On The Run (21 page)

He stared at her and then looked away.

That’s encouraging.

She turned and started back to the tent.

Charlie neighed.

She glanced back at him. He still wasn’t looking at her.

What the hell? Did she expect him to chatter like Mr. Ed in that old TV series? She didn’t even know how much he understood. If anything. Since childhood she’d believed that at times she’d been able to tap into that comprehension. That strong bonds could exist between horses and people if you cared enough. But right now she was discouraged enough to wonder if she was only fooling herself.

Well, forget it. She could only do what she could do. It wasn’t as if she—

Charlie neighed once more. And when she looked back at him again, it was to see that he’d come to the place where she’d stood by the corral and was staring after her.

If you do understand me, just be good to Frankie. Help her.

She hurried back to the tent and passed the guard without even glancing at him.

Frankie was still sleeping.

So beautiful. Don’t wake her until it was necessary. She was going to be disturbed soon enough.

She glanced at her watch: 3:45
A
.
M
. It was time.

She took out the packet and got a cup of water from the bucket beside the bed.

Don’t think about it. Just do it.

She swallowed the powder and then the water as a chaser. She quickly tore up the tiny packet and tucked it into the bottom of her knapsack. She had to work fast now. She didn’t know how quickly the powder would take effect. She put the metal cup back by the water bucket, lay down, and pulled the blanket over her. She had done all she could. She had prepared the way by telling the guard she wasn’t feeling well. She had taken the powder at the logical time. If the powder made her ill the full twelve hours that Kilmer had told her it would, then she wouldn’t be able to function until late in the day.

She didn’t feel sick. Maybe Kilmer had given her the wrong—

Trust him, she had told Frankie. She smiled ruefully. How bizarre to have to trust him to give her a dose that would—

She gasped with pain.

Her stomach was clenching, twisting in agony.

She barely made it to the water bucket before she threw up.

Y
ou look terrible.” Marvot was frowning as he looked down at her. “The guard says you’ve been throwing up for an hour. What’s wrong with you?”

“How do I know?” She closed her eyes as waves of nausea rolled over her. “Did you poison me?”

“Don’t be an idiot,” he said curtly. “I need you.”

“That would make a difference. Then maybe it’s food poisoning or flu or . . . maybe a bug bit me. I don’t know. You decide.” She staggered over to the bucket again. “I’m busy.”

She retched, but there was no longer anything in her stomach to come up. Dear God, she felt sick. “I feel a little better than I did an hour ago. Maybe the worst is over.”

“You look ghastly.” His lips curled distastefully. “And this tent smells of vomit.” He headed for the door. “This business doesn’t please me.”

“Me either.” She was cold and shaking from reaction. Jesus, Kilmer, did you have to do this good a job? Yes, he did, or it wouldn’t have been convincing. “Do I get a doctor?”

“Hell, no, I won’t have outside interference. This isn’t Geneva conventions.” He looked at Frankie, who was huddled in the corner. “Maybe it will spur your recovery if I remind you that without you I have no use for her.”

“Give me a little time.” She bent over the bucket again as a new wave of nausea washed over her. “Just a few hours . . .”

When she raised her head again, he was gone.

“I didn’t think it would be like this, Mom,” Frankie whispered. Her eyes were huge in her pale face. “Are you going to die?”

“No, I told you . . .” She had to close her eyes again. “It will be over after today. I’ll be fine.”

“Jake shouldn’t have made you this sick.”

“Yes, he should.” It was hard to argue with her when her body was agreeing wholeheartedly. “And you shouldn’t be in here with me. You can’t help. Get out and go take care of the horses.”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“Get out of here, Frankie. It’s harder for me with you sitting there worrying.”

Frankie slowly got to her feet. “May I come back soon?”

“Four hours. Just so you can check and see that I’m all right. Then you go back to the horses.”

“I don’t want—” She broke off and turned away. “I don’t like you to be sick. There should have— I don’t like it.”

But she left the tent, and Grace was grateful. It was bad enough to be this sick without having to comfort Frankie. Even though she’d warned her, she’d known that Frankie wouldn’t be able to handle her illness with any degree of composure. She was too loving; their relationship was too close.

Oh, God, she was going to be sick again.

Just get through it. The hours would pass and the pain and nausea would stop.

But if that sandstorm doesn’t roll in tomorrow on schedule, I’m going to murder you, Kilmer.

B
y noon Grace’s diarrhea and vomiting had stopped, but the chills remained. By three the chills had gradually faded away, leaving her weak and totally exhausted. By five she was able to drink a little water.

At five-thirty Marvot paid her another visit. “You’re well?”

“I wouldn’t say that. I could use another day of rest.”

“You’re not going to get it,” he said curtly. “You’ve wasted too much of my time. You start out at eight in the morning.”

“But you claim you have so much patience.”

“It’s at an end. I’m getting too close.”

“Very well, eight o’clock.” She paused. “I want to take Frankie with me.”

“No.”

“She gets along well with the mare. I need the help.”

“She’s never ridden her. You have the stallion and you can lead the mare.”

“I’d have a better chance if I—”

“No.” He smiled grimly. “I’m quite sure you’ll concentrate wholeheartedly on the search if the child is in my loving custody. Because if I don’t have either a concrete find or at least a hint of where that engine is located, then I’ll shoot that colt in front of the little girl. I don’t believe you’d like that.”

Grace could see the terror the threat brought to Frankie’s face.

Bastard. She said through her teeth, “I’ll do my best to give you what you want.”

“I know you will,” he said as he left. “I only have to press the right buttons.”

The death of the colt. Perhaps the death of Frankie.

“I won’t let him do it,” Frankie said fiercely. “I won’t let him hurt Maestro.”

“It was a threat, Frankie.”

“He’d do it. I know he’d do it. I won’t let him.”

Frankie was angry and scared, but no more frightened than Grace. She’d desperately wanted Marvot to permit Frankie to go with her.

Keep calm. Kilmer would know that Frankie was being left at the camp and that they’d have to adjust any plans to include the development.

But it would have been easier if Frankie had been with her so that Grace could make sure she was safe.

“Listen, Frankie, Jake will be coming for you, and you mustn’t let the colt keep you from going with him. Marvot won’t shoot the colt unless he has something to gain by it. If you’re not here, he won’t be able to hurt us by doing that.”

“He might.” Her eyes were glittering with tears. “And it would be my fault. I won’t go without Maestro.”

She gazed at her daughter helplessly. “Frankie, it wouldn’t be— Okay, we’ll find a way to get Maestro away from here. Just be ready.”

Frankie nodded. “And I’ll have him ready too.”

And how the devil were they going to get the gangly colt away from Marvot?

Play it by ear. It was all they could do when they couldn’t plan anything with certainty from minute to minute. “You do that.” She sat up, then closed her eyes for a minute and fought the dizziness. “But right now I need you to do something much simpler. Would you go ask the guard to get me a bowl of meat broth of some sort? I have to get my strength back before tomorrow morning.”

“Sure.” Frankie jumped to her feet. “Anything else?”

She shook her head. “I’ll try some solid food later.” She wrinkled her nose. “And then I’ll clean up and we’ll wash this tent. The odor’s terrible. It makes me feel sick again just smelling it.”

“Right.” Frankie ran out of the tent.

Grace struggled to her feet and followed her to the flap and gazed up at the sky.

White clouds, blue skies. No wind stirring.

They were banking everything on the sirocco that was supposed to strike tomorrow, and there was no sign that would happen. Well, if it didn’t, then they’d go in a different direction. Kilmer would have an alternative plan. She had to have faith.

Marvot was becoming impatient. His threat against Frankie had teeth.

Then she’d deal with him. She’d find a way to stop him until another plan was in place.

But, dammit, she wished there was a breath of wind, a stirring of the sand dunes to indicate a disturbance in nature.

Nothing.

T
he horse trailers and two RVs left the oasis at eight-thirty the next morning. They reached the deserted village of Kartal an hour later.

Blockman slid down the side of the dune to where Kilmer and Adam waited five minutes later. “They’ve just unloaded the trailers. Frankie isn’t with her.”

“Damn.” Kilmer turned to Adam. “We’ll have to split up the team. We’ll get Grace and I’ll send Donavan to get Frankie.”

Adam nodded. “You’ll have to move fast.” He turned. “Now I’ll go and see where Marvot is setting up surveillance of your Grace. When the storm hits, we’ll want to know where he is so that we won’t stumble over him.”

“If the storm hits.”

“It will hit today. Hassan says his teeth ache. It’s a sure sign.”

“Great.” He started to crawl up the dune. “Let’s hope he doesn’t just have a cavity.”

G
o
away
. All of you.” Grace took a step nearer Charlie. “You’re making him nervous, Marvot.”

“We’re leaving.” Marvot got back into the RV. “Actually, he’s amazingly calm. Usually by this time he’s tried to run over any stable hand within ten yards of him. I’m impressed.”

“It doesn’t mean that he’ll be trotting along to Burton’s cache.” She put her hand on Charlie’s mane. The stallion was tense but he didn’t shy away from her. “Which probably doesn’t exist. He probably destroyed it so that you couldn’t get your hands on it.”

“It exists. Burton had a giant ego. He wouldn’t give up his chance of becoming a worldwide household name. And it’s somewhere in that area. If we hadn’t been forced to kill the bastard, he would have told us the exact location.” He stared her in the eye. “You start out right away and we’ll come back and set up a base here. Come back at the end of the day and we’ll pick you up. I’ve had this entire area scoured by my men, and Kilmer’s nowhere around. But there will be someone watching you all the time. Don’t try to get away or I’ll be heading back to the oasis to see your daughter.”

“How would I get away with two unruly horses and a desert to cross?” She turned and went over to Hope. The mare seemed much calmer than Charlie. She’d been much more settled since the birth of the colt. “I’d have to have a genie in a bottle.”

He nodded. “And Kilmer’s no wizard.” He drove off with his entourage of vehicles following him.

She patted Hope and then went back to Charlie. “Well, we’re on our own, boy.” She looked out at the desert and shook her head. The dunes were enormous, and the sun beating down on them would be scorching hot in a few hours. In the distance she could see the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, and they looked cool and inviting compared to the stark barrenness surrounding her. She had read somewhere that there was a giant dune in the Sahara the size of Rhode Island. Looking at these dunes, she could believe it.

Kilmer’s no wizard.

Kilmer’s nowhere around.

But Marvot was wrong. She’d worked with Kilmer and knew that he could be a wizard on occasion. If he didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be found. He would be there for her when she needed him.

“Here we go.” She pulled herself onto Charlie’s back and started to gather Hope’s rope. Then she stopped as she looked at the mare. This rope was totally stupid. It wasn’t as if she could control the mare with it. Hope would follow Charlie without a rope, and it might get in the way. She released the mare. “Come on, Hope. Let’s get this over with so that you can get back to your colt.”

Hope neighed and came lunging toward them.

“Charlie?”

Would he move? Would he refuse to budge as he always had before when brought here?

Charlie, dammit. Go. It doesn’t matter where. Just move.

The stallion took a step forward, then another.

We’ll still be here when Marvot comes back if you don’t get a move on it. Personally, I don’t want to see him again anytime soon.

Charlie started to walk and then trot.

Hallelujah. Her legs tightened around him.

Now just amble around and have a good time until Kilmer comes for us.

But the sky was still crystal clear, a blue so intense that it hurt her eyes to look at it.

And Kilmer wouldn’t come until the storm came.

18
                                                                                                                                       

W
here’s that damn sirocco?” Kilmer growled as he wiped the sweat from his brow. “She’s been out there for hours and we can’t make a move.”

Adam shrugged. “Soon. Be patient.”

“Tell that to Marvot. It’s clear that those horses aren’t traveling to a set destination. They’re just wandering around. If he thinks that Grace is of no use to him, he’ll kill her without batting an eyelash.”

“Perhaps he’ll give her another day.”

“Another day? You said that the sirocco was going to happen today.”

“Hassan may be wrong. I told you he was only ninety percent correct.”

Kilmer muttered an oath. “Adam, this is—”

“Wait.” The Sheikh lifted his head. “Do you feel it?”

“What?”

“Wind.”

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Then maybe I was mistaken. I don’t feel it anymore. . . .”

Y
ou’re going around in circles, Charlie.” Grace took a swallow of water from her canteen. “I know damn well we’ve seen this dry creek bed before.” In the last two hours he had wandered closer to the foothills of the Atlas Mountains several times. Hell, maybe he was searching for water. “Thirsty?” She got down from the stallion and poured water into the container she’d brought with her. “I shouldn’t complain. You’ve done a good job of keeping moving. Sorry it may be for nothing. I think that sheikh’s weatherman is nuts. Looks like we may have to talk Marvot into trying again to—”

Charlie had lifted his head so quickly he’d spilled the water in the container. He neighed and reared.

“What the hell?”

Hope was rearing too, her eyes glittering wildly.

Scared. They were scared.

And Charlie was looking to the west.

Her gaze flew to the western horizon.

Darkness.

A moment before it had been clear. Now the horizon was a haze of darkness.

Sirocco.

Moving fast, a veil of sand stretching as far as the eye could see. It would be on her in a few minutes.

And she’d be hidden from Marvot and his men.

“Come on, Kilmer,” she whispered. “Come and get us.” She quickly took off the blouse she’d worn over her T-shirt and the scarf with which she’d tied back her hair. With any luck Kilmer and his men would be here within a few minutes, but that sand would be a smothering blanket if inhaled by either her or the horses. She tore the shirt in two and dampened both sections. “You’re not going to like this.” She stepped close to Charlie. “But you’ve got to trust me with this one. I think Hope will let me do it, if she sees you. If you want to save her, you’ll have to let me do it.”

The sand was already stinging her face and the storm wasn’t even on them yet.

Charlie was backing away from her.

“You’ve got to let me help you, Charlie.” She could hear the desperation in her voice. “Trust me.”

He kept backing away.

She stopped and drew a deep breath. “I can’t make you do it. But I’ve never lied to you. I’ve never hurt you. I won’t hurt you now.”

He stopped, staring at her. His mane was lifting with the gusts of wind and his muscles were bunched.

She took a step forward. “Please. I’m going to put this over your eyes and nose so that you can breathe better. And then we’re going to stay together until help comes. Okay?” He’d let her come close. She slowly put the cloth over his eyes and nose and tied it. “You’re fine,” she said soothingly. “Nothing to be afraid of. Now I’m going to do Hope and bring her to you. I’ll loop the rope over both of you so that you won’t wander and lose each other, and I’ll hold the rope so that it won’t entangle you. Be still now.”

Miraculously, he shifted uneasily but didn’t bolt. In seconds she had the cloth over Hope’s eyes and muzzle and stood between them.

She couldn’t breathe. There was sand swirling all around them, striking exposed flesh like tiny knives.

She tied the scarf over her face and put an arm around each horse, burying her hands in their manes. “Please don’t panic,” she whispered. “It’s going to be all right. Just hold on and don’t be scared.” She tried to turn them so they weren’t facing the wind that was blowing with gale force. She had to hold desperately to the horses to keep from falling. Talk to them. Say anything. Just keep them from running into that storm and breaking a leg.

She talked. She sang. She quoted nursery rhymes.

Kilmer, where are you?

D
ammit, where is she?” Marvot’s grasp tightened on the binoculars. “I can’t see the bitch.”

“Sirocco,” Hanley said. “Sandstorm.”

“I know it’s a sandstorm,” Marvot said sarcastically. “I want to know when it’s going to be over.”

Hanley shrugged. “An hour. A day. A week. As far as I know, there’s no way of telling.”

“Fuck. Tell Capriano to go after her.”

“If he can find her. Those horses are going to panic and—”

“Get her.”

Hanley nodded and tried to open the door of the RV. The wind slammed it shut. “Shit.” He forced the door open again. “I’ll have to—” His cell phone rang and he accessed. “Hanley.” He listened. “Son of a bitch. If you let them take the kid, you’re dead meat.” He hung up the phone. “The base camp at the oasis is under attack.”

“Kilmer.”

“That’s my guess,” Hanley said. “Maybe he doesn’t know Archer isn’t there.”

“And maybe he does. Maybe he’s out there with her now.” Marvot sat there, thinking. “The bitch may have played me for a fool. We’re pulling out and going back to the oasis. Tell the men to forget about the woman and get back to the base.”

“You’re leaving her?”

“Do you think she won’t go back to get the kid? We focus all our firepower on keeping control of the base. Then we only have to wait for Kilmer and her to come after her daughter.”

“And then use the kid as a hostage?”

“Oh, yes. But no one makes a fool of me.” He started the RV. “She’s going to get a surprise when she gets back to the oasis. We’ll see how the bitch likes having a daughter who’s missing a few fingers.”

G
unfire!

Frankie huddled closer to Maestro in the corner of the lean-to.

“It’s okay, boy,” she whispered as her arms tightened around his neck. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

The colt nickered softly, uneasily.

Was he coming?

I’ll kill the colt.

And he would, Frankie thought in anguish, he would.

No, he wouldn’t. She wouldn’t let him.

More gunfire. What was happening?

Mom . . .

The sky was darkening and she could see a shadow, a man moving, outside the corral.

Marvot?

Come, Mom. Come, Mom. Please, come.

T
he sirocco was increasing in force.

And Charlie was beginning to rear again, almost jerking Grace from her feet.

“No. Just a little longer.” Her voice was shaking. “I promise, it will be—”

“Let him go.”

Kilmer. Relief poured through her. She jerked down her scarf and saw him through the stinging barrage of sand. He was only a shadowy figure, but he looked like something from another planet. He was wearing a scuba mask and oxygen tank, the mouthpiece dangling around his neck.

There were several men behind him, but they were too far away to recognize in the storm.

But whoever they were, they were disturbing Charlie and Hope. “Tell them to get back,” she shouted. “You too.”

Kilmer made a motion and the men faded back. “I’ll get out of your way in a minute.” He was buckling a scuba mask on her.

“Frankie. Did you get Frankie?”

“Donavan and Blockman had orders to attack the base camp the minute the sandstorm hit. The horse trailer’s about thirty yards to your right. If you can get the Pair in the trailer, the Sheikh’s men will take care of getting them back to his camp.”

“Get away.” She took a deep breath of the oxygen and tugged gently on the rope. “We’re going blind, Charlie. Just for a little while. Then it will be over.”

Would he go with her or break free?

Charlie reared. Hope reared.

Shit.

She tugged again, then abandoned the rope and wound her hands in both their manes and pulled.

He took a step forward.

One more, Charlie. Take one step at a time.

It couldn’t have taken more than a few minutes, but it was the longest thirty yards of her life.

She led Charlie into the trailer and then went back and led Hope up the ramp. The blowing sand was still bad in the trailer, but the horses would be able to breathe. Best to leave the cloth masks on, though. She patted them. “We’re going to get you out of this and take care of you. I promise you’ll be safe. . . .” She ran out of the trailer and motioned the two men at the end of the ramp to close the doors.

Kilmer grabbed her arm. “Come on. We have to get to Frankie.”

Fear iced through her. “You said Donavan went after her.” She ran beside him toward the SUV. “Hasn’t he reported back?”

“No, but he probably couldn’t get through in this storm. The sirocco hit here first, and it hadn’t gotten to the oasis when I talked to him last. It’s like a blanket hovering over a hundred feet. You know how good Donavan is. He’ll get her out.”

“I don’t know anything.” She jumped into the SUV. “And neither do you. So stop making comforting noises and let’s get to her. Can you see in this storm?”

“No, but I covered the engine and rigged a GPS setup for the oasis.” He started the SUV. “I didn’t have any doubt that you wouldn’t wait for Donavan to bring her to us.”

“And you would? Bullshit. You would have gone without me.”

He nodded. “You’re damn right.”

D
onavan got through to Kilmer when he was only a few miles from the oasis. “We’ve secured the camp. We had to beat off an assault by Marvot and the goons he took with him to keep an eye on Grace. They didn’t go after her as we all hoped. But we had a strong enough foothold here.”

“Frankie?”

“She’s not here. We’ve searched every tent. She’s not here.”

“What? She’s got to be there.” He paused. “Unless Marvot had her taken to another location.”

“She’s gone?” Grace whispered.

Kilmer nodded. “Any sign of Marvot?” he asked Donavan.

“No, he took off when we repelled his attack. But I questioned a few of his men a bit forcefully. They said the little girl was in her tent.”

“Don’t get in a panic,” Kilmer told Grace. “Marvot isn’t there. The guards thought Frankie was still in her tent.”

“Don’t tell me not to panic.” Her voice was shaking with fear. “He could have called and given the order to kill her. For all we know she could be buried in the sand somewhere.”

“Donavan and Blockman moved in fast the minute the storm struck. The action was over in minutes. There wouldn’t have been time.”

Maybe. That thought was too unbearable and she tried to think of an alternate scenario. “Tell Donavan to go and check the colt in the lean-to. See if he’s still alive. Marvot threatened to kill him.”

“Right.” Kilmer relayed the message to Donavan.

Five agonizing minutes went by before Donavan came back on the line. “No colt. I looked everywhere.”

“No colt,” Kilmer repeated for Grace’s benefit.

“My God,” Grace said. “She took the colt.”

“What?”

“She was afraid the colt would be killed. The gunfire must have scared her and she ran away with him.”

“Into this storm?”

She nodded jerkily. “She loves that colt. Tell Donavan to try to track—” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Jesus, there wouldn’t be any tracks. Not in this storm. She could die out there.”

“We’ll find her, Grace.”

“Yes, we will.” She couldn’t bear to think anything else. “She’s a smart girl. She wouldn’t go out there without being prepared even if she was scared. We just have to think of a way to track her.”

“As soon as the storm lets up a little more, we’ll get the helicopter and scan the—”

The windshield shattered as a bullet plowed into the leather of the front seat.

“Shit! Duck!” He stomped on the brakes and rolled out the driver’s door. “Stay here.” Which direction had the bullet come from?

Another shot kicked up the sand in front of him. The shot was too accurate. Whoever was out there was in a protected area and could see to shoot. An RV or SUV? And Marvot’s men wouldn’t be shooting without his orders.

“Did you think I’d be beaten, Kilmer?” Marvot’s voice. “Only a temporary setback. I knew you’d be coming to rescue the child and all I had to do was wait. Listen, Archer, we can still work out an agreement. Do you think you’re safe, that the child is safe? You’ll never be safe. Give me what I want and the child will live. If you don’t work with me, you’ll both die and then the child will die. I promise it on my father’s grave. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Time’s up,” Grace murmured. She was lying beside him, a rifle cradled in her arms. It didn’t surprise him. Grace wouldn’t hide in the SUV. “I can’t see anything, can you?”

“No.” Then as the wind shifted he caught sight of the RV. “There’s our target. At three o’clock. I don’t see any other backup for him. I’ll keep him busy. You work your way around and shoot a hole in that gas tank. I want to see the bastard roast.” He didn’t wait for her to answer but got up and started to zigzag across the dunes.

Bullets.

Close.

Very close.

G
et behind the RV.

Grace crawled on her hands and knees, sliding up and down the dunes on her belly.

She could hear the sound of the bullets.

Run, Kilmer.

But how could he run in this thick sand? She could barely crawl. She was sinking and sinking and the—

“Got him, Hanley!”

Marvot’s voice, harsh, triumphant. And terrifying, because it was Kilmer they were talking about. One of those bullets must have struck Kilmer.

Then a string of obscenities. “No, he’s still alive. He’s up again.” Another bullet. “How the hell— Where’s the woman?”