Part 13 (1/2)

”You too, Smith,” demanded Desh. ”On the ground. You and I need to have a nice long chat.”

Smith shook his head. ”I'm really not feeling all that chatty,” he said.

And then, before Desh could react, Smith pointed his tranquilizer gun at his own leg and pulled the trigger.

PART FOUR.

Reunion.

25.

Kira Miller took the lead as they hiked through the woods. Desh was close behind, his .45 trained on her back, while Connelly and Griffin brought up the rear; all four staying alert for possible ambushes. Their destination was Kira's SUV, rented under an a.s.sumed name, which was parked at a campground a half-mile distant and which could not be immediately traced. They were in an untouched section of the woods, blazing their own trail, and their progress was slower than Desh would have liked. Kira had used a small GPS device to find the clearing, and she consulted it periodically to be sure they were taking the most direct line to her vehicle possible.

Desh fumed silently. How had he let Smith slip through his fingers! Smith had known they couldn't wait until he regained consciousness to interrogate him, and dragging his unconscious body along as they made their escape would be equally foolhardy. As expected, the man had carried no identification. s.h.i.+t, thought Desh for the third time. He had been so close to finally learning what was going on and who was pulling Smith's strings. It was maddening!

Desh had tranquilized the remaining commandoes to ensure they couldn't sound an alarm. After he had cut Griffin and Connelly free, he had taken the standard, military first-aid kit from the helicopter and had cleaned and dressed the colonel's wound, giving him a potent pain killer as well. Before they had taken off into the woods, Desh also hurriedly dressed the wound of the now-unconscious soldier Connelly had shot.

All in all, Connelly had been lucky, but he had still lost a considerable amount of blood and the risk of infection was significant. He needed to get to a doctor soon.

Kira stopped walking and gestured toward Desh's gun. ”Do you really need to point that at me?” she whispered, taking care that her voice wouldn't carry and advertise their presence.

It was a good question, thought Desh. Did he? She had warned him about Smith; warned him that Connelly was in danger. And she had been right. She had also just bailed them out of a big mess.

But what if this had been nothing but a set-up? For all Desh knew she and Smith were working together. Still, to what end? If she wanted Desh dead she could have accomplished this at the motel. If she was allied with Smith to acquire Griffin and Connelly along with him, they were seconds away from this as well. What's more, she had voluntarily put herself under Desh's control.

Desh wasn't about to holster his gun until they were in more secure territory, but he joined Kira at the front of the procession and no longer pointed it in her direction.

”Thanks,” she whispered earnestly.

”So you bugged the sweats.h.i.+rt, too, didn't you?” asked Desh in hushed tones as they began to move again, barely managing to keep any trace of admiration from his voice.

Kira nodded guiltily.

”What are you doing here?”

”I knew they'd follow the colonel to your meeting place and try to kill him. I decided I couldn't let that happen.”

Desh studied her carefully but detected no sign of deceit. ”Do you really have a suicide tooth?” he whispered.

A broad smile came over her face. ”No,” she admitted. ”It was all I could think of at the time.” She raised her eyebrows. ”Actually, I figured my bl.u.s.ter wouldn't keep Smith from deciding I was bluffing for very long. I was counting on you to get the hint and jump ina”which is exactly what you did.”

Desh knew that he should have done so immediately, but he had been too busy admiring her performance. ”How did you know I was watching?” he asked.

”I heard Smith threaten your friends and give you three minutes to return and surrender. I knew you wouldn't let them die,” she whispered approvingly. ”And I knew if you heard my voice you'd stay hidden to see what was going on.”

Desh nodded but didn't respond. In addition to being scientifically brilliant, she could think on her feet as well as anyone he had ever knowna”and this was saying quite a lot.

Before long they entered a large clearing with a sign that read, ”Campground 3B”. Eight small wood cabins were arranged in a semicircle within the clearing, and cars were parked beside several of them. A gravel road led away from the campground on the opposite side.

Kira had parked the SUV at the edge of the campground, and soon they were all inside, with Kira driving, Desh in the pa.s.senger seat, and Connelly and Griffin in the back.

As Kira started the engine, Desh turned to her and said, ”I a.s.sume you came here from the road that parallels the one we took. Can you get us back there?”

”Absolutely.” She pulled onto the gravel road and slowly moved forward. Connelly winced as the SUV vibrated on the unpaved surface and jostled his injury.

”Where to once we hit the main artery?” she asked.

Desh pursed his lips in concentration. ”That depends. Any guess as to when they'll link this car to us?”

”Hard to say,” she replied. ”It depends on when they discover their raid back there failed, and how many cars are on the road. It shouldn't be immediate, though.”

Desh's eyes narrowed as he sorted through various possibilities. ”There's a large shopping center between Petersburg and Richmond called the Manor Hill Malla”it's all-enclosed, making it inaccessible to satellite surveillance. We could lose ourselves in the crowds and then leave. They may be able to track us to there, but they'll have a h.e.l.l of a time tracking us from there.”

Kira looked impressed. ”I like it,” she said.

”Colonel?” said Desh.

”Me to,” said Connelly. ”I recommend we split up once we're there.”

”Agreed,” said Desh. He turned to Kira. ”If you can get us on I-95 north, the mall is just off a main exit.”

She nodded. ”Will do.”

The wide gravel road soon ended in a skinny paved one that wound its way through the heart of the woods for a half mile before hitting an arrow-straight main artery. Kira pulled onto the main road and accelerated as rapidly as the rental would allow.

Desh turned in his seat to face Connelly. ”Colonel, how are you feeling?”

”I'm fine,” said Connelly stoically, but blood was still slowly seeping through his bandages and he looked pale.

”Matt?” said Desh. ”How about you? Are you okay?”

”Not really,” he said. ”But it's hard to complain when I'm sitting next to someone with a bullet wound who isn't,” he said dryly.

Desh was encouraged that Griffin had recovered his sense of humor. ”When we get to the mall, we'll split up into two groups,” said Desh. ”I'll go with Kira. Matt, can I count on you to look after the colonel?”

”Look after him?”

Desh nodded. ”Don't let him fool you. He's not doing as well as he's pretending.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his thick stack of hundreds; pa.s.sing about forty of them to Griffin in the back seat. ”A little spending money,” he said. ”I need you to see to it that he gets to a doctor.”

”I'll do my best,” said Griffin solemnly.

”Colonel, any good military doctors you trust with your life?” asked Desh.