Silver Linings

by Jayne Ann Krentz

“Only because you were confused,” he said bluntly.

  “You may be right. Just be careful. You, too, Silk. You hear me? I don't want you to do anything that could cut short the brilliant artistic career you've got ahead of you.”

  He grinned and ruffled her hair with his huge paw as she walked over and hugged him tightly. “Hey, don't worry about me, Mattie Sharpe. You and I are going to get rich together. That's a promise.”

  “You two can talk about what you're going to do with all your ill-gotten gains some other time,” Hugh said, heading for the tunnel that led to the waterfalls. “Let's get this business over with first.”

  “Right, boss.”

  Mattie watched as the two men vanished, silent as ghosts, in the caves of Purgatory.

  And then she sat down to wait.

  Hugh heard the voices in the cavern behind the twin waterfalls and knew that two of Rainbird's six-man bodyguard would have to be taken care of before he and Silk went on to the house. Mattie wasn't going to approve. Probably best not to mention the matter to her later.

  He switched off the flashlight and waited for Silk to move up alongside.

  “Two?” Silk asked.

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Sounds like they're going to try to search these caves.”

  “Fools.” Hugh thought a minute. “Might be easiest to just let them get lost.”

  “They're probably not that dumb. They'll use a rope or something.”

  “Rope, huh? Then let's hope they've got enough to hang themselves.”

  Hugh stepped into a side tunnel that branched off the main one, and Silk moved in beside him. Anyone who came this way would have to walk right past them.

  A flashlight flickered in the main corridor. The first man in military fatigues moved past, a rope trailing out behind him.

  “You see anything, Mark?” called a voice from the main cavern.

  “Nothing. I can't tell if she came this way or not.”

  “She's probably got herself good and lost already. Rainbird's going to be pissed.”

  Mark halted and shouted down the corridor. “Miss Sharpe, call out if you can hear me. No need to be afraid. We'll get you out of here.” His voice ricocheted off the cavern walls.

  Hugh studied his quarry. Mattie was right. The kid was too damn young to be playing mercenary. But, then, Rainbird had always attracted bright-eyed young men who had dreams of being heroes.

  Hugh remembered a few of his own youthful dreams as he stepped out into the corridor and brought the butt of his gun down on the hapless mercenary's head. Mark went down without a sound. Hugh dragged him into the side corridor.

  “Mark?” The voice at the other end of the rope was not anxious yet. Just curious.

  Silk reached past Hugh and tugged gently on the rope, as if Mark were still moving.

  “See anything, Mark?” Another flashlight beam cut through the darkness of the main corridor. “Come on, Mark. What's going on? Where are you? You okay?”

  Silk tugged on the rope again, drawing it farther into the main tunnel. The second young man followed it slowly, like a wary fish after a lure. When he went past the side tunnel, Hugh stepped out and used the butt of the revolver a second time.

  “Got him.” Hugh bent down and dragged the second man into the side tunnel.

  Silk moved in and quickly used the rope to secure both unconscious men.

  “Well, that eases the odds a bit,” Silk observed as they made their way out past the waterfalls. “With any luck the rest of 'em will keep floundering around out here in the jungle for a while, and we won't have to cross their paths at all.”

  “There's always good old Howard the vegetarian gourmet chef.”

  The moon was almost gone by the time Hugh and Silk made their way over the waterfall pool rocks and found the stream. There was a familiar oppressive weight to the warm air. Hugh sensed the rain that was on its way.

  They followed the stream until the sound of the ocean was clear, and then Hugh angled to the right. He and Silk pushed more or less blindly through the jungle, using what was left of the moon as a guide until the lights of the house came into view.

  “No problem,” Silk observed. “Plenty of cover right up to the house, itself.”

  “Let's go.”

  Hugh fumbled a bit trying to find the hidden entrance that opened inside the pantry. It had been a couple of years since Cormier had taken him on the grand tour of the white mansion. But he eventually found the panel in the side of the wall. It was shrouded in pale white lilies.

  Inside the entrance a short flight of steps led up to the darkened pantry. Hugh risked the flashlight long enough to get a feel for the arrangement of canned goods, liquor bottles, and supplies that were stacked on the floor. Silk trailed silently behind him.

  Hugh turned the flashlight onto the wall and found the circuit-breaker panel. He hit the switches, shutting off everything. Then he opened the pantry door onto darkness. He and Silk crawled out into the kitchen and waited.

  “What the hell?” Rainbird's voice came from out on the veranda, sounding annoyed but not alarmed.

  “The electricity has gone off, Colonel. I'll check the panel. Probably blown a fuse.”

  “Contact the men and tell them to get back to the house immediately,” Rainbird snapped.

  “But I'm sure it's just a problem with the fuses or maybe down at the generator. I'm pretty good with that kind of thing, Colonel…”

  “I said call in the others. Do it now, Howard. And find some flashlights.”

  “Yes, sir. I think there's one in the kitchen.”

  Crouched in shadows behind a counter, Hugh listened to boot heels ring on marble. The redoubtable Howard was hastening to obey orders.

  “Mine,” said Silk in an almost soundless whisper.

  Hugh nodded and Silk moved across the short distance to step back into the pantry.

  Howard came around the edge of the counter, yanking open drawers and groping inside. Then his gaze fell on Hugh.

  “Hi,” Hugh said pleasantly.

  Howard's mouth fell open, and he groped for his gun. Silk stepped out of the closet and coshed him. Howard slumped to the floor.

  “You keep an eye on the main entrance,” Hugh muttered. “If the rest of them come back, they'll probably come that way.”

  “Right. Give my regards to Rainbird. Tell him I'm sure sorry he didn't die six years ago.”

  “I'll do that.”

  Hugh moved quickly through the gloom of the living room and on down the hall. All of the main rooms opened onto the veranda, where Rainbird was standing. Hugh wanted the shortest approach to his quarry. From the sound of Rainbird's voice when he had given orders to Howard, the library would probably provide the ideal point from which to step out onto the veranda.

  As soon as Hugh moved silently into the library, he saw he had calculated correctly. Through the open French windows he saw Rainbird standing with both hands planted on the veranda railing. He was peering into the darkness below him, obviously searching for the men who should have been returning on the double from the hunt for Mattie.

  “Howard? Have you recalled them yet? Damn it, I said move, boy. I don't like this setup. Something's wrong. I want every available man back here right now.” Rainbird paused when there was no immediate response. “Howard?”

  “Howard's busy, Colonel. You know how it is. Always a lot to do in the kitchen.” Hugh stepped out onto the veranda, his revolver in his hand.

  “Abbott.” Rainbird swung around, clawing for a pistol that was stuck in his belt.

  Hugh kicked out suddenly, aiming for the pistol. He caught it with the toe of his boot just as Rainbird started to aim. The weapon went flying over the railing.

  “Still as fast as ever, aren't you?” Rainbird smiled thinly as he slowly lowered his hand.

  “Not quite,” Hugh said. “But fast enough to do this job.”

  “Do you think so? You were good, Abbott, but I was always a little quicker than you, rem
ember? And unlike you, I've stayed in training for the past six years. Besides,” Rainbird taunted softly, “we both know you aren't hard enough to pull that trigger on an unarmed man. That was always your biggest weakness, Abbott. That and the fact that you didn't take orders very well.”

  “You mean not well enough to walk into that trap you set in Los Rios? Why did you do it, Rainbird? That's the one thing we could never figure out. What was in it for you that made it worth trying to get the rest of us killed?”

  “Money, of course. A great deal of money. And the timing couldn't have been better. You, Cormier, and Silk and the others were getting too difficult to control. You were asking too many questions about the jobs. Men who question their orders are useless to a good commander.”

  “So you decided to get rid of us. I guess that makes sense from your point of view.” Hugh smiled bleakly. “You were smart to fake your own death when you realized that some of us hadn't died in that ambush. You knew we'd come looking if we thought you were still alive.”

  “Cormier thought he'd seen a ghost when I came through the door,” Rainbird said with satisfaction. “You know, the old man was still surprisingly fast, too. He actually had his hands on that old Beretta of his when I shot him.”

  “I know.”

  Rainbird nodded. “So it was you who found him right afterward. I came back to clean up the place later after I'd secured the island. I realized someone else had been here. Footprints in the blood. Two rented vehicles parked nearby and no sign of anyone. And then I got word that you were looking for whoever had killed Cormier. Once you start something, you don't give up until you've finished, I'll say that much for you, Abbott. I knew I had to take you out along with Silk and the woman.”

  “And a poor jerk named Rosey.”

  Rainbird shrugged negligently. “He knew too much, and he was going to sell the info.”

  “You were right about one thing. I wouldn't have stopped looking until I figured out who killed Paul.”

  Rainbird smiled a gentle, vaguely regretful smile. “Yes. I understood that from the beginning.”

  “It was a mistake to kill Cormier. But it was an even bigger mistake to involve Mattie in this.”

  “Ah, yes. The very interesting Miss Sharpe. I congratulate you on her, Abbott. She is a woman after my own heart. She has spirit and intelligence. And a certain style. I like that. You'll forgive me if I say I'm rather surprised you had the brains to appreciate her. You were never the sort to understand or admire subtlety in a woman.”

  “I might be a slow learner, Rainbird, but I do, eventually, catch on.”

  “And have you learned to kill a man in cold blood?”

  “I think that in your case I'll be able to handle it.”

  Rainbird grinned, looking genuinely amused. “No, Abbott, I don't think so. You'll lose your nerve at the last minute. We both know it.”

  In that instant a shot roared out through the jungle night, shattering the glass in the French window behind Hugh. Hugh fired over the edge of the railing and leaped for the cover of the darkened library.

  Rainbird acted instantly, grabbing the knife out of his boot and launching himself after Hugh. Hugh spun around and raised the revolver. But he wasn't fast enough.

  As always, Rainbird's incredible reflexes stood him in good stead. His weight crashed into Hugh, and both men went sprawling on the library floor.

  Something sharp slashed at Hugh's arm. He felt the revolver fall from his hand, and then he was rolling swiftly away from Rainbird's knife.

  Rainbird came after him, kicking out savagely. His boot caught Hugh on the arm. The pain was not the worst of it. The temporary loss of muscle control in his right arm was another problem altogether. It could get him killed.

  Shots crackled from the far end of the house. Silk was returning fire to whoever was shooting from the jungle. Another shot into the library sent a shower of sharp glass hail down on Hugh and Rainbird.

  Hugh saw the knife in Rainbird's hand glint briefly in the shadows. He jerked away again, groping frantically for his own boot knife.

  But there was no time to grasp it. Rainbird was coming at him again, his killer's smile gleaming in the darkness.

  Rainbird had always been faster. Faster and infinitely more ruthless because he took a strange delight in the act of bringing death to others.

  Hugh scrambled backward, aware of sensation returning to his right arm. He barely dodged another swinging thrust of the knife as he got to his feet. He found himself up against a display case. Without looking at what was in the case, he smashed the glass lid with his bare hand and reached inside. The jagged edges of glass bit deep. Blood streamed down his arm.

  His fingers closed around the hilt of a sword just as Rainbird leaped in for the kill.

  Hugh yanked the sword out of the case. It was surprisingly heavy. But the weight and balance felt strangely comfortable, even familiar in his hand.

  He brought the weapon around in front of himself and thrust the blade out and up just as Rainbird came hurtling through the air.

  The sword sank into Rainbird's chest with sickening ease. A shattering scream rent the darkness and then there was an unholy silence.

  For a few seconds Hugh just stood staring down at Rainbird's body. He looked up as Silk came pounding down the hall and into the library.

  “He dead?” Silk asked, coming to a halt.

  “Yeah. This time he's dead.”

  “About time.” Silk squinted in the shadows. “You okay?”

  Hugh nodded.

  “Always knew you were faster than him. You just needed the right motivation is all. Come on, boss. We got to get out of here before the rest of those boy scouts get back. Mattie'll have our heads if we let anything delay us.”

  “I didn't plan to hang around.” Hugh realized he was still grasping the sword. He looked down. It was the one he had arranged for Cormier to sell to Charlotte Vailcourt, the one called Valor.

  Death to all who dare claim this blade until it shall be taken up by the avenger and cleansed in the blood of the betrayer.

  “You going to take that sword with you?” Silk asked, already moving toward the door.

  “Might as well. Charlotte will like having it in her collection. And I think Paul would have wanted her to have it.”

  There was no sense trying to explain to Silk that Valor felt clean now, Hugh decided as he followed his friend out into the hall. He could not even explain the feeling to himself.

  Hugh paused briefly in the doorway and glanced back at the body of the betrayer. Rainbird lay in a widening pool of blood. Hugh suddenly remembered another ancient prophecy. All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

  “You know, Silk, I'm sure glad you and me wised up a few years back and decided to get ourselves a couple of new professions,” Hugh said. “Nobody stays fast enough forever.”

  CHAPTER

  Twenty

  Mattie stood on the beach in the moonlight and watched the glistening breakers as they rose and fell on the night-darkened water. The lights of Hugh's cottage gleamed in the shadows behind her, but she did not turn around. Hugh was busy on the phone inside the cottage, talking to Charlotte Vailcourt. Mattie had walked down to the beach to think.

  Not that she had not already had ample opportunity to be alone with her own thoughts during the excruciating wait in the cavern on Purgatory. The short time that Hugh and Silk had been gone had seemed an eternity. When they had finally shown up with the blood-stained sword called Valor, she had known what had happened. She had not asked for explanations.

  Without a word she had bandaged Hugh's bleeding arm while Silk readied the cruiser. They had been on their way within ten minutes. Nobody had said much on the long ride to Hades, where they spent what was left of the night with the local doctor, who treated Hugh's arm. All three of them had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion, risen early, and been on their way back to St. Gabriel by dawn. And through it all Mattie had said nothing of her plans. She
had been waiting for the right opening.

  “Mattie?” Hugh's voice was soft in the shadows.

  She turned and smiled at him. “Finally finish satisfying Aunt Charlotte's curiosity?”

  “Yeah. Man, that woman can sure ask questions. But I think everything's under control at both ends now. The guy who broke into your place finally woke up. He's keeping his mouth shut, but the cops have him cold on three or four solid charges, including breaking and entering and assault with a deadly weapon. You and Evangeline sure did a number on him.”

  “Independent businesswomen have to be able to look after themselves.”

  His mouth crooked. “You're not exactly a soft little city girl, are you?”

  “Tough as nails,” she assured him.

  Hugh grinned briefly. “Well, I wouldn't go that far. Parts of you are very, very soft. Come here, soft little city girl.”

  She walked into his arms, and they closed around her. “I'm so glad it's over, Hugh. The time I spent waiting for you in that cavern were the worst hours of my life.”

  “It's over, babe. It's finally over.” His hold tightened. He turned her face up to his and kissed her with the old, familiar white-hot passion.

  Mattie gloried in the sheer, overwhelming honesty of the embrace. Hugh loved her. She was certain of that now. All the tension that had set her nerves on edge for the past few weeks was finally gone, leaving behind a wondrous sureness and a sense of rightness that would last for the rest of her life.

  Mattie's fingers went to the buttons of his shirt. She undid them slowly, letting her hands slip inside to feel the warmth and hardness of his chest.

  “Babe,” he whispered in an aching tone as her fingertips found the fastening of his jeans. “Babe, you don't know what you do to me.”

  “Tell me again that you love me, Hugh.”

  “Damn, but I love you. More than anything else on the planet.” He was unbuttoning her shirt now. “Believe me?”

  “I believe you. I should have understood months ago when you first started concocting schemes to see me.”

  “You can say that again. Wasted a lot of time, babe. But I'll let you make it up to me.” He grinned, the wicked smile full of sensuality and loving promise.