Kathlyn Trent, Marcus Burton 01 - Valley of the Shadow (31 page)

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Marcus was startled awake by the sound of a shot. Realizing that Kathlyn wasn't in bed with him, he leapt to his feet and pulled his jeans on all in a matter of seconds. He could hear the camp coming awake, shouts of panic in the air. Somehow he pulled a shirt on and yanked his boots over his sockless feet. Lynn met him at the door.

"Where's Kathlyn?" Marcus almost shouted.

Lynn shook his head. "She's not with you?"

Marcus was beside himself. "She went to go to the bathroom, I don't know how long ago. I fell back asleep."

Lynn could see that Marcus, for the first time in his life, was seriously unbalanced. He grabbed him by the arm.

"Then let's hit Dougray's tent," he said. "We'll start there. Where are the damn Marines? Do they know who fired the shot?"

Dennis, Gary, Juliana and the rest of Kathlyn's team came racing up, all in various stages of dress. Juliana had socks but no shoes, the rest of them had shoes but no socks. No one knew what had happened. From the direction of the dig site, Tony came racing into camp with his M-14 rifle in hand.

"Come on," he hollered at Marcus. "She was in a jeep, heading out of camp. Dougray was behind her with a gun in his hand. The Major's gone after them."

In the darkness, Marcus paled.  His worst fears were confirmed. "Christ," he hissed. "Let's go!"

They ran for the motor pool, Marines and civilians alike. There were three remaining cars and eleven of them, including McGrath, who met them at the motor pool. Tony took Marcus and Gary with him; Lynn, McGrath and Juliana had their own car, and the rest of them piled into the last vehicle like college kids doing a fraternity prank. Tony drove like a maniac, following the trail of dust kicked up by Dougray's vehicle.

The road was paved in pitted asphalt and harrying under the fading moonlight. With all of the dust that was kicked up, it was that much more difficult to see. Rocks flew in all directions as Marcus strained to see in the distance. They were heading north and east, out of the Valley of the Kings and towards Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahri. There were too many hills to see clearly but soon enough the hills planed out and there was nothing but farmlands all the way to the Nile. About a mile ahead, Marcus could make out two small specks with a third one far behind.

He picked up Tony's rifle, hoisting it up and resting it on his left shoulder. Tony alternately watched him and the road.

"What are you doing?" he demanded over the roar of the wind.

Marcus' cobalt blue eyes were like dagger blades under the cold moon. "I'm going to kill the bastard who's trying to murder my wife."

Tony knew he should stop him, but if anyone was going to bring justice about, it should be Marcus Burton. Whatever had pushed the ever-cool Dougray over the edge couldn't be guessed; something had happened to make the man snap and he had chased Kathlyn Trent from camp with a gun. The Marines on duty had seen it, including the Major, who had been on duty that night because of a request from McGrath. Now there were witnesses to what Kathlyn and Marcus had been trying to tell everyone for more than a week. Tony had always believed them; now he felt awful that he hadn't done something more about it.

He pushed the accelerator to the floor. The jeep soared across a hole in the road, nearly ejecting Lynn in the backseat. But the man whooped and hollered, encouraging the sergeant to go faster.  Between Davis and Burton, there was an incredible amount of rage, but Tony knew the fury wasn't directed at him. In fact, Tony was surprised that Burton was keeping as cool as he was. Although Tony hadn't seen the fight in the tomb a few days ago, he had heard stories about the quick-tempered archaeologist and his deadly blows.  He'd broken the nose of one of Tony's men.

The road was completely flat now. The dust from the three jeeps in the distance hovered in the air like a brown mist. The road went one of two directions; it either veered off toward the Nile, or it turned sharply to the right and moved past Hatshepsut's Temple, the Temple of Seti I, and the Valley of the Queens. The three vehicles in the lead had taken the road that went past the temple and the entire convoy of cars moved along the right fork.

  Marcus kept himself propped up on his seat, hanging over the top of the windshield and waiting for the perfect opportunity to take Dougray out. He just prayed he could take out the old man before the old man took out Kathlyn.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Kathlyn was more frightened when the bullets stopped. It meant that Dougray still had five in the chamber, all with her name on them. He was right behind her, driving furiously through the warm Egyptian night, but she was just a hair quicker. She had, however, chosen the wrong jeep to drive; the gas tank was hovering around empty. In her rear view mirror she could see a line of vehicles chasing them way back in the distance. It was comforting, but it wouldn't do her a bit of good if Dougray blew her brains out before the cavalry could catch up.  She knew instinctively that Marcus was in one of those cars.

The closest structure was Hatshepsut's Temple. It was a beautiful piece of architecture designed by her lover and high priest, Senmut. The long lines of the temple blended with the high cliffs to aesthetic perfection. There were also lots of places in the temple compound to hide from Dougray until Marcus could arrive. Since she wasn't sure just how much gas was in the tank, she didn't want to take the chance of getting caught out on the open road.  The unpaved road bumped and skipped along as she drove madly for the deserted temple.

The moon was almost hidden behind the high cliffs. The small valley itself was eerily dark. There was a long drive leading from the main road to the temple, a stretch of dirt that seemed to go on and on as if it was never planning to end. Kathlyn finally pulled the jeep to a halt by the long ramp that led up to the temple and bailed out. She raced up the first ramp at full throttle, determined to get to the columns at the top and take cover. Mid-way up the second ramp, a bullet screamed past her and she instinctively put her hands up to protect her head. She could hear Dougray yelling at her but she didn't stop to have a conversation with him. She just kept running.

The gold-colored pillars of Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple were cold and shadowed. It was the safest to stay on the second floor colonnaded courtyard where she could hide and evade.  When she reached the security of the columns, she went to her left, weaving through the pilasters so Dougray couldn't get a clear shot at her. By her calculations, he only four shots left. She had to make him expend those bullets.

She came to a halt behind one of the pillars, panting for air. She froze, listening for footsteps. She thought she heard some several feet away, but Dougray was being quiet, too.  He wasn’t stupid enough to chase her wildly through the temple, which she had hoped. That made it more frightening and the stakes of the game more deadly. The longer she paused, the deeper the silence became and the more her heart began to race. She knew he was out there, waiting, but she had no idea where or how close he was.

"Kathlyn," he voice echoed softly off the stone pillars. "Don't be lured into a false sense of security with the men behind us. I know you think they are rushing to save you. But if I don't kill you tonight, know that there will be others to take my place. There will always be... others."

He was far enough away that she felt safe dodging out from behind the column. "Those others you speak of will be arrested or dead in a matter of days, Dougray," she dove behind another pillar before he could get a shot off at her. "You should have just let me alone. Now you're bringing down everything with your arrogance."

He laughed softly. "Dr. Trent, you invented the term. The way you prance around in the public eye it's hard to know if you do it for your benefit or truly for the benefit of science."

She could hear him back to her right, drawing close. Leaping out from her hiding place, another bullet sang over her head and she yelped as she skidded behind yet another pilaster.

"At least I don't pretend to be something I'm not," she said, nursing a scraped elbow. "You're a lie, Dougray. Everything you stand for is a lie."

Dougray didn't say anything. It had grown uncomfortably quiet. "Dr. Trent, as soon as I'm done killing you, I'm going to turn this gun on your team. The Marines may take me out in the end, but not before I blow one or more of your friends away. Your husband will of course be first. But if you show yourself now, I promise I'll leave them alone."

Kathlyn bit her lip. It was incredibly tempting to want to answer him, but she knew he was baiting her. He sounded fairly close but she had no way of knowing just how near he was. In his stealth, she had lost track of him and he had the advantage. She didn't want to give him any more of one.

On the opposite side of the pillar, perhaps a few feet away, sand crackled. She knew it was a footstep, and she furthermore knew he was too close for her to start running again. He would gun her down like a dog.  Knowing she had no choice now but to fight him for the gun, she crouched low, waiting for him to make an appearance. It was difficult to keep her panic at bay, because she knew she would only have one chance to jump him with an offensive attack.  Dougray outweighed her by a good sixty pounds, but Kathlyn would have the element of surprise on her side. She hoped it would be enough.

The sand crackled again, this time directly to her left. She looked over and saw part of a foot and above her head, a hand holding a gun. With all her might, she lashed out a foot and smashed into Dougray's arm.

He grunted in surprise and pain and the gun went flying. Kathlyn scrambled to get it, but the sand under her feet held no traction and she slipped, gashing her right knee as she fell heavily.  She managed to get her feet under her again and make another lunge for the gun. Dougray, however, was right on top of her.

He grabbed her by the hair, yanking it savagely.  Kathlyn did the only thing she could think to do, and that was ball up her fists and swing at his face.  His eyes, gouge his eyes! her mind screamed, and she tried desperately to do just that. Her movements were so fast and furious that Dougray found himself fending off her sharp fingers.  He yelped when she connected with his left eye, shoving sand and dirt into his contact lens.

"Goddammit!" he howled.

Kathlyn was fueled by his pain. She began kicking him, slapping him, anything to drive him back and away from the gun. Dougray defended himself and then he took a swing at her.  He caught her in the temple and stars danced before her eyes. But the blow pushed her in the direction of the gun and she used the momentum to turn for the weapon. The sand of the desert once again worked against her and she went down on the same bloodied knee. Just as she pitched forward to grab the gun, Dougray jumped on her from behind and grabbed her around the neck.

He was strong and Kathlyn knew she wasn't going to be able to get to the weapon. Now it was a matter of trying to prevent him from strangling her to death.  She tried to get her arms between her neck and his wrists, but there was no room to move. He had her right across the Adam's apple and already she was beginning to feel faint. She attempted to gouge his eyes again, but he was wiser this time around and deftly avoided her. The world was fading fast and her panic was peaking. In desperation, Kathlyn reached behind her and made contact with his genitals. She dug her fingers in and squeezed as hard as she could.

Dougray howled and released his grip enough for her to bite him. Howling again, he released her completely and she scrambled away from him, struggling for air. The gun was a couple of feet in front of her. Throwing herself at it, her hand hit it in her haste and sent it scattering several feet. Horrified at her own stupid misfortune, Kathlyn half-crawled, half ran toward it.

But Dougray was behind her. Instead of trying to fight her, he simply plowed against her shoulder and threw her off balance enough so that he could slip by. He was exhausted, weaving with effort, but he managed to reach the gun first. Kathlyn heard a sorrowful little cry, not realizing it was her own. She was so weary she could hardly think straight, but she knew with tremendous disappointment that the end was coming. She had given a valiant fight but she had lost the war, and it was discouraging more than it was frightening. Praying that the end would be quick, she stared straight down the gun barrel.  She wasn't about to back down now.

"And now, Dr. Trent," Dougray gasped. "I shall do what I attempted to do one week ago. There is no escape now."

Kathlyn could only stare at him, furious and resigned. "Do what you've got to do, Dougray. Make me a martyr. I dare you."

He didn't reply. A loud shot echoed off the steep cliffs above Hatshepsut's Temple and Kathlyn instinctively winced, waiting for the searing pain, but there was no agony forthcoming.  Dougray, however, weaved unsteadily.  In the upper left quadrant of his chest, a large ruby-red flower blossomed. He staggered back as another bullet hit him, this time in his abdomen. It was a big bullet and guts splattered.  Dougray toppled over, the gun still clutched in his hand.

Someone ran past her. Through her blurred vision, she saw the Major lean over Dougray and check his pulse. He slapped his face, touched his neck, and when he was satisfied the man wasn't going to rise up, he turned to Kathlyn.

"Jesus," he went over to her, checking her bruised head, her bloodied leg. "Dr. Trent, are you all right? Did he shoot you?"