"We can make a different deal."
"Oh yeah?"
"I will trade you Benoit Moreau and the girl you call Grady for Raval."
"Good luck, chum. Benoit's safe in a Manhattan hospital and Grady's back at the office."
"Grady is on this mountain."
"Five of your guys are headed back down. They're discouraged. Your plan is falling apart. FBI's all over the helicopters and cement trucks. Your underworld investors are gonna be pissed off. They'll hunt you harder than I can. Hell, I'll give you to them."
"You aren't listening. Do you want Grady back alive?"
"You've been whupped by Benoit Moreau, and you don't even know it yet."
Gaudet had no response for that.
"You've defrauded the French government. You. Not Benoit Moreau. Did you read the fine print in those papers you signed?"
Again, no response, but Sam heard Gaudet's breathing.
"You screwed your investors and the French. You're done, Gaudet. Fish food."
"No," Gaudet said simply. The line went dead.
"Hey," Sam spoke into the radio, changing from channel to channel. "The rest of you on the mountain should know your boss is losing it. Gonna be a Tilok war party up here and we'll be taking scalps. Go ahead, stick around. We've done five; we can do more."
On one channel Sam heard calls go out to the five men he had neutralized. The calls got no response.
"Told you. They're running down the mountain without scalps. Bad deal."
"Stay in your places." It was Gaudet again. "I have Sam's woman."
"Sam…" It was Grady. She was crying.
Sam ran through the dark, paying little heed to the noise of his movement.
It took only a few minutes to get down to the Y, where he and the others had split up. There were the tracks of many men, even though the bulk had gone up the mountain on his trail. Even as he went, he knew he should call in, so he forced himself to stop.
"What's happening?" he said to Jill.
"Thank God you called. Grogg got into Gaudet's com puter and got the virus file. His antivirus, with a little tweak ing, will probably do the trick."
"Release it."
"Against the government's orders?"
"I told you I spoke with the director of the FBI. And the vice president. They know, so just release it."
"You got it. Benoit's doing well, but she's desperate to know about Raval."
"I think he's fine, but somehow Gaudet has Grady."
"Oh no. No. No."
"I'm sorry. I'm going after them."
He signed off and resumed his run. To improve his progress he popped on the light. At this point he didn't care about the risk. He scampered over the rocks, banging his shins occasionally, but managing most of the time. Finally he was out of the creek and on a tiny, steep trail. It was the trail to the high mountain meadows, where the berries were thick in summer. Damn it. He should have known Gaudet would take the other trail.
Ahead he heard a laugh-an incongruous sound if there ever were one. Light from a campfire followed, and Sam shut his own light off. Slowly he crept forward. Soon he saw the fire and a big canvas lean-to. They had Grady tied spread-eagled on two poles that formed an X. She was close to the fire, nearly close enough to burn. Although she still had on her panties and bra, it was easy to see what was com ing. Below her, also tied, sat Michael Bowden. The wound in his leg had reopened and bled freely. That explained how they were able to catch him in a forest. Fortunately, they didn't seem to have Raval. There were six men, all armed, all look ing around, but all clearly distracted by Grady.
Gaudet was nowhere to be seen. Sam guessed that Grady and the men were bait. Nearby Gaudet would wait with more men. Sam moved back in the forest, blocking from his mind what was going on with Grady. He moved inches at a time, slowly circling the fire and the men. Soon they would begin the torture and the rape.
He had to focus.
Gaudet would be sick with anger and even fear. For a few minutes in this forest Gaudet might be on top, but in the larger scheme his world was crumbling.
Sam's radio crackled. Quickly he dialed down the volume and hunkered down to listen.
"I just wanted you to know that there are also boats along the Manhattan waterfront. Just about now they are releasing the vector." Gaudet paused, breathing heavily. "My investors will be fine."
Sam had to call Jill. That's what Gaudet would be count ing on-to slow him down, maybe to give himself away. Sam walked deeper into the forest.
Grady screamed and it nearly undid him inside.
"Jill," he whispered. "There may be boats along the Manhattan waterfront. That's from Gaudet; he could be full of it. Pass it on to Ernie."
"Okay. They've cleared people away from the waterfront just in case."
Ernie was a smart guy.
Sam wanted to call Gaudet and get in his face about the boats, but he knew it wouldn't help. Slowly he made his way back near the fire and began again to circle. If he touched branches, there would be a dusting of snow that would fall. The wind was his ally, for it too moved the bushes and made it difficult to discern what might be coming or going. After another thirty or more paces he saw a dark spot standing out against the forest hues. Grady screamed again. He could feel her anguish in his bones, but he couldn't see what they were doing to her. Tears were running down his cheeks and he wanted to kill like never before.
He waited. For a minute nothing moved. He took another step. Then he saw it. The dark spot moved. Then another moved, and another. Soon he could make out people facing the fire. From their vantage point they could see what was happen ing to Grady. He could not. Grady screamed again in pure agony. They watched the torture like cows watch a hay truck. "Put her down on the ground," someone near the fire said. Sam heard himself groan.
"You bastard," he muttered. "You miserable piece of shit."
Flipping the M-4 on automatic, he leveled it at the men hiding in the forest. Without caring who saw him, he walked forward. Grady screamed. His angle ensured his gunfire wouldn't hit the campfire area. He pulled the trigger. Shadows moved, men screamed; he marched on, spewing death. Five or more were down. A new shadow jumped into the forest. Without hesitation he sprinted, crashing through the snowy bushes. A massive-caliber gun roared behind him. Yodo must have shown up. The forest filled with thunder from all sides, but Sam kept after the one. He stopped. Everything was black. Then he heard something running through the trees. Without thought he ran and flicked on his headlamp. A head moving through six-foot huckleberry electrified him. He knew it was Gaudet.
Sprinting, he tried to hold the beam of light on the target. He filled his lungs and ran with huge strides. Then he was on him and grabbed him by the neck, pulling him down. Sam let out a guttural cry and Gaudet turned. They clawed at each other in wild combat. His teeth snapped at Sam's head, even as his knees churned, trying to find the groin.
Sam's light wobbled crazily, filling the forest with a weird shadowy half-light. He swung with an uppercut, connecting to the ribs. Gaudet growled and gouged at Sam's eyes and face, ripping the skin off his cheeks and bruising his eyes. For once, Sam fought not with deliberation but with rage. He clawed back at Gaudet and grabbed his throat. In turn, Gaudet's hands clamped on Sam's throat and they were staring into each other's eyes.
As they squeezed one another for death, Sam's years of training took over. He released Gaudet's neck and brought his joined hands up under Gaudet's chin with a fierce strike, breaking Gaudet's hold. Sam used a palm to splinter Gaudet's nose, which sprayed blood and had him wobbling. He threw an elbow into the floating ribs, intent on piercing a lung.
Gaudet fought like a man possessed, hitting Sam in the head and body, fighting back only to be pounded in the solar plexus.