CHAPTER 4
“Done?” Galen was standing in the middle of the path as Logan strode through the trees toward the campsite.
Logan nodded.
“What about disposal?”
“No one will find him.”
He gazed at Logan curiously. “It’s been a long time since you did a job like this. Did it bother you?”
“No.”
“Not even a little? You’ve been a respectable businessman so long, I’d think you’d find it hard to revert to the old ways.”
Logan’s lips twisted. “I enjoyed it.”
“I don’t like traitors either. I told you I’d do it for you.”
“I know. But it was my job. I chose him. If I’d kept a closer eye on Castleton, maybe I’d have sensed he’d turn Judas.” His face darkened as he glanced over his shoulder. “All those lives . . .”
“It was probably a crime of opportunity. Castleton might have walked the straight and narrow if Rudzak hadn’t tempted him.”
“How tempting was it?”
“Sanchez said he was paid one million for helping them set up the attack on the facility, and he was to get another two when he lured you into the trap. How did you guess Castleton was in Rudzak’s pay?”
“I didn’t guess. I was just exploring every possibility.
Castleton was conveniently in town when the attack occurred.
I started from there. It could have been coincidence, but I couldn’t take a chance on coincidence in a situation like this.
I had to make sure. If he was dirty, then the lead he gave me to Sanchez would be bogus.
Sanchez would be set up to give me the wrong information on how to find Rudzak, and I’d be led down the garden path straight into a trap. That’s why I sent you to Sanchez.”
“Because you knew how efficient I am.”
“Because I couldn’t have any more deaths on my hands. I thought the research center was safe here. But it wasn’t safe. Rudzak found out about it.”
“Stop beating yourself on the head. You didn’t know Rudzak would turn up again. You thought he was in that prison in Bangkok.”
“You’re wrong. I always had a feeling he’d show up again.”
“Then you should have had him killed in that prison. I offered to have it done.” Galen glanced sideways at him. “Why didn’t you?”
Logan didn’t answer.
“I never could understand what went on between you and Rudzak. For a while I thought he was your best friend.”
“So did I. Then he started to hate me. But he never let me see it until the end.” He shrugged. “And he hates me more now. So maybe he was meant to get his shot at me.”
“Fate?” Galen shook his head. “We make our own fate.”
Logan agreed with that premise. He’d lived too long in the Far East not to have acquired a healthy respect for the patterns life seemed to weave.
But he believed only to a degree. “Maybe. I only know I was dead certain I’d be Rudzak’s prime target when I heard he’d finally managed to bribe himself out of that prison two years ago. ”
“Two years is a long time. I was hoping he might have forgotten you.”
“Be for real. After what I did to him? I’ve been waiting for him. I knew he’d have to reestablish contacts before he’d go after me. But, Christ, I was hoping he wouldn’t find out about the research facility.”
“How long has it been operating?”
“Three years.”
“Progress?”
“Early stages, but promising. Very promising. Bassett was brilliant.”
“Was?”
“Freudian slip. He may still be alive. But since money isn’t Rudzak’s prime motivation, it could go either way.”
“That was my reading. We’re going in regardless?”
Logan nodded. “I won’t have Rudzak killing my people or hovering over me like a dark cloud any longer. We’re taking him out.”
“When we find him. Just how good is Sarah and her dog?”
“Do you think I’d be taking a chance on anyone I didn’t think could perform? But I want you to watch out for her, Galen. If anything happens to me, get her and Monty out.”
“I’ll do everything I can.” He was silent a moment. “You do know if Rudzak survives, she may be on his hit list too.”
“I’m not a fool. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t tell Castleton about her and Monty. I’ll make sure from now on that she’s kept out of sight of any of Rudzak’s men and hope for the best.”
“And if the best doesn’t happen?”
“I’ll worry about it then. I need her.” He changed the subject. “Something’s been nagging at me. Rudzak may be playing games with—” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I just feel uneasy. When he called, I felt he was giving me some kind of puzzle to solve.”
“The decoy camp?”
“Maybe.” He thought for a moment. “You know, he sent me a scarab just before he hit the facility. Chen Li’s scarab.”
“You didn’t tell me that.”
“I wasn’t sure it had any meaning. I still don’t.”
“How did he get ahold of it?”
“He stole the entire collection from her bedroom before he left Tokyo. The police in Bangkok looked for it but didn’t find it. I thought maybe he’d sold it and stashed the money. It would have been enough to get him out of a dozen prisons.”
“Evidently he didn’t sell it or he would have gotten out of that prison a lot earlier. It must have meant something to him.”
“It meant something to him all right. He talked to Chen Li for years about ancient Egypt, tried to brain-wash her for years. He bought her books and took her to museums. He gave her that scarab when she was only fifteen.”
“Why go to all that trouble to—” Galen gave a low whistle. “That scheming asshole.”
“And then I came along,” Logan went on. “I think if Chen Li hadn’t gotten sick, I would have had an untimely accident. And he might have gotten away with it.” His lips twisted. “Like you said, I thought he was my best friend.”
“Then maybe the scarab was some kind of taunt.”
“Maybe. But I feel as if— Who the hell knows? That scarab just makes me uneasy. Has Sarah turned in?”
Galen grimaced. “After she beat me three games at poker. She could make her living in Las Vegas. Sharp.”
“I know. She took me to the cleaners once when I first met her. She told me poker is the game of choice when the rescue teams are waiting to go to work at a disaster site.”
“Well, let’s hope this job doesn’t qualify as a disaster.” They had reached the campsite and he lowered his voice to avoid waking Sarah, who was lying with Monty beside her across from the fire. “What are the chances?”
“I bought time tonight. I figure we have two days before Rudzak gets suspicious. If we move fast and have surprise on our side . . . seven out of ten.”
Galen dropped down on his bedroll. “We’ll have to make sure of both. I have a lot of living to do. There are millions of people out there who haven’t yet experienced my intelligence and charm.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Logan stretched out on his bedroll and closed his eyes.
Death.
Galen was right. It had been a long time for Logan, but he hadn’t felt a moment of hesitation. He had always believed in an eye for an eye. Primitive but fair.
Rudzak understood that philosophy. He had waited almost fifteen years to get Logan, and he was out there now, salivating.
Logan had gone over and over in his mind the possible targets. Which one would Rudzak pick next?
Screw him. No use worrying about future targets until Bassett was free and he had Sarah, Monty, Galen, and his team to help do that job.
And seven out of ten odds weren’t that bad.
Seven out of ten.
Sarah stared into the darkness as she heard Logan lie down across from her.
Those were good odds, better than what she had gone up against in a dozen situations in her life.
And the chances of survival for her and Monty had to be even greater because their part would be finished the moment Rudzak’s camp was located.
She would have no part in the attack, and even if Logan and Galen were captured or killed, she and Monty had the training and experience to survive alone in the jungle.
Jesus, that was cold.
No, it wasn’t. She had a perfect right to preserve her life and that of Monty with no sense of guilt.
She liked Galen, but he had been hired to do a job and evidently he was a mercenary who was paid well to take his chances.
As for Logan, he was the one who had drawn all of them into this web.
Even if his motive in rescuing his employee was compassionate, his methods were certainly not.
No, she was in this alone and would act accordingly.
Monty whimpered and put his head on her arm, sensing her tension. She reached out to stroke, quiet him. No, she wasn’t alone. Not as long as she had Monty. “Go to sleep, boy.”
Scared?
She was scared. She’d been scared since the moment she’d caught sight of that burned-out research facility. Premonition?
Hell, no. Imagination.
But Monty wouldn’t believe that, not when he could feel the tension tightening her muscles.
She gently stroked his throat. “A little, but it’s okay.”
He relaxed. Monty knew about fear. How sometimes you had to keep on going even if you were scared.
Once he’d crawled down a tunnel in a crushed parking garage when he’d caught scent of a victim.
She’d gone in after him and the shaft had crashed down behind them.
There had been no going back, and there had been nothing but darkness and fear ahead.
She had felt Monty trembling beside her and could smell his fear and her own.
He could have frozen, but he’d crawled on his belly through the long tunnel, guiding her until she could see light ahead.
If they survived that nightmare, they could survive anything.
And seven out of ten odds weren’t bad at all.
“Wake up. It’s time to leave.”
Sarah’s eyes flew open to see Logan’s face above her. “Okay.” She sat up and threw aside her blanket. “Monty.”
Monty stretched and then trotted over to the nearest tree to take care of morning business.
“Here’s your backpack.” Logan dropped it beside her. “I took a few bottles out and put them in mine. I didn’t have room for many.”
“I don’t need your help. I could have managed.”
“I wasn’t being gentlemanly.” Logan was smiling, but the words were crisp. “I can’t afford to have you falling behind.”