Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

There was definitely a storm coming.

Fiona rode Sinbad up the narrow trail that she hadn't even known existed until a few minutes before. Sinbad had been restless for the better part of an hour, which often meant a thunderstorm was on the way. Now, with endless dark clouds rolling in, it was clear that the horse was right. The timing couldn't have been worse, with that monster Taylor on the loose.

She knew Kira and Harlan were doing everything they could to get to her, but a storm wouldn't make it easy. She looked down at Mack, who was running alongside.

"Just a little farther!" She was speaking to herself as much as the animals.

She heard a buzzing sound overhead. She looked up. It was a drone helicopter tracking her from above! She'd seen camera drones just like it during her time when she'd been a prisoner on Taylor's cruiser. He'd found her! She felt a rush of panic. No way was she letting him get his hands on her again. She'd die first.

The hell she would!

She instantly rejected the defeatist thought. No, that would just be another victory for Taylor. She'd just find a way to hide and maybe set a trap…

She raised her middle finger into the air as the first drops of rain fell.

Taylor chuckled as he looked at the drone image on his tablet screen. Young Fiona kept her middle finger in the air for a long moment as she charged up the hillside on a magnificent horse. It must be the multimillion-dollar stallion that Taylor had heard about as belonging to Kalim, the owner of the island.

He showed the tablet to the two men whom he'd chosen to accompany him to climb to the island's upper reaches from the group he'd brought from his hideout on the reef. "She's flipping us off, gentlemen. I wonder if she'd be quite so bold if she knew how close we were to intercepting her."

Connor, who had impressed him on their recent lethal excursion to Latvia, scowled at the tablet. "Or if she knew we were probably going to make her watch that horse die in front of her eyes."

Phil Wendell laughed. "Yeah, she won't be such a smart-ass then, will she? Let's go get her." Wendell had come highly recommended by the late Zeke Donovan. He still hadn't broken a sweat from their climb. And his eagerness to please now was also a good sign, Taylor thought. He might be able to use him as a permanent replacement.

Taylor double-tapped Fiona's image on the screen, activating a tracking function on his camera drone. He might temporarily be missing out on that treasure trove, but Kalim's island, Hathor, itself had riches that he could take and build toward a new start for himself. Many of the villagers were very well off; Kalim had those horses and probably jewels of his own that he could be persuaded to turn over to Taylor.

And there was one more rich prize on that island that had nothing to do with treasure.

Fiona Harlan had been sent here for her protection by that bitch Kira Drake. What a wonderfully satisfying punishment it would be for both Kira and Harlan if Taylor was able to give Harlan's niece the final death blow. It would strike Harlan to his very soul. It was obviously meant to be.

"We need that girl," he said. "She holds the key to making me richer than Midas. Once we have her, there's no way we'll leave here empty-handed. Understand me?"

The two men nodded.

"Good. Then let's step it up."

Kira jumped nervously as lightning struck just a few hundred yards ahead. The storm had advanced from light sprinkles to pounding rain in less than a minute. She adjusted the hood on the poncho Harlan had given her. "What are you doing?"

Harlan stared into the sky with a pair of binoculars. He lowered them. "There's a small drone over the next ridge. It's almost come to a stop."

"You think it's Taylor's?"

"I'm sure it is." He raised his voice to be heard over the pounding rain. "And the fact that it has slowed tells me that it's found what he's looking for."

"Fiona!"

He nodded. "It's a good bet he has her in his sights."

"Then we need to get to her before he does."

Harlan raised the binoculars again. "In any case, that drone isn't going to last long in this storm. Let's go! I'll call Kalim on the way."

Fiona leaned over Sinbad's mane as they rode through the storm. For the past fifteen minutes, she'd been looking for a cave or even a cluster of trees to shield her from the sheets of cold rain that were hitting her full-force. She, Sinbad, and Mack were completely drenched, and her numb fingers could barely feel the reins. How much longer could she take this?

She'd lost sight of Mack, but it was difficult to see anything in this awful rain. He was probably okay, but what if…

Oh, God. If anything happened to Mack, she would never forgive—

Whiplash!

Something appeared in front of her and knocked her off Sinbad's saddle! She flew backward and hit the muddy earth with such force that the wind was knocked from her lungs. She lay on her back, facing upward as raindrops pelted her face. She couldn't breathe or move for a long moment, but when she raised her head, she saw what had knocked her down: a long piece of rope, pulled taut across the trail by two of Taylor's men.

The men walked toward her, both still holding the rope. One of them was laughing. Taylor walked up behind them, seemingly oblivious to the storm. He crouched beside her. "Hello, Fiona. Nice to see you again. Remember? Your friend Kira and I had a deal. I traded you for her, and she reneged. So I had to come for you. You understand that, don't you? It's all a matter of honor. None of it is my fault. You'll have to blame her. Of course, it's Harlan's fault, too."

Fiona sat up and let the cold raindrops roll down her face for a moment to help revive her. "You don't know anything about honor. But do you know who did? My father. He took you into our home and tried to help you and you killed him. Then you went after Harlan, who filled you with so much jealousy that you could hardly bear it. Everyone knows what a pitiful monster you are."

"And soon I'll be a very rich monster, which is the only thing that counts in this world," Taylor said. "And you will very soon be dead if you don't cooperate."

"No way. I'm not afraid of you, Taylor." By this time, Sinbad had trotted back to Fiona. She reached up and comfortingly ran her hand over his muzzle, then used the dangling leather saddle ropes to pull herself to her feet.

"That's right," Taylor said as he watched her. "You don't let much keep you down before you bounce back, do you? I remember how strong and defiant you were. I'll wait and give you a few minutes more to recover. Then you're coming with us."

"Like hell I am!"

Connor raised his gun and aimed it at Sinbad's head. "No. You'll do it, or we'll kill your horse."

Fiona tried to look as if she hadn't been punched in the gut. "You're bluffing. Taylor won't let you. It would be a stupid move. Sinbad is too valuable to him."

Taylor used his fingers to comb back his rain-soaked hair. "The metric has changed, dear girl. He's not very portable, is he? The only question that remains is if we leave him here alive… or dead? It makes no difference to us."

Fiona hoped the driving rain would keep them from seeing the frantic tears stinging in her eyes, but Sinbad could sense how upset she was. He suddenly started whirling, then bucking, his front hooves pounding the wet ground around them.

Connor raised his gun as Sinbad came too close to him. "That's enough. I'm putting him down!"

Fiona screamed and stumbled forward. "No! I won't let you. Don't do it!"

In that instant, she saw Mack tear from behind a tree across the path and leap for Connor's arm! The dog sank his teeth into his sleeve and thrashed ferociously back and forth until the gun went flying. Blood spurted from the wound! Connor screamed and fell to his knees holding his arm, trying to stop the bleeding.

Phil reached for his own gun, but before he could pull it from his holster, a shot rang out. A bloody wound appeared in the center of his forehead. His eyes turned glassy. Then he staggered and fell backward, dead.

Fiona and Taylor both whirled to see where the shot had come from. Harlan stepped into the clearing, holding his automatic in front of him. Kira was beside him. But she was already running forward toward where Connor was lying nursing his bloody arm. She grabbed his pistol to train on him. "Don't move!"

Harlan's shout at Taylor could barely be heard through the pounding rain. "You've lost, Taylor. Can't you see that? It's over!"

Taylor laughed. "Nothing's over! That's what you thought down in those caves. But I wasn't the one to die. I'm never the one to die. Do you believe I actually care about any of those men? Now I'm here and I'll get what I need and then I'll be gone again." He raised his gun and pointed it at them. "I may not be able to get all of you, but if you don't put that gun down, I guarantee at least one of you isn't getting off this island." He cocked his head toward Fiona. "Maybe it'll be her. Or perhaps Kira. Do you really want to take that chance, Harlan?"

Kira raised her hands to try to soothe him. "Just… relax. You don't want to do this. One way or another you'll die if you don't give up. We can work this out, Taylor."

"But maybe I don't want to work it out," Fiona said quietly.

Taylor's brow wrinkled as his gaze met Fiona's. "What are you talking about?"

She took a step forward. "Didn't anyone tell you that I've been training this wonderful animal you were going to kill? He obeys signals beautifully these days. And I guess you were too distracted just now by Harlan killing that asshole you brought to butcher him to pay attention to what I was doing." She gestured down to Taylor's boots.

His gaze followed Fiona's gesture and his eyes widened. "What the hell…?"

It took him only a few seconds to realize that Fiona had clipped the end of her saddle rope to the leather pull loop at the top of Taylor's left boot!

"Goodbye, Taylor." She clicked her tongue twice. "Go, Sinbad!"

And the horse took off!

Taylor screamed as Sinbad jerked him off his feet and started dragging him through the rocky terrain. His face and skull were bashed against dozens of boulders and clumps of vegetation as the horse galloped across the wet hillside. Taylor lost his gun during the first few seconds, yet he kept struggling and screaming for almost the entire distance. But when the screams stopped, there was no doubt that Taylor was dead. Sinbad eventually halted and looked over his shoulder, then slowly started to walk back toward Fiona as if puzzled that she hadn't signaled him to return.

She clicked her tongue again and held out her hand, and the horse trotted toward her. Somewhere along the way Taylor's body had come loose from the saddle ropes and rolled several yards until it landed face down in a gully of rushing water.

Mack was running toward Sinbad and was whimpering and rubbing against his forelegs as Harlan and Kira rushed toward Fiona, who seemed to be frozen in place as she watched.

"Are you okay?" Harlan asked her gently.

Fiona nodded. "I did what I had to do." She moistened her lips. "And I'm not sorry. You heard him. He would have killed at least one of us. I couldn't risk it. No more deaths, Harlan. It had to stop."

Harlan pulled her close. "I know, Fiona. I'm just very sad that you were the one to do it."

She shook her head. "I might be sad later, but I don't think so. He was a terrible, terrible man. And Sinbad had a right to protect himself."

"Well, I think Kalim would agree with you." Harlan glanced at Kira. "But do you, Kira?"

"Of course." Kira took Fiona into her arms and held her close for a moment. "A clear case of self-defense," she said. "No question."

Harlan nodded. "As soon as I tie up Mack's bloody prey that he left as a present under the tree, let's get out of this rain and call Kalim and have him help us round up the rest of Taylor's henchmen to deposit with the Moroccan police."

"Absolutely." Kira whistled for Mack as she put her arm around Fiona's waist and led her gently toward the path. "And for once, I'll be glad to see Kalim's castle!"