Michael?
But she couldn’t wake up, she wanted to tell him. She was too far away, and she couldn’t come back. She might not be able to ever come back.
“Yes you can. I need you, Cara.”
Michael needed her. She had to come back to be with him. She fought desperately, and finally her lids lifted.
Michael’s face above her. Michael’s brown eyes staring down at her.
A dream. It had to be a dream. Michael couldn’t be here. But miracles did happen, didn’t they?
“Hi,” she whispered. “Awfully sleepy, Michael. Can’t keep my eyes open. Maybe we should both go back to sleep…”
He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Cara. Norwalk was mad that you didn’t wake up. He told that Brazoff man it might mean he’d given you too much, and it might kill you.”
“Norwalk…” She was suddenly jarred to full awareness that something was terribly wrong. She glanced around her. A crude wood shack, the smell of wet grass and peat. Michael? She tried to think, to fight through the haze.
“Where’s … Norwalk now?”
“Outside on the bank yelling at Brazoff. He said he wasn’t going to pay him for you. He only came in to fasten that vest on you.”
Vest?
She looked down at her body.
She inhaled sharply, her heart jumping to her throat. The canvas vest was tight, and had neat pockets in which cylinders had been inserted. She suddenly couldn’t breathe as she realized what those cylinders must contain. She had never seen one before except in movies, but she knew what this vest was, what it had to be. In the movies, it was usually an explosive suicide device.
No dream.
A nightmare.
But she was not alone in this nightmare. Michael was here. She glanced quickly at his body. No vest, she realized with relief. Deal with anything else later. But he’d said he needed her, and that was the only thing important at this moment. “Come here.” She held out her arms to him. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I’ll find out about that later. I need you, too, Michael. I’ve been so worried about you. Let’s just hold each other right now.”
Then she inhaled sharply. What was she doing? She was telling him to get close to her when she was a walking bomb? How cruel of Norwalk to have her make the choice of comforting Michael or trying to push him away from her for his own safety.
Not that there was anywhere in this small shack where he would be safe if Norwalk set off these explosives. They would both die, so there was no real decision to be made. But the choice was a torture in itself and worthy of Norwalk.
“I’ve missed you. I’ve been lonely.” Michael came into her arms and nestled close. “And I’ll tell you all I know about this place, and that might help keep you awake. Right, Cara?”
“I’m sure it will.” Her fingers were gently stroking the silky hair on his nape. So dear, so alive. After all the frantic worry, he was here in her arms, and she was going to have a chance to bring him home to Eve in spite of that damn vest. And until she found a safe way to distance herself from him, she would give what she could—love, comfort, a companion to keep away the loneliness. “But Norwalk was wrong, I’m not going to die, Michael. And neither are you. It will be—”
She stiffened as a gunshot echoed from somewhere outside the shack.
He was yelling at Brazoff. He said he wasn’t going to pay him for you.
Except with a bullet?
“Cara?”
“It’s going to be okay.” She held Michael closer. “We’re together now, and we just have to figure out how to help each other get away from here…”
BELLE GRACE
“What else do you know?” Jock asked Kaskov as he strode into the parlor two hours later. He glanced at Joe and Eve standing by the window before he added, “I talked to Joe while I was on the road coming here and he told me about Brazoff. The bastard is your man, you must have an idea how to get your hands on him.”
“I’m working on it.” Kaskov’s lips twisted. “Nikolai is definitely motivated. All of my cars have LoJack and he’s been able to trace the car he took from the property to a pier on Lake Pontchartrain. But the car was abandoned, and there was no sign of Brazoff or Cara.” He paused. “But one of the boat owners on the next pier said they saw a motorboat leaving the pier earlier this morning.”
“No definite direction, Jock,” Eve said. “Brazoff was heading east, but that could be anywhere in those bayous.”
“The bayous again,” Jock said. “I was concerned that Norwalk might be leaving a false trail, but not this late in the game. He’d know that Cara’s disappearance would bring Kaskov front and center into the mix.”
“Joe told you that I was sure that’s where Michael was being held,” Eve said quietly. “I can’t expect anyone else to have any confidence that it’s true, but I believe it, Jock.”
“I’d have more confidence if you could tell me how I could get to them,” Jock said harshly. “I’ve seen amazing things happen while I’ve been around you, Eve. And Cara has told me about how close you are to Michael. I’d like to believe you. You gave Joe descriptions on how the camp is set up, but it’s no good to me if I can’t find it in those swamps. I’ll believe black is white if you tell me that.”
“She can’t do that,” Joe said. “Give her a break.”
“I don’t have time.” He glanced at Kaskov. “Norwalk is going to want you there when he kills her. That means that he’ll call you and set it up. I want to know when that happens.”
“That’s entirely possible.”
“And you’re going to go where he tells you to go. You’re not going to sit here in this antebellum mansion and send Nikolai.”
“I’ll do what I wish.” Kaskov met his eyes. “As I always do. And if I didn’t see how upset you are, there would be a reckoning for your insolence.”
“I am upset,” he said softly. “You have no idea. I’ll use you if I can. If I can’t use you, I won’t permit you to get in my way. I won’t let Cara die.” He turned on his heel. “If neither of you can help me, I’ll have to go back to using Ladeau. I brought him with me. I have two maps in the car that Ladeau selected as possible sites for building a shelter in the swamps that would have the total isolation Norwalk needs. I’ll bring them in, and we’ll take a look at them.”
“A cooperative effort?” Joe said dryly. “What a surprise.”
“I’ll use anyone I can,” Jock said. “You were a SEAL. You know about operating in swamp terrain, and that could prove valuable. Eve might find a detail in the maps that could trigger something. Kaskov is intelligent and may know more than he’s telling us. And eventually he should know where he’s going to have to go to meet with Norwalk.” He headed for the front door. “I’ll be right back.”
*
“I don’t believe I’ve seen this Jock Gavin,” Kaskov said as he gazed after Jock. “He’s always been innovative and lethal but not this … reckless.”
“He’s not reckless.” Eve could see how he might mistake the total focus and icy concentration. “He just doesn’t care. He’s driven. He’ll do anything he has to do and nothing must get in his way. And he’s incredible in what he does.” She looked at him. “Don’t you get in his way, Kaskov. Ordinarily, I’d try to stop him. Cara would be very upset with me that I didn’t. She hates it when anything twists him like this. So do I. But if anyone has a chance of getting Michael and Cara back, it’s Jock.” She gazed directly into his eyes. “This Jock.”
“I told you once that you’d kill for your son.” He smiled faintly. “And now you’re willing to use Jock as the weapon.”
“No, I’m not. Because I’ll be there beside him when he finds Norwalk.”