Night of the Condor (20 page)

'Leigh!' Definitely Evan's voice, and this time with a hint of impatience. 'Up above you.'

She looked up and saw him, a deeper shadow in the darkness of the temple's entrance.

Picking her way gingerly, she went up the steps which led to its doorway.

'I thought you were never coming.' His eyes were fixed greedily on the rucksack.

She said, 'It wasn't easy.'

'What is?' he shrugged. 'Just give me the food and stuff, and I'll be off. Then you can go back to the camp like a good little girl, and pretend you've never seen me.'

'I don't think I can do that,' she said quietly. 'And you seem to have forgotten something.'

'Well, what is it?' he demanded impatiently. 'I can't hang around here for much longer. Someone's bound to look in on me soon, and realise I've gone. I don't want a hue and cry just yet.'

'The things you stole. You promised you'd give them back.'

'Yes, I did, didn't I?' His tone was reflective. 'I wonder what made me say such a bloody stupid thing. You must have great powers of persuasion, darling.' His tone roughened. 'Now let's drop this nonsense. Give me the food.'

Leigh hugged the rucksack to her. 'Not a chance,' she said. 'Not unless you keep your part of the bargain. Don't you see, Evan, it's the only way.'

'The path of rectitude?' His laugh sounded wild, echoing eerily in the shadows of the temple. 'It's a bit late for that, I'm afraid. And if you think I'm handing over my meal ticket for life, then you're crazy! I've had enough of being a loser—a dogsbody—other people's bloody messenger boy. This time I'm coming out on top!'

Another voice spoke, suddenly, accusingly, making them both jump. 'And what about me? What about my meal ticket? Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?'

There was a hole in the roof, and Consuelo stood spotlighted in the resulting shaft of sunlight, her face angry and suspicious, her dark eyes darting between them.

'What are you doing here with this
puta
?' she demanded aggressively. 'Why do you turn to her, and not to me? We are partners, Evan. You cannot treat me like this!'

Evan was the first to recover himself. 'Were you followed?'

'Of course not. Do you take me for a fool? I saw you leave, but I was the only one.' Consuelo took a step forward. 'What are you doing,
querido
? Where are you going? You cannot leave me here!'

'I'm going to have to, sweetheart.' Evan sounded regretful. 'I'll get the stuff to safety, then I'll send for you—promise.'

'
Ay de mi
!' Consuelo's voice rose in a wail. 'You cannot do this to me! The police are coming—Martinez has told me so. They know everything—how I have helped you—about my cousin in Cajamarca. They want to arrest me—to question me. You must take me with you!'

'Don't be silly, angel.' Evan was clearly trying to be soothing, but his tone was ragged at the edges. 'You know that's impossible. And without the stuff, they can't prove a thing. Just stall them for a day or two, then when the fuss dies down, we can be together.'

Consuelo's heavy frown made it clear she found this less than reassuring. She tried another tack. 'What have you told this
gringa
? Why do you concern yourself with her, when you love me,
amado
? Don't you know she is Martinez' woman? I have seen the way she follows him with her eyes, the way he watches her when he thinks no one observes.'

There was a pause, and Evan's eyes narrowed, 'Well, well,' he said silkily. 'That explains a great deal. But you don't have to worry about her, Consuelo. She's been useful, bringing me food, that's all. It's you I care about, and you know it.'

'Then you must take me with you. I am afraid to be here when the police come.' She was beginning to sound hysterical. 'You said we would be together. You did not say I must stay behind. What are you doing to me?'

'Trying to make you see reason.' The reasonable, goodhumoured fa
ç
ade was cracking rapidly. 'For God's sake, Consuelo, don't give me a hard time,
amiga
. You're a clever girl. You can keep the police at bay, long enough for me to get across the border into Colombia. I've got contacts there, who'll shelter me. Then, when it's safe, I'll let you know, and we'll go to Miami together, just as we planned. But for now you must stay here.'

'
No
!' Consuelo almost shrieked the word. '
Madre de Dios
, you have been using me! You are going to abandon me for this rich
gringa
. You want all the money for yourself!'

As she paused for breath, 'And if I do,' Evan said slowly and coldly, 'just what do you think you can do about it?'

She made a noise like an animal in pain, and came at him, eyes blazing, nails raised to tear at him. He sidestepped neatly and hit her a resounding blow to the jaw as her headlong rush faltered. Her head went back under the force of it, then slowly she slumped to the floor.

Leigh found a voice from somewhere. 'You've killed her!' she accused hoarsely.

'No such luck,' he retorted callously. 'She's a tough lady. She'll get over it.'

'But she was in love with you.' In spite of the shock and horror of the last few moments, she could feel joyous relief welling up inside her as she realised just who it had been that Consuelo had been creeping out of the tent to meet each night. It wasn't Rourke, she thought, wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. Oh, it wasn't Rourke!

'Actually, we share a mutual passion for the good things of life, which so far has gone largely unsatisfied. Originally the plan was to split the proceeds three ways with her cousin in Cajamarca, but on second thoughts I think I'd prefer to keep it all to myself. Now give me that bloody food, and I'll be going.'

Leigh clutched the rucksack even more tightly. 'But you can't just leave her like that!'

'Watch me,' he invited, his voice ugly. Then, he paused as if an unwelcome thought had struck him. 'Or are you planning to run down to the camp to get help for her, my embryo Florence Nightingale?'

'Of course. She could be really badly hurt—her jaw broken—anything…'

He sighed. 'So much for "he travels fastest who travels alone." Then you, my pet, will just have to come with me. Now I come to think of it, you'd make a useful hostage. The police won't be quite so trigger-happy if they know I've got Justin Frazier's daughter with me. They won't want an international incident.'

'Don't be crazy!' Suddenly, Leigh was afraid of this stranger. Suddenly Rourke's attitude, the remarks June had made, were making a terrible kind of sense. She said, 'It isn't Inca gold, is it, Evan? It's something else.'

He smiled. 'So you've realised at last, have you, ducky? Well, well! No golden apples for my princess, I'm afraid, but a couple of kilos of
pasta basica
which my contacts in Colombia will turn into white gold for me. Your father isn't the only one who knows how to become a millionaire. But my route is slightly more direct.'

Her voice sank to a whisper. 'Through hard drugs? But, Evan, that's evil! You know it is.'

He shrugged. 'I know it's the biggest, richest market in the world. And I'm sick of acting as a courier for the local big boys for peanuts. This time I've put my own deal together.'

'You're obscene!' she gasped.

Evan shrugged. 'As far as I'm concerned, cocaine is just another commodity—with a far higher street value than most. I thought you'd be impressed by my business acumen. But I'd almost forgotten your Puritan streak.' He smiled again. 'Although that's beginning to show some wear and tear, according to Consuelo. So you and the lordly Doctor Martinez have been keeping each other warm during the cold
puna
nights! I could see the Snow Queen had melted for someone at last. It might be—interesting to find out what he's taught you. Perhaps I can add a few points to your curriculum.'

Her blood ran cold. She said, 'I'd rather die than have you touch me.'

His grin was hateful. 'Isn't that what they all say?' His hand moved almost casually, and with utter disbelief Leigh saw he was holding a gun. 'But when it comes down to it, most people cling quite obstinately to life. I don't suppose you'll be any different. Now move.' he added impatiently, as Consuelo began to make small moaning noises.

The sight of the gun made Leigh, absurdly, want to laugh, but some instinct warned her it wouldn't be safe to do so. It was no joke. It was all part of the same nightmare.

Even the intensity of the sunlight couldn't dispel it. Holding her arm, Evan urged her down the temple steps.

He said, 'When Consuelo let me know you were coming to Atayahuanco, I knew I'd be able to turn it to good use. That's why I came back. What I hadn't realised was that they were on to me. I thought I'd be able to spin them some tale which would satisfy them. If you'd done what I wanted and left as soon as you got here, I'd have probably been able to bluff my way through it. But you didn't want to leave, did you, sweetheart?' His voice was savage. 'You wanted to hang round on the offchance of another night of love with that Martinez bastard. That old fool Willard would have been glad to see me go. All he cares about is the reputation of his beloved Peruvian Quest.'

'It didn't occur to you what harm a charge of drug trafficking might do to this kind of project?'

'Do you think I care? I hate this place, and everyone connected with it. And don't let this high moral stance by the authorities fool you. It suits them to let the Indians grow
coca
, and chew it, because it keeps them biddable. So why shouldn't they sell their crop instead and have some fun out of life, instead of stumbling around half-dazed most of the time?'

She said, 'I'm not going to debate the merits of
coca
with you, Evan. It's been around for so long, I doubt whether the government could ban its use if they tried. All I know is that what you're doing is not only illegal, but wicked. And if I'd known…'

'Ah, but you didn't.' They were climbing now, so rapidly it made Leigh's head swim. 'And if it hadn't been for Rourke Martinez and his interference, I could probably have persuaded you to take my package to Lima with you. It might even have gone back to Britain in some diplomatic bag—I'm sure your father will have contacts at the Embassy you could have used.'

'You like to use everyone, don't you, Evan?' She tried to keep her voice level, the disgust under control, because she couldn't count on his stability any more.

Had he always been like this, she wondered, with herself too blind to see it? Or had some chance exposure to the fringes of the drug trade been the black alchemy which had changed him?

She said, 'We'll have to slow down. I can't keep up this pace…'

'You're going to have to. I want to put as great a distance between us and the camp as possible before it gets dark.' His hand closed brutally on her arm, and she had to choke back a cry. 'So don't slow me down, sweetie, or you'll regret it.'

She said, 'But you can't hope to get away with it. You've admitted yourself that it's not just the police looking for you.' She remembered what Rourke had said, and shuddered. 'And now there's Consuelo, and this cousin of hers. They won't like being double-crossed.

'Juan won't know, until it's too late for him to do anything about it. And Consuelo is too scared of prison to say very much. If she's got any sense she'll make herself out as the brave heroine who tried to stop the wicked drug-smuggler from making a run for it. She'll have a bruise the size of an egg to back her story up, so she should be grateful to me.'

'Grateful? Evan, she's in love with you!'

'That's her tough luck.' His tone was dismissive. 'She's nearly seven years older than me, for God's sake. What did she expect? She was a virgin too,' he added musingly. 'But unlike you, she couldn't wait to get rid of hers. It was while we were in bed together that she started telling me about her cousin who worked for one of the big bad drug barons. No wonder all the Secret Services think pillow talk's so dangerous! Eventually I got to meet Juan, and to show good faith I managed to get a couple of consignments taken out on the supply helicopter. And so—a star was born.'

Leigh said in a low voice, 'I don't want to hear about it.'

He laughed. 'Just making conversation. Or would you rather talk about the might-have-beens, when I was a starry-eyed innocent trying to marry into money?'

She winced. 'Was that all it was?'

'I suppose I loved you,' he said after a pause. 'I know I fancied you like hell, you frigid little bitch. But I'm afraid, like some wines, my passion didn't travel very well. Within a month of getting here, I was so pigged off with Atayahuanco and everything to do with it, I could hardly remember what you looked like. And by that time, Consuelo was making welcoming sounds.' He gave her arm a cruel jerk. 'Come on, darling. Another mile, and this bloody valley will be behind us for ever.' He smiled. 'And then it will be you and me against the world—just as you always wanted, won't that be nice?'

It was an hour and a half later when they stopped for the first time. Leigh sat, her back against a boulder, her heart hammering, and her lungs feeling they were about to burst. They were on a high ridge, overlooking a valley, the almost precipitous sides of which descended to a small, dark lake. It was degrees colder up here, and Leigh shivered, hugging her arms defensively round her body.

She was looking at a curiously shaped cairn of stones, erected long before the conquest to propitiate some savage local deity. At its foot, Evan was digging busily. From his muttered recognition of various landmarks along the way, and his air of supreme self-satisfaction, Leigh guessed he had found his cache.

His back was turned to her, and if ever there was a moment to run, it was then, but she didn't have the strength. Besides, there was little shelter on the ridge—and he did have the gun, and she had no illusions that she could outrun that.

Through half-closed eyes she saw a sudden movement, and looking up, her heart skipping a beat, hoping against hope that it was the promised helicopter combing the mountains for them. But, of course, she would have heard a helicopter.