The Bullet

by Iris Johansen

  “I’ll go with you,” the man interrupted. He walked down the four short steps and joined Joe in the clearing.

  “That’s really not necessary.”

  “It’s easy to get lost around here, especially if you’re going off path. I need to stretch my legs anyway.”

  “Sure.” Joe walked alongside the man, slipping the strap of his canteen off his shoulder. “It’s just through here.”

  “Lead the way. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “I appreciate your taking the time.” Joe surreptitiously unclipped the strap. An instant later, he let the canteen fall to the ground. “Oops.”

  The man bent over to pick it up for him. “I got it. Trust me, you don’t want to lose this if…”

  Joe spun around and snapped his canteen strap around the man’s neck!

  As the man writhed and tried to reach the gun tucked into his belt, Joe kneed him in his lower back and pulled the handgun away. Joe punched him in the back, and the man’s legs simply ceased to work. He slumped over as the strap closed off the last of his air.

  “You have about thirty seconds before you lose consciousness,” Joe whispered. “Death will come about ninety seconds later. If I choose to revive you, I can probably do it within a couple minutes after that.”

  The man desperately clawed for air.

  Joe smiled.

  “You might have a few extra minutes if I can find a defibrillator in that ranger station, but that seems like a lot of work to me.”

  Joe let him fall to his knees, easing the pressure on his throat. The man leaned back and looked at him with eyes that were suddenly bloodshot. He still couldn’t talk.

  “Where’s the ranger you took the uniform from?” Joe said. “For your sake, he’d better still be alive.”

  The man’s lips quivered as he struggled to form a single word. “How…?”

  “The uniform gave you away. The hat brim is supposed to be two fingers above the eyebrows. This one was slightly too small for you. Plus, your socks are gray. Brown socks are regulation.” He deliberately twisted the strap tighter. The man gagged. “And every ranger knows undershirts aren’t supposed to be visible. You were careless.” Joe shrugged. “I went through SEAL basic training with a guy who was studying to go into the forestry service until all the rules and regulations drove him nuts. He thought he might as well join the SEALs if he had to go through all that.”

  The man tried to stand, but Joe pushed him down by the shoulders. “Stay where you are. What’s your name?”

  “You think I’ll just tell you that?”

  Joe tugged at the canteen strap, once again constricting his captive’s airway. “I think you will.”

  The man hesitated before speaking. “Lacher.”

  “You work for Svardak?”

  Lacher nodded.

  “Where is he?”

  Lacher hesitated, and Joe once again tugged at the strap. “In a camper … a few miles from here,” Lacher rasped. “He’s waiting for my call.”

  “After you kill me?”

  “That was never part of the plan. He just wanted you immobilized.”

  Joe thought for a moment. “Okay. Slowly, and I mean slowly, pull the phone from your pocket. You’re going to call your boss.”

  “And tell him what?”

  “Tell him I’m unconscious and tied up in that ranger station. If you say anything else, I’ll have no choice but to terminate the conversation immediately. And that means terminating you. Understand?”

  Lacher reached into his pocket with thumb and forefinger and slowly pulled out his phone.

  “Be convincing,” Joe said. “Your life depends on it.”

  A bullet plowed into the pine tree next to him!

  Joe instinctively whirled and raised Lacher toward the sound, using him as a human shield. Using the canteen strap as a leash, Joe jerked him behind a thick clump of brush. “Who’s your friend?” Joe whispered. “Abrams?”

  Before Lacher could reply, another shot was fired. “You want to kill your buddy?” Joe shouted. “No problem. One more shot, and he’s a dead man.”

  Joe finally made out a figure in the trees. The man was taller than Lacher and appeared to be holding a rifle.

  “Drop the gun, and you may survive the day,” Joe called out.

  The man didn’t drop the gun. Instead, he walked toward Joe, still holding his rifle in front of him. Was the son of a bitch crazy?

  And then Joe recognized him.

  Svardak!

  Then he felt the white-hot agony as a bullet tore into him from behind!

  * * *

  “You fool, Abrams! Stop hitting him.” Svardak tore Abrams away from Quinn. “You shot him, you didn’t have to start pistol-whipping him. If you’ve killed the bastard, I’ll cut your heart out.” Svardak bent over Joe Quinn’s body, shoved him over on his back, and tore open his shirt. He was unconscious and bleeding from a wound in his upper right shoulder, but he was breathing. “He’s alive, and he’d better stay alive. Get him inside and stop that bleeding, Lacher.” He straightened and moved up the steps to the porch. “Why the hell couldn’t the two of you obey orders?”

  “He was too damn fast. I was lucky to get a shot at all,” Abrams said sourly as he watched Lacher start to drag Quinn up the steps. “Lacher was supposed to either take him out or set him up for me. Blame him.”

  “I do.” He was scowling at Lacher, who was trying to take himself out of view with Quinn as quickly as possible. “I couldn’t believe how easily Quinn took him down. He forced me to go after him myself,” Svardak said. “Amateur.”

  “He took me by surprise.” Lacher was now dragging Quinn through the office toward the first-aid room. “It won’t happen again.”

  “No, it won’t. I’m tempted to let Abrams make certain of it. But I need you, so you’re going to get another chance. I never know when someone will decide to come here and check on those rangers. I think the blood’s almost stopped. He didn’t lose much.” He watched Lacher lift Quinn onto the exam table. He took a step closer and examined the wound. “The bullet’s still in there. Leave it. Just clean him up.” His lips twisted. “It looks like you lucked out, Abrams. Because if you’d robbed me of the pleasure of putting that bitch through hell as she watches what I do to Quinn, I’d have to do it to you instead.”

  “I did what you said.” He moistened his lips. “It’s Lacher who screwed up. He almost lost him.”

  “You both almost lost him,” Svardak said with disgust. “He’s only one man and you couldn’t even spring the trap. I can’t trust either—”

  “Svar … dak…”

  Svardak’s gaze flew down to Joe Quinn’s face. His eyes were open and focused on Svardak’s face. “Oh, you’re back with us? Good. How nice that you recognize me. May I say I’m delighted that you’ll be around to help me teach Cara that I always keep my word?”

  “Cara…” His eyes were suddenly sharp and fully aware. “You don’t have Cara, you son of a bitch.”

  “No, not yet. Only her dear friend and guardian. But that makes me at least halfway to the final goal.” He bent closer, and his voice was silky-soft. “She is so fond of you. It would hurt her very much to see you suffer.” He reached out and pressed the bullet wound with his thumb. Quinn jerked and bit his lower lip. “You didn’t scream.” He pressed down again, grinding harder. “Amazing. I’m tempted to keep on until you do scream, but I want the pain fresh when she sees it.” He turned and headed for the door. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t allow myself to enjoy myself a bit while I’m waiting for her.”

  “By all means.” Quinn’s voice was hoarse but still strong. “It’s all the enjoyment you’re going to get. You won’t have another chance at Cara. Gavin has her now, and there’s no way he’ll let you get close to her.”

  “Gavin … I’ve heard that name before. I’ve been trying to check on him. He appears to be a threat.” Svardak looked back at him. “But then, he may not be a danger to my plans at all. I got to kn
ow Cara so well when we were together. She’s a poisonous mixture of bitch and soft sentimentality. Do you really believe she’d let anyone stop her if she thought you were being tortured?” He chuckled in delight as he saw Joe Quinn’s expression. “Now that scared you, didn’t it? You’re not as certain of Gavin’s ability to keep control of her as you tried to make me believe. We’ll see who’s right.” He turned to the door. “Get him cleaned up, Lacher. And make certain that you cuff him afterward. If he escapes, you’re a dead man.”

  CHAPTER

  12

  “I still couldn’t get hold of Joe,” Jock said as he pulled out of the hotel driveway. “Not surprising, but it means we’ll just have to travel to the last place from where he contacted us and try to get in touch with him on the way. That was Wheeling for me night before last. You?”

  “The same. Eve and he try to stay in touch every day. I’ll call her and see if she’s heard anything from him more recently. He also tries to check in with the captain of his precinct daily, but I’d bet on Eve.”

  “You always bet on Eve.” He glanced at her with a smile. “And so do we all. By all means, phone her. Even if she hasn’t talked to Joe, she’ll be glad to hear from you. I’d call her, but I’ve proved myself a complete failure where she’s concerned. She was counting on me to persuade you to join her at the lake house.”

  “If anyone had been able to do it, you’d have been the one. She knew that I’d do whatever you wanted…” She darted him a glance as she added, “If I could.”

  “If you chose,” he murmured. “That’s a major difference. As I said, I’ve been a failure where that’s—”

  Cara’s cell was ringing.

  No ID.

  She stiffened. Her hand clenched on the phone as she stared down at it.

  “Easy,” Jock said quietly. “It doesn’t have to be that son of a bitch.”

  But it could be him. He’d called her only last night. “I know.” She couldn’t take her eyes off that ID. “And if it is, it may not mean anything. He likes to toy with me.” She reached out and pressed the access. “Hello.”

  “It took you long enough to answer,” Svardak said. “I’ll have to teach you to jump when I snap my fingers the way Marian did. As it happens, I’ve found just the way to do it.”

  “You’re lying, Svardak.” She saw Jock stiffen and pressed the speaker button. “Everything you told me about Marian I chalk up as one of your delusions. You’re insane, and you’ve been lying to me since the moment I woke up in that cabin.”

  “Have I? You like to believe that because it hurts you to admit how she suffered. I suppose I’ll just have to prove that I don’t lie to you, Cara.” His voice lowered to deep malice. “Or perhaps I’ll ask someone you trust to convince you. That would please me much more.”

  She inhaled sharply. “What are you talking about?”

  “I told you last night that I was almost ready to put a noose on your Joe Quinn as I once promised you I’d do. You didn’t believe me then.”

  “And I don’t believe you now. He’s too smart for you. Joe was able to find you before and put you on the run. He’ll do the same thing this time.”

  “Really? I’d be angry if I wasn’t so amused.” He raised his voice. “What do you say, Quinn? Are you too smart for me?” He laughed. “He’s not answering. I’ve found he’s quite the stoic. I wasn’t even able to get a response from him when I experimented with that bullet wound in his shoulder. I don’t know many men who could take that degree of pain.”

  Shock after shock. Don’t believe him. He only wants to hurt me. No proof. “Another lie,” she said unsteadily. “You don’t have Joe.”

  He sighed. “Oh, but I do. I’m tempted to make him scream for you, but as I said, he’s tough. It might take too much of my time, and I don’t want to upset you … yet. I suppose you’ll have to see for yourself. I need a minute to display him properly. I’ll call you back on FaceTime.” He cut the connection.

  Cara pressed the disconnect. “He sounded so certain, Jock,” she said numbly. “What if he does have him? And he said something about a bullet…”

  “Don’t panic until you know for sure. Then we’ll deal with it.”

  Her gaze flew to his face. “But you think it might be true?”

  “I think he knows more than I’d like him to know about Joe’s reactions.”

  And Cara had thought the same thing. “But he’s researched him, he’d know what—”

  Her phone was ringing again. Jock pulled off the road and stopped the car.

  She quickly punched the access. A request for FaceTime. She punched the accept button.

  “That’s right,” Svardak said. “Now let me point my phone at your dear guardian. Are you ready, Cara?”

  No, she wasn’t ready. She was terrified.

  “Well, I’m ready,” Svardak murmured. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.” He swung the camera toward a chair across the room. “Don’t be rude, Quinn. Say hello to her.”

  Joe!

  Her heart lurched. She felt sick.

  Blood. Joe was bleeding, and he was so pale. He was handcuffed and tied to a chair across the room. “Joe.” She swallowed. “How badly has he hurt you?”

  “Minor,” he said curtly. “I’ll be okay. Don’t let him use me against you. Do you understand? That will be what he wants. Don’t let him have it.”

  “But she’ll find that so hard to do,” Svardak said. “He still has the bullet in that wound. I can make it hurt him, Cara. You know how good I am at causing pain.”

  “What do you want from me?” she said unsteadily.

  “I believe you know the answer.” He moved the camera over Joe’s face, then to his bloody shoulder. “I want you. I deserve you. You’re the key to bringing Kaskov to his knees. And I owe you much more pain than I had the opportunity to inflict on you. Quinn is my opportunity to rectify that omission.”

  “You want a trade.”

  “Exactly. You have such a tender heart, and you must realize that you were destined to die. You were tribute. It was only wild chance that allowed you to escape me.”

  “It was also a dagger of glass shoved into your stomach. Does it still hurt?”

  “Yes. And you’ll pay for it.” The camera suddenly was focused again on his own face. “You’ll pay for all of it.” His mouth was tight and ugly. “And Kaskov will watch you do it. I’m going to call him and tell him that the game is on again.”

  “You’re so confident that I’d give my life for Joe? When I don’t even know if you’d keep your word to let him live?”

  “That’s the chance you’ll take. Could you stand the thought if you didn’t take it?”

  “I couldn’t stand the thought that you’d made a fool of me. I wouldn’t let you get hold of me again without getting something in return.” She took a deep breath. “You haven’t won yet, Svardak.”

  “Don’t let him win at all.” It was Joe’s rough voice in the background. “For God’s sake, back off, Cara.”

  “I am backing off,” she said. “Svardak, give me proof that you’ll let Joe live and we’ll talk again. Or let me decide the terms I’ll accept.”

  Silence. “I’m not going to let you dictate to me.” He smiled. “But I find I like the idea of giving you an excruciatingly painful period to dwell on what I intend to do to Quinn. You’re so sensitive that would be a torture in itself. And come to think of it, I suppose I do need a bit of time to arrange to bring in enough guards to keep you from being stolen from me again. That’s never going to happen, Cara. Once I have you, you’re mine. And it will be a long, long time before I decide I’ve had enough.” He added silkily, “Yes, perhaps I’ll see how you feel after twenty-four hours of worrying about what I’m doing to Quinn. I believe you’ll be much more amenable.” He cut the connection.

  “No!” Jock’s voice was clipped, his gaze on her face, as he took the phone out of her clenched hand. “Hell, no.” He took her in his arms. “Don’t even think about i
t.”

  She clutched frantically at his shoulders. “I have to think about it. I don’t have anything else.” She buried her face in his chest. “It’s Joe. He was … bleeding, Jock.”

  “He said the wound was minor.”

  “He’d say that anyway,” she said shakily. “You know it as well as I do.”

  Jock didn’t deny it. “It could be true. They had him cuffed, they still perceived him as a threat. Svardak had been torturing him, and it hadn’t fazed him.”

  “Stop it.” She pushed back and looked up at him. “I’m imagining enough without you analyzing every detail.”

  “You’re not imagining enough to keep you from jumping in to play Svardak’s dirty game,” he said grimly. “No way. Joe told you to back off. You’re going to do it.”

  “Do you think I want to go back to that monster?” she asked fiercely. “I have you, I have the music, I have family. I won’t let them be taken away from me without a fight.” She swallowed. “But he will make me fight. I could see it. He feels humiliated that I got away from him. He thinks he’s failed his Anna. He’ll want to make it up to her.”

  “He can make it up to her when I send him down to hell to join her,” Jock said. “And I won’t let him touch you.” His hands tightened on her shoulders. “Now stop telling me that you’ll fight to keep him from doing it. Say it’s not going to happen. Say it.”

  She couldn’t say it. She looked up at him. “It’s Joe,” she whispered. “That’s why we’ve got to find a way to bring him home. I have so much to lose. I’ll do anything I can not to let Svardak win.”

  “Joe wouldn’t want this. He told you no.”

  “But he didn’t tell me what to say to Eve and Michael if I let him die,” she said simply.

  He muttered a curse. “Damn you.” Then his hands dropped away from her, and he started the car. “He won’t win. Forget it.” He pulled back on the road. “We have at least twenty-four hours. If it takes longer, we’ll find a way to extend it.”

  “We’re still going to Wheeling?”