What?
It wasn’t the same voice as the one that had been cursing her.
But she realized the weight was almost completely off her now. She instinctively moved, rolled, as she had been ordered.
And saw the leather garrote that was wound around the throat of the man who had attacked her. His hand was struggling, tearing desperately at the garrote. His other hand trying to pull a gun out of his jacket pocket.
And she saw another man in a black leather jacket who was standing behind him and twisting the garrote.
As she watched, the next instant, the garrote did its work.
Her attacker’s neck snapped.
The man who had killed him turned toward her.
She instinctively, frantically, lifted her Mace.
“No!” he said. He held out his hands, palms up. “I’m not going to hurt you, Kelly.”
“I don’t know that.” She scrambled backward. “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know anything. Stay away from me.”
“Just put down that Mace and we’ll be fine,” he said quietly. “I have no intention of letting you spray that stuff in my face. But I don’t want to do anything that would alarm you. Catherine wouldn’t like it.” He grimaced. “And we’re already at odds at the moment.”
She went still. “Catherine?”
“Catherine Ling. She’s on her way to you right now. I just came in by the road north of the dam and got here first.”
“You could be lying. How do I know who you—”
“Of course you don’t know who I am.” He inclined his head. “I’m Richard Cameron. Perhaps your friend Luke might have mentioned me?”
“Cameron?” She repeated. “Luke did tell me about you after he and Catherine came back from Tibet. He thinks you’re cool.” She moistened her lips. “But he’s a lot like Catherine. He believes that if you have good reason, it’s okay to—” She looked at the body slumped over on the trail, and finished—“do that.”
“I had a very good reason tonight.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Her grip tightened on the Mace. “But I don’t know that for sure. What Luke believes might not be what I believe.”
“True. But the fact that I saved your life should have some weight. Give me that Mace, Kelly. Don’t make me take it.”
“I think I’ll just hold on to it for a while until I—”
He moved.
Lightning fast.
She had never seen anyone move that fast.
Two paces forward.
His foot struck the Mace and sent it spinning toward the side of the trail.
She lunged toward it.
But he was behind her, his arm holding her still. Strong. Dear God, he was strong. She couldn’t move, and her helplessness was filling her with panic.
She struggled wildly. “Let me go.”
“Just be quiet and listen. You don’t need—”
Her elbow went back and struck him in the stomach. “Let me go, dammit.”
“Yes, let her go, Cameron.”
Catherine!
Kelly stopped struggling as she saw Catherine coming down the trail with a gun pointed at Cameron. Relief surged through her. “He said you were coming. I didn’t know if I could trust him.”
“I often have the same problem,” Catherine said dryly. “What are you doing here, Cameron?”
“Dodging that spray of Mace at the moment.” He released Kelly and stepped back. “Before that, I was trying to keep her from getting a knife in her heart. Stop being protective and put down that gun. Ask her.”
Kelly ran into Catherine’s arms. “I was so scared,” she whispered. “I didn’t know what was happening.” She looked down at the man on the ground. “Why would he want to hurt me? Is he one of those serial killers or something?”
“No.” Catherine’s arms tightened around her. “You’re safe. No one can hurt you now.” She gave her a hug, then released her. “But we should get out of these woods. We didn’t see anyone else tracking you, but there will be State Police combing this area, and I don’t want to have to answer a lot of questions.”
“Are they looking for me?”
“Yes.” She glanced at the man on the ground. “And for him. He killed a CIA agent with that knife.”
“What?”
“Luke will tell you.” She glanced down the trail. “Here he comes now, with Sam. I ran ahead when I saw you—” She waved. “She’s okay, Luke.”
“I told you she would be,” Luke said. He frowned. “But it was really dumb of you to turn off your phone, Kelly. Everything would have been simple if you hadn’t done that.”
“I didn’t turn off my phone. It just went dead. And who are you to call me dumb?” She came toward him. Dear heaven, she was glad to see him. Catherine had always been the savior in her eyes, but Luke was her friend and had cared enough to come looking for her. Even those insults were welcome because they were part of their relationship and far away from the horror she had just experienced. “You’re pretty stupid yourself to go trekking through these woods after me. If you’d caught up with that man who was chasing after me, I would probably have had to rescue you.”
Luke made a rude noise. “No way. You should have—”
She interrupted. “And I just met your friend, Cameron, and he almost broke my ribs. Shows you what a good judge of character you are.” She added, “Catherine says you should tell me what all this means. So stop being rude and tell me.”
“Hu Chang would say you have no gratitude or appreciation.” He was silent a moment before he said gruffly, “I’m glad nobody cut your throat, Kelly.”
“Me, too.” She smiled. “Now talk to me.”
*
It would be all right, Catherine thought with relief as her gaze shifted away from Kelly and Luke. Luke would not treat Kelly as a victim and that would keep her from thinking of herself as one. It was the best thing for Kelly right now.