“You know that your dogs are special. No one else can possibly appreciate them the way you do.” Low and seductive, the words lapped at her mind. “Baby is the smartest. You’ve sensed it since the first day you saw her. She’d follow you to hell and back—but one day you’ll have to let her go. Who else cares the way you do? Who else will keep her safe? You know she can’t stay with you forever.”
Kit closed her eyes, fighting the clever words. If she used the rifle, the force of the shots could bring the rotting timbers down on top of them, along with the rest of the tunnel.
Light flickered across the far wall. More words echoed inside her head. “I’ll see that you can keep your dogs as long as you want, honey. We’ll train them together. All you have to do is trust me.”
Trust me.
Baby gripped her sleeve, pulling her backward so sharply that Kit struck the wall and stumbled. Rocks pinged, the sound like small gunshots.
Fur brushed her legs and two of the dogs shot past her up the tunnel. She was about to call out when she saw a man’s long shadow swim against bare rock.
Wolfe?
Kit didn’t move. Then her heart closed, whispered a warning.
“They’ll take them away from you forever. They’re planning it already.” The voice hardened. “Don’t trust any of them.”
He rounded the curve of the tunnel. Kit stared at his broad shoulders, his dark eyes, all of it familiar—and all a flawless deception.
She took another step back, meeting cold stone. The tunnel stopped abruptly, abandoned decades ago. It was a dead end. Nowhere to go.
She swallowed a knot of fear and worked the lever action of her father’s old Winchester, loading a round into the chamber. “You’re not Wolfe.”
The light in his hand cast weird shadows across the ceiling. His face seemed to change in the shifting light.
Wolfe, then not Wolfe.
He didn’t move. “You’d risk killing the dogs?”
Diesel began to bark, blocking the man’s way. Kit racked another shell into the second barrel. “Leave now and I won’t hurt you.”
Something flashed in the unsteady light. Kit gasped as pain burned along her shoulder from the dart he had shot at her. Another dart hissed past, sinking into Diesel’s back.
Baby’s frenzied barking filled the tunnel, then seemed to waver as if distorted by a wall.
Blurry, Kit thought. Drugged. Have to stay awake to fight him.
Something brushed her eyes, soft like a flake of snow. She wobbled, leaning against the tunnel wall. There was no snow here. There was nothing here except fear and lies.
She moved the rifle and tried to focus. Suddenly Diesel yelped in pain and his shadow launched against the line of black where her attacker stalked closer.
She gripped the worn wooden stock of the Winchester, aimed and fired. There was nothing human in the angry shout that followed, piercing the tunnel’s silence. Without pausing Kit levered up another round and fired again.
The tall shadow leaped back and dirt rained down on Kit’s face. Over her head a beam cracked loudly. Drugged, she fought to keep her eyes open, her body sinking against the wall.
“Kit.” The same voice, but this one came from a different place, sounding clear but far away.
Pounding feet. Another splash of water.
Wolfe.
She tried to stay upright, one hand gripping Baby’s back.
The rifle slipped from her fingers, clattering over stone, and then the tunnel blurred. She watched one shadow become two.
Someone grunted in pain.
A rock fell from the tunnel ceiling, hitting her arm. Whining, Baby licked her face, the only thing that kept her from sleep. So tired.
A fist smashed against bone. Shadows drove back and forth, long and grotesque to Kit’s drugged eyes. Dimly, she heard Diesel bark.
One shadow wavered. The other one loomed toward her while the floor of the tunnel vibrated.
“You should have joined me when I asked. We could do things no man has ever done. But you’ve let them shape you, control you.”
Voices drifted in and out. Kit looked up to see Wolfe’s face above her, the eyes fierce. But was it really Wolfe she was seeing?
He picked her up and tossed her over one shoulder, kicking at the three dogs that tried to bite his feet and arms.
“Put her down, Cruz.”
The world tilted. She struck blindly at the hands gripping her. He kept moving, dodging the dogs that snapped at his hands.
“With her, I have her dogs. We both know that. You won’t fire in here, not with this rotten wood everywhere. She’s already knocked out one of the beams.”
Dizzily, Kit saw Baby back up, head erect. In a blur of motion, the Lab raced forward and jumped, landing in a sprawl across her attacker’s shoulders.
Kit twisted hard. Gasping, she shook free, landing on the tunnel floor, while Baby’s growls mingled with her captor’s muffled curses. Diesel crawled next to her and through her pain she saw the dark shapes of two men struggling. Suddenly white flakes dotted the air, melting on her cheeks. Snow? But how?
“You see what they can do, Houston? They’re worth more than anyone knows. But I’ll kill them if I have to. And you along with them.”
Kit struggled to her feet, swaying drunkenly, something wet and cold on her face even though it couldn’t really be snow, just some kind of hallucination.
One of the shadows leaped forward. Both men fell in a sprawl, tumbling through mud and water while the dogs closed in warily. Baby grabbed one of the shadows, growling in a frenzy.
Voices boomed from the mouth of the cave. “Houston, are you down there?”
With a muffled sound of fury one of the shadows pulled free and kicked Baby away, charging toward the bigger tunnel with Wolfe in close pursuit. Their racing steps echoed between the narrow rock walls.
Then they were gone.
Shadows closed around Kit. Someone lifted her carefully off the ground while the dogs watched suspiciously.
“Ms. O’Halloran, Izzy Teague sent me for you.”
She tried to point down the slope where Wolfe had vanished, but her arms wouldn’t move.
“Just rest. Everything will be fine.”
“Wolfe,” she mumbled, coughing as dust swirled up. “Down there. T-two of them.”
“Take it easy, ma’am. You’re going to be fine.”
“Dogs…”
“Your dogs are good to go. The big one’s out cold, but his pulse is steady.”
“Izzy?” She worked to keep her eyes open. “Hurt?”
The voice tightened. “We got to him in time. He’s being treated now. We need to get out of here.”
Someone lifted her into the air. She tried to look back into the darkness. “Can’t leave…him.”
But she was already being carried up the tunnel.
JUST BEFORE Wolfe reached the turn in the mine corridor, Cruz jumped him. His old colleague was stronger than he’d ever been and the first assault came without warning. Driven against the tunnel wall, Wolfe grappled with Cruz, tossing out razor-sharp images of a mine collapse. Being buried alive was Cruz’s worst fear, and Wolfe played on that fear now with image after image.
But Cruz’s grip didn’t waver. He shoved a knife against Wolfe’s neck. “Don’t make me do this, Houston. You could be useful to me—it doesn’t have to end here. I need assets like you.”
Wolfe didn’t answer. It would have been a waste of breath. Instead he put all his will into deflecting the knife at his neck. How had Cruz become so damned strong?
“You’re not convinced? Too bad.” The knife twisted and Cruz lunged sideways, driving his arm forward.
Wolfe felt a bone snap in his wrist. Pain roiled up his arm, but he stepped out of the sensation, turning his awareness into something cold and hard.
Cruz had done the same long ago.
“They threw me away like garbage.” He slashed Wolfe’s arm with his knife. “They’ll do the same to you one
day. Your chips will degrade, the medicines will fail, and you’ll be tagged, hunted, listed as dead. Then they’ll come for you the way they did for me.”
Wolfe tried not to listen. Cruz was a head case, gripped by full-blown psychosis. None of his predictions had basis in reality. Ryker had a team of medical experts watching for just this kind of problem in the new technology.
“Are you listening to me, Houston? Don’t you—”
Wolfe lunged low, pulling out of Cruz’s reach, ignoring a savage wave of pain as he snapped a roundhouse kick high and right toward Cruz’s head. His foot slammed into Cruz’s neck and sent him flying back. He recovered in seconds, dropping to the tunnel floor with a low, horizontal kick that drove Wolfe onto one knee.
Cruz had always been good at taekwondo, and his strength was explosive, but now his focus was unstable, shifting as he glanced back up the tunnel.
Using the momentary advantage, Wolfe kicked at Cruz’s knee. He followed up with the syringe he’d wedged into a pocket of his tactical vest. One dose of the neurotoxin was enough to fell a horse, according to Ryker. All Wolfe had to do was deliver it.
The effect would be nearly instantaneous. Ryker had made it very clear that he wanted Cruz immobile but alive.
With a hiss, Cruz slashed his knife down, the blade drawing blood the whole length of Wolfe’s arm. “It’s a good day to die, my friend.”
After that no more was said, neither questions nor threats. Whatever followed would be played out in silence and to the death.
Blood oozed down Wolfe’s hand. He pretended to stumble and hit the tunnel wall. When Cruz came after him Wolfe jammed the syringe up to the hilt in his attacker’s neck. A muffled roar of shock and fury exploded through the darkness, and Cruz staggered backward, digging blindly at the air.
A high-velocity round cracked, raking Wolfe’s cheek. Cruz aimed wildly with one hand and fired again. Something struck Wolfe’s leg and he heard Baby bark, shooting past him.
Butch and Sundance were only steps behind, blurs in the darkness.
Cruz snarled and fell back. As the dogs circled him, he hesitated, then turned and was swallowed up in the dark maw of the main tunnel. Wolfe staggered in pursuit, cold air brushing his face. Dust swirled up and a section of the roof collapsed.
Baby whimpered and stood stock still, ears raised. Another timber support collapsed, filling the air with acrid dust.
The three dogs inched away from the deeper part of the mineshaft. Then Baby gripped Wolfe’s arm and pulled him up the slope while the other dogs followed, keeping their bodies between Baby and the tunnel depths. Some part of Wolfe’s mind found time to marvel at this new example of the dogs’ teamwork.
The floor shook. Another section of the roof fell. Wolfe saw something glint near his foot. He flashed his penlight on the ground and saw a small silver cross dangling from a tarnished chain caught between two rocks. He shoved the necklace in his pocket as a chunk of stone tore from the roof, plunging past his shoulder.
“Get moving,” he shouted hoarsely. Herding the dogs in front of him, he sprinted up the slope, jumping to avoid fallen debris, rocks and roof beams.
Behind him musty air surged up and dust raged in angry brown clouds as the ground heaved and a section of the wall collapsed. With rocks slamming against his face and shoulders he raced toward the sunlight already obscured by swirling dirt. Wolfe saw the dogs jump and he ran after them through the dust, leaping through the tunnel opening in front of a wall of dirt and debris. He hit hard, rolling down into a rocky wash. Wreathed in dust, he watched the mineshaft cough and heave, then disappear, its mouth covered by rocks and earth.
Wolfe pushed to his knees. He staggered up the slope but now there was only a wall of stones in front of him, no entrance to be seen anywhere.
No one could have escaped alive. Cruz had been drugged, disoriented. Now he was dying in the rubble or already dead.
Wolfe felt Baby near his hand as he sank onto one knee, thinking about a man who had once been a hero, close enough to be his brother. They had shared danger, tasted fear together. Now Cruz was buried, his wild delusions and awful hate buried with him.
Wolfe coughed and felt two furry bodies press against his other leg.
It was a good day to die, he thought. But it was a far better day to live.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
A MEDICAL OFFICER WAS PEERING at Kit over the rim of an oxygen mask. He stared into her eyes, frowning.
Her voice sounded weak and thready when she demanded to know where Wolfe was and what was happening in the tunnel.
“Right here, honey. Don’t talk. Everything’s fine.”
She closed her eyes, tears burning. She felt the hands tremble, locked in her hair.
“What about my dogs?”
“All present and accounted for. Diesel’s been six inches away from you, snapping at everyone.” Wolfe gave a dry laugh. “He nearly bit the med tech trying to take your pulse.”
Kit was too worried to smile. “What about Izzy?”
“Airlifted to the hospital in Albuquerque. Broken ribs and…a few other things.” Wolfe’s voice was tight. “He will get excellent care, don’t worry about that.”
“What happened in there? I feel completely weird.”
“Tranquilizers. You’ll be groggy for a while.”
The medic leaned down and wrapped something around Wolfe’s arm, pulling it into a sling.
“Get some rest,” Wolfe said quietly, smoothing her hair. “It’s over.”
The ground rumbled and Kit smelled dust on the air. “But Wolfe, it snowed,” she rasped. “Inside the tunnel, I saw snow. I know that’s impossible.” She took a hard breath. “And that man—he looked just like you.”
Wolfe stared toward the collapsed tunnel, his expression unreadable. “It was dust, not snow. That was just an illusion, honey. There were a lot of things that weren’t what they seemed in there.” His body tensed against her back, and Kit sensed that there were things that he couldn’t or wouldn’t ever tell her.
But that was fine. She trusted him to tell her what was necessary.
She felt Baby wriggle in underneath Wolfe’s arm, and then they were surrounded by all the puppies. Diesel actually crawled into Wolfe’s lap and bit his chin.
The sight was so comical that Kit laughed until the world went blurry again.
EPILOGUE
Two weeks later
“DON’T TELL ME that you’ve got soy burgers and low-fat cereal in that bag or I may have a serious relapse.”
“Have you eaten anything today?” Kit glared at Izzy, outstretched in the hospital bed with a broken arm, broken rib and a broken leg.
“Sure I have.”
But when Kit glanced covertly at the nurse nearby, she shook her head.
Sitting in a nearby chair, Wolfe sniffed the air expectantly. His eyes never left Kit’s face though his expression was controlled. “Smells great. What is it?”
“Health food for two. Whether you like it or not.”
Izzy sighed. “Whoever invented tofu should be shot.”
“Not that kind of health food. I’m talking green chile quesadillas and tortilla soup. Chicken mole poblano. All homemade.” As Kit spoke, she laid out steaming plates of food. She had the men’s attention now. “And for dessert, steak rare with mashed potatoes.”
Izzy closed his eyes on a reverent sigh. Wolfe sat forward in his chair, trying not to wince.
“Houston, did you hear that? We’re in clover now.”
Wolfe gave Kit a long, lingering glance. “We sure are.”
The nurse hid a smile as she took Wolfe’s pulse. “I’ll pretend that I didn’t hear that talk about food. Both of you need broth, fruit and more rest, according to your medical team.”
The two men grimaced in unison.
“No way. Just don’t get him started on the whole push-up thing,” Izzy muttered.
“Me?” Wolfe studied Izzy’s bandaged arms and leg with a critical eye. “When will you sto
p trying to reach things yourself and start asking for help?”
“At exactly the same time you do.” Izzy gestured at Wolfe’s arm. “Where’s that sling the doctor told you to wear?”
“I don’t need it.”
“Tell that to the X-ray tech who showed me where your wrist and most of your arm got shattered.”
“I’m doing fine.” He cleared his throat as he met Izzy’s eye. “I happen to heal very fast, I’m told.”
Kit put down the last of her bags with a loud bang. “If you two would stop arguing, you could eat some of this food before it gets cold.”
“Sounds good to me.” Izzy glanced toward the door. “Just don’t let that other night nurse see what you’ve brought. The woman’s a dragon.”
The day nurse shook her head and left.
“I think she has a crush on you,” Wolfe said smoothly. “She was in here four times this morning, and I swear she didn’t glance at me once.”
“Quiet.”
The men looked at Kit. Then they stopped arguing and meekly watched her fill up plates with hot food.
She knew that their nerves were on edge. Both of them were highly trained and in full mission focus, even now. It was clear that they were not about to submit to extended rest with a good temper.
Kit had had her hands full keeping them distracted. Of course, the dogs had helped. Wolfe and Baby had spent hours doing search games up and down the floor. Diesel had crawled onto Izzy’s bed and gone to sleep beside him. Baby had stayed inches from Wolfe whenever Kit had brought them to visit.
None of the military hospital staff or administrators had complained. Since this end of the floor was sectioned off and restricted for their use, there was no problem with privacy either. If Kit hadn’t already guessed how important the two men were, their treatment would have spelled it out clearly.
A special set of doctors had been flown in for their care, along with other staff. Not that it made either man less irritable.
“If you two VIPs will stop criticizing each other, you can tell me what you want to eat first.”
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