Amber Beach (47 page)

“Don’t feel sorry for the bastard you chucked out of the truck”, Jake said. “He’s the one who jumped you, not the other way around.”

Kyle didn’t answer.

“When did you find out you had a panel of the Amber Room?” Jake asked.

Slowly Kyle’s eyes opened. They were bleak and measuring, as though he regretted the loss of his gun. His whole body had changed. Despite his exhaustion, he could still gather himself for an attack. “How do you know about that?”

“A former associate told me.”

“Russian?”

“American. Some of the folks I worked for before I started
my own company.”

“Oh. Them. Hell, this is a royal cock-up, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Do you have the amber?”

Kyle nodded.

“Here?” Jake asked.

“Out there.” Wearily he waved at the water.

Jake squeezed Kyle’s right shoulder reassuringly and stood up. “I’ll bring water. And Honor, no doubt. I should break your neck for not telling your family that you’re all right, but I promised not to touch you.”

“Bring the water and then get her away from here.”

“You’re not thinking very well. The lady doesn’t take orders any better than any other Donovan.”

“And you do?”

“Sure. I’m a regular little altar boy.”

Kyle gave him a tired smile, winced, and fell back into an uneasy state that was neither consciousness nor sleep, more of a drifting that was broken by adrenaline-filled wakefulness at every unusual sound.

The next thing Kyle knew, Honor was kneeling at his side, trying to get him to sit up.

“Don’t pull on that arm”, Jake cautioned her. “It’s hurt.”

“You said he was all right!”

The anger, fear, and love in her voice made Kyle want to smile, but he knew better – his lips were too sore. Like his eyes. Dry and wanting to stay in the dark.

“There’s nothing wrong with your brother that antibiotics, a glucose drip, and twenty-four hours’ sleep won’t cure”, Jake said. “You awake, Kyle?”

“Sort of”, he said hoarsely. “Water?”

“Right here. I’m going to help you sit up so you won’t
choke.” Jake slid his arm under Kyle’s shoulders and lifted him.

Breath hissed through Kyle’s teeth.

“What is it?” Honor asked.

“Ribs”, Kyle said. “Bastard kicked me.”

“The driver?” Honor asked, remembering what Jake had told her as he hustled her into the Zodiac.

“One of the Russians they sent after me”, Kyle said.

“The one who washed ashore about a week ago?” Jake asked calmly.

“Let him drink before you grill him”, Honor said curtly.

She unscrewed the cap from a two-liter bottle of water and held it awkwardly to Kyle’s lips. At first more dribbled down his beard-stubbled chin than went into his mouth. But after a few swallows, he got the hang of it and began drinking greedily.

“Slow down”, Jake said, pushing the bottle away. “If you keep gulping like that, you’ll get sick all over your loving little sister.”

Sighing, Kyle closed his eyes and settled back against Jake’s arm, only to flinch when something touched his sore lips.

“Easy”, Jake said. “Honor is just putting some goo on so you don’t bleed every time you smile.”

“What is it?” Kyle asked.

“Chicken manure”, she replied. “That way you won’t lick it right off.”

He laughed, then hissed when his ribs caught him.

“What happened to your arm?” Honor asked.

Kyle looked at her as though wondering how little he could get away with telling her.

“Forget protecting her”, Jake said. “She’s a lot tougher than you think.”

“I got too close to a bullet”, Kyle admitted, “but the ribs hurt more now.”

Honor made a low sound and bit her lip. “Hold still”, Jake said to Kyle. “I’m going to open up this sleeve for a better look.”

He took his dive knife from its sheath and gently sliced fabric away from Kyle’s left shoulder. Honor took a steadying breath and leaned closer. Just below the shoulder, his arm and dive suit were crusted with a mixture of grit and blood. A finger’s width of skin was gone from the outer arm. Puffy flesh oozed where it wasn’t scabbed over.

Very gently Honor touched the unbroken skin around the wound. It was hot.

“It’s infected”, she said unhappily.

“Not dangerously”, Jake said.

“How do you know?”

“No red streaks on his arm”, he said, looking at Kyle.

“How does your stomach feel?”

“Fine”, Honor said. “Not you. Kyle.”

“Thirsty.”

Jake looked at the sea and saw only what he had seen before – water, rock, islands. Yet he couldn’t shake the memory of the elusive blip on the radar and the Olympic that Conroy had talked about and Jake had never seen.

“You can drink all you want once we get you aboard the boat”, Jake said. “We’re getting out of here.”

“The amber”, Kyle said. “I have to…”

“Tell me where it is”, Jake interrupted impatiently. “I’ll come back for it as soon as you and Honor are safe.”

Kyle started to speak, then shook his head.

“What is it?” Honor asked.

“Can’t risk it”, her brother said.

“What do you mean?”

Kyle just shook his head. Underneath
a
month’s growth of bronze beard stubble, his face was set in the same unyielding lines Jake had come to recognize in Honor. Donovans were stubborn to the soles of their feet.

“Kyle?” Honor asked. “What can’t you risk?”

“Leaving the amber alone with me”, Jake said savagely. “But that shouldn’t surprise you, buttercup. You don’t trust me either.”

“That’s not – hell”, Kyle said roughly. It took too much trouble to explain, especially with
a
dry mouth and a fuzzy mind. “Do you have an air tank along? Mine is about done.”

“I have a tank”, Jake said.

“GPS unit?”

“Yes.”

Kyle sighed and almost smiled. “No wonder you have your own business. Not much gets by you.”

“Where is your GPS?” Jake asked.

“It sank with my Zodiac.”

Honor’s breath came in audibly. “What happened?”

“Bullets”, Kyle said, his voice as worn out as he felt. “Jay, I want your word that you’ll bring the amber up before you take me off the island.”

“No!” Honor said. “You need a doctor more than we need any amber, no matter how fabulous.”

Though red and gritty, Kyle’s eyes hadn’t lost their penetrating clarity. He looked at Jake and waited.

“Your sister is right”, Jake said. “You need a doctor.”

“I’ll keep.”

“So will the amber.”

“That’s just it. I was in a hurry when I sank it. It could tear loose and float away at any moment.”

“Let it”, Honor said curtly.

“You don’t mean that”, Kyle protested.

“The hell I don’t.”

“Explain it to her”, Kyle said wearily to Jake. “I’m not up to the job.”

As Kyle lifted the water bottle back to his lips, Honor turned on Jake, fixing him with gold-green eyes that were as determined as her brother’s.

“There’s nothing you can say that would make me value the amber more than I value Kyle’s life”, she said.

“That’s just it”, Jake said reluctantly, for he really wanted Honor off the island and safe. Unfortunately, her safety was directly linked to that of the panel from the Amber Room. “Your brother was the last one to see the panel. If you were someone like Snake Eyes, would you believe that Kyle had lost it?”

“But…”

Jake kept talking. “Or would you believe that he had stashed it somewhere until all the fuss died down? And believing that, Snake Eyes will grab whatever lever he thinks will make Kyle feel talkative. A much loved younger sister, for instance.”

“That’s ridiculous”, Honor said.

Jake knew better. He turned back to Kyle. “You have my word. Where did you sink the amber?”

Honor was so furious with the two bullheaded men in her life that she stayed on board the
Tomorrow
while Jake took his portable GPS receiver and the Zodiac to the coordinates Kyle gave him – right in the
middle of the offshore rocks. Kyle came as far as the island’s waterline, but no f
arther. He sat with his back against a rock, sipped from the two-liter bottle, and watched the dive buoy Jake had set out a hundred feet beyond the shore and about the same distance from the
Tomorrow.

Plainly Kyle meant exactly what he had said. He wasn’t going to leave Jade Island until the amber was safe. Even with the GPS unit, locating the sunken panel wasn’t a certainty. Ten yards, give or take, could be a long way in the cold, dark, unpredictable waters of the San Juan Islands.

Frustrated, Honor waited in the stern well of the
Tomorrow.
There was no room for her to pace and no outlet beyond yelling at her brother for being such a macho idiot as to worry about her instead of about himself. Yelling at him wasn’t much fun. He just ignored her.

She looked at the rod in the holder to the left of the open
cabin door. The gear was rigged and ready to fly. The tip was bowed with the weight of the lure.

“There’s always that”, she said beneath her breath. “In fact, I could screw up, cast in the wrong direction, and ‘accidentally’ brain my stubborn brother. Maybe it would knock some sense into him.”

But Honor made no move to pick up the rod. Restless, anxious, on edge, feeling hunted and jailed at the same time, she paced as best she could in the confined area of the
Tomorrow’s
stern. She began to regret not being ashore where she could berate her brother without straining her voice.

Abruptly something that looked like a shallow rectangular box popped out of the water barely thirty feet beyond the
Tomorrow’s
hull. Jake surfaced right behind the box.

“Found it!” he yelled.

Smiling despite his cracked lips, Kyle lifted the water bottle in silent salute. Before he could muster enough energy to call out his congratulations, someone else did.

“Excellent, my friend! Now bring it to shore before I am forced to shoot Ms. Donovan.”

Honor spun toward the sound of the voice.

Two hundred feet above Kyle, Petyr Resnikov was crouched on the crest of the island’s steep slope. He had a sniper’s rifle in his hands.

The barrel was pointed at her.

“Do not move, please”, Resnikov called in a voice that carried easily down the slope and over the water. “An accidental death at this point would be regrettable, but I have had many regrets since the Berlin Wall fell. I would survive another one. Ms. Donovan would not. Jacob, if your hands go beneath the water, I will shoot your delightful lover. Do we have understanding?”

Jake understood all too well. For the moment he was as helpless as Kyle. “I understand.”

“Excellent. With understanding there will be no need for
death. Ms. Donovan, take one step forward and close the cabin door. Just that. No more.”

“Easy does it, Honor”, Jake said. “Nothing cute. Pete is worried about you getting on the radio. Make him feel good.”

Honor couldn’t see if the rifle barrel followed her the one step toward the cabin door, but she was certain it did. She jerked the door out of its stop and slammed it shut.

“Stay in my view, Ms. Donovan”, Resnikov said. “If you do not, I will surely kill your lover and your brother. That would be regrettable and so unnecessary.”

She flinched and stopped thinking about going overboard or throwing herself flat on the deck, out of Resnikov’s sight.

“Jacob. Bring the box to the shore. Remember, I can see your hands very well through the scope, whereas you cannot be certain where my attention is.”

Jake already had figured that out. What he hadn’t come up with yet was a way to get up that slope and grab the rifle before Resnikov shot everyone in sight.

Slowly Jake put his hands against the edge of the box. He kicked his feet, pushing the box
ahead
of him in the water.

“At first I was troubled by your presence”, Resnikov said to Jake. “You are a formidable foe. On reflection, I decided that to have you here is a bit of good fortune for all of us. You have the experience not to, um, lose your cool and force me to kill. You know that death is not necessary for any of us. Only the Amber Room is necessary. Bring it to me, Jacob.”

There was a good possibility that Resnikov was telling the truth, that he wouldn’t kill anyone unless pushed to it. But it wasn’t a possibility Jake wanted to bet anyone’s life on. Especially Honor’s.

“Slowly, my friend”, Resnikov cautioned as Jake stood in waist-deep water, pushing the shipping box toward shore in front of him. “I must always see your hands. Do not remove your fins when you come ashore.”