Chapter
6
MILCHANG MOUNTAIN
Catherine was everything he had thought she would be, Cameron thought.
He smiled with amusement as he stood up from the boulder where he’d sat down to mentally build their rendezvous. He started up the icy path toward the plateau where Hu Chang’s helicopter would land.
No, she was more, he amended. Brimming with fire and intelligence and emotion and completely her own person. It had been a stinging, lively, and tumultuous encounter, and he had enjoyed every minute of it.
When he hadn’t wanted to kill her.
Or take her down and have sex with her until they were both out of their minds.
He was readying at the thought.
Control.
Not easy. From the moment he had caught glimpses of Catherine in Hu Chang’s mind, he had been aroused and stimulated beyond belief.
How long had it been since he had wanted a woman this much?
He couldn’t remember. Maybe never.
Not only desire but intrigue and excitement …
Control.
Concentrate on Erin Sullivan. She had to be protected. He probably should not have even sent Catherine to rescue her. He had known at the time that he was having a physical and emotional response to her.
But, dammit, Catherine Ling was the one who should have gone. All his experience had pointed to her as having the best chance. She had the instincts of a prime warrior. It was not because of that sexual response.
But now she was here, and they were going to have to interact.
Interact in what way?
He was tired, too much had been demanded of him during the last year. Didn’t he deserve a reward?
Discipline. He only deserved what he could take and what he allowed himself.
He must not allow himself to take Catherine Ling.
* * *
“So why did you feel it necessary to eavesdrop on my call with Venable, Luke?” Hu Chang asked as he came back and sat down beside Luke in the rear of the helicopter. “Why did you not come to me and ask what you wanted to know?”
Luke was silent, then said slowly, “You didn’t want to talk to me about Catherine. I have to know if she’s safe, Hu Chang.”
“She’s not safe. I told you that when I gave you the choice whether to come with me.” He smiled faintly. “And you said that you would have gone after her by yourself. The answer pleased me.” He added ruefully, “But your mother would not have been pleased either by the question or the answer. And she will be in a rage that I brought you with me. She told me to take care of her son. Yet how can I take care of her son unless he is under my eyes? Since I had to journey to help her it was a paradox.”
“That you solved.” Luke suddenly grinned. “You could have left me with Chen Lu. You wanted me with you.”
“You are usually good company. However, you will have to prove yourself to me. You are not a child. You’ve lived a hard life, but I will take no excuses for disobedience when it could hurt our Catherine.”
Luke’s grin vanished. “When I’m in the lab, don’t I do what you tell me? Do you think I’d do less for Catherine?”
“No, but a warning does no harm. You might become overenthusiastic. It happens in the young.”
“Rakovac put a gun in my hand when I wasn’t even big enough to hold it. He wanted to teach me to kill so that he could hurt my mother. When he first took me on guerrilla raids in Russia, I was afraid. After a while, I was excited and began to think of it as a game,” he said. “Then later, I saw the deaths all around me, and it was no longer a game.” He looked Hu Chang in the eye. “I will not be overenthusiastic. I will only do what I have to do to save Catherine.”
“Tell me why.”
He frowned. “Because she could die if I don’t. That’s a strange question, Hu Chang.”
“Not so strange. Then you’re not looking for a grand adventure?”
He shook his head. “I told you, Catherine could die.”
“And is she worth saving, Luke?”
“Of course she is. She’s a fine agent, a good soldier, and I owe her for saving me from Rakovac.”
“Very cool and logical. Do you know why I think she’s worth saving? Because it would be a barren world if I didn’t see her smile at me. She came to me, and I suddenly discovered how lonely I had been. She fills so many places in my mind and heart that I can’t conceive of life without her.” He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. “Yes, we owe each other many debts, but that’s only surface. She is worth saving because she hears my soul speak, and I hear hers.” He added softly, “Do you hear her soul speak, Luke?”
“I … don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do hear, and that’s why you wanted to come to find her.” He smiled. “And I brought you with me because it’s time you admitted to yourself that you hear her. There’s nothing like enduring hardship and danger to clarify emotions. Perhaps before this is over, you will tell her that you hear her.”
He moistened his lips. “I don’t know what you want from me.” He made a face. “And you’re talking weird. Catherine would laugh at me if I started talking about hearing souls.”
Hu Chang nodded. “That is true. You don’t have my eloquence and gift of words. Pity. But you might be able to make her understand in your own crude way.”
Luke shifted his gaze to the snow-covered mountains outside the window. “Are we almost there, Hu Chang?”
“That’s a disgustingly trite and overused phrase,” Hu Chang said. “But I’ll answer you anyway since you’re scrambling frantically to fend off my own questions you find awkward. Yes, we’ll be landing soon.”
“Where?”
“On a plateau near the top of one of those mountains at which you’ve been looking so admiringly.”
“How close will we be to Catherine?”
“Not close enough. But we’ll be met by a man who will be able to help us to locate her. He’s the man who sent this fine helicopter and pilot to bring us here. His name is Cameron, and you must be polite to him though he may confuse you.”
“Confuse me?”
“Yes, I know youths of your age are so blasé and wise that they find it difficult to believe that anything can bewilder them, but you may be surprised. Just flow with the tide.”
“You’re talking weird again.”
“Then you must forgive me. My heart is heavy, and it is difficult being both wise and witty.” He leaned back against the paneled wall of the cabin. “I will rest and be myself by the time we arrive at our destination.”
Luke was silent. “I didn’t mean that you were really weird.” He added awkwardly, “And you’re always wise. You’re the smartest man I’ve ever met.”
Hu Chang didn’t open his eyes. “But you’ve had a limited acquaintance. Still, you’ve been lucky enough to have many hours in my exceptional company. That makes up for many lapses. I take it this is your gauche way of apologizing?”
Another silence. “Yes.”
“I will consider accepting it. No, because of the circumstances, I will generously forgive you.”
Silence.
Hu Chang sighed. “I can sense you fretting. What is it, Luke?”
“‘Gauche.’ I don’t know that word. What does it mean?”
Hu Chang was aware after the last nine years spent in Russia there were many English words that Luke didn’t know, but the boy was voraciously curious about them. “Inept. Which is something you must never be again while we are on this journey. There must be respect and competence. And if you give it to me, there will be trumpets and fireworks and many wonderful things.” He opened his eyes and smiled. “And the most wonderful thing of all will be that we have our Catherine back.”
DAKSHA PALACE
“I have it.” Brasden strode into Kadmus’s library and threw down a photo on the desk. “I had Mark Nagle, the man who handles your West Coast operations, call his contact at Langley. There was a top secret operation going on in this area. Catherine Ling was to be in the center of it.”
“Catherine Ling…” Kadmus gazed down at the woman staring back at him from the photo. “Beautiful. Fierce.” He read the brief dossier. “And exceptional. You’re sure that she’s the agent who took Sullivan?”
“She arrived in Hong Kong yesterday.”
“Coincidence?”
“I only saw her for a moment in the darkness, but I’d swear it was the same woman in the photo.”
Kadmus couldn’t take his gaze from the photo. He could feel the rage searing through him. Catherine Ling was not smiling, but he could feel the mockery behind that intense expression.
Mocking him? Mocking the fact that he’d not been able to stop her from taking Sullivan. It was irrational, but the thought would not leave him. He had been beaten by a woman and he could—
“Kadmus?”
“Get out of here, Brasden,” he said through his teeth. “Find her. Find them both and bring them back to me.”
“I know you want Sullivan alive. What about Catherine Ling?”
“I want her alive, too.”
Torturing Erin Sullivan had been a necessity, but it had given him a certain pleasure. It would be a pure, intense pleasure teaching Catherine Ling she could not make a fool of him. “I want to spend a long, long time with the bitch before I cut her throat. Maybe watching her suffer will make Sullivan more cooperative.”
“I’ll be delighted to assist,” Brasden said grimly. “I know you don’t want excuses about me being taken off guard by her, but it’s true. Ling won’t ever be able to take me down again.”
“We’ll talk about participation later. First, you have to find them. I want a lead within the next four hours.” He didn’t look up from the photo as the door slammed behind Brasden.
Catherine Ling.
She was as alluring as one of the high-priced whores he paid at that house in Beijing, but he had no desire for her. Her skin was glowing, golden satin, and her lips were full and beautifully shaped and she was all fire … and mockery.
Mockery.
The rage was pouring through him. She had taken away Sullivan and was standing in the way of his reaching the lotus gate. He ruled these mountains, he could take or crush or kill at will, but it was not enough. He wanted more, and he would get it.
The ultimate power.
He reached into the top drawer of the desk and took out the black velvet jewelry box. His fingers caressed the softness of the velvet. He always liked to anticipate before he opened the box.
How many times had Erin offered to give him her necklace? She had never understood why he didn’t want it.
I don’t need it. I have my own lotus necklace, Erin.
He opened the box and gazed down at the eight-sided lotus pendant on the gold chain. There were still faint traces of blood on that chain. He had decided not to clean it after he’d yanked it off the neck of the priest from whom he had taken the necklace. He had found out many things from that fool of a priest but not enough. But this necklace gave him a sense of his own power and a vision of what was to be.
Shambhala.
Just thinking about it brought the heady joy that it had the first time he had found out that it could be within his reach.
And he could still have it.
Erin Sullivan would have given in eventually if he’d been able to work on her a little longer. Then he would have found the Guardian, and he would have been on his way.
And it had all stopped because this bitch had stepped in and snatched Sullivan. It was intolerable. The rage was rising and cresting and rising again as he thought of the things he wanted to do to Catherine Ling.
* * *
Kadmus!
Catherine sat upright, jarred from sleep. Her heart was beating hard, and her palms were damp from sweat though the cave was cold.
“Is something wrong?” Erin had raised herself on her arm to look at Catherine apprehensively. “Did you hear something?”
“I don’t know.” She listened. “Nothing.”
“Nightmare?”
She shook her head. “I just felt … I don’t know … I felt as if Kadmus were here. Crazy.” She reached for her water bottle and took a long drink. “Particularly since I’ve never met him face-to-face. I’ve only seen photos of him on my e-mail. I guess I must be thinking about him so much that it—Forget it.”
“Or he’s thinking about you,” Erin said gravely. “I’ve never met anyone who was so intensely emotional when he was focusing on anything. I used to wake in the middle of the night and think that Kadmus was there in the room with me.”
“And was he?”
“No, but he’d show up five or ten minutes later. And it wasn’t that I had any kind of psychic gift or anything. I just think that some people send out such powerful vibes that we unconsciously sense them.” She added, “I frustrated Kadmus, and he became driven.”
Catherine could imagine Erin’s waking, and just agonizingly waiting for Kadmus to come. “Well, you’re free, and Kadmus isn’t in a room down the hall. He’s miles away and, if he’s running around, slobbering at the mouth, and going crazy, good for us for making him do it.”
Erin stared at her in surprise. Then she chuckled. “Catherine, I do like you. That’s the first time I’ve laughed at anything concerning Kadmus since the minute he took me.”
“And I can see why,” Catherine said. “He’s ugly and full of venom and should be tossed off this mountain after going through the kind of torture he put you through. If we get a chance, we’ll do that.” She paused. “But then you have to let him go except to laugh at him. Otherwise, he’ll still be keeping you prisoner.”
“You sound as if you’re speaking from experience.”
“Oh, yes.” She hesitated, then asked, “Did he rape you?”
Erin moistened her lips and didn’t answer immediately. “Yes.”
Catherine could see her agony at those haunted memories. “I didn’t think that he’d leave that ugliness out of his agenda. That may be the hardest wound of all to heal. But you can do it.”
She lifted her chin. “I know I can. I closed that pain and degradation away as I did all the others. I didn’t let it touch me.”
“No? Then you’re stronger than I was when it happened to me. I was only ten years old. It touched me, but I fought my way until I reached the point where I wouldn’t let myself be a victim by remembering.” She repeated, “You closed that pain and degradation away … How did you do that, Erin?”
“I just did it.”
Time to send in the first probe. “Cameron didn’t teach you to do that?”
Erin’s shocked gaze flew to Catherine’s face. “What?”
“Richard Cameron, Erin. It’s time we talked about Cameron. If we’d talked before, I wouldn’t have had such a disturbing episode with the bastard.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“And I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about for a good deal of our conversation. Most of the time, I was just angry and wanting to deck him. I need you to fill in the blanks.”
She was silent.
Catherine couldn’t expect anything else. Erin had gone through terrible torture and still hadn’t revealed anything about Cameron. “Okay, I’ll go first. Cameron disturbed my nap by a very unwelcome intrusion. At first, I thought that it was a dream or hallucination, but then we talked, and I realized that he was a man capable of mental telepathy and God knows what else. He’s some kind of troubleshooter for an organization that could be corrupt or just the usual bureaucratic conglomerate.” She stared Erin in the eye. “And you’re involved with them in some way. Innocently, I hope. Because Cameron impresses me as one dangerous customer and more ruthless than you could imagine.”
Erin shook her head. “And Cameron impresses me as being far more wonderful than you could ever imagine.”
“Wonderful? Oh, for God’s sake, Erin. Are you infatuated with him? I can see that anyone would be a little dazzled by those good looks, but this is a man who let you be tortured for weeks and didn’t raise a hand to help you.”
“He helped me. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No, I don’t. I don’t know anything about a person who could have a gift that strong and complex. I don’t know why Kadmus wants him bad enough to do what he did to you. So why don’t you tell me?”
“Because I promised Cameron I wouldn’t do it,” she said simply. “And I won’t, Catherine.”
Catherine drew a deep breath. “Cameron’s already told me bits and pieces. It seems that he’s going to deign to communicate with me until we get you away from Tibet.”
“I told you that he helped me.” Erin smiled. “And now he’s going to do it again. As I said, he’s wonderful.” She saw Catherine’s expression and shook her head. “And I’m not infatuated with Cameron. I admire him more than I can say, and I hope someday we can be friends. Right now, I’m sure he can only look on me as someone who’s brought him big-time trouble.”
“I’d say that the opposite is true,” Catherine said dryly. “And I’m not sure that you’ve not been influenced by a little mental manipulation. Can you deny that’s possible?”
“No, but I trust him. He wouldn’t do that to me without reason.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Yes,” she said with certainty. “As for that mental manipulation, I blessed it every moment I was with Kadmus.” She gazed at Catherine’s skeptical expression. “Listen, to me. After Kadmus kidnapped me and brought me to Daksha, I knew it was going to be terrible. I’ve never been more frightened. But that first night, Cameron came. I’d known he was capable of mental telepathy from our other encounter, but I hadn’t thought it was possible for him to be able to do it from great distances. Suddenly, I wasn’t alone any longer. Do you know what that meant to me? He told me he couldn’t come for me, but he would help me through it until he could get me away from Kadmus. By the time he left, the panic was gone.”
“He said he taught you to block the pain.”
“Yes, and when I couldn’t do it, he was there to do it for me. He stopped all pain and wrapped me in a kind of joyous peace.” She paused. “He was with me during the most terrible moments of my life. I couldn’t be any closer to anyone than I am to him. So don’t tell me that he shouldn’t have done a little mental hocus-pocus to help me to survive.”
“No, I won’t tell you that.” Her lips thinned. “But I will tell you that he should have tried to get you out himself.”
“He wasn’t permitted. I understood.”
“Well, I don’t.”
“It wasn’t his fault. I made a mistake. He could have just let me suffer for it. He didn’t do it. He came to help me. And, in the end, he sent you, Catherine.”
“He did not send me. I took the mission of my own volition.”
Erin smiled and nodded.
“It’s true.” And she wouldn’t be able to convince Erin that Cameron hadn’t influenced that decision. She might not be infatuated with him, but she obviously had a king-size case of hero worship. Was that how Cameron had planned it? She was fanatically grateful, and nothing could bind her closer to Cameron and his interests. Catherine might never know. The intimacy between them bred by those months of torture and captivity was probably unexplainable to anyone else.
“Worry about Kadmus,” Erin said gently. “Don’t worry about Cameron. He’ll help us, Catherine.”
“I have to worry about him. He’s a wild card.” She made a face. “That’s an understatement. But I’ll try to accept him the way you see him.” She thought about it. “No, that’s not going to work. I’ll just play it by ear.”
“You do that.” Erin settled back down in the sleeping bag. “It will be all right.”
“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me about that first encounter you had with Cameron?”
“No, that would be breaking my word. Any information has to come from him.”
“I suspected that was going to be the way of it. And I’m not too sure that he can help as much as you seem to think. Since he managed to supply us with this home away from home, I asked him if he could find a way to get us off this mountain. He said that he’d have to consult someone or other. That didn’t give me a high degree of confidence.”
“He’ll do it.” She yawned. “I’m going back to sleep. I feel much better now that I know I don’t have to keep clamming up when you’re questioning me about Cameron. I hated closing you out.”
“But you did it. You’re still doing it.”
“Because I promised him,” she said drowsily. “But he took care of that, and now the two of you can work everything out…”
The next moment, Erin was back asleep.
She was glad Erin was so confident, Catherine thought ruefully. She wasn’t at all sure that she could work with that arrogant son of a bitch.
Too much power.
Too much charisma.
And far too much sexuality.
Erin may not have been influenced by that potent combination, but Catherine had been. He had been everything gentle with Erin, but she could not see him being that way with her.
Of course, she would work with him. She could overcome personal barriers. She just had to understand more about her antagonist. The only information she had received from her conversation with Erin was just a confirmation of what Cameron had told her. She needed answers to other questions.
The details of the encounter between Erin and Cameron would tell her a hell of a lot. Everything seemed to have stemmed from that meeting. Where had it taken place? Probably somewhere in these mountains since Erin seemed to work almost exclusively in the provinces of Tibet.
And what had happened then that caused Kadmus to have zeroed in on Erin?
Okay, concentrate on those two questions and forget everything else.
Except Richard Cameron. If she couldn’t solve his connection with Erin, she could search for answers about him. Should she call Langley and tell them to dig as soon as this present emergency was over?
No, Erin would regard that as a betrayal when she had suffered tremendously to keep his identity secret.
Catherine could just drop the subject of Cameron once she had Erin safe.
That wasn’t an option either. Kadmus wasn’t going to stop until he found Cameron, and he’d continue to search for Erin to use as the key. So that meant she’d have to deal with Cameron until Kadmus was dead.
Langley was out, but there was another possibility.
Hu Chang.
He considered Cameron a friend, and Hu Chang did not accept friends lightly. He would know everything, or as close as an outsider could come to everything, about who and what Cameron really was.
Hu Chang. She had been trying to keep herself so occupied that she wouldn’t think about him. As Cameron had said, if she had been able to extract Erin immediately, then there would have been no problem. But there was no way that Hu Chang would not come after her if she wasn’t able to get out of here within a short time.
Stay away, Hu Chang. I’m working on it. Just take care of Luke and give me a little more time.
* * *
“We are landing, sir.” The helicopter pilot, Tashdon, called back to Hu Chang. “We should be down in just a few minutes. And I can see Cameron coming across the plateau.”
“Indeed?” Hu Chang rose and came forward to the cockpit. “Where?” Then he saw Cameron striding toward the place where the helicopter would set down. The snow was swirling around his black-garbed body, but he moved through it with swift, athletic grace. There was a boundless energy, a burning vitality, to every step. He was everything Hu Chang remembered. It was good to know. He would need Cameron to be exceptional to get Catherine out of this quandary. “Our friend, Cameron, appears to be in good form, Tashdon.”
Tashdon gazed at him in surprise. “But he’s always that way. Cameron never changes.”
“How long have you worked with him?”
“Five years.”
“And you’ve enjoyed it?” he asked curiously.
“Not always. But it’s been my privilege.” He added, “You’d better sit down, sir.”
Hu Chang sat down and buckled the seat belt. Tashdon’s reply had been in the same tenor as Hu Chang had run across in other members in Cameron’s circle. Devotion. Respect. Fear? Yes, he was sure that there were elements of fear. And that respect was almost fanatical.
He observed that truth again a few minutes later after he had left the helicopter and was walking toward Cameron across the hard-packed snow. Tashdon had scurried ahead and was hovering in front of Cameron protectively. “I’ve delivered them as ordered,” Tashdon said. “Is there anything else, Cameron?”
“No, you’ve done very well. I don’t need you any longer.”
Tashdon smiled with relief. “I’m glad you’re pleased.”
Hu Chang said, “Go back to the helicopter and bring the boy to meet Cameron.”
Tashdon looked at Cameron.
“Go ahead,” Cameron smiled. “I’m not going to make you take him back to Hong Kong, Tashdon.” He turned to Hu Chang. “Did you think I would?”
“No, I wouldn’t permit it. But I thought two friends should have the opportunity to meet alone before there were intrusions. You knew about Luke?”
“Yes, though not from you warning me.”
“I thought there was a good chance you might break your word to me and take a peek. It seems I was correct.”
“I told you I would honor your privacy whenever possible. It was not possible. I had to make sure that you weren’t going to be doing anything that would interfere with my getting Erin out of here.”
“That is why I am on this deplorably uncomfortable mountain.”
“No, your objective has changed. You’re only thinking about Catherine Ling.”
Hu Chang nodded slowly. “You have a right to be concerned. My prime objective is not yours. But if I do not have to sacrifice Erin Sullivan for Catherine, then I will be happy to expand my goal.”
Cameron’s gaze shifted back to the helicopter. “I believe we’ll be able to do that. In fact, I don’t think that Catherine will let anyone take Erin from beneath her protective wing until she’s safe.”
Hu Chang said quietly, “You could take her away from Catherine.”
“I’m not sure that I could.”
“Really?” Hu Chang’s eyes narrowed. Cameron was not inclined to underestimate himself, and they were both aware of his capabilities. “It’s true that she’s extraordinary, but I wasn’t aware that you’d discovered that.”
Cameron glanced back at him. “But I find I don’t want to be forced to take Erin away from her. I might have to kill her, and that would upset my friend, Hu Chang.”
“Yes, I would be so upset that I would seek and find a way to kill my friend, Cameron.”
Cameron chuckled. “I do like you, Hu Chang. No one intimidates you, thank God.”
“And you’re bored to extinction with people who allow you to intimidate them.”
He grimaced. “Not extinction. That’s one of the prime things that I’m not permitted.”
“But bored nevertheless.” He watched as Tashdon opened the helicopter door and gestured for Luke to jump out. “Your fine, competent pilot is an excellent example. He seemed quite normal until he got near you. He was almost subservient, eagerly subservient, but subservient nonetheless. Have you been indulging in a little brainwashing?”
“God, no,” Cameron said violently.
“Then I have to admire your ability to handle him. He’d obviously do anything for you. When he was hovering so protectively over you just now, was he asking if I was a possible threat?”
“You caught that? Tashdon always regards it as his duty to make sure that he doesn’t deliver anyone who might be dangerous to me.” He shook his head. “Even though I ordered him to bring you.” His lips twisted bitterly. “Haven’t you heard? Nothing must happen to me.”
“Yes, I’ve heard,” Hu Chang said. “And I tend to agree. Of course, with the exception that will exist if I decide that you’re interfering with my retrieving Catherine.”
Cameron laughed and slapped him on the back. “Exception noted. Now tell me why you brought the boy.”
“He belongs to Catherine and, though extraordinary, he needs schooling in many areas. I thought this would be an excellent training ground.” He paused. “And why did you not try to stop me?”
“I was curious. I wanted to see her son.” His smile widened. “And I wanted to see her tear into you when she discovered you brought him. It will be interesting to see how you handle it.”
“Indeed it will,” he murmured. He gestured to Luke, who was now only a few yards away. “Luke, I would like to present my friend, Richard Cameron. He has just told me how amused he is going to be to see your mother’s reaction to my bringing you along.”
“That’s not kind,” Luke said. “I think everyone knows she’s going to be very angry.” He took the last few steps to stand before Cameron. “Hu Chang says that I should be polite to you. I can’t do that if you’re going to wish bad things to happen to him.”
“I was joking.” Cameron’s gaze was raking Luke’s face, his expression intent. “Though it will be something to see.”
Luke was silent. “I have trouble with jokes. Sometimes I can’t tell…” He looked at Hu Chang. “Hu Chang will tell you.”
“I don’t believe I’ll have to tell Cameron,” Hu Chang said. “I think he’s already understanding more about you than I want him to know. Back off, Cameron.”
“I’m out,” Cameron said. “It was the quickest way. Though it appears you’re the one who has done a little manipulating. You must think a good deal of him.” He smiled at Luke. “Politeness isn’t necessary between us. I have great respect and admiration for Hu Chang, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you. I think you’re going to be a great help.”
Luke looked at him for a long minute. “You’re not lying to me?”
Cameron shook his head. “Though you’ll never be certain until I prove myself to you, so I won’t try to persuade you.” He turned to Tashdon. “Get going. No electronic communication until you’re completely out of the area. Go back to Hong Kong and refuel and stand by for further orders.”
“Yes, Cameron. I’ll be ready.” Tashdon turned and strode swiftly back toward the helicopter.
“He acts as if you’re his boss,” Luke said as he gazed after the pilot. “Are you?”
“Not exactly. He works for hire, but he wants to please me. I can count on him to obey orders.” He met Luke’s eyes. “Can I count on you?”
Luke was silent. “Yes, if you don’t do anything that Hu Chang doesn’t like.”
“That’s not good enough.” He looked at Hu Chang. “We’ve already discussed possible differences of opinion and agreed there’s no problem. But I can’t take you with me unless you agree to belong to me even if it’s only for a short time. Will you do that?”
“Belong to you?” Luke frowned. “I don’t like the—”
“Agree, Luke,” Hu Chang said. “We need him, and it’s only until we get Catherine back.” He gazed at Cameron. “If it makes you feel better, Cameron told me the same thing several years ago, and I conceded my independence until I had what I wanted. It was not a totally unpleasant experience.”
“Not for me either,” Cameron said. “Luke?”
Luke slowly nodded. “Okay.”
“Good.” He turned away. “Now grab your gear and come along. We have a long hike up the mountain.”
“And where are we going?” Hu Chang asked.
“I have quarters I use occasionally on this side of the mountain where we can be comfortable until we’re ready to move. But we can’t do that yet. I have some research to do.” He smiled over his shoulder. “Catherine told me that I should find her a way to get off Daksha Mountain, and I have to obey.”
Hu Chang stiffened. “You’ve been in touch with her? I thought you were dealing through Erin Sullivan?”
“How could I resist? Catherine is a warrior. I feel a kinship for her. Erin is strong, but she endures and hesitates to attack. It’s her basic character, and I’ve had to make allowances all through these months.” He paused. “But now I have Catherine. Her basic instinct is to make a judgment, then attack. It will be much easier.”
“You have Catherine?” Luke repeated, puzzled. “Does that mean she said she’d belong to you, like you asked me to do?”
“No, not yet.” Cameron laughed. “I have that pleasure to look forward to.”
“I would not count on it,” Hu Chang said dryly.
“But I do count on it. I would not have thought you would agree, my friend. But in the past, you found I could supply you with something you wanted, and you chose to run the risk.” He started up the trail. “I just have to find the correct bargaining chip…”
It was two hours later that Hu Chang caught up with Cameron on the curve of the mountain trail. “How much longer?” he asked. “The boy is struggling.”
“I know,” Cameron said. “He’s very strong. But the altitude is a killer if you’re not accustomed to it.”
“And you haven’t stopped to let him rest.”
“Has he complained?”
“No.”
“Good. I didn’t think he would.”
“You could help him,” Hu Chang said. “You could ease it.”
“But I won’t.” Cameron turned and strode forward around the curve.
It was nearly an hour later that he stopped in front of a sod hut balanced on the edge of a cliff overlooking the valley. He stood waiting, watching as Hu Chang came up the trail. “The boy?”
“Five minutes behind me.”
“But you didn’t wait for him.”
“No, I knew what you were doing. It was a test, and I wouldn’t cheat Luke of his victory.”
“A test you would not have given him?”
“Perhaps, perhaps not. But Luke agreed, and I knew you were no easy taskmaster.”
“Any resentment?”
“No. Curiosity. Why did you wish to test him?”
“You brought him on a man’s job. I wanted to see if he could do it.”
“That’s not all.”
He was silent, watching as Luke came around the curve, staggering, catching himself, then trudging on. “No, I wanted to see if he was truly her son in spirit as well as body. When I saw that you had trusted him enough to have given him that magnificent gift, I thought he might be.”
“But you had to see for yourself.”
“You might have been blinded by your affection for his mother.”
“And why was it so important to you?”
“I have no idea.” He smiled brilliantly. “But it appears that it is.” He strode toward Luke, and called, “You did very well. I’ve known men who have grown up in these mountains who have had trouble on this trail.”
Luke stopped, weaving on his feet. His face was flushed, and his breathing was labored. “It … hurts. It was a … long way. I kept throwing up, and it hurt to breathe. At first, I thought I hated you.”
“But you changed your mind.”
“You were making it, Hu Chang was making it. Why should I hate you because I couldn’t?” He glared up at him. “So I forgot about hating you and just did it.”
“Very sensible of you.” Cameron’s voice was uncharacteristically gentle. “May I say that you have my admiration.” He held out his hand. “And I’d like to shake your hand. Would that be all right with you?”
Luke hesitated, then slowly took Cameron’s hand. “You’re not making fun of me?”
“Why should I do that?” He looked directly into Luke’s eyes. “You belong to me. Your pain is my pain. Your victory is my victory.” He shook his hand, then released it and put his arm around Luke’s shoulders and led him toward the sod hut. “I have great pride in you. Can’t you feel it?”
Luke nodded. “Yes, I think so. I feel … warm.”
Cameron’s eyes were twinkling. “And that’s a good thing in this frigid air. Soon you’ll be inside, and you’ll feel even warmer. You’ll notice that the altitude sickness is gone now.”
“Yes, why?”
“It happens that way sometimes. You’ll be a little tired, but that exhaustion will slip away like a thief in the night.” He opened the door of the hut. “And now you and Hu Chang can heat us something to eat while I stay out here and concentrate on finding a way for us to get to Catherine. Or better still, for Catherine to get to us.” He glanced at Hu Chang. “I was able to make considerable headway on the hike up here.”
“A contact?” Hu Chang asked.
“Yes, I had to sift through half a dozen false leads, but I came up with Sadiki, an Egyptian monk who visited this area thirty years ago. I believe he knows enough to help us.” He smiled again at Luke. “I think Sadiki is the one. Give me a little time, and I’ll be able to give Catherine a way out.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Luke said. He added thoughtfully, “But I think you do know what you’re doing. It’s like Hu Chang in the lab. I have no idea how he knows what to put into his potions, but I know they will do what he says they’ll do.”
Cameron’s lips twitched as he inclined his head. “I appreciate being compared to Hu Chang, but I’m no brilliant chemist. I’m only a poor soldier trying to do his job.”
“Come along, Luke.” Hu Chang drew Luke into the hut. “I fear my friend Cameron is choosing to be deceptively humble. I don’t want you exposed to such deceit.”
Cameron’s smile faded. “No deceit. Simplification, perhaps.” He turned and strode several yards away and sat down and leaned against a scraggly pine tree. “Take the boy inside. This shouldn’t take me more than forty or fifty minutes.”
But Luke was hanging back, staring at Cameron. “Why is he staying out in the cold? He’s just sitting there. He should come in where it’s warmer.”
“Don’t worry. He doesn’t feel the cold,” Hu Chang said. “He trained himself a long time ago not to let heat or cold bother him. I believe he has to remind himself that he can’t stay out in either too long.”
“Peculiar…”
“That he is, Luke.” His gaze narrowed on the boy’s face. “But you like him, don’t you? It’s impossible not to like Cameron when he exerts himself. In spite of how tough you had it today, he did make an effort with you.”
“Yes, I guess I do. I … liked it when he said he had pride in me. That made me feel … I liked it.”
Hu Chang had to pull the boy aside to close the door. He was still gazing at Cameron with that puzzled, bewildered, fascinated expression Hu Chang had seen on other people’s faces when confronted by Cameron. Hu Chang didn’t know how much of that fascination was engendered by Cameron’s charismatic personality or what seeds he had insinuated into the boy’s mind during that time when he had been face-to-face, talking to him. Something had definitely been going on in that moment.
“It’s all right to like Cameron, Luke. But one must always keep a sense of one’s own well-being when around him. Don’t try to please him too much.” His lips twisted. “Or you’ll end up like that pilot, Tashdon. Now, let’s find what rations are available and have them ready for Cameron when he comes back in.” He started toward the camp stove across the room. “And hope that he finds out something valuable from that monk, Sadiki…”