“And it might not. Dario might get there in time. Or if Montez has already been captured, he might have been able to track them.”
“To where? The nearest airport? What good would that do?”
“Don’t be negative.” He smiled. “I have a feeling that all is not lost.”
“Feeling?”
Cameron was entirely too confident, she realized suspiciously. And Cameron was never confident unless he had a reason on which to base it. Who knew if that basis was something connected to the psychic ability he undoubtedly possessed. Though she didn’t really believe he could read the future, she thought impatiently. But she didn’t really know the extent of what he could do. He hadn’t ever shared any in-depth information with her about his capabilities. “You wouldn’t care to tell me why you have that ‘feeling’?”
“I’m an optimist.” He grabbed his jacket. “And, since you have a tendency to see right through me, I like to have the ability to occasionally surprise you.”
“Occasionally?” She moved toward the door. “I never know what the hell you’re going to do next. But if you’re hiding something that concerns me, I’m not going to be pleased.”
“My dear Catherine, I like the thought that everything that concerns me, concerns you. So the chances are that you’ll not be pleased somewhere along the way.” He followed her down the stairs. “I believe I’ll keep my surprises to myself.”
“As if there was any doubt.” She stopped short as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Wait here.” She turned and ran back up the stairs. “Luke…”
“Ah, you’re not going to risk his being angry with you again?”
“I have to tell him…” And she wasn’t looking forward to it. She had no time to argue. But she had been a coward before because she hadn’t wanted to face Luke’s almost certainly wanting to go with her. She wouldn’t do it again.
She drew a deep breath and quietly opened his door.
Luke was asleep, curled up in a ball in his bed across the room.
“Luke?” she said.
No answer.
She moved across the room to stand beside his bed.
So deeply asleep, so beautiful in his tousled disarray, half boy, half young man. Dear God, she loved him.
And dear God, she was glad she had an excuse not to face him at this moment. She would only have been able to hurl the information at him before running back down to Cameron.
She glided over to his desk and scrawled a note on a Post-it.
Sorry. I tried, Luke.
Catherine.
* * *
He would know that it had been a halfhearted effort, but he would also know that she had listened to him and been here.
She turned and quietly left his room.
* * *
“No pilot?” Catherine said as she climbed the steps of the jet and saw the open door of the cockpit. “The committee won’t be pleased you’re not taking a backup bodyguard to protect their golden boy.”
“Too bad. As we discussed, I prefer to be in control, and I haven’t had enough of that lately.” He strode down the aisle. “It might have been tolerable if I’d had a sexual reward in view for putting up with being a passenger instead of pilot, but that’s not going to happen. So come up to the cockpit and keep me company.”
She nodded and followed him up the aisle. “Shouldn’t we have heard from Dario by now?”
“Anytime.”
Cameron got the call from Dario as they were about to taxi down the runway.
Cameron pressed the speaker and answered. “Montez?”
“Too late,” Dario said. “We released the monks locked in the monastery. Three dead of smoke asphyxiation there. Then we found that monk Montez was trying to save in the forest. He was coherent enough to tell us that the man who had been helping him had been attacked and knocked unconscious by four men, who dragged him away into the forest. He heard rotors. Evidently, Dorgal had a helicopter waiting about a mile from the monastery. He’s probably on his way to San Esposito to transfer aircrafts.”
“Then you’ve lost him?” Cameron asked.
“I didn’t say that,” Dario said. “I said I was too late here. That doesn’t mean I totally failed. It’s just a postponement.”
“Postponement to what?” Catherine asked.
“I called my people in San Esposito and told them to locate a plane that’s being readied for takeoff. I told them to put a GPS tracker on the plane.”
Hope flared. “We’ll be able to trace Dorgal to Santos?”
“If that’s where he’s going,” Dario said.
“Where else would he go?” Catherine asked. “He’s taking Montez to where Santos needs him. Even Montez thought that Santos would keep Delores near him. He’s taking Montez to Delores.”
“You’ve lost me,” Dario said.
Yes, Dario had not been privy to anything to do with Delores, Catherine thought. No time now to fill him in. “I mean we’ll be able to track him to Santos. Don’t try to stop him at the airport.”
“I wouldn’t anyway. I have only a few men there. Look, I’ve got to get back to that monastery. I’m trying to get help from nearby villages to take in those monks. Are you done with me?”
“Yes, right now,” Cameron said. “Let me know if they manage to attach that GPS.”
“Of course. But they’ll do it. And I’ll let you know the final destination.” He hung up.
“He sounded very certain,” Catherine said.
“And if they do, we’ll get our shot at Santos,” Cameron murmured. “So do we still go to Guatemala?”
“Probably not,” Catherine said. “But we get in the air and head in that direction. We’ll let that GPS on Dorgal’s plane dictate our destination.” She glanced at him. “As if you wouldn’t do that without asking me.”
“You’ve constantly pointed out that this is your show. Naturally, I’d ask you. Otherwise, you might cast me into outer darkness.” He readied for takeoff. “Which terrifies me to no end…”
* * *
“We’ve got him,” Dorgal told Santos as soon as he picked up the phone. “I told you that I wouldn’t fail you. We’re heading for San Esposito Airport now.”
“Why are you so pleased? It took you too damn long.” Santos’s voice was sarcastic. “All you had to do was pluck him up so that Ling couldn’t get to him. He was just an interference, not an objective.”
Dorgal tried to restrain his own impatience. Santos had obviously been sitting on his island, seething. It only reaffirmed his conviction that to maintain his own position in the cartel hierarchy, he had to give Santos the bloodbath he needed soon. “I realize that it took longer than we thought it would,” he said soothingly. “I suspect that was Ling’s fault, too. So the fact that we managed to get him was still a triumph. Not enough. But Delores will still have him as insurance, and it frees me to move on to more important items on your agenda.” He paused. “That I believe you may have also decided are more urgent. Isn’t it time you crushed Ling as she deserves? We can take out the people she cares about in a grand climax rather than one by one.” He added quickly, “If that’s what you want. If I’m reading you correctly.”
Silence.
Dorgal was beginning to sweat. If he’d guessed wrong, Santos would have an unpleasant surprise waiting for him when they next met.
“You didn’t guess wrong,” Santos said shortly. “I don’t think Delores would like Ling to live one more minute after all this trouble she’s been causing. Let’s put an end to it.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Grand climax…” Santos was mulling the concept. “I like the idea. But it has to be done right. I have to be able to watch her face when she realizes what she’s losing.”
“Of course,” Dorgal said. “I’ll make the arrangements. Most of the people who are on your list to exterminate are gathered like chickens in a henhouse. I’ve had information from my man watching Ling’s place that Erin has recently been seen there, too. Jane MacGuire is the only one who we may have to go after individually. She’s out of her coma and may be recovering.”
Santos muttered a curse.