Countdown (33 page)

“That’s right. Probably more than that.”

“It has to be worthwhile, you know.”

“I assure you that it will be—”

“If it’s not, Reilly will tell me. He said he’d call me.”

“Then I’m sure he will.”

“May I go to the motel now? Reilly told me to go to the motel and stay there.”

Grozak started the car. “I just thought you should see—”

“You wanted to see if I’m afraid.” Johnson gazed at him without expression. “I’m not afraid. Reilly taught me to control fear. You can’t be afraid and win. And I will win, and all those bloodsucking bastards will lose.” He leaned back and closed his eyes. “Just make sure that blast will do the job.”

Three Days

D
on’t start the engine,” Jock said in a low voice as Jane got into the car. “Take off the brake and I’ll push you down to the road. We may get enough distance so that they won’t hear us.”

“Not much chance.” The night was very still and icy cold so that her breath plumed with every word. “We can try.” She disengaged the brake. “Let’s go.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. She felt the car move sluggishly on the ice beneath the tires as he pushed the car carefully and laboriously toward the road.

No sign of stirring from the chalet.

She was half hoping that someone would hear them. Maybe if they did, Jock would give up the idea of—

They reached the gravel road.

Jock was breathing harshly as he jumped into the passenger seat beside her. “Don’t gun it. Slow. Very slow.”

The gravel crackled beneath her tires like BBs spat from a child’s gun.

No sign of life from the chalet.

Or was there?

Yes, a light illuminated one window.

“Go!” Jock said. “Get on the highway but get off at the first exit. They’ll expect us to stay on it. We’ll access another highway later.”

Her cell phone rang.

She glanced at Jock and then punched the button.

“What the hell are you doing?” Trevor asked. “And where’s Jock?”

“Sitting beside me.” The highway was just ahead. “I left you a note.”

“Get back here.”

“Read the note.” She entered the highway. “I’m sorry, Trevor.” She hung up the phone.

“I’m sorry too,” Jock said gently as he held out his hand for the phone. “I want to trust you, Jane. I promise I’ll give the phone back to you when we get to Reilly.”

She slowly put the phone in his palm. The surrender made her feel very vulnerable.

“Thank you.” Jock turned off the ringer and stuffed the phone in his jacket pocket. “Now get off at the exit coming up.”

G
oddamn her.” Mario’s expression was as violent as his tone. “She’s cheating me.”

“Watch your mouth,” Trevor said. “You read the note. Jock didn’t give her much choice. She said she’d let us know something as soon as she’s verified Reilly’s location.”

“There’s always a choice,” MacDuff said. He reached for the phone. “She should have come to me. I’d have managed to make Jock cough up everything he knew.”

“What are you doing?” Trevor said.

“Arranging for a rental car to pick me up and take me to the airport. She said Idaho. I’m going to Idaho.”

“
We’re
going to Idaho,” Trevor said.

“Why not just take off after them?” Mario said impatiently. “We might be able to intercept them before they find Reilly. And maybe Jock lied to her and intends to change the destination once they’re on the road.”

“Jock made a deal with her,” MacDuff said. “And right now I doubt if he’s capable of any complicated deceptions.”

“Or is he?” Trevor asked Mario. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him.”

Mario thought about it and then slowly shook his head. “He kept going in and out. Sometimes almost normal, other times he was sort of blurred.”

“Then it’s Idaho.” Trevor picked up his duffel and started stuffing clothes into it. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

19
                                                                                          

Two Days

W
e’d better stop for gas,” Jane said. “There’s a truck stop up ahead. They usually have good food in their restaurants.”

“Yes.” Jock looked at the brightly lit gas station. “And very good coffee.” He smiled. “It’s strange how well I remember little things and have trouble with the big things. They must slip under the wire somehow.”

“How long were you with Reilly?”

“It’s hard to remember. The days blurred together.” He frowned thoughtfully. “Maybe . . . a year, eighteen months . . .”

“That’s a long time.” Jane pulled into the gas station. “And you were pretty young.”

“I didn’t think so at the time. I thought I was old enough to do anything, be anything. Cocky. Very cocky. That’s why I had no problem taking the job Reilly offered me. I couldn’t imagine that my judgment could fail.” He grimaced. “But Reilly showed me, didn’t he?”

“Evidently Reilly is very good at what he does.” Jane got out of the car. “I’ll pump the gas. You go in and get us coffee. It’s going to be a long drive.”

“Don’t get too much gas.” Jock got out of the car. “Just enough to get us to the next big town.”

“What?”

“We’ll have to abandon this car and rent another one. The laird will be checking to get the license number of this one.”

“That’s very astute of you.”

He shook his head. “Training. You never stay in the same rental car for any length of time.” He smiled sardonically. “Reilly wouldn’t be pleased, and that meant punishment.”

“What kind of punishment?”

He shrugged. “I don’t remember.”

“I think you do. I believe you remember more than you tell me. Whenever you don’t want to answer, you conveniently ‘forget.’”

Jock gave her a troubled glance. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember,” he repeated. “I’ll get the coffee.”

Jane didn’t speak again until they were back on the road. “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I guess I’m a little nervous. We’re getting so close. You’re sure you know where Reilly is located?”

“As sure as I can be.” Jock lifted his coffee to his lips. “We’ll go to the place where I had my training. He’s so sure that I won’t break my basic training that I’d bet he’s never left it. It would be an admission of failure, and Reilly’s ego wouldn’t permit it.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

“I have a few more places to search that he doesn’t know I know about.”

“And how did you manage that?”

“I didn’t manage anything. That wasn’t an option during that time. His housekeeper, Kim Chan, dropped information about them between her training bouts with me.”

“What kind of training?”

“Sexual. Sex is a driving force. Reilly used sex along with everything else to maintain control. And Kim was very well versed in sexual pain of every sort. She enjoyed it.”

“I’m surprised Reilly would tolerate anyone around him who would talk out of turn.”

“Kim wouldn’t dare let him know that she’d let anything slip. She might not even remember she did. She had perfect confidence that Reilly’s conditioning would hold and that she didn’t have to be careful with me. She’s been with him for over ten years.”

“A personal relationship?”

“Only in that they feed on each other. He lets her have a certain amount of power and she does whatever he tells her to do.”

“You seem to remember her very well,” Jane said dryly. “No blanks there.”

“Kim liked me wide awake and drug free when she had her turn at me.”

“But you’ll have your payoff now.”

“Yes.”

“No enthusiasm? You told me you hated Reilly.”

“I hate him. But I can’t think about it now.”

“Why?”

“It would get in the way. When I think about Reilly, it’s hard for me to think of anything else. I have to find him and make sure he doesn’t hurt the laird.” He changed the subject. “According to the map, the next city is Salt Lake. If we dump the car at the airport, it may not be found for days. We’ll pick up another car and do the same thing at—”

“You have it all planned.” A hint of sarcasm inflected Jane’s words. “I feel like a chauffeur.”

He gave Jane an uncertain glance. “You don’t believe we should do it that way?”

She made a face. “Of course I do. I’m a little on edge. It’s a good idea. We’ll stop in Salt Lake. I’m actually feeling a little more optimistic about this, though I still don’t condone your blackmail. Even if you’re on automatic, you have a heck of a lot more experience at this than I do. It’s a little like turning Reilly’s weapons against him.”

Jock gave her a pleased smile. “It is, isn’t it? It makes me feel better when I remember that.” He glanced down at the map again. “We should probably get a four-wheel-drive SUV next time. The radio weather said there was going to be a blizzard in the Northwest in the next few days. The roads get pretty rough in bad weather in the area we’re going to.”

One Day

H
ow much farther?” Jane’s eyes strained to see through the windshield. “I can’t even see the white line on the highway.” The snow was spinning across the tarmac in front of their SUV like a whirling dervish.

“Not far.” Jock looked down at the map on his lap. “Another few miles.”

“This area is pretty desolate. I haven’t even seen a gas station for the last twenty miles.”

“That’s the way Reilly likes it. No neighbors. No questions.”

“Trevor told me the same thing about MacDuff’s Run.” She glanced at him. “But the other side of the coin is that it’s difficult to get help to isolated places like this. You said that you’d let me call out the police or anyone I wanted to contact the minute we got to Reilly. You didn’t tell me that they’d have to brave a snowstorm and the wilderness primeval to get here.”

“You’re not being fair. I didn’t know there’d be a snowstorm. Though this isn’t a blizzard yet. The squalls have been coming and going. Give it another couple hours.” He smiled. “And, clever as he is, I don’t believe Reilly had the technology to create it. It’s just bad luck.”

“You don’t seem upset about it.” She studied his face in the lights of the dashboard. His expression was tense, alert, and, good God, eager. His eyes were gleaming with excitement and he looked like a boy going off on a great adventure, she realized in shock.

“Why should I be upset? I don’t mind the snow. Reilly had me taught to perform my function in all kinds of weather. He always said that no one expected attack by an enemy when they were already being attacked by nature.”

“But then, Reilly will be expecting it.”

“Perhaps. But he thinks we’re still back at the Run. There’s a road branching off to the right just ahead.” He squinted, trying to see out the windshield. “Take it. About a mile down the road you’ll see a shack.”

She stiffened. “Reilly?”

“No, it’s an old hunting shack. It’s a run-down ruin of a place, but there’s a propane heater and you’ll be able to keep warm until you get someone to come. There’s a fireplace too, but don’t light it. I don’t think anyone could see the smoke in this storm but you wouldn’t want to take the chance.”

She could see the shack now, and it was as dilapidated as he’d said it would be. Boarded-up windows and a front porch that had missing planks. “And this is where you’re dumping me?”

“It’s the safest place I know. And it’s only safe if you’re very careful.”

She pulled over in front of the shack. “How close are we to Reilly’s place?”

He didn’t answer.

“Jock, you promised me. I have to be able to tell Trevor where he is. You’ve got your head start. Now, dammit, give me the information I need.”

He nodded. “You’re right.” He got out of the SUV and moved toward the front door. “Come in. I have something to collect and I don’t have much time.” He gave her a faint smile. “Can’t waste that head start.”

The furniture in the lodge consisted of a rickety wood table, two chairs, the propane heater Jock had mentioned, and, tossed in a corner, a moth-eaten sleeping bag. Jock lit the heater and then unrolled a state map on the table. He pointed to a spot in the north central corner of the state. “That’s where we are now.” He took off his gloves and skimmed his finger along the map to a spot near the Montana border. “That’s where Reilly’s headquarters is located. It used to be an old trading post, but Reilly bought it, remodeled, and added another two thousand square feet. The new addition is half underground, and that’s where Reilly’s personal quarters are located. He has a bedroom and office with a special records-filing room. Adjoining it is his favorite place, the antiquity room.”

“Antiquity?”

“He has an office with shelves containing all sorts of artifacts from Herculaneum and Pompeii. Records, ancient documents, books. Coins. Lots and lots of books of ancient coins.” He tapped another spot. “There’s a back door leading from this office to the helicopter landing pad.”

“How many of his men are there?”

“Usually only one or two guards at the most. The main training camp is across the Montana border. The only people who occupy the house are Reilly, Kim Chan, and the training prospect Reilly is most interested in at the moment.” His lips curved in a bitter smile. “His favorite.”

“Like you.”

“Like me.” He pointed at the camp across the border. “But if he gets a chance to call the camp, a swarm could come across that state line like killer bees. Tell Trevor not to let him make that call.”

“Surprise?”

“It’s hard to surprise him. He has video cameras in trees all over the woods surrounding the post and land mines planted at regular intervals. There’s a security room at the house where the cameras can be monitored and the land mines activated. Any stranger approaching would be an easy target.”

“But could he see them coming in this snowstorm?”

“Not well. But maybe well enough.”

“And only a couple sentries?”

“Sometimes not even that when I was here. With the video cameras it’s not necessary.” He moved toward a paneled wall across the room, placed his hands at two points, pressed, and a six-foot section slid back to reveal a cavity containing a large rectangular wooden box. “That’s the layout. Good luck to them.”

“They’d have better luck if you’d wait and lead them to Reilly.”

He shook his head. “I’ve given you all I can.” He lifted the lid of the box. “Come here.”

She followed him across the room and looked down into the box. “Jesus, you have enough weapons here to start a war.” The box was filled with automatic rifles, hand grenades, knives, pistols . . .

“Reilly always liked me to be prepared. He has weapon stashes all over the state. This one was closest to his headquarters. For every mission he’d send me here to choose the weapon of choice. I wasn’t sure the cache would still be here.” He smiled mirthlessly. “But why get rid of it when he was sure I’d never be able to function as a thinking human being again? He probably used it to train his current subject.” He took a pistol, rifle, wire, dynamite, and plastic explosives from the box. “You know how to use a gun?” When she nodded, he gave her the pistol and reached into the box for another for himself. “Keep it with you. Don’t lay it down for a minute.”

“Don’t worry.”

He handed back her cell phone. “You’re on your own.”

“And so are you. It doesn’t have to be that way.”

“Yes, it does. Because I choose it. And, God, it’s good to be able to have the will to choose my own path.” He moved toward the door. “Stay here and be quiet and you’ll be safe.” The door opened and let in a blast of cold, snow-wet wind. The next moment he was gone.

Gone after Reilly. Taking his head start and running with it. God help him.

She flipped open her phone and dialed Trevor’s number.

S
tay where you are,” Trevor said. “We’re in Boise. We’ll get to you as soon as possible.”

“I’m not going anywhere on my own. I’d be wandering around in the snow and probably set off one of Reilly’s booby traps or video cameras. Jock’s in enough danger without me putting that bastard on the alert.” She looked out at the falling snow. It seemed to be getting heavier. “Can’t you call Venable and get him to have the CIA or Homeland Security set up a ring around this entire area?”

“Not until I know you’re safe.”

“I’m safe now.”

“The hell you are. You’re sitting on Reilly’s doorstep. Besides, they wouldn’t be able set up an operation that big in the blink of an eye. Particularly with all the conflict going on between the agencies. They might slip and tip off Reilly and cause him to call that Montana training camp Jock told you about. And if Reilly has as many bolt-holes as Jock claims, he could slip away from them.” She heard him say something away from the receiver. “MacDuff is looking at the map. It looks like you may be an hour by road. Fifteen minutes by air. We’re on our way. MacDuff says he’ll set up a helicopter if this damn weather permits.” She heard more conversation in the background. “Mario is renting an SUV with snow tires and heading out right away. One way or another, we’ll get to you.” He hung up.

She felt a little warmer, comforted, as she pressed the disconnect. She wasn’t really alone. She could dial Trevor and hear his voice.

Who was she kidding? She’d never been more alone in her life than she was in this rickety shack only miles from Reilly’s lair.

Okay, but she had a weapon. Her hand grasped the hilt of the .357 Magnum more tightly.

She propped a chair beneath the knob of the front door, curled up in the corner near the heater, and wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm. That propane heater might save her from freezing, but it was pitifully inadequate for warmth.

Come on, Trevor. Let’s get this bastard.

T
here was someone near.

Jock stopped, still, listening.

He’d only gone a few hundred yards from the shack when he’d sensed . . . something.