Part 20 (1/2)

”There.” It was Gant. He had a d.a.m.ned good eye, that boy.

”Where?” Grisham asked.

”One o'clock.”

Grisham sighted down the barrel. Sure enough. There was Holcomb, vanis.h.i.+ng into a line of trees on the far side of the open savanna. The boy had been smart and had headed for the nearest trees, disdaining the open landscape that would have meant easier running but would have offered Grisham and his men a clear shot. ”Good going,” he told Gant.

Starting off at an easy trot, Grisham went after his prey. His men fell in behind and began to slowly spread out, forming a skirmish line. Holcomb wouldn't last long.

”Where are we going?” Ron asked. He was behind Billy Crane, keeping an eye on the man's back and trying to pace him so that he didn't run into the dark form leading them to what he hoped was safety.

”Shut up,” Crane replied. ”Save your breath.”

Ron frowned. He wanted not to like the Seminole, but he knew the guy had saved them when he'd alerted them and shot out the window so that they could escape. If not for Kate's deception, they probably would all have escaped. For the first time he considered Levin's fate, recalled the man's face after the shot had plowed through his torso, killing him. Ron knew the man had realized what had happened to him, if not actually who had fired the shot. And maybe even that, considering he had given up the gun to her without a struggle. Riggs shook his head to clear it of the image, choked back a sob.

Mary was right behind him. He could hear her labored breathing and had been surprised at it, since he'd thought that Niccols was in far better physical condition than he was. It was Mary who was always out in the bush, tracking wild animals, hunting and hiking and fis.h.i.+ng for her hobbies, and wrestling gators for a living. But so far Ron had been able to outrun her. It was surprising. He hoped it didn't mean that he'd end up having to leave Mary behind if they had to sprint for safety. Ron wondered if he could do such a thing. Flying bullets could make a coward as quickly as they could make a hero, he supposed. He didn't want to know.

No sooner had that thought pa.s.sed through his mind than he realized that Mary's footsteps had grown a bit fainter, and realized that she was falling behind. Crane had apparently noticed it, too, and came to a halt, turning to look back.

”You're sick, aren't you?” Billy asked Mary.

”Yuh-yeah,” Mary gasped.

”What? What's wrong with you? I didn't know you were sick, sick,” Ron said.

”Nothing serious. Bronchitis until a week ago. I thought I was over it, but I'm having a hard time ru-running.” She was a halved shadow in the night, bent double with her hands on legs bent slightly at the knees. It was obvious to the other two that Mary was all but out of it.

”What are we going to do, now?” Ron was looking to Crane, his head a very black spot.

The black spot didn't move for a moment. ”They're right behind us,” it finally muttered. ”Maybe a couple hundred yards. That's all.”

”But what are we going to do?” Ron insisted.

”I think they've got night scopes,” Crane said matter-of-factly. ”We'll be sitting ducks when they catch up to us.”

”What do you suggest? suggest?” Ron hissed. He was losing what remained of his cool.

”There's a shallow ravine about a hundred feet ahead of us. I was hoping we'd just go through it and head toward the river. But now I don't think we can make it. We'll have to try to hide there, ambush them from cover.” And then Crane turned and strode off at the same pace as before.

”Wait up,” Ron started to say, but Mary suddenly straightened and trotted past him. After all, they only had a short way to go. ”d.a.m.n.” He followed them.

As Crane had said, they came to a low, narrow furrow in the otherwise flat landscape. Pines and pin oaks grew out of it, leaning at crazy angles and making a strange maze-like apparition in the night. At a point where the wall of the ravine fell sharply off, Crane eased into it and then lay against the slope, snaking down until his head was just beneath the lip.

”Do the same,” he said to Mary. ”You just squat down behind us,” he told the unarmed Riggs.

The three prepared themselves. ”When I hear them coming, I'll hiss,” Crane said. ”Don't shoot until I do. The chances of you hitting anyone from more than a few feet away with that .357 are slim so don't bother until you hear someone coming right up. My twelve gauge will have to do until then.”

And with that the Seminole clammed up. Mosquitoes and gnats soon found where they were crouching and took them to task. Hearing only the continuous hungry whine of bloodsuckers, they prepared themselves for the approach of human hunters.

Chapter Thirty-Eight.

Kate woke up.

She was lying in the fescue where Mary Niccols had slugged her, knocking her unconscious. Reaching back, she put her hand over the enormous lump on the back of her head. Running her fingers over it, a disturbing rise of livid flesh that connected the base of her skull to her slim neck. She shuddered, feeling nausea rising. Mary had not pulled the punch, at all. In fact, she thought that she was probably lucky to be alive. The b.i.t.c.h had really been afraid she was going to see her male companion get blown away. Ha. Ha. Kate had known from the moment she saw Mary looking at Ron that the woman was madly in love with the idiot. She didn't know who was dumber: the doe-eyed female or the stupid male who didn't want to return the affection. She didn't know if it was that saccharine image or her injury that was making her sick. Kate had known from the moment she saw Mary looking at Ron that the woman was madly in love with the idiot. She didn't know who was dumber: the doe-eyed female or the stupid male who didn't want to return the affection. She didn't know if it was that saccharine image or her injury that was making her sick.

Knowing that it was likely not wise to stand, she just lay there, and in a little while turned her head. The view she'd had was of the brick wall to her right, dim light spilling out of the compound to illuminate the lawn. As soon as she turned her face, she wished she hadn't. Adam's body was on the ground, less than a dozen feet from where she was. His face was even turned toward hers, his eyes wide in death. A great number of flies had already found him, and they were crawling all over his lips, into his nostrils, over the opaque glaze of his dead eyes.

She sobbed.

It wasn't supposed to have gone that way. By the time Grisham's men had arrived, she was to have been ready to leave. All she was originally to have done was let them in and thereafter retreat to let them do the wetwork. Holcomb was to have been taken out, along with the others, and she was going to just disappear with her reward: a breathtaking sum of cash a.s.sets that were already sitting in various accounts under her name in a number of banks.

But she had not reckoned with Adam and Kinji's desperation. She had also not reckoned with that monkey wrench situation concerning Ron and his resourceful sidekick, Mary. Squinting both in pain and to hide the view of Adam's dead face, Kate put her hands out and braced herself to rise. Going slowly to her knees she got her legs under her. And she promptly vomited.

In a while, she felt well enough to stand. She went over to the wall, to the shattered window, using the brick structure to support herself. It was murder, now. This hadn't been what she'd wanted. The betrayal hadn't bothered her that much. The money had just been far too much to resist, and the idea of living out her life in the kind of luxury she'd only dreamed about had been far too tempting. Everyone had a price. Actually, they had overbid, she mused. A low chuckle gargled up from her lungs.

Looking around, she was wondering where the gunmen had gone. In fact, Kate had never really seen them, and had no idea what they looked like. That was good. She didn't want to know. And she certainly didn't want to encounter them at this point. For all she knew, they might now be after her head, too. But she doubted it. She'd awakened, after all. If they had wanted her dead, then they would have done her in after Mary had all but crushed her skull.

She was fairly certain she was suffering from at least a mild concussion. The dizziness was there, and the nausea. Before she left Florida, she would need to see a doctor. It would be a crime to die before she could begin to enjoy her newly earned wealth.

She needed to get to the garage, find one of the trucks and drive out of there. The quickest way was to climb back through the window and then merely walk through the building. That would take more than she thought she might have left in her. She might pa.s.s out, or fall and injure herself. The other option was to walk around the compound to the front and then back into the entrance there. The door was probably still unlocked and she could get into the garage that way. But it was a long walk in the dark. She might faint again; it wasn't out of the question as fuzzy as she was feeling. Her head throbbed and she found it slightly difficult to focus her eyes now and again. Blinking, she considered her options.

”h.e.l.l with it,” she muttered, and got a grip on the windowsill, being careful not to cut herself and leave any more DNA evidence around than she had in the puddle of vomit. The bugs would probably make off with the mess she had made before any forensic work could be conducted. At this point, she just wanted to vanish. Gripping the window frame, feeling the cool metal on the palm of her hand, she braced and went over. Dizziness gripped her as she vaulted the barrier, her stomach tightened into a huge knot of pain. She blacked out again.

She woke up on the floor, lying in a crystalline pile of shattered gla.s.s. Gingerly, she got to her feet, looking around to see if she were cut or leaving drops of evidence of her presence everywhere. She was a murderer, and needed to keep that in mind. To her surprise, she was uncut. Thank goodness for small gifts Thank goodness for small gifts. Bracing herself against the wall, leaning on it as she went, she started off toward the front of the building. All she wanted at this point was a truck to get out of there.

The building was sighing around her, blowing cool air through the long hallways. She pa.s.sed empty rooms and vacant labs as she went, thinking of Vance Holcomb's plans for the place. This was to have been the research center for the wilderness that he was going to administer in partners.h.i.+p with the University of Florida (at Gainesville, Levin would have said) and the Department of the Interior. Kate had seen his proposals, had seen all of his plans. She'd seen everything, had even shared his bed a time or two before he had told her that it just wasn't for him. But that rejection wasn't the reason she had betrayed him. It was just that she hadn't been able to refuse all of that money. No one could have resisted that offer, she felt. Levin would have said) and the Department of the Interior. Kate had seen his proposals, had seen all of his plans. She'd seen everything, had even shared his bed a time or two before he had told her that it just wasn't for him. But that rejection wasn't the reason she had betrayed him. It was just that she hadn't been able to refuse all of that money. No one could have resisted that offer, she felt.

When Kate had walked all the way to Adam's lab, where he dissected his dead turkey vultures and examined the samples of plant, insect, and animal life the others brought to him, she went in. She was feeling very faint again and knew that he kept all manner of beverages and bottled water in the refrigerator in there. Pus.h.i.+ng the door open she went in and did not even turn on the light. The icebox was a blocky shadow that was easy to pick out in the dim light that spilled in through the door, which she had left open. Staggering a bit, she made her way across the room and opened the refrigerator.

Reaching for a bottle of spring water, she unscrewed the top and turned it up, taking a long draw. In a moment, she had all but drained the twenty-four ounces. Turning, the bottle still in her hand, the yellow light spilling from the refrigerator revealed the man standing just on the far side of one of Adam's lab tables.

”Where did you think you were going?” he said.

Kate did not have time to respond before the rifle roared and her left side exploded in pain. For her, the lights went out again.

One more job done, the gunman sat tight and waited for his friends to return from finis.h.i.+ng the others.