by Rebecca York
"Did he do the decontamination? Is it safe to go near the temple?"
Her heart skipped a beat and then started pounding in double time as
she waited for the answer.
"I-I don't know. They were working on it,.then they got the message
from the medical examinerand hurried off."
"Was the medical examiner callin about, the poison in Oliver's body?
Is it worse than we thought?
hands in frustration.
"I wishNoel fluttered her knew. Jason and Raj picked up his medical
records and tore out of here in a terrible flap. I guess they thought
they could fill me in when they got back. We weren't expecting you."
Abby closed her eyes and tried to think.
She felt as if she were trapped in a maze and every path turned out to
be a dead end.
She sucked in a steadying breath and let it out slowly.
"Okay. I'll have to assume it's still not safe to go into the temple,"
Abby murmured as she stood up.
"Is there a car I can use? And a gun?"
Noel didn't answer.
"I'm sure Jason would have left a gun with you," Abby enunciated
carefully.
"Where is it?"
"I'm sorry, yes."
Noel scrambled up and hurried down the hall to the bedroom Steve and
Abby had used.
In a few moments she was back with an automatic pistol and several
extra ammunition clips.
Abby emptied out the purseful of baby supplies and stowed the
weaponry.
"What about transportation?" she asked.
"They took Raj's Jeep, but our rental is here."
"Good. I've got to get to the temple before Steve and Singh."
"Let me come with you."
Abby shook her head.
"No. You've got to stay with Shannon."
"But what can you do by yourself?"
"I don't know."
She nuzzled her lips against her daughter's cheek.
God, how she wanted to stay here and wait for Jason and the doctor to
get back.
But that might be too late.
With a leaden feeling in her chest, she handed the sleeping child to
Noel.
Her friend clutched the infant awkwardly.
"I think I know more about handling a pistol than a baby."
Abby laughed and gestured toward the supplies she'd dumped out on the
couch.
"You'll " get the hang of it real fast.
" She swallowed." And .
and if something bad happens, love her for me.
" Nothing's going to happen to you!"
I hope not."
"I'm going to see if I can get in touch with Jason."
Noel was obviously struggling to keep her voice steady.
"Thanks. Tell him where I've gone."
Abby backed away.
She wanted to reach out and snatch Shannon to her breast.
Instead she turned and fled.
THE sun was just streaking the eastern sky pink as Abby headed down the
road toward Oliver's compound.
The dawn's early light, she mused as she stepped on the accelerator.
She pulled in at the airstrip, half afraid she was going to find a
plane on the runway.
But the place was dark and deserted.
Quickly she drove to the warehouse and found the key where Steve had
hidden it.
Inside she looked around and located a stack of crates she remembered
from their earlier visit.
The contents were probably intended for guerilla warriors or
terrorists.
She'd never thought of herself as either, but she knew the only way to
fight Amarjit Singh was by his own rules.
Twenty minutes later, she was a lot better supplied.
Briefly she considered making her stand right where she was.
Singh would have to land here, wouldn't he?
But that wasn't certain.
If he came by helicopter, he could o directly to the temple.
After locking the door, she jumped back into her borrowed Jeep and
roared up the hill, heading for the road into the jungle.
DAYLIGHT HAD B@Ly broken when the small plane circled the airstrip
several times and then came in for a landing.
After cutting the engine, Singh climbed out and inspected the deserted
facility.
He gestured toward the warehouse.
"Let's have a look in there."
"I thought you were in a hurry to pick up your merchandise."
"Maybe I'll find something else I can use."
Steve shrugged and jumped down to the hard-packed dirt, conscious of
the guard right behind him.
If Singh wanted to delay, that was fine with him.
The rebel leader was already rattling the steelreinforced door of the
warehouse.
Before Steve could produce the key, Singh pulled out an automatic
pistol and shot off the padlock.
Inside he began to inspect the stack of crates.
"It appears I'm not Gibbs's only disappointed customer," he called over
his shoulder.
"I wouldn't know."
"I think we'll take some of this with us to the camp."
"Be my guest.
Singh crossed to a crate that lay open on the floor surrounded by straw
packing material.
"Someone's been messing with this stuff."
Steve stared into the open box.
"Who's been here? Was that box open before?"
"I don't remember."
"I think you would," Singh returned, his eyes narrowed.
Drawing the gun again, he pointed it at Steve.
"I think you'd better show me that other hiding place.
The one that's supposed to be in the jungle.
ABBY WAS HALFWAY up the narrow track when she heard a small plane
coming in for a landing.
At least it wasn't a helicopter.
At least they weren't going to beat her to the temple.
Her overwhelming impulse was to speed ahead so she'd be in position
soon as possible.
Instead she made herself ease up on the accelerator.
The foliage would soon be too dense to drive through, but she couldn't
leave the Jeep on the road.
If Singh saw it, he'd wonder who else was snooping around the temple.
Which could be fatalboth to herself and Steve.
Anxiously, she scanned the greenery, looking for a place to ditch her
transportation.
At the next break in the trees, she nosed into the underbrush.
Small limbs slapped against the sides and windshield, making it almost
impossible to see where she was going, but she was able to ease forward
for several yards.
Finally the bumper jolted against something solid, and she came to a
rattling stop.
After climbing out and pushing her way out to the road, she looked back
toward the Jeep.
It was barely visible.
Which should do, unless Singh was expecting trouble.
Her fingers tightened around the bag with the loot she'd taken from the
warehouse.
Whatever happened now, she wasn't going to turn back.
Maybe the temple was really decontaminated, she told herself.
Maybe that was why Steve was risking coming here.
But even if that were true, he was still in danger.
As soon as Singh and his men had what they wanted, they'd probably
shoot Steve.
Abby clenched her teeth as she trotted up the
road.
The same deadly stillness hung heavy in the air like mist rising from a
graveyard.
Her eyes darted to the yellow and brown leaves, dangling as limp as
spider webs.
Hid the poisoned area spread?
Either there was more @@ struction since they'd been here, or she'd
been closer to the temple than she realized when s he nosed the Jeep-,
off the road.
The place had the smell of pestilence about it, and Abby tried to
breathe shallowly.
She also kept her eyes away from the limp gray shapes partially hidden
by the leaves.
The sight of the temple rising out of its circle of death brought her
to a halt.
Now she could feel an acid sting of the air every time she took in a
breath.
Forcing herself to put one foot in front of the other, she walked
forward until she could see the entrance.
It loomed like a portal to the underworld-dark and forbidding-at the
front of the ancient building.
Abby was trying to figure out the best place to conceal herself when
the noise of a car's engine broke the lethal silence.
My God.
She didn't have much time.
They were already coming up the road.
Panicked, she lunged into the underbrush, feeling the brown leaves slap
and scrape at her bare legs as she waded forward.
Ignoring the stinging sensation, she kept moving.
A five-foot-high pile of stones seemed to offer the best cover.
Scrunching down, she turned back in the direction from which she'd
come.
All her attention was focused on the approaching vehicle, which was why
the gun barrel thrust into the middle of her back made her gasp in
startled shock.
"Raise your hands. Then turn around very slowly."
Even through her own fear, Abby caught the edge of hysteria in the
man's voice.
If she didn't do exactly what he said, she was going to be killed.
The bag dropped from her fingers and her hands went up.
When she turned to face her captor, she felt her mouth gape open.
It couldn't be.
But it was.
"Oliver? Oliver Gibbs?" she croaked.
Chapter Sixteen
'Abby?
Steve's wife?
" Oliver Gibbs stared at her with the same incredulity she knew was
plastered on her own face.
"Don't shoot," she wheezed.
Steve's former partner moved the machine gun he held to the side.
Abby tried to take in details that would add up to an explanation.
His skin was pale and damp, his eyes were sunken in their sockets, and
his clothing was wrinkled and stained.
He looked ill and disheveled, but this wasn't a scene from The Night of
the Living Pead.
He continued to gaze back at her hs if he still wasn't sure he was
face-to-face with Abby Franklin.
And some corner of her mind acknowledged that she probably didn't look
much like the well-groomed, relaxed woman he'd met in New Delhi.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.
"We found a dead man. In your bed," Abby managed.
"Ari. He brought Tang Wu's cargo in from Hong Kong. It was poison,
wasn't it? Wasn't it?"
Oliver plowed on without waiting for an answer.
"He was sick, out of his head. He begged me to kill him. I couldn't
do it. But I gave him the gun."
The weapon in Oliver's hand jerked, and Abby pressed back against the
rock.
"The cargo was poison," he repeated.
"Yes."
"That bastard Wu pulled a fast one on me. He set me up with boxes of
stuff that were going to kill me after I'd put down a stiff deposit."
"No. I think his Russian source didn't pack the Omega properly."
She swallowed.
"Why was Ari in your bed?"
"I put him there. I fooled you,.didn't I? I saw the look on your face
when you turned around. You thought I was dead. Only I wasn't
expecting you, I was expecting Wu's men. Or Singh's."
They were barely communicating, and Abby wondered how much exposure
he'd gotten.
Had Omega damaged his brain cells?
"Please, we don't have much time," she tried to get through to him.
"I've got to tell you why I'm here."
"God, I shouldn't have come back. But I thought it was safe."
"Where were you?"
"Hiding."
He laughed.
"In a cave I found up in the hills. It's not plush, but it's
secure."
' The engine noise from the road quit abruptly.
"Who's coming?"
Oliver questioned, his voice quavery.
"Is it Steve?"
"Yes. But he's with Singh."
Gibbs cursed low and vehemently.
"Do you know what's happened? About our baby?" she asked quickly.
She wanted to beg for his help, but in his present condition, she'd be
lucky if Oliver didn't get in the way.
"Steve. A father. I can't believe it."
"Singh didn't know where to find you. When he didn't get his
merchandise, he thought Steve could deliver the shipment."
Abby struggled to compress vital information.
"He kidnapped our little girl and held her for ransom. That was ten
days ago. Singh let me take Shannon out of the rebel camp, but he hung
on to Steve."
Oliver's face turned grayer.
"Oh, Jesus. I was going to make a lot of money. Pay off the debt I
owed Steve.
Buy more planes.
But everything's gone wrong, hasn't it?
" Raising the gun again, he swung around in the direction of the
road.
"Don't."
Abby struggled to control her voice.
She'd dealt with enough unstable patients to realize there was no way
of telling what Oliver Gibbs would do.
"Please, they've got Steve."
The words were barely out of her mouth when Steve and Singh came into
view on the narrow road.
Her husband was in the lead.
Singh walked slightly in back of him, a machine gun cocked under his
arm.
Bringing up the rear were three guards, also carrying automatic
weapons.
"Too many. We haven't got a chance."
Oliver sank down onto one of the rocks.
The gun slipped from his, grasp, and he cradled his head in his
trembling hands.
Abby held her breath as the party approached the temple.
She was reaching her hand into the bag she'd brought when Steve stopped
and gestured toward the darkened doorway.
"Your death shipment is in there.
Before you get your hands on it, answer a question.
How many people do you have to kill to accomplish your goals?
Singh shrugged.
"How many? Does it matter? I'm going to pick a city and wipe it
out.
That's the only way the government will pay attention."
"A city? You mean hundreds of thousands of people? But every one you
kill is a tragic loss to someone else. Husbands will moum wives.
Parents, children.
Whole families will be wiped out.