Countdown - Iris Johansen [106]
“True,” Trevor murmured.
MacDuff continued to glare at her for another moment before he said through his teeth, “Very well. We go together. But I don’t promise it’s going to stay that way. If Jock tells me where I can find Reilly, I’ll leave you in my dust.”
“Then I think it would be fair for us to have the same choice,” Trevor said. “But I believe we should put our minds to getting away from here unnoticed rather than what will happen after we zero in on Reilly.”
“No CIA,” MacDuff said flatly. “Nothing that will tip Reilly off and scare him into making a move to stop us.”
“No argument,” Trevor said. “And Grozak is watching the castle— there’s a good chance he has our phone tapped now. We can’t just call for a helicopter to pick us up.”
“No, we can’t.” MacDuff turned on his heel. “Pack what you have to carry and meet me at the stable in an hour.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” MacDuff glanced over his shoulder. “If we have to leave, we’ll leave.”
“I told you that we—”
“We’ll leave. This is my castle, my land. I won’t be kept a prisoner by anyone. Not your fine CIA or Grozak or anyone else.”
Jane flinched as the door slammed behind him. “He’s a little irate, isn’t he? But he doesn’t seem to have a problem with the logistics of the situation. Do you think he can come up with a way to get out?”
“Evidently he thinks he can. It won’t hurt to meet him at the stable and see what he has to say once he’s cooled down.” He got up from his chair. “Get moving. Pack and meet me in the hall. Stop by and give a heads-up to Mario and tell him we’ll be in touch.”
“What are you going to be doing?”
“Bartlett and I have set up a little diversion.” He smiled at Bartlett. “We should have enough time to do the final.”
She moved toward the door. “I don’t know how Mario’s going to take this. He’s not pleased about being stuck in that study since his father was killed.”
“Too bad. You seem to be the negotiator these days.” He crooked his finger for Bartlett to come in. “Persuade him.”
Persuade him, she thought in exasperation as she climbed the staircase. Mario was bound and determined to avenge his father, and she was supposed to tell him he should forget it and stay at his desk. The only thing that had kept him at work so far had been the promise of making him competent enough to exact that revenge successfully. Now his work was almost completed and they were leaving him to—
She stopped outside Mario’s study and drew a deep breath before she knocked on the door.
No,” Mario said curtly. “Hell, no. I’m going with you.”
“Mario, we don’t even know where we’re going or whether we’ll find Grozak or Reilly.”
“You have a lead.” He got to his feet. “And that’s more than you had before.”
“You can’t help.”
“How do you know?” He took the top paper from the pile on his desk and shoved it into his pocket. “I’m going.” He shoveled the rest of the papers into the top drawer. “No arguments.”
“I am going to argue. And so will Trevor.”
“As you please.” He patted his pocket. “But you’re not going to make any headway. And you might ruin your chance of reading the translation I just finished.”
She stiffened. “You finished it?”
He nodded. “And very interesting it is. There were a few surprises.”
“Did she mention the gold?”
“Absolutely.” He headed for the bedroom. “I have to brush my teeth and take a shower. I’ve been working all night. I’ll meet you at the stable.”
“Mario, dammit, what did she say?”
He shook his head. “If I’ve learned one thing from this horror, it’s that weapons are important, even against the people you believe are your friends. We’ll talk about Cira after we find a way to get Grozak and Reilly.”
“We may be able to negotiate with Reilly if you can tell us where the gold may be.”
“I don’t want to negotiate. I want to chop off those bastards’ heads like they did my father’s.” His lips tightened grimly. “Ugly, isn’t it? The priests would be praying for my soul now.” He opened his bedroom door. “But