Chapter 17

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.

It landed with a tremendous splash in the water, almost turning the launch over!

"Get in the water," Taylor ordered Kira. "I want you on that sled. You said you could run the damn thing. Now show me."

"I'm going." She turned around and surreptitiously checked the phone she'd taken from the guard. Still no signal. Damn. She had to do something else.

She slid off the launch into the water and then started to swim toward the diving sled. "Let me get settled on it and then I'll follow you back to the cruiser."

He hesitated.

"Move!" she said as she reached the sled. "I know you'd just as soon shoot me as look at me. Do you think I'd try to escape now? I'd pick a better place and time." She was crawling onto the sled now and found it completely covered in a waterproof tarp. Why? The diving sleds had never been covered in a tarp when she and Harlan had been using them before. She was sure the height from which the sled had been dropped would not have required the additional protection. Those sleds were lightweight but strong as cast iron. And if the tarp wasn't a safety measure, then it might be a way Harlan had chosen to communicate with her! She'd no sooner had that thought than she was running her fingers along the edge of the zippered closure of the tarp, exploring every inch of it. It appeared to be an ordinary seam…

No! It was doubled in the corner, and the underside was a zipper. She slipped the map of the island from beneath the sleeve of her wet suit and tucked it into the zippered pocket in the tarp.

But there was something else in that compartment! It was only a scrap of paper with a brief message scrawled on it.

I'll be there for you. Wait for me. H.

Thank God. She felt almost weak with relief. She wasn't alone any longer. Together. Incredible how those few words made such a difference.

"What are you doing?" Taylor was screaming at her from the launch. "Get that sled moving! We have to get out of here."

"I'm trying, dammit," she yelled back at him. "I have to get this blasted tarp off. It won't do more than crawl across the water if that tarp slows it down. It's all your fault. Harlan must have actually paid attention to those stupid threats of yours and wanted to avoid annoying you." She was silent a moment. "But I think I've got it off now." She tossed Harlan's note into the sea and watched it sink below the surface. Then she made a show of struggling to free the tarp, finally throwing it over the far side of the sled. "That does it." She was putting her arms into the sleeves of the sled itself. "You can take off now. I'll follow you."

"You'd better keep very close," Taylor said. "I'll be aiming this rifle at you all the way back to the reef." He lifted his head and looked up at the helicopter, still lingering near the place the sled had dropped from. "And if he makes any attempt to try to follow us, I'll blow him out of the sky."

"It's pitch dark tonight, not even a moon," Kira said. "He's not going to try anything. You've gotten what you wanted. He'll wait until he has a chance to do a lot more damage. Or else he might try to make a deal to keep me alive if he's feeling generous. I did give him Fiona back."

"It's whether or not I feel generous." Taylor chuckled. "And I never feel generous toward Harlan. There's been too much between us for too long."

She was adjusting the engine controls on the sled. It purred like a stalking panther. With the note from Harlan, all signs were good at this moment. "Then maybe your deal will be with me. I have my generous moments and I'm accustomed to taking care of myself."

"But I don't need your generosity," Taylor said. "I'll have everything I need once I take that treasure you keep waving in front of me."

"You haven't seen it yet. You might want more once you do. People like you never have enough." Kira squeezed the control trigger, and the sled sped around Taylor's boat.

Taylor gave her an impressed nod.

"You know that Harlan always satisfies his customers," Kira yelled.

He smiled maliciously. "And this time I'm the customer. After all these years, I think I like it."

"Of course you do. He said you like the idea of taking everything away from him." At this particular moment, she couldn't tolerate him any longer. She was just grateful that she could use his unfamiliarity with the sled to lie to him about its capabilities. "But it's not easy to run these sleds. I need to concentrate. I have to watch your launch every minute to be sure I won't run into you."

"Then be quiet and do your job," Taylor said with a frown. "I don't want you cracking up now that we're on our way to getting what I want. We're almost back to the reef anyway."

"Whatever you say," Kira said. She looked down at the controls. "You've made that more than clear to me."

I'll be there for you.

They were indeed almost back to the reef. But by the time Harlan got that tarp back out of the sea and checked it for messages, it would probably be almost morning. She doubted Harlan would choose Taylor's reef hideout to be the site of an attack at that time. He'd probably been talking about the caves, building his plans around them.

And she would build her own plans to coordinate with his.

Together…

ON BOARD THE HELICOPTER

ONE HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES LATER

"Belson is on the phone," Fiona said as she left the cockpit and moved back to where Harlan was monitoring the hatch through which they'd dropped the sled over an hour ago. "He said it was important. Do you want me to take a message, or can I keep an eye on that blasted tarp you've been watching like a hawk? When are we going to go after it?"

"Very soon. I've just had to be sure that neither Taylor nor any of his men is anywhere near where we dropped that sled. I'm certain we're free and clear now. I've sent Aban over in a motorboat to pick up that tarp and bring it to the rendezvous point. It's made to float, and there's a GPS tracker in the lining. He should have no problem retrieving it."

"I could have done it for you," Fiona said. "You trusted me to help you drop the sled. Why couldn't I do that, too?"

"Because boating isn't your area of expertise and it's definitely one of Aban's," Harlan said dryly.

"What can I do to help you? Do you want me to take Belson's message for you while you wait to see if Aban gets that tarp?"

"That would be helpful," Harlan said. "And incredibly not at all like you, considering your desires about the matter." He moved toward the hatch as he saw the crew start Aban's final lift with the tarp into the helicopter. "Yes, take Belson's call," he said absently, "while I deal with Aban…"

PORT SAID AIRSTRIP, EGYPT

Fiona came out of the cockpit a little over forty-five minutes later. Aban was already drinking a glass of wine and looking very self-satisfied as he lifted his glass in a salute to Fiona. "Mission accomplished," he said with a grin. "Harlan was very pleased with me. Much more efficient than just tossing the sled into the water."

"Rub it in," Fiona said. "Did Kira send a message, Harlan?"

He nodded. "A very complete one. A map of the place where Taylor took the cruiser to hide it away."

Fiona gave a low whistle. "That's terrific. When do we leave?"

"You don't. That's not how we're going to handle it. This time Taylor isn't going to get away, and I'm not going to risk Kira's life or yours, Fiona. Not to mention, if you had your way you'd want to take any and every task involved with saving Kira. You're not the only one who feels that they need to help her."

"But I'm the only one who realizes it's her job," Fiona said fiercely. "Because every minute Kira is down there with Taylor, it's because I'm not and should have been." She gestured dismissively. "Yes, I know you feel it's your duty. You always feel like that." She paused. "And maybe it's more than that. I've been thinking that it could be."

"Maybe?" Harlan asked bitterly. "It could be a hell of a lot more than maybe, Fiona."

She nodded slowly. "But it still shouldn't keep me from being there and helping Kira."

"You've done what you could." Harlan was shaking his head. "No more, Fiona. You won't be involved in anything to do with freeing Kira. I have plenty of people we've brought into this area plus all of Kalim's villagers. We don't need you for this. Do you understand?"

"I understand what you're saying," she said slowly. "Though I believe you're wrong, Harlan. But I won't argue with you right now. I told you that."

"You're going after the treasure." Aban's face was filled with excitement. "The caves! You're going down to search the caves. May I go?"

Harlan shook his head. "Kalim wouldn't appreciate me taking you, and Taylor would almost certainly bring a boatload of his men after us. Perhaps we can find something else interesting for you to do."

"Yes, he can take phone messages," Fiona said caustically. "Just what we both wanted to do." She handed Harlan her notebook. "Belson said that he thinks that Taylor's hideout we've been trying to find is a coral reef once inhabited by a desert people who were originally of Persian descent. But they were invaded within the last few years by a group of criminals who tried to take over their reef and finally succeeded recently. The head of their village was Babur Mateen, who was revered by all the other members of the group—kind of a grandfather to the younger members of the tribe."

"Grandfather," Harlan murmured. "Belson evidently struck gold."

"Not for very long. Babur Mateen was murdered by Taylor to set an example for his followers; so were two of his councilmen. Belson said he didn't know how many others were killed during that period, but it must have been enough that the other members of the village packed up their belongings and left for other islands and reefs in the chain. But word evidently did get around or Belson wouldn't have been able to track those villagers down this quickly."

"He did track them down?" Harlan asked.

She handed him her notebook. "Belson said those villagers wanted nothing to do with Taylor or his men. They were terrified that Taylor would hunt them down and kill them the way he'd already murdered so many of their friends and families. But they had no objection to someone else going after them. Like I said, they all liked Babur Mateen. They wanted revenge." Fiona nodded at the notebook. "And the location of their home reef appears to be fairly close to here."

"Yes, it does." Harlan was scanning the location and then checking it on the aerial map. "And with the information we've gotten from the interior map Kira sent us, we might be in a good position to move on them."

Fiona tensed. "When?"

"You haven't been listening," Harlan said.

"I've been listening," Fiona said. "I've just been hoping to talk you out of it."

"That's not going to happen," he said quietly. "I almost lost you, and Kira is still running a mega risk to keep you safe. Do you believe I'd let you put yourself in any other situation like that?"

Fiona's gaze searched his expression for even one sign of yielding. Finally, she shook her head. "No. But you're wrong. Kira would understand why I have to do it."

He nodded wearily. "I'm very much afraid that you're right. Because she'd probably do the same thing. Hell, I can almost see you following in her footsteps."

"They're terrific footsteps. I'd be proud to follow them."

"Oh, shit." He reached over and pulled her into his arms. "What am I supposed to say to that?"

"Yes."

"No." He pushed her back and looked down at her. "It's my job to say no to both of you. Kira didn't give me a chance to do it, so I'm taking the choice away from you."

She went back into his arms. "Not fair, Harlan." Her voice was husky with tears. "Change your mind."

"No way." He brushed his lips on her temple. "Accept it."

"It seems I may have to do that." She tried to clear her throat. "But not without you telling me what's going to happen and how you're going to find a way to get her away from that bastard." She glanced back at the notebook she'd handed to him. "Taylor wouldn't expect you to know anything about that coral reef. I thought this might be a way to get Kira away from him. Sort of a surprise attack? You might be able to use me as a decoy?" She saw he was shaking his head. "I thought it was a pretty good idea. What's wrong with it?"

"Not one thing if I thought the action was going to be focused on that reef," Harlan said. "And if I was willing to let you run the risk. But I'm not willing to let you do that, and we're not certain where the main action is going to take place. It could be on Babur's jungle hideout, or Taylor might send one of his units to attack Kalim's castle and the surrounding countryside to snatch all the treasure he can grab along with possibly a number of Kalim's prize horses. Hell, those horses might be worth more than the treasure. I'd certainly pay more for them."

She nodded. "I realize that. I've seen a few of those wonderful stallions since I arrived on Hathor Island, and I have to agree with you." Then she shook her head impatiently. "Now you've told me where the action might take place, but that's not why you let me help you throw that blasted sled out of the plane, is it?"

"No way," Harlan said. "Because my best bet is that Kira will find it easier to lure Taylor to use that diving sled to go after the treasure. A chest full of jewels would be easier to snatch and grab than transporting horses. I'm going to assume that's what she'll choose."

"And?"

"And I'll be down there in the caves with a team to give Taylor a surprise when he shows up with Kira in the sled."

"I should be there," Aban said suddenly. "I could help you. Let me go, Harlan."

"Don't you dare," Fiona said fiercely. "Just because Aban claims he's more fish than human doesn't mean that he'd help you more than I would. We could work around it."

"Neither of you is going with me," Harlan said flatly. "As I said, I'll have a strong, skilled team and I won't need you. I'll tell you what you're going to do instead. Actually, I'm tempted to send you back to Summer Island. You'd be safe there now. I contacted the guard units again and Taylor's thugs have all been routed and left the area, and the animals and medical teams are well and flourishing. By the way, Fiona, Captain Darue's men found Golden Boy's vet in the woods. He was bound and gagged but otherwise healthy enough. He had company because two of the guards I assigned to you had also been captured and tossed in a mine a few miles away. Evidently, Taylor wanted plenty of time to put any plans he had for you into place before we knew you were missing."

Fiona gave a profound sigh of relief. "It's good to know that I didn't cause anyone else to be hurt because I was foolish. Does that change the situation at all?"

Harlan shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Because I still don't like the idea of you being that far away from me. I'm going to tell the pilot that he's to take us to Hathor Island. I'm going to drop you both off in Kalim's care and leave it up to him if he wants to use you to help defend the villages and all his property on the island. There's a good chance that you could see considerable action there. If he doesn't, then you may end up locked away under guard in that palace he calls home. You'll have to convince him that you'd be more valuable helping him than taking up his guards' time watching you."

Fiona frowned incredulously. "You're passing the buck."

"Maybe." Harlan smiled crookedly. "But you'll still be safer than if I let you go with me to the caves. Besides, it's about time Kalim had to handle a few more of the headaches that go with being king of all he surveys." He turned and headed for the cockpit. "Make peace with each other and then get together on a game plan to convince Kalim that he can't do without you." Before he opened the cockpit door, he looked over his shoulder at them. "One more thing. If you both want to do something to please Kira when you get to Hathor, I know she'd want you to go up to the hills and take care of the horses. They mean a lot to her. It's not a major rescue, but it's what she'd ask if she was here." He opened the cockpit door. "And we should be at Hathor in about thirty minutes."