The Search (11 page)

"Ready?"

"Yes." She didn't look at Logan as she picked up the utility belt and fastened it around her middle.

Monty froze, his gaze on the belt. Then he jumped to his feet.

"Time to go to work." She took Bassett's hat and let him sniff it. "Find."

He whirled and took off running.

"Won't we lose him?" Logan asked.

"No, he'll keep coming back. When he catches the scent, I'll put on his leash and run with him."

"You're afraid he'll get excited and not come back?"

"No." She started in the direction Monty had taken. "I'm afraid some son of a bitch will shoot him, and I want to be there to protect him."

Two hours later Monty had still not caught the scent.

"I think we're going around in circles," Logan said with a frown.

"We might be." Sarah pushed through a screen of palms. "But Monty knows what he's doing."

"Does he? He's not even sniffing the ground."

She gave him an impatient glance over her shoulder. "He's scenting the air. He doesn't always have to keep his nose to the ground. Air scenting is much more accurate in cases like this. He lifts his nose high and waves it back and forth until he catches the large end of the cone."

"Cone?"

"Bassett's scent will be dispersed downwind in a cone-shaped pattern. The smaller end will be centered around his body, and as the distance from him grows, the cone widens over a large area. Monty will find the large end of the cone and then work back and forth as it narrows until it leads him to Bassett. Are you sure they're encamped and not moving?"

"So my source told Galen. Would that make a difference?"

"Of course it would," she snapped. "Even if Monty finds the scent, he could lose it again and have to start all over again."

"Sorry. Just asking. This is all new to me."

It would have been new to most people, and she wouldn't have snapped at him if she hadn't been so frustrated. It wasn't unusual for a search to take this long, but she had found herself looking behind every tree, afraid to let Monty out of her sight. God, she wished this were over.

"Will you jump on my ass again if I ask you how long this could take?"

"Monty can't go by your time schedule. It will take as long as it takes. He's doing his best, dammit."

"I know," he said quietly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

She drew a deep breath. "No, there's nothing either of us can do. It's all up to Monty. We're lucky it's so hot. Bassett's body will be producing a stronger scent."

He grimaced. "At the moment I don't feel lucky."

Neither did Sarah. She felt acutely on edge and so hot, she couldn't breathe.

Find him, Monty. Find him and let's go home.

It was over an hour later that she heard Monty bark.

Relief surged through her. "Thank God."

"He's found something?" Logan asked.

"I think so. I taught him not to bark until he caught the scent. If he comes back to get me, we'll know that he's--"

Monty bounded toward her, barking up a storm, tail wagging with excitement.

"He's got it." She took the leash out of her backpack and fastened it to his collar. "Come on."

"Can you stop him from barking? We don't want to alert--"

"He barks only to signal me when he's on a search. If I'm with him, there's no need for him to bark." She broke into a fast trot to keep pace with Monty. "Keep up, Logan. We can't wait for you."

Christ, she was tough, Logan thought.

Sarah was moving at almost a run ahead of him, weaving, pushing through the brush, pausing occasionally to let Monty sniff the air before taking off again. She must be as tired as he was, but she had kept going at this speed for over an hour. During the last ten minutes the pace had picked up and Monty's eagerness had intensified.

Logan's own breath was coming in gasps, and he could see Sarah's shoulders rise and fall as she struggled to force the hot, muggy air into her lungs. She was covering the ground with the same speed and concentration as her dog.

Then she skidded to a halt.

Logan froze in place as she motioned him to stop. Monty was silent but pulled eagerly, frantically, at the leash. Sarah put her hand on his head, and he instantly quieted. Then she turned and strode back to Logan. "There's something up ahead. I think he's found the source."

"How do you know?"

"I just know, dammit." She glared at him. "And I'm not going to take Monty any farther and chance having some guard shoot him."

"No one's asking you to." He took off his backpack and set it on the ground. "I'll go ahead and make sure before I radio Galen."

"And probably get shot yourself." She scowled. "You don't have to check for yourself just because I don't have any proof that the camp's up ahead. I tell you, Monty knows."

"And you know what Monty knows." He opened his backpack. "I believe you. I have a great respect for instinct. Just stay here."

"Of course we'll stay here. Why should I--" She stopped as she saw the assault weapon he pulled out of his backpack. "Shit. No wonder you had room for only a couple bottles of water." She moistened her lips. "Do you even know how to use that thing?"

He smiled. "Oh, yes, I know how to use it. I took lessons at the country club."

Thirty minutes passed.

Then fifteen minutes.

Why the hell wasn't he back? Sarah wondered. He'd probably been caught or killed. Just because she hadn't heard anything didn't mean anything. Not all weapons were as loud as that gun Logan had handled with suspicious familiarity. It was clear his time with Galen had been spent in more deadly pursuits than recovering from grief over his wife's death.

Monty whimpered, his gaze on the dense foliage where Logan had disappeared. He wanted to go too. His search had been cut short and he didn't understand why he couldn't bring it to a satisfactory end.

Find?

"No, it will be okay. We don't have to go after him. Logan will do it."

But where was Logan?

Why was she so worried? She and Monty could find their way out of this jungle. She didn't care about Logan. He had caused her nothing but trouble.

But he didn't deserve to die when he was trying to save a life. He might be totally relentless, but he wasn't a murderer like those men in the camp.

No sound but the shrill sound of birds.

Then Monty's tail started to wag and he rose to his feet.

Relief surged through her. He was coming. She couldn't hear him or smell him, but Monty could.

It was another five minutes before Logan appeared through the leaves. "The camp's there." He moved toward his backpack as Monty ran to him, whimpering in an ecstasy of greeting. "About a mile ahead."

"I told you. What took so long?"

He knelt down and gave Monty an affectionate pat, then reached into his backpack for his radio. "I don't flatter myself that you were worried about me."

"No," she said coolly. "Monty was worried. I was just curious. Could you tell if Bassett was there?"

He gave Monty a hug and then pushed him away. "There's a tent with a guard posted out in front. I'm assuming Bassett's inside. The camp's small. Six tents and the numbers Sanchez gave us seem accurate."

"Did you run into anyone patrolling the area?"

"One man. I managed to avoid him."

"Obviously, or you wouldn't be here."

"Not so obviously. Another pinprick at my ego. But if I'd taken him out, it might have triggered an alert."

"So now you call Galen and get him here? Won't the people in the camp hear the helicopter?"

"The pilot will drop Galen and his men off at the clearing we passed about a mile north. We'll rendezvous with them there. Then the pilot will pick us up at Rudzak's camp when it's clear."

Her mouth tightened. "You mean when everyone's killed."

"I mean when we've gotten Bassett out." He looked directly into her eyes. "Whatever that takes." He bent over the radio. "You can lecture me later. We'll have plenty of time. I figure at least an hour before Galen gets here. Now I've got to talk to him and tell him to attack the decoy camp."

"Six dead. One wounded," Carl Duggan told Rudzak. "But we managed to repel the attack and save the helicopter. And I think we got one of their men. Shall we go after the rest?"

Rudzak gazed around the camp. Two tents were in flames and Duggan was wrong. Rudzak could see seven dead. It had been a savage attack and brilliantly executed. "I didn't see Logan. Did you?"

Duggan shook his head. "But Galen was there and he's Logan's hired man."

Rudzak gave him a scathing glance. "I know that."

"Shall we go after them?" Duggan repeated. "It doesn't have to end here. Give me a chance and we'll still capture them."

"Shut up, I'm thinking." Galen and not Logan. The attack had been brutal, but had Galen been repelled too easily? Seven deaths but no push to completion of the mission.

"I have the men waiting," Duggan said. "We don't want to lose them."

Duggan didn't realize they had probably already lost them. They had not heard a helicopter, but no doubt Galen had one if he intended to get his men out alive.

And transport them quickly to another location.

Ah, Logan, you think you've fooled me.

"We won't lose them." Rudzak turned away. "I know where they're going."

It was almost nightfall when Galen and his men were dropped off at the glade where Logan and Sarah waited. They streamed out of the helicopter like a Delta Force. Galen's expression was grim as he waved the helicopter to leave before turning to Logan. "Let's go."

Logan turned to Sarah. "Stay here until you hear the helicopter come back. Then come to the camp. We won't radio the pilot until it's safe for him to land."

"How long do you estimate that taking?" Sarah asked.

"At least forty-five minutes." He shrugged. "Maybe longer. Just don't come until you hear the helicopter."

"I've no intention of getting close," Sarah said. "My involvement in this is over. We've done our job."

"Come on, Logan." Galen was moving down the path into the forest, closely followed by his men. "I lost a man to Rudzak. Let's get this bullshit over." The words were curt and his attitude was different from when she had first met him. This was Galen the mercenary, and it was an intimidating change.

The entire situation was intimidating, Sarah thought as she watched the men disappear from view. What was she doing in the middle of a jungle with a bunch of mercenaries and Logan, who carried that damn assault weapon as casually as if it were a briefcase?

Monty pressed closer to her, his gaze on the path.

"No, we wait here, Monty." So many others could die to save a man who might already be dead. Galen had said one of his men had already been killed.