“Portable X-ray equipment. The techs are going to take them here in ICU.” He grinned. “They’ll be in and out in a few minutes once I get it set up. Okay?”
“Yeah, I remember its being done here before.” Caleb was already on his cell, his gaze on the orderly’s name tag. “Just let me verify the order.” He talked briefly on the phone, then stepped aside. “Set it up, Chalce.”
“Yes, sir.” The orderly propped open the door and started to roll the cart into the room.
Chalce. Yes that was the orderly’s name, Eve realized as she saw his ID badge as he passed her.
John Chalce.
CHAPTER
13
PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD
“And what’s our next move?” Cameron asked as he taxied down the runway of the airport toward the private hangars. “You were entirely too quiet on the way here. Should I be worried?”
“By all means. Why should I be the only one?” She unbuckled and stood up as the plane came to a stop. “Something has to change, Cameron. We have to make it change.” She tried to keep the tension from her voice as she moved toward the door. “I guess the first thing is to try to locate the island that—”
Her cell phone rang.
“My God,” she whispered as she saw the ID. “Santos.”
She punched the access. “What do you want, Santos?”
“Perhaps to rub a little salt in your wounds,” he said silkily. “I haven’t had the chance lately since you’ve kept me so busy hunting down Montez. You shouldn’t have involved yourself in my personal business, Catherine. It made me angry and will make your punishment all the more painful.”
“You were already hunting him when I stepped in and offered Montez a little help.”
“Because you thought he might help you find me. Disappointed?”
“A little. But it just put off the inevitable.” She paused. “And it was worthwhile to touch base with him to discover what a pitiful pair of fools you and your Delores turned out to be. My God, Santos, are you that much afraid of dying that you’re clinging to life with—”
“Shut up,” he said harshly. “You’re the one who is a fool. Delores found a way for us to beat the odds and come out on top. There’s nothing pitiful about us.” He paused, struggling to regain his temper. “Montez told you?”
“No.” Protect Montez and keep him from the brunt of Santos’s rage. “He was too afraid of you to talk.” That was true enough. “But I found his technical journal, and we figured it out.”
“It was a magnificent plan, but Montez was too frightened to give us everything we needed from him.”
“You mean his life in slavery to Delores?”
“She might need him again. That container is experimental. What if something went wrong?”
“She’d defrost?” she asked mockingly.
“Never. That won’t happen, you bitch. I’ll keep her with me forever.” His voice dripped malice. “You’re the one who’s going to die, and soon. I’m going to be able to concentrate on making sure of that now. But I’ve decided that I’m too impatient to wait to see you dead. I’m going to offer you a deal, Catherine.”
“A deal?” she repeated warily.
“I was planning on making you the last on my list of victims, but I’m going to give you the opportunity to let you go to the front of the line.”
“What are you saying?”
“Why, that I’ll not make you watch the deaths of your son and Hu Chang and the rest of those people who are so unfortunate as to be close to you. I’ll let you step up to the plate and come to me to get what you deserve. Wouldn’t you be willing to sacrifice yourself for your fine son?”
“You’re crazy. Why should I do that? I’m keeping you from hurting them now. You won’t be able to touch Luke. And I’ll find a way to kill you before you get near him. Before you get near any of them.”
“I’m near him now. I watch him. I see him smile. My men take photos all the time and send them to me. Such a handsome boy. I’ve only been waiting until I was less occupied with Montez to fully enjoy watching him be exterminated.”
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?” He chuckled. “You sound desperate. It’s strange that a vicious bitch like you can be so soft about a child. I believe you might actually take my deal if I can convince you how vulnerable you are. I will convince you. Time for another choice, Catherine. I’ll show you I can reach out and kill, and no one can stop me.”
“You’re delusional, you bastard.”
“And then if you come begging, I might decide to be merciful about any other kills. It might be enough to give you to Delores and watch you die … slowly.”
“And it might not. You’re all bluff. You’ve not been able to take one of my people since I found out what you were doing. We’ve blocked you, Santos. Now you think I’m going to come running and let you put me down? It’s not going to happen.”
“Yes, it is. But it seems I have to prove to you that you can’t stop me no matter what you do.” He hung up.
“That was something of a surprise,” Cameron’s gaze narrowed on her face. “And he managed to upset you.”
“What do you expect?” She was shaking. “The bastard was talking about my son. He’s not stupid. He knows how to strike where it hurts.”
“And he thought he could manipulate you to take his deal,” he said thoughtfully. “Interesting. Of course, it might have been a shot in the dark. Or he might have wanted only to show you that he could control you.”
“I’m glad that you can be so cool about it. I’m having a few problems doing that.”
“Oh, I’m not at all cool,” he said softly. “I’m imagining all kinds of ways that I can hurt him that will take a long, long time. I didn’t like the way he was playing you.”
She felt a ripple of shock as she glimpsed beneath that composure to the savagery that lay below. She looked away from him. “And you immediately started taking him apart and seeing how you could bend the situation to suit yourself.”
“To suit you, Catherine.”