by Deb Sanders
His words sent a chill down her spine. Straightening her shoulders, Kate left him hovering near a group of lounge chairs and approached the desk. She passed a man leaning casually against the wall, his face buried in a newspaper. Something about him seemed familiar but she quickly dismissed the thought.
As the clerk glanced up, Kate smiled brightly. “Hello! My name is Kate. . .er, Holden.”
Before she could continue, the uniformed man released a loud sigh. “Mrs. Holden! I’m so glad you’ve returned. A driver for Classic Limousine delivered a knapsack which belongs to you. He said you had left it in his vehicle.” To her dismay, he pulled the bag from under the counter and handed it to her. “We tried to notify your room last night but there was no answer and the Do Not Disturb sign was on the door.”
The blood drained from Kate’s face. What was she supposed to do now? The clerk had just ruined her plan! She glanced over her shoulder, confirming that Ivan had witnessed the exchange.
“Shall I hold your room for another night?” His fingers tapped the counter in a nervous staccato.
Kate stared at the young man’s face but he refused to meet her gaze. “I don’t think we’ll be returning,” she replied hollowly.
Sticky, pungent saliva filled her mouth and threatened to spill out of her lips. She picked up the bag and turned from the counter in a dazed stupor. The man who had been reading the newspaper suddenly moved forward, bumping into her with such force she dropped the knapsack.
“Pardon me,” he smiled brightly, steadying her with two large hands. “I’m so clumsy.”
He bent down and picked up the knapsack, handing it to her with an enigmatic expression.
She looked up, disoriented. It was the same man who had fought with Sam at their hotel room in Cheyenne. He had said he worked for Conrad Buckman. So what was he doing here?
Sharon boasted that she was the mastermind behind the bioterrorism plot. If this was one of Conrad’s men, it could only mean Jeff had notified the billionaire of her danger. She backed away, clasping the bag to her chest.
“Are you alright?” he asked in a friendly voice. His dark eyes searched her face, boring right through to her fear.
“No.” Kate’s frightened gaze spoke volumes as Ivan impatiently approached her side.
“What was that about?” he growled as they walked briskly to his car.
“How should I know? Just a clumsy man,” she retorted sharply. To her surprise, he seemed to accept her answer, locking the knapsack in the trunk of the Jaguar.
The return drive to the Grant mansion seemed shorter. Kate fell into a thoughtful silence, trying to make sense of the incident in the hotel lobby. Something was wrong. Why hadn’t Conrad’s man taken the opportunity to rescue her when he had the chance?
Everything had gone awry. She wasn’t supposed to get the knapsack. She had just played her last card and failed miserably. Kate closed her eyes, disguising the panic slithering down her spine.
There was a distinct possibility she and Sam might not see another sunrise.
Chapter Twenty Six
Ivan entered the security code at the gate, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel as waited for entry.
“It was a long drive,” he grumbled impatiently.
“What time is it?”
“Two-thirty,” he replied stoically after glancing at his wristwatch. He pulled the Jaguar to a stop in front of the wide cascade of steps.
Kate was more than ready to exit the vehicle. She wanted to throw herself into Sam’s arms, and tell him the bad news. She entered the foyer, her steps clicking on the polished marble as she headed toward the stairs. A voice boomed from behind her.
“Miss Grant will see you in the study.” Ivan opened the door to a room near the front.
Sharon stepped out and motioned Kate to follow her. Her face glowed when she spied the knapsack in Ivan’s hands.
“Good! You’re back.”
Kate’s eyes darted past her bejeweled form to where Sam sat stiffly in a high back leather chair. His expression remained emotionless with the exception of a small twitch at the base of his jaw.
“I would like to go to my room now. You have the formula. You don’t need me anymore.”
“I’m sure you must be exhausted,” the woman cooed soothingly, stroking the canvas bag, “but you simply must join us for a celebration. Sam, darling, please pour a round of champagne for everyone.”
He bowed his head, obediently extracting a dark green bottle nestled in a cloak of ice. Moments later the cork popped, causing everyone to jump. He poured the foaming liquid into three crystal flutes.
Sam extended the first glass to Sharon with a broad smile that failed to reach his eyes. He approached Kate with the second glass. Positioning himself so his back was to Sharon, his expression became questioning.
“What happened?” he mouthed silently.
“Please join me at the desk.” Sharon’s command was cordial but firm. With Sam and Kate as witnesses, she unzipped the knapsack. “This formula establishes my power!”
“What power?” Sam inquired dryly.
For a moment, their eyes locked in a fiery battle. Sharon lowered herself onto a velvet desk chair. With the bag within arm’s reach, she smugly folded her hands in front of her.
“This vaccine will allow me to inoculate the members of my organization before we introduce Pneumonic Plague to our target areas. It’s really a simple plan,” she boasted without conscience. “We’ve been accumulating vast quantities of the bacteria for almost a year. My team is waiting for my command as we speak. We’ve prepared crop dusters for infiltration in the Midwest, but the main form of infection will come from aerosol air fresheners sold at large retailers.”
Kate felt as though cold fingers had gripped her heart. “Why would you want to harm innocent people? You could kill children!”
“They’ll go fairly quickly,” she retorted. “The bacterium attacks the respiratory system, usually resulting in rapid death. Most people won’t even realize they’re a carrier until it’s too late. Can you imagine the chaos? America will be brought to its knees and other governments will cower in fear.”
Kate felt sick. “You’re mad.”
“Not mad, my dear, just very, very greedy. People with money and power rule the world, not politicians. They’re merely figureheads...puppets for those of us who really pull the strings.”
Sam scowled as his anger mounted. “Even if this plan works, there are antibiotics that can treat the infection.”
“Very good, Sam. I didn’t anticipate you being so knowledgeable. To answer your question, yes, there are certain antibiotics effective in battling the plague if administered within 24 hours of the first symptoms. However, with a gestation period of approximately seven days, thousands will be infected before they realize what has happened.” She fingered the strap on the knapsack. “My position with the CDC is to determine which antibiotics would be most effective in cases of pandemic outbreaks. You might say I made a clerical error by listing ineffective options.”
“Kate was right,” he hissed through tightly clenched teeth, “you are mad.”
She raised a penciled brow with mocking disapproval. “Tsk, tsk! What a terrible thing to say. And I was willing to take you under my wing. You’re not being a grateful student, Sam.”
“Don’t waste your breath, lady. You’re not my type.”
Sharon’s mouth narrowed into a thin line. Her icy gaze challenged his defiance. Tension hung over the room like a heavy shroud, its silence suffocating. And then it was over. Sharon restored her composure with a shrug of her shoulders.
“It would have only been a temporary fling anyway. No great loss.”
“You’ll never succeed. Any legitimate manufacturer will question why a private party wants thousands of cases of aerosol goods,” he argued ostensibly.
“Those concerns have already been taken care of. My men are already in place at a major distribution center. I just needed the vaccine before I could pr
oceed.” With a smug expression bordering on complete insanity, she tilted her head to one side and stared at them. “Any other questions? After all, it’s not as if either of you will be alive to repeat what I’ve told you.”
Kate clenched her hands until her fingernails pierced the skin. “Conrad Buckman will eventually learn about this. Jeff knew I was my dad’s papers to Atlanta. He’ll tell Conrad you’re the real villain.”
“You didn’t know?” She chuckled nastily as Kate’s eyes widened in horror. “I needed someone in the lab whom I could trust. He was a cheap investment.”
“I. . .I don’t believe you,” she cried. “Jeff would never betray my family.”
“Dear girl, he did betray you,” she insisted coldly. “Who do you think arranged your father’s accident?”
“Enough!” Sam rose to his feet, pulling Kate’s trembling body into his arms. “There’s no reason to hurt her anymore.”
Sharon’s eyes clawed at him like talons. “I haven’t even started,” she hissed vehemently. “Jeff helped arrange the pilot charter, telling Pete at the last minute to fly to Reno so he could borrow a Lear jet. That was why your pilot didn’t have time to change his flight plan, and rescue units were never sent to look for you. If my men had not been so incompetent, none of this would be necessary.”
Kate felt Sam stiffen with anger, and worried that he might attack the woman.
“Jeff said the formula had been sent in a fireproof box. I knew it would be protected when the plane went down. But I never anticipated someone living on the summit in the middle of winter.”
Sharon took a long, shaky breath, vengeance boiling out of her like brimstone from the bowels of hell. “It’s been a merry chase you’ve led us on, my dear Kate. The plan was to intercept you before you ever got here, but even with your frequent calls to Jeff, you and your ‘bodyguard’ managed to elude us.”
Sam smiled coldly. “Don’t you want to know how we slipped away in Oklahoma?”
Sharon paused, looking confused. “Oklahoma? I didn’t have anyone following you in Oklahoma.”
“Then who were the two men in the dark sedan? And the helicopter?”
“You must have imagined it.” She dismissed the question with a curt shrug. “I’m sure at that point you and Kate were beginning to feel a little paranoid.” A harsh laugh followed.
Kate opened her mouth to protest but felt Sam’s hand tighten around her fingers. For some reason, he didn’t want her to pursue the topic. What was he up to?
“Enough idle chit chat. Let’s see what your father has so graciously sent to me.”
She unzipped the bag and peered inside. For a moment, she appeared stunned, staring blankly at the contents. When she looked up, Kate realized her lips were trembling. Her face burned with rage.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she screamed hysterically. “Where is it?”
Kate felt two pairs of eyes boring into her, one full of anger, the other cautiously relieved. “What do you mean? That’s what my father asked me to deliver,” she stammered defensively.
Sharon reached over the desk and grabbed Kate’s hair, pulling her face toward the open knapsack. “No, you little moron! There is nothing in here but newspaper and rocks!”
Sam snared Sharon’s wrist with lightening reflexes, forcing her to release Kate’s hair. The older woman slammed her fist onto the desk after yanking her arm free from his grasp.
“Where the hell is it?” she repeated loudly, throwing the knapsack against the wall with a crazed expression.
“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t.”
“You’ve hidden the formula.” Her eyes narrowed as she stared accusingly at Kate.
“No, ask Ivan. This is what the desk clerk gave me.”
Sharon’s breath came in short pants as she ran a shaky hand through her platinum locks. Pressing a button on the phone, she choked into the intercom. “Ivan! I want Ivan. . .now!”
Seconds later the door opened and he entered the room, instantly tensing when he saw her outrage. “Miss Grant? You requested to see me?”
“Did anyone tamper with the knapsack after Miss Merrill took it from the hotel clerk?”
Ivan frowned. “I watched every move she made,” he replied in a level voice. “The clerk gave it to her, and she handed it to me.” He paused as if recalling an important detail. “A man bumped into her. She dropped it, but he picked it up and handed it to her.”
Sharon eyes turned to slits. “Could this person have made a switch without you knowing it?”
“That isn’t possible. The only thing he had in his hands was a folded newspaper. I witnessed the exchange. My eyes never left the knapsack. What we brought back is what she was given at the lobby desk.”
Kate fidgeted nervously. Thank goodness Ivan had related such a detailed description of the events. Although she couldn’t be sure if he meant to explain her actions or justify his own.
Kate was just as baffled as everyone else. She had no idea what happened to the lockbox. She looked at Sam, then at Sharon and Ivan. A plan began to take root and grow.
“Look, I don’t want to cause any trouble,” she inserted innocently, “but while Ivan was putting the knapsack in the trunk, a man came over with a briefcase. They talked for a bit and then he left. If something is missing from the bag, perhaps you need to ask Ivan about his friend.”
She caught Sam’s frown from the corner of her eye, realizing he must be utterly confused at this point.
Ivan’s face blanched as all eyes turned to him. “That’s a lie!” he cried, backing against the door. “I never talked to anyone.”
Kate took a deep breath and faced him defiantly. “You did, Ivan. I was in the car but I watched you from the side mirror. You definitely handed something to that man.”
Sharon straightened her shoulders, visibly wrestling with the dilemma. She pressed the intercom again and called for Raoul. When he arrived, she instructed the burly man to take Sam and Kate to the basement.
“Lock them in the wine cellar and come right back here. We need to discuss something with Ivan.”
As Kate walked past the tall man, she had the distinct impression he was frightened. Part of her felt guilty for turning suspicion on him but if he was involved in Sharon Grant’s bioterrorism plot, he deserved whatever consequences he might encounter.
Raoul forced them down a narrow passageway at the back of the house near the kitchen. It opened into a stairwell descending to a small, dank room. There was a single, rickety chair in one corner over which a bare light bulb cast stark shadows across the rows of dusty bottles.
Raoul shot Kate a suggestive look, grinning with his silver tooth. “I’ll be back for you later,” he vowed in a low voice.
“Like hell, you will!” Sam took a step toward him, his fist knotted at his side.
Kate gasped as Raoul pulled a gun and quickly placed the barrel against Sam’s forehead. “Take another step, pal, and it will be your last.”
“Sam! Please. . .”
Kate watched as the two men stood in stalemate, each eager to push the other over the edge. After a moment, Sam backed away and Kate released a relieved sigh.
Raoul grinned, victorious in the moment. With one last leer at Kate, he quickly mounted the stairs, locking the door behind him.
She turned and took a step towards Sam. They fell together, content to hold each other in silence.
After a moment, Sam pulled back, his eyes searching her face intently.
“What happened? Where’s the lockbox?”
She shook her head as her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I don’t know. When I arrived at the hotel, I convinced Ivan to wait by the door, as you suggested. I had barely introduced myself to the desk clerk before he started emoting about how happy he was to see me. Apparently, the limo driver returned the knapsack. Before I could say a word, he handed it to me.” She grimaced as she recalled the transaction. “Ivan saw it, so there was nothing I could do but take it with me.”
>
A frown settled across his brow as he listened to her explanation. “Ivan gave the lockbox to a man?”
A sheepish grin curled her lips. “Not exactly. I made up that part to buy us some time. I have no idea where the lockbox is.”
A light slowly dawned across his features before he pulled her tightly against him. “You wonderful little liar! What an incredible piece of acting.” He brushed her lips with his mouth, admiration beaming from his eyes. “You had me believing it. Let’s hope Sharon doesn’t discover the truth too soon.”
She felt her cheeks turn hot as he extolled her praise. Suddenly she remembered another detail and her fingers gripped his arm. “The man who bumped into me in the hotel lobby. . .I’m certain he was the same man you fought with in our hotel room. Conrad’s man.”
Sam’s brow creased with confusion. “Sharon said Buckman was not involved in this.” He retreated into a pensive silence. “If Jeff Miller is Sharon’s accomplice, how is Conrad Buckman tracking us?”
“Do you think his man was the one who took the lockbox?”
“It’s a possibility, but if that’s true, then we’ve been left here to rot!” Sam shook his head as if to clear it. “I once said this is a murky situation, and it seems to get worse by the minute.”
“I wonder how long they’ll keep us down here,” she shivered, glancing around the dark quarters.
Sam surveyed the room with a trained eye. “No windows, no other entries. Looks like the door we came through is the only way in or out.”
“Do you suppose there is a guard outside the door?”
“Let’s find out.” Taking the stairs two at a time, he reached the top and loudly jiggled the knob.
A muffled voice came from the other side. “Relax. You ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
Sam returned to Kate’s side. “There’s someone there but he didn’t sound like Raoul. Sharon mentioned she had five guards. If she and Raoul are interrogating Ivan, and one is outside our door that leaves two unaccounted for. Not bad odds.”
Kate nervously tugged at her lip, watching the play of emotions crisscross his face. “You’re planning something,” she said slowly, smirking when he raised his brows to the accusation.