Cradle and All
Page 18
For a moment, the arms dealer's eyes turned upward, and Abby was afraid
he was going to faint.
Then he managed to get a grip on himself.
His eyes focused on Steve and flicked to the box in Abby's hand.
"If you've handled it you've sealed your death warrant."
Chapter Eleven
"We thought we took proper precautions," Steve bit out.
"If we've miscalculated, we might as well take you with us."
Wu flattened himself against the headboard and began to speak
rapidly.
"No, please. Maybe I'm mistaken " I want the truth, damn it!
How fast does it kill?
What's the mechanism?
"My Russian contact said significant exposure is fatal within
twenty-four hours."
Steve looked back at Abby, and she nodded.
They'd passed that milestone.
-- .
"It disrupts the central nervous system. There were also birth defects
in research animals, and chromosome damage at relatively low levels of
exposure."
The words sank into Abby's brain like shards of razor-sharp ice.
She felt the chill seep into every cell of her body and then pepper her
skin with goose bumps.
Chromosome damage.
At relatively low levels of contact.
Omega hadn't killed them.
But could they ever have another child?
Steve swung to look at her.
Their eyes locked, and she saw raw pain that mirrored what she felt
inside.
But he said nothing, could say nothing in front of Tang Wu.
Instead, he settled into the chair again and leaned close to the man on
the bed.
"I think it's time to stop playing games," he said, his raspy voice
sending a chill up her spine.
Knowing she had to follow his lead, she set down the box and crossed
back to the bed.
She and Steve had to find out as much as they could.
Later she could scream and beat her fists against the wall in
anguish.
"So we've established Omega is highly toxic," Steve pressed.
"What's the delivery system?"
"Variable. It could be put into a city's reservoir, or an airport's
air-conditioning system. It's designed to use against large
populations."
Abby's fingers dug into her husband's shoulder.
If they turned over Omega to Singh, millions of people could die.
If they didn't cooperate, he'd kin their baby.
"Why did Oliver take it?
Steve demanded.
Wu shrugged.
"I think you know. And we're going to make you tell us," Abby
grated.
It was hard not to wish that the bottle she'd brought from the beauty
shop really did contain Omega.
She could picture herself pouring it all over the man on the bed.
Except that would reduce her to his level.
Apparently he had no trouble keying in to her anger.
His head twisted toward the closet where she'd set the box, and a fresh
crop of perspiration sprouted on his forehead.
"Mr. Gibbs tried to hold me up for more money. I declined, and he
disappeared."
"With Oliver dead, there's no way to know if that's true."
Wu's eyes met Steve's.
"But there's no reason we both shouldn't profit from the, uh, present
situation.
Fortuitously, you know where Gibbs stashed the shipment.
You've proved your resourcefulness.
Make sure the merchandise is packaged properly and complete the
delivery for me, and I'll double the offer I made Gibbs.
'You know where Singh is?
" Steve asked in a steady voice.
"In a desert encampment west Of New Delhi.pl Abby saw the sudden
tension in Steve's shoulders.
She kept her gaze studiously away from his.
"Singh moves his headquarters frequently. But I've been keeping tabs
on hiirn. If You tell me where to send the coordinates, I'll be back
to you in just a few hours."
Abby fought to contain the hope swelling in her breast.
Steve looked as if he were weighing the pros and cons of a tempting
business offer.
"All right," he said. "I can't do anything more for Oliver. I'll play
ball with you. On certain conditions." What?
"Don't assume I'm crazy enough to trust you. Give me a contact num I
her, and -I'll get back to you at my convenience.
Wu reluctantly complied.
"Test it," Steve told Abby.
Using the phone on a table across the room, she confirmed that they had
Wu's private business line.
"All right, so you're playing that part straight," Steve said.
"But don't try to locate us. And don't even think about retaliating
against Madame Pearl. She didn't know what we'd intended to do."
" You expect me to believe that?"
Wu shot back.
"It doesn't matter whether you do or not. If anything suspicious
happens to her, I'll make sure everyone who matters to you hears the
story of how you were trussed up like a steer carcass at an
old-fashioned Texas barbecue. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Wu managed through clenched teeth.
Abby wasn't going to take his word on it.
Stepping forward, she reached for the arms dealer's hand.
When her flesh touched his, she fought the bile rising in her throat.
But she didn't release him.
As she began to slip the diamond and ruby ring off his finger, he
clenched his fist.
"No."
Steve saw what she was doing and pried his hand open again.
With his help, she removed the ring she suspected Wu hadn't taken off
since he'd received it.
"What are you doing?" he gasped.
"Call it an insurance policy Abby replied as her own fist closed around
the warm metal." I know you got this from your grandfather.
I know you consider it your source of good fortune.
You'll get it back when we've delivered the merchandise and gotten out
of Singh's camp.
"No. Wait," Wu cried as she backed way.
"Come back with that."
Ignoring him, she turned and left the room, stopping on the way out to
scoop up the box of quackery she'd left in the closet.
WE CANFIND Out where Shannon is.
We can rescue her.
Abby repeated those words over and over in her head on the way back to
the hotel.
Yet at the same time she felt a terrible hollow void inside her chest,
like a massive gunshot wound.
In the space of a few heartbeats, Wu had told them the facts about
Omega.
And the stakes had changed so completely that she could barely draw a
solid breath into her lungs.
Her hands squeezed into helpless fists.
She loved Shannon.
God, how she loved her.
She'd do anything to get her daughter back, including give up her own
life.
But deep in the cavern of her mind, she'd buried a secret treasure in a
tightly padlocked box.
Shannon could never be replaced.
Yet if the worst happened and there was no way she could save this
baby, she could love another one just as much.
Only now there was never going to be another baby.
Wu had told them Omega caused
chromosome damage at low levels of
exposure.
She and Steve had been exposed outside the temple.
And there was no way they could risk having another child.
On robotic legs, she walked toward the elevator.
She was aware of Steve beside her.
He'd kept his arm curled protectively around her since they'd left
Madame Pearl's.
But she dared not lean against him, dared not let go of her tight
control.
If she did, she'd start to sob.
Steve led her down the hall.
Then he leaned down to unlock the door.
It closed behind them and they -were finally alone.
Blindly she .
reached for him.
"Wu said ... we can't... any more babies. she choked out and couldn't
finish the rest of the sentence.
He folded her into his embrace.
She clung to him, the fear and sorrow coming out of her in a great
rush.
She wept softly.
He murmured low, soothing words as his hands stroked her hair, her
shoulders.
"Abby, sweetheart. Don't think about the bad stuff now- Think about
what else he told us. It's going to be all right. We're going to get
Shannon back. Wu will give us the location of the camp, and Jason can
confirm the information."
There was a deep, rock-solid certainty in his voice that helped calm
her.
With a shuddering little sigh, she let him lead her to the sofa.
He nestled her in his arms.
"And we don't know for sure about Omega, or how much exposure we got.
There are tests.
Your friend Katie Martin can tell us what to do.
Genetics is her field.
It was a spark of hope, and she clung to it as she clung to him.
But when she raised her tear-streaked face toward his, she saw the
stark landscape of his countenance.
She knew this man so well, knew he'd been trying to hold himself
together, too.
He was doing his damnedest to be optimistic and strong for her, yet he
was deeply troubled.
"Don't try to keep it all inside," she murmured.
He brushed a kiss across her forehead.
"Tell me what you're thinking. Maybe whatever's in your mind isn't as
bad as you imagine."
Still, he hesitated before starting to speak in a harsh whisper.
"I'm the guy who didn't want kids in the first place. So why do I feel
as if I'm standing on the edge of a cliff and the ground is crumbling
away under my feet?"
"Because you love Shannon. You don't want to lose her. And at the
same time, you're feeling guilty because in the back of your mind there
was always the knowledge that if the worst happened, we could make
another baby."
"That's not the way a father's supposed to feel about his child, is
it?" he grated.
The pain in his eyes made her heart turn over.
Gently, she took his face between her hands.
"Oh, Steve.
Don't.
How do you think I knew all that?
"You're a psychologist."
"Not now. Now I'm a frightened mother."
She swallowed convulsively.
"I love Shannon so much. But deep in my heart I told myself I could
love another baby just as truly. Just the way you could. When we made
love that morning in the hotel, we didn't do anything about birth
control. Maybe I was even hoping I'd get pregnant. Does that mean I
love Shannon any less?" she whispered.
"Of course not. Of course not. Don't ever think such a thing."
"Then believe me when I tell you your reactions are just as normal."
"I thought I must be like my father. I thought-" Her hand moved to his
lips, silencing him.
"No! I never met the man, but I have a pretty good idea of what he was
like."
"How could you?"
"From the things you've told me about your childhood. I know your
father was strong-willed, like you.
He was afraid to rely on anyone but himself.
But he didn't have a clue about what was important in life.
You do.
He didn't know how to care about anyone but himself.
You do.
"That's the way you see me?"
"Yes. Strong and aggressive.- Also protective and compassionate, but
it makes you nervous when you have to show me anything but the
strength."
A half smile flickered around his lips.
"I had a pretty hard shell around me when I met you. I'd still have it
if you hadn't crashed your way through."
"For a little while, I forgot how to do it," she said in a low voice.
"Right after Shannon was born, my head was pretty messed up."
She looked away for a moment.
"My emotions were out of control. Maybe I was having something like a
postpartum depression. I don't know. But I was afraid to lean on your
strength, to ask you to help me. And that was a big mistake."
"Abby."
"I get as much from you as you do from me. I was ready to fall apart
when we left Madame Pearl's. But you pulled me back to coherence. I
couldn't have gotten through this without you."
He folded her close.
She felt his Adam's apple bob.
"Sweetheart, I didn't like using you to get to Wu."
III know.
"But we've finally made a big breakthrough. We can rescue Shannon.
That's the most important thing to remember now."
"Mmm-hmm."
She tried to block out everything else.
Yet it was still impossible to simply forget the new fear, the new
uncertainty.
Until she held Shannon in her arms again, until she had her child
safely back in Baltimore, terror would be just below the surface of
every thought, waiting to grab her.
She felt Steve's shoulders heave and knew that no matter what he tried
to tell her, he was just as tormented as she.
Instinctively she raised her head, seeking his mouth with hers, needing
him more now than she had ever needed anyone in her life.
He was the only one who could take away the terrible pain.
The only one who could make her believe that everything really would
come out all right.
And she had to do the same for him, too.
Because she loved him so much.
"Sweetheart. Sweetheart," he murmured, his lips brushing back and
forth against hers.
Slowly, as if neither of them had any choice, the kiss deepened,
lengthened, changed from comforting to carnal.
At the same time, there was no stopping their hands as they began to
move over each other's bodies, giving and taking the most basic kind of
solace.
Tenderly his fingers stroked over her breasts, and she whimpered.
"Am I hurting you? Are they still sore?"
"A little. But it feels so good."
"Lord, yes."
He kissed her again.
Deeply, greedily.
And she could taste the desire on his lips.
"Ahh, Abby, let me love you, sweetheart."
Her eyes flew open.
"We can't..
He leaned closer to kiss her cheek.
"You'll have to trust me not to get you into trouble."
"I do trust you."
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