The Search (17 page)

"Have you been able to get a blueprint of the building?"

"Not yet. But I won't need it."

"I need it. I want to know every structural strength and weakness in that building. Make it a priority."

"The security is too tight. You'd do better to hit one of Logan's other facilities."

"I'll consider it. But Dodsworth is such an interesting challenge, and it's clearly Logan's crown jewel. There's usually a way around security if you study the situation enough." He paused. "And that's what we're going to do. Study the situation and see what we come up with." A new element had appeared on the horizon. Sarah Patrick. He had learned quite a lot about her in the last couple of days, including the fact that Logan had extended his protection to her cabin outside Phoenix. What place did she occupy in his life? Was it worthwhile to remove her now? What about Eve Duncan, who had occupied a central place in Logan's recent past?

So many choices. So many paths to explore. But he had time and leisure to find the answers. He was the one setting the pace. Logan could only counter. He could hardly wait to get going again, but it took time to set up interesting scenarios. It's coming closer, Chen Li.Just be patient.

"I've seen what I need to see." He strode toward the car. "Let's go. I want to be in Phoenix tonight."

Chapter 7.

"Hurry. Into the bus." Logan stood in the road, the rain hammering his face, his local contact, Sun Chang, beside him. "The village is only a short distance from here, but Chang says the road there is going to be washed out any minute. If it's not gone already. The soldiers won't let anyone in or out of the area after the road goes."

"Great." Sarah scrambled onto the bus. "That's all we need. What about air support?"

"No place to land. The terrain is too rough. The best they can do will be supply drops. The village was terraced on the side of a mountain."

"Have they been able to get medical equipment into the village?"

"Yes. And they've set up tents."

"Any other search and rescue teams arrived?" Boyd asked.

"One from Tokyo. They've been here since last night."

"Survivors?"

Logan's lips tightened. "They've dug out six . . . so far."

Sarah leaned her head against the window, staring blindly out at the driving rain. Six out of five hundred. Dear God.

Logan dropped down in the seat beside her. "I don't suppose there's any chance of you staying here instead of going to the village?"

"No, but you could do it. You won't be any help after we start work. You can barely walk."

"You'd be surprised how helpful a man like me can be. I haven't failed you yet, have I?"

"No." From the moment he had gotten off the plane, Logan had been a dynamo of energy, checking with the handlers to make sure they had everything they needed, talking to Chang, who had met the plane and arranged for the bus. "But there's not much you'll be able to do from now on unless you're a doctor or trained in rescue. It will be--" The bus bounced and skidded across the road, throwing mud on the windows. "And you won't be able to get out if that leg needs more medical attention than the doctors here can supply."

"It's amazing what I can accomplish with a cell phone."

"Don't be flippant. It's not funny."

"Funny is the last thing I'm trying to be." He straightened his bad leg. "I'm trying to reassure you that I'll not be a--Shit."

They had rounded a curve of road and a mountain of mud spread out before them. The village was gone. No sign of houses or streets . . . or life. Through the driving rain Sarah could see a few search and rescue handlers and their dogs plodding through the mud on the lower slope and a bevy of men digging furiously while balanced on boards placed across the mud to the safe stone banks on either side. Tents ringed the area, and she located the hospital tent with a large red cross.

"Christ," Logan murmured. "Where the hell can we start?"

"Where we always start." She reached down, checked Monty's bandage, then fastened his orange halter with the red cross on both sides. "With the dogs."

Logan's face had turned pale. "My God."

"I told you mudslides were the worst."

"Yes, you did." He took a deep breath and dragged his gaze from the mountain to Monty. "He didn't wear that halter when we were in Santo Camaro."

"It wouldn't have done any good there. On disaster sites it identifies him as a lifesaver, not one of the wild dogs that often scavenge among the ruins. I've seen starving families kill those dogs for their next meal." She put up the hood on her poncho and tied it under her chin as the bus slithered to a stop in front of the hospital tent. "That's not going to happen to Monty."

Logan watched Sarah and the rest of the team disappear into the tent to be briefed by the military. It was getting dark, and the slide looked like a monstrous obscene mass in the half-light.

No screams . . .

No sobbing . . .

No children singing . . .

Silence.

Silent as a tomb.

"You're getting wet, Mr. Logan." Chang was standing beside him. "There's hot food in the mess tent."

"Not now." He gazed up at the mountain. "Where did the slide start?"

"They're not sure. It happened in the middle of the night." He pointed to a spot near the top of the mountain. "Close to that area."

"I want to go there."

"The military isn't letting anyone up there. The mud is still shifting and the rain--"

"Then take me around it." He jerkily moved toward the mountain. "I want to go there."

The rocks were slippery underfoot as they neared the top of the mountain.

Death.

A monument to death.

No coincidence. It couldn't be a coincidence.

"What are you looking for?" Chang asked.

"I don't know."

It would be protected. He would want Logan to find it.

The beam of his flashlight flared on the rocks around him.

Nothing.

"We should go down," Chang said. "The military wouldn't like it if they knew--"

"You go down." Logan scrambled over the rocks, the light from his flashlight weaving back and forth. The scarab had been small. . . .

So was the blue and white box shining in the beam of the light.

Chen Li's box. He had seen her handle it a hundred times, her fingers tracing the lapis lazuli flowers on the lid.

He sank to his knees beside it.

He wanted to shout. He wanted to pound his fists on the stone.

All he could do was stare at the exquisite jeweled box glittering in the beam of his flashlight.

Five hundred people.

Buried alive.

Rudzak called him six hours later. "Is it still raining in Kai Chi?"

"Yes."

"I saw the news bulletin that you were on a mercy mission. The rain didn't stop you from finding Chen Li's box, did it?"

"No."

"Because you knew it would be there. You're a smart man, Logan. You finally realized what I was doing with Chen Li's treasures, didn't you?"

"Funeral gifts."

"You sound a little numb. Did I wake you?"

"No."

"I didn't think so. You were probably lying awake, staring into the darkness. Isn't that what guilty men do?"

"You should know. You were the one who did this."

"I feel no blame. It's not in my makeup. But now you've been thinking and I'll wager you've figured out why I hit Santo Camaro and Kai Chi."

"Her grave."

"I was very angry when I saw her grave. Chen Li was a queen and you buried her like a pauper. The passing of a queen should be marked by the blare of trumpets and the clash of cymbals."

"So you gave her Santo Camaro and Kai Chi."

"I would have gone after you anyway, but as I stood by her grave, it came to me how it must be done. It was so beautifully clear to me. Santo Camaro was fine for a beginning, but Kai Chi is special. Chen Li was born there, and we spent every summer playing on those slopes."

"After she died and I'd earned a little money, I endowed an orphanage here in her name. Did you know about the orphanage?"

"Of course. Did you think it would make a difference?"

"I suppose not."

"And I remembered that you and Chen Li spent your honeymoon there," Rudzak said. "All the more reason for it to die with Chen Li."

"Is it over? I'd think five hundred people would be enough even for you."

"Of course it's not over. She was a queen and a queen must have her due."

"She would hate you for this."

"She could never hate me. You tried to make her hate me, but even when you met her, she was already mine."

"I never tried to make her hate you. I actually liked you until I found out what a son of a bitch you were."

"You kept her away from me."

"She was dying. I didn't want her hurt. And she didn't argue. By that time she knew what you wanted from her. She didn't want to see you."

"You're lying. It was you who--" He drew a deep breath, and when he spoke, the anger was gone. "I won't let you upset me. I'm winning, Logan. I fooled you, didn't I? You never expected Kai Chi. You thought I was in Colombia when I called you. I set the timer right after I talked to you on the phone."

"You're right, I never expected even you would be this sick. You won't fool me again."

"Don't be so certain. I found it interesting that you brought Sarah Patrick with you to Kai Chi."

"She brought me. This is her job."

"Then it's doubly interesting. You two seem to be walking the same path, don't you? By the way, do you know that I still have eight more of Chen Li's artifacts?" He hung up.

Logan wanted to lie down again and shut the world out, but he had to call Galen. Galen had to know so he could try to protect--

Protect what? Who? Where was Rudzak going to strike next?

"I've been wondering when you were going to call me." Galen's voice was uncharacteristically sober when he answered the phone. "You didn't tell me you were going to Kai Chi."

"I didn't want it to be true. I wanted it to be an act of God, not Rudzak. But I knew that wasn't likely."

"It was Rudzak?"

"Yes, I went looking and found another of Chen Li's artifacts and some blasting caps on the mountain where the slide started. Christ, I was hoping I wouldn't find it. But when I saw that mountain of mud, I knew. It couldn't be a coincidence. Everything came together. Funeral gifts."

"Funeral gifts?"

"Pharaohs were entombed with the treasures they held precious in life. Chen Li loved her collection. If it couldn't be buried with her, why not use it to honor her passing?"