On the Hunt - Page 69

Though she might not need it. The ramp of the cruiser was right ahead…

But Taylor was standing there right in the middle of it and smiling mockingly at her as he blocked her access to the deck. “You almost made it.”

“I did make it. Isn’t this what you wanted? Me at your mercy? But now you’ll have to make a decision. Let that guard have me or let me be there to run that sled for you.”

“It’s very close.” He sighed and then waved off the guard, who was now starting up the ramp. “Leave her, Georgio. Maybe you can have her later. At the moment, she has a purpose.” He reached out and took the dagger from her waistband and examined it. “No blood. I thought you’d come back with at least a sign of an encounter.”

“It might have come to that. I was thinking about it. But I did hit the first guard I ran into with a very heavy branch that put him out of action.” She reached into her pocket, pulled out a wallet, and threw it down on the deck in front of him. “Here’s the ID I lifted off him. He never saw me coming. He was so inefficient I thought you might want to get rid of him anyway.”

“It’s entirely probable. I don’t want anyone around who can be brought to his knees by a woman.” Taylor was scowling as he bent and picked up the wallet. “I’m glad Georgio proved a little more of a challenge for you.”

“Unfortunately, that guard behind me caught sight of me, and I had to run for it.” She added impatiently, “Are you going to stand there blocking my way? I thought you said I could get a little rest before we went after the sled. Didn’t I entertain you enough to deserve it?”

“Actually, you did.” He moved to one side and permitted her on deck. “I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed waiting for you to come back and imagining what those guards would do to you if they ran across you. I realized they’d eventually turn you over to me, but I was sure they’d have a bit of fun with you first.”

“Instead, I was the one who ran across them,” Kira said. “And no fun was had by any of us. I found your reef to be boring in the extreme, and those guards were hopelessly inadequate. May I go back to my cabin now?”

“By all means.” He gestured toward the cabin area. “Go and rest. I’ll even send you a supper tray to build your strength for the night to come. You’re going to need it. I can’t wait to see if Harlan will decide to actually do that sled drop to save your neck. Perhaps he doesn’t care as much for you as you think.”

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” She was heading for the door of her cabin. “But I think that sled—and the treasure—are as good as yours, Taylor.” She went into the cabin and slammed the door.

She stood there, listening, waiting to see if he’d follow her into the cabin. Then she heard the key turn in the lock. Good. The sound of that lock would guarantee no one was going to surprise her while she was busy trying to prepare a message for Harlan.

She waited a moment until she heard Taylor walk away from the door, then moved across the cabin toward the desk in the corner. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the phone she’d also taken from the first guard she’d encountered, slipping it into the desk drawer. She took out a piece of blank paper and a pen and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember all the details of the features she’d seen on the reef during the past few hours. It wasn’t all that difficult. She’d done it many times before when she and Mack had been tracking in unfamiliar locales. Once she had things firmly fixed in her mind, she opened her eyes and began to transfer the reef to the paper, making certain she included the most important details. Placement of the guards… the boathouse… the cruiser, the tents overlooking the bay…

It took a little less than forty-five minutes until she was satisfied with the plan she’d drawn. She used the phone to snap photos of it. She tried to use it to send them to Harlan.

No signal. Damn. The boat had Wi-Fi but couldn’t access the Internet satellite from its current hiding place. She’d probably have better luck later. She carefully folded the paper and slipped it into the waterproof ID section of the phone’s container and put it in the very back of the desk drawer; she’d grab it again when the boat headed out into open waters. Since she’d be wearing that wet suit Taylor had provided, she’d be able to slip the waterproof container into the long, tight sleeves of the top before she was taken to the chosen site to pick up the sled. It would still be very risky, but it was the best she could do—and then everything she’d done today had been a risk, she thought wearily. She was lucky that Taylor had seemed so angry about her humiliating that first guard that he probably wouldn’t look too closely to see what else she’d taken from him after she’d knocked him unconscious. She could only hope that Harlan would arrange somewhere for her to transfer the information when he dropped that sled into the sea. But Harlan was so damn smart. What good was being a genius if he couldn’t do a little thing like read her mind? Heaven only knew if he’d been able to decipher what she’d been trying to tell him on that call. He’d told her that he was going to get to know her. Well, this would be a great test, wouldn’t it?

Stop being absurd. Just relax.

Now all that was left was to rest and wait and hope that everything would go well and she’d be able to get that map of the reef to Harlan.

CHAPTER

17

N 27.801753°

E 34.288055°

OFF THE EGYPTIAN COAST

11:55 P.M.

Darkness. The sound of the water washing against the side of the launch. Taylor’s harsh breathing and low curses from the seat next to her own.

There were six more of Taylor’s men in this same launch, but the only one who was important to her now was Taylor, since he had spent the entire trip from the reef trying to intimidate her and forcing her to listen to his mockery.

“Are you ready?” Taylor asked as he turned to face Kira in the launch. “Harlan is cutting it kind of close, isn’t he?” He turned on his flashlight so that he could see her expression. “I meant it when I told him that if he wasn’t on time, you wouldn’t live through the night.”

She made sure to let him see that those words didn’t bother her in the slightest. He would enjoy her discomfort too much. “That was only a threat. I don’t believe you’d do it. You’re far too selfish. You want that treasure too much, and I’m the key to getting it.”

His lips curled. “We’ll see if you’re right. Maybe I’ll be so pissed off that it will be worth it to me.”

“I doubt it.” She lifted her head as she heard the roar of an engine overhead. It had to be Harlan’s chopper! “Because I’ll bet that’s Harlan bringing me the diving sled. I told you he’d do it. Now put on some lights so that Harlan won’t drop that sled on top of this blasted launch.”

“Not until we get moving so that they can’t zero in on us.” Taylor switched on the lights and started to speed in wide circles beneath the descending aircraft. Then the hatch of the helicopter was opening, and Kira could see movement as the sled was lifted and then pushed out of the copter.