Page 65 of The Death
Splat! A bullet exploded in the water next to her. Caldwell’s men must have gotten close enough to see what was going on with Jossland and were trying to protect him.
Splat. Another bullet…
But Jossland had broken her hold again and was trying to pull her to the surface where she’d be a clear target for the men on the bank.
No way. She wasn’t going to get this far only to let the bastard get the best of her. If they wanted a target, let them have Jossland. She relaxed her muscles and let him take her almostto the surface—then at the last minute started struggling so that he surfaced first.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
Blood on the water.
Jossland was screaming. Hopefully that would cause enough confusion to make them ignore her for the time being.
Celine dove deep underwater and once more headed for the rapids, which she reached in only a few minutes.
But there was something definitely wrong. She was experiencing a sharp pain in her right shoulder. She had been swimming so hard trying to get away that she hadn’t noticed until she’d actually reached the rough current of the rapids. But now the pain in her shoulder was striking her like a whip with each rush of water.
Some of that blood on the water must have been her own.
Don’t panic. She would just get out of these rapids and shelter on that limestone shelf that Kontara had told her about. She would examine the wound and treat it herself and then decide what to do from that point on. Either hide if she was too weak to move or find some way back to Dominic or Kontara and Quinn. She was not really alone. It just seemed like it right now.
Ignore that defeatist attitude as well as that pain in her shoulder. First, get out of the rapids and find that limestone shelf…
And hope that Caldwell’s men thought that their shots had done their deadly work and the waterfall had sent her body cascading to the valley below…
“You’re a complete idiot, Jossland,” Caldwell said coldly. “How could you let this happen? I should turn you over to Zakira’s firing squad.”
“It was the Kelly bitch,” Jossland said. “None of it was my fault, but I’m the one who got shot in the arm and almost bled to death. But I stopped that other red-haired bitch from taking the kid and I thought everything was going to be all right. How was I to know that Kelly would sneak up behind me and practically smash my head in? But I ran after her and I would have caught her and forced her to tell me where they’d taken the kid.” He scowled. “Before I cut the little whore’s throat.”
“From what I’ve heard from the men who were supposed to relieve you, they said you weren’t doing a decent job even at that,” Caldwell said sarcastically. “And you still haven’t been able to get it through your thick head that I have a use for her. We may have lost the kid, but it’s a lucky break that Kelly dropped into our laps. I couldn’t ask for a better substitute.”
“But you said we lost her, that maybe she was dead.”
“We found fresh bloodstains on the path that leads past the lake to the mountains. You’d better hope she isn’t dead. I sent a team out to search the village and valley for her. I also sent some of Zakira’s best trackers to find her. He was very excited when I told him how clever I was to set a trap for her using the boy as bait.”
“That means you’re not going to let me have her?”
“That’s exactly what I mean. But I might put in a word for you if Zakira needs a recommendation for an executioner.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“It’s all you’ll get. You’re lucky I don’t hand you over to Zakira because you lost her, and now we have to go to thebother of finding her.” He turned to the door. “Which reminds me: I want you to be part of the team to find Celine Kelly. It will not only cause that smashed and broken arm to hurt like hell, it will serve you right to have to turn her over to me and Zakira.” He was smiling maliciously as he opened the door. “And it will make me feel tremendously better, and I know that will make you happy.” He slammed the door of the hut behind him as he heard Jossland begin to curse.
A few minutes later, Caldwell was throwing open the door of Eve Duncan’s quarters. “I just thought I’d drop in and give you a report on the status of your son’s escape. I know you’re such a devoted mother that you must be in agony about his fate.” He leaned back against the door. “Of course, I was most displeased and thought seriously about telling you that the poor innocent lad had been shot and killed.”
She flinched. “I can see how you might have wanted to hurt me. Now tell me the truth.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “You think you can read me?”
“I’ve had practice reading many people who were far more complicated than you. I’m married to one, and I gave birth to another. Because you’re a threat to my family, I’ve been studying you very carefully. It was necessary. Now tell me why you lied to me. It wasn’t only to hurt me.”
“I’m capable of wanting to hurt you. You’ve been a problem to me from the moment I saw you. I believe I have a bit of an obsession about you.”
She was studying him. “But that isn’t why you lied to me. No, I think it was that you wanted to increase your power over me. You felt that I’d somehow bested you when Michaelsucceeded in getting away from this village. It made you feel… diminished.”
He was silent a moment. “Yes, it did. Even though you might not have done it yourself, you’ve always been the center, haven’t you?”
“I try to be,” she said simply. “It’s my duty. Is that the reason you want me to have less power?”
