the sniper left the battlements and went downstairs, presumably to piss and eat. Galen went into the tower, disabled the missile, and got out by the skin of his teeth."
"The explosion," she repeated.
"When the sniper fired the missile, it exploded as Galen intended. That was the tower blowing up."
"Thank God." She turned to once again gaze out at the turmoil in the streets.
"Independence Day?" Montalvo asked softly.
She nodded. She and Montalvo had caused this to happen. They had planned and worked and executed the plan and now it was happening. The knowledge gave her a sense of bonding and closeness to him that she had never felt before toward anyone.
She drew a deep breath and took a step away from him. "When can I get back to the compound?"
"Don't be impatient. We have a major conflict going on outside." He handed her a gun and headed for the door. "And I should be out there with my men. Stay here. I'll come back for you when it's safe."
"What about Nekmon and the other men staked out in the forest?"
"They should have been disposed of by now. I ordered them to be taken out as soon as the castle was blown." He stopped at the door. "I mean it. Don't leave here. There are bullets flying everywhere. I'm not going to lose you at this stage of the game."
"You can't lose what you don't-"
He had already run out of the church. She watched him duck down and keep low as he ran through the streets toward the castle. It was true; there were shots and grenades going off constantly. He'd be lucky if he reached his men before he took a bullet. The thought sent a thrill of panic through her.
"Keep safe," she whispered. "For Christ's sake, don't die now, Montalvo."
Galen met Eve in the courtyard when she arrived back at the compound. "Okay?"
"Of course I'm okay." She jumped out of the jeep. "How is Joe?"
"He had to have some stitches replaced and Diaz broke another rib but he's as good as can be expected. Where's Montalvo?"
"Still at the village. He and Armandariz are doing a cleanup. He sent me here as soon as he thought it was safe." She smiled grimly. "Some of Diaz's men are holed up and shooting everyone they spot. The idiot will be lucky to get out with his skin intact."
He raised an eyebrow. "You're very concerned about Montalvo."
"What do you expect? He's not a stranger, after all. We've been practically living in each other's pockets ever since I got here."
"Yes, I can see how that would promote a certain intimacy. A relationship born under the sword, so to speak."
"We're not intimate." Yet those moments in the church had possessed a strong sense of intimacy she couldn't deny. "It's over. May I see Joe? He's not under sedation?"
"Are you kidding? After what he's been through with these wounds, he'd have shot anyone who tried to drug him now. He's on the veranda."
"But you're the one who came to meet me."
"He was concerned about you. He wanted to go back to the cemetery and rescue you. He was relieved when I told him you were on the way back here."
She smiled bitterly. "Not relieved enough for him to want to see my face." She wearily shook her head. "I didn't expect anything else. I know how Joe thinks. I hurt his pride. It will take a while for him to forgive me." She paused. "If he ever does."
Galen shrugged. "I can sympathize with him. I'd have problems with being a pawn instead of a player. It would chafe like hell."
"Then he'll have to deal with it." She started up the steps. But Joe wouldn't have to deal with it unless that was his choice. He could turn his back and walk away. The thought sent a jolt of pain through her. Face it. She had done what she had decided had to be done and there might be terrible consequences. Confront them and try to work through them.
Joe was standing by the balustrade on the veranda looking out at the jungle when Eve opened the French doors.
"Shouldn't you be sitting down?" she asked quietly. "Galen said you had to have your stitches redone."
"I don't feel like sitting down." He turned to face her. "It makes me feel weak and ineffectual. I've had enough of that to last a lifetime."
"You weren't ineffectual. You're the one who laid those explosives. You took the beatings that bastard handed out and never flinched." She paused. "You were a hero, Joe."
"Bullshit. I didn't finish the job." He stared her in the eye. "You did. You and Montalvo. I was useless after I was captured. Just a glorified punching bag."
"You weren't useless. If you hadn't set those explosions, Montalvo might not have been able to persuade Armandariz to stage the attack. Everything fell into place."