Hidden Agemda (Kate Diamond Adventure) (19 page)

“What do
you
want?” Kate jerked around in her chair, which barely moved with her effort. It was chained to something. Kate craned her neck to see what it was, her stomach twisting when she realized it was her mother and Sal … each chained to their own chairs. The three chairs had been linked together with inch-thick steel.

Darkstone stood in front of her, glaring down. The crow, which had moved up to perch on his shoulder, looked down at her too. Kate couldn’t help but notice the similarities in their dark, soulless eyes.
 

“What do I want? Why, you my dear, of course.” He gestured toward Carlotta and Sal. “Your friends are just an added bonus.”

“But why?” Kate asked.

“Simple.” Darkstone fed a piece of something red and gooey to the crow. “I want to make you suffer like you made me suffer when you hunted me relentlessly and put me in prison.”

Kate made a face.
Boy this guy really holds a grudge
, she thought as she considered all the trouble he went through to get her here. “I was just doing my job.”
 

“A job you will soon regret having,” Darkstone said.

“You’re a little too late on that,” Kate muttered as she noticed movement behind him. She craned her neck to see what it was, her eyebrows shooting up when she recognized the giant guard from the ice museum.

He grunted at her and shoved his hand up, presumably to show her the missing pinkie finger. Kate grimaced—he looked pretty mad about it.

“Oh, where are my manners?” Darkstone half-waved his hand toward the giant. “Kate, I believe you already know Sheldon.”

Kate nodded and Sheldon let out a string of expletives describing Kate in a most derogatory manner before starting toward her. Bloodstone shot his arm out to hold him back and the crow flapped its wings to regain purchase. Kate’s heart pounded in her chest, her gaze flickering toward the big red orb Sheldon held in his other hand—the Millennia Ruby.

Bloodstone caught her gaze. “Ahh, yes. The ruby. As you might have guessed, the whole theft was a ruse.”

“A ruse? But why?” Kate alternated her gaze between the ruby and Darkstone.

“To lure you here, of course,” Darkstone said. “When I heard of the ruby’s theft and discovered it was going to be auctioned off in Antarctica, I knew it was the perfect way to get you to come to me.”

Kate raised a brow at him while she tested the strength of the chain.

Darkstone paced around the cave as he continued. “I knew I had to be very clever if I wanted to get anywhere near you. And I also knew you would hunt the ruby down with the same overzealous tenacity you hunted me down.” He stopped in front of Kate. “So, all I had to do was to steal the ruby myself and then leave a trail of breadcrumbs for you to follow. Naturally, I had Sheldon to help me relieve Crowder of the real ruby and put the fake one in its place.”

“So Sheldon helped Summers steal the real one?” Kate felt a momentary satisfaction. She
knew
someone on the inside had helped Summers.

Darkstone nodded. “How very astute of you. The timing was rather risky, though. I had to make sure Summers stole it before you did. I would have been quite upset if you’d gotten to it first. That would have ruined my whole plan.”

“But why did you chase me the next day when I stole the fake?”

“We knew you would steal it. So I had a two-pronged plan. One was to get you during your escape, knock you out with tranquilizers then bring you here. Everyone would think Crowder did it and no one would think to trace it to me.”

“But that didn’t work.”

“No.” Darkstone frowned. “So we put plan B into action.”

“And you killed Summers.”

“He was expendable.”
 

“But how did you know I would find the video of him and Benedetti?”

“I didn’t. But I left a couple of clues to lead you to Benedetti. The video just happened to be the first one you found.”

Kate bristled.
There were other clues she’d missed?
 

 
“Well, you sure seem to have gone to a lot of trouble.”

“It was all necessary. I knew if I made the chase too easy, you’d catch on. It
was
a lot of trouble … and expense.” Darkstone smiled at her, an evil smile that didn’t make it to his eyes. “But well worth it.”

“That seems like a heck of a lot of work when you could have just knocked me out or snuck into my house, grabbed me and brought me here.”
 

Darkstone’s forehead wrinkled. “Oh Kate, that sounds so barbaric. Plus if that happened, then someone would soon miss you and start a search. This way you came on your own and I have more time to watch you suffer since no one will be coming to rescue you for a while.”

Except her father, Gertie and Frankie
, Kate thought.
Surely, by now they would have discovered what happened at the yacht and maybe even gotten in touch with Gideon?

“Oh, I know about your father and the other old people,” Darkstone said as if he could read Kate’s mind. “But don’t count on them to help you—I have a plan to keep them at bay, and even if by some miracle they reach the top of the volcano intact, they’ll be in no condition to help you escape.”

Darkstone let out a high-pitched laugh as he stroked the crow’s feathers. Kate’s blood froze in her veins.
 

What was Darkstone planning to do to her father … and to her?

“I have an army of black feathered friends to help me. Don’t I?” Darkstone asked the crow on his shoulder who let out a loud screech. Darkstone lifted his arm and jerked his head toward Kate who let out a screech of her own as the crow flew at her, stabbing the tip of its beak into the top of her head before flying back to roost on Darkstone’s shoulder.

“Ouch!” Kate screwed her face up at Darkstone. “You trained the crows?”

“They seemed to take to me.” He shrugged. “I have a whole army of them waiting to stop anyone that tries to come here.”

Kate chewed her bottom lip. Darkstone was even crazier than she’d thought. And more dangerous. She had to figure out a way to get out of this.
 

“So you didn’t even
want
the ruby?” Kate asked. Her mind was clearing now and she figured keeping Darkstone talking was a good way to buy time while she worked on an escape plan.

“Not really.” Darkstone took the stone from Sheldon and held it up to the light, staring into its depths. “Oh, I guess I can always use the money, but the real reason I took it was as bait.”

“What do you plan to do to me, then?” Kate asked.
 

“Oh, I plan to watch you squirm in the knowledge of the horrible fate that awaits you.”

“Horrible fate?”
 

“Yes, didn’t your nerdy friend tell you? The volcano is about to erupt.” Darkstone backed up to the mouth of the cave, which Kate now saw was really more of a cliff. She could see a wall of stone opposite it, but the mouth of the cave itself seemed to drop off. To where she didn’t know, but judging by what Darkstone was saying, she was starting to get a pretty good idea.

“Volcano?”

“Can’t you see it? Smell it? Hear it?” Darkstone craned his neck over the edge and Kate shivered even though the temperature had grown unbearably warm inside the cave. Warm
and
smelly, like sulfur … or lava.
 

Her stomach sank like a rock when a strange rumble vibrated the floor of the cave. It was then that she realized they must be inside the mouth of the volcano—the cave a mere opening on the side of the main shaft. She was willing to bet, if she looked over the edge where Darkstone was looking right now, she’d see molten lava bubbling below. Lava that would soon come shooting up out of the shaft and flood the cave where she sat.

Darkstone turned back from the edge and pierced her with his beady eyes. “I’d love to stay and see the look on your face as the molten lava burns your flesh. Will you scream? I think so.” He laughed again—that high-pitched crazy person’s laugh. “But, as the time for your painful and untimely death draws near, I fear I must bid my final adieu … because I sure as hell don’t want to get incinerated by this thing.”

“Don’t you think you’re taking this revenge thing a little too far?” Kate asked. “I mean all I did was arrest you. It’s not like I left you to die in hot lava.”

“No one crosses Damien Darkstone and lives to tell about it!” Darkstone turned to Sheldon who had been shuffling his feet near the corner. “Is the helicopter ready?”

Sheldon’s face crumbled and he looked down at his fee. “Uhh … That’s why I came, Boss. There’s a problem you gotta see.”

“What problem?” Fury passed across Darkstone’s face, but he quickly regained control. “Never mind. I’ll see for myself.” He turned to Kate. “In the meantime, we’ll let Ms. Diamond stew. Don’t worry though, Kate. I’ll be back to say good-bye.”

“
I can hardly wait!
”
Kate yelled after him as he and Sheldon ducked through a small opening in the rock. Kate eyed the crack—it looked to be the only way out. Well, other than going over the edge, which she assumed might be hazardous to their health.
 

“Mom, Sal … are you guys okay?” Worry gnawed at Kate—her mother and Sal had been unnervingly quiet during Kate’s conversation and she prayed they were okay.

“I’m fine,” Carlotta said.

“Me too,” Sal added.

“We’ve found through experience that it’s often better just to pretend you’re still out in these types of situations.” Carlotta wiggled around in her chair, testing the lock and chain that bound her there. “You can usually learn a lot that way.”

“And it gives you time to come up with a plan,” Sal added.

“So, do you have a plan?” Kate asked wondering just how many times her mother and Sal and been captured and chained up.

“Sure, we get out of these chains, then pretend like we’re still chained up.” Sal rattled the chains around his wrist. “Then, when Darkstone and that giant come back, we let them get up close to us, capture them by surprise and use them as human shields while we make our escape, using the same opening they came in through.”

“That’s your plan?” Kate asked incredulously. “How are we going to get out of the chains? In case you haven’t noticed, they are solid steel.”

“Like this,” Sal said and then Kate heard a click and the sound of metal on metal.

“What was that?” Kate twisted her body around to see and then she remembered. Sal’s prosthetic thumb—the one Gideon had retrofitted like a Swiss army knife. “Your thumb?”

Sal chuckled. “Yep, and since we’re all pretty good lock pickers, I figure between the three of us we should be able to twist ourselves around and use my thumb to pick each one of these locks.”

“That’s brilliant!” Kate said then her heartbeat kicked into high gear as she glanced at the gap Darkstone had disappeared through.
Did she hear footsteps approaching?
 

“We better hurry. He could come back at any minute.”

***

Kate tried to sit still in the metal chair and ignore her racing heart. Once they’d freed themselves of the chains, she’d wanted to just sneak out, but Carlotta and Sal had advised against it. According to them, it was much better to wait for Darkstone to come back and try to capture him. Once they did, they could force him to call off his minions. According to them, they’d have a higher chance of things going in their favor and, since Kate had very little experience with being chained to a chair inside a volcano, she decided to take their advice.

So, there she was. In the metal chair, the chains wrapped around as if they were secured. Waiting for Darkstone.

She tapped her finger nervously on her thigh. “What if he does—”

“Shhh,” Carlotta whispered. “I think I hear him.”

Darkstone appeared at the entrance, a smirk on his face, crow on his shoulder and the Millennia Ruby in his hand.

“Ahhh, I see you are all awake now. I hope you all weren’t too uncomfortable awaiting your fate.” He looked at them with mock sincerity, fanning himself as he looked over the edge. “I do think it’s getting hotter in here, don’t you?”

Kate’s muscles were tense, but she sat as still as she could, waiting for Sal’s signal. The plan was to rush Darkstone when he least expected it. They’d need to execute it flawlessly and had agreed on a signal that would keep them in sync as they launched into action.

But then Kate looked at Darkstone with the ruby. She didn’t like the way he was holding it over the edge. Taunting her with it.
 

“It looks like things are really heating up down there. I guess I’ll have to leave soon, though I did want to watch you squirm just a bit more.” He looked at the ruby in his hand. “I’ll take this with me … no sense in letting it get liquefied in the lava along with you.”

Kate felt anger bubble up inside her. She thought about all the trouble that she’d gone through to find the ruby. How she didn’t want to let Max down. And how she
had
to show Ace Mason and the entire FBI that she was good enough to bring the ruby back.
 

She had too much invested in this to let Darkstone take the ruby now.
 

Without another thought, Kate shrugged off the chains and launched herself from the chair toward Darkstone, relishing the look of surprise in his eyes and ignoring her mother’s panicked cries.
 

She felt a smug satisfaction as the force of her body smacked into Darkstone’s with a thud. She grabbed on to the ruby, closed her eyes and said a silent prayer as they both fell over the cliff into the depths of the volcano.

A rush of hot air blew Kate’s hair back from her face. Her stomach swooped with weightlessness. Darkstone’s screams mingling with her own and the caw of the crow, that was flapping downward alongside Darkstone, vibrated in her ears.
 

She tucked the ruby under her arm like a quarterback running for the goalpost as she fell. Darkstone was falling at the same speed only a few feet away from her and Kate thought the look of incredulousness in his eyes was almost worth plunging to her fiery death.