Rogue Angel - The Spirit Banner Part 29

He looked around at the rest of his charges as they prepared to bed down for the night, and then looked back at Annja. "I think we're okay for tonight. Why don't you get some rest and we can talk about it later?"

"All right." She began to lay out her own bedroll, all the while wondering what it was they were missing.

T HE INFORMANT WAITED HE INFORMANT WAITED an hour into his turn at watch before deciding the time was right. He moved off into the shadow of a large outcropping of rock and took the satellite phone from the concealed pocket inside his jacket. He dialed Ransom's number and waited for the other man to answer. an hour into his turn at watch before deciding the time was right. He moved off into the shadow of a large outcropping of rock and took the satellite phone from the concealed pocket inside his jacket. He dialed Ransom's number and waited for the other man to answer.

He didn't wait long.

"Where the h.e.l.l have you been?" Ransom nearly shouted after answering the call.

The informant wasn't intimidated in the slightest. "I'm right where I'm supposed to be. Stuck like glue on your target, the one you seem to be having trouble dealing with." He'd worked with Ransom too long to be worried about the man's threats. He knew he was the megalomaniac's only hope of tracking down the tomb before Davenport did, and that was a far more important task than teaching him a lesson. Still, he'd have to watch his back later and he made a mental note to be sure to do so. Once his usefulness ended, he'd become excess baggage, and Ransom would try and get rid of him as expeditiously as possible.

There was a pause and then the other man said, "What do you have for me?"

The informant took out a pocket GPS device and honed in on their exact position. He relayed the coordinates to Ransom and then filled him in on what they had uncovered in the map chamber earlier that afternoon.

Ransom listened patiently, asked a few questions that the informant answered the best he could, and then dropped the bomb the man on-site wasn't expecting. "It's time to use the package."

Tactically, it wasn't the best move, the informant thought, but he wasn't the one calling the shots. If he had been, then things would have gone very differently. If the boss wanted him to use the package, he'd use the package. It would be up to the boss to figure out what to do from there.

"Use the package? If that's what you want," he said.

"You still have it with you, correct?"

The informant didn't grace that comment with an answer. Of course he still had it with him; he hadn't let it out of his sight since the night he'd received it.

Ransom continued. "Use it tonight. Get it in the water, then call us in the morning and we'll bring the chopper in."

"Very well. In the water it is, then."

With that the informant hung up, slipped the phone back in his jacket and returned to his position on the rock overlooking the lower section of the river.

Sitting there, he idly fingered the smooth packet of powder that he carried in the same pocket as his phone. Just a pinch in each water jug would be enough. With everyone carrying their own water supply, now that they had left the trucks behind, actually pulling it off was going to take some planning.

No matter, he'd get it done. After all, that's what they paid him for, wasn't it?

A NNJA'S HEARING HAD ALWAYS NNJA'S HEARING HAD ALWAYS been good and in the silent surroundings it was even better. Hidden as she was among the thick vegetation that surrounded the rocky outcropping they had selected as their watch station, she was able to hear most of the conversation going on above her. Or, at least, this end of the conversation and she could guess at some of the rest of it due to the responses she was hearing. The longer she listened, the more incensed she got. She wanted to eliminate the threat to the group right then and there, had gone so far as to draw her sword and begin to edge her way around the rock, looking for a way up, when the comments about the package and water stopped her. been good and in the silent surroundings it was even better. Hidden as she was among the thick vegetation that surrounded the rocky outcropping they had selected as their watch station, she was able to hear most of the conversation going on above her. Or, at least, this end of the conversation and she could guess at some of the rest of it due to the responses she was hearing. The longer she listened, the more incensed she got. She wanted to eliminate the threat to the group right then and there, had gone so far as to draw her sword and begin to edge her way around the rock, looking for a way up, when the comments about the package and water stopped her.

Something told her to watch and wait, to catch him in the act so that it wouldn't be his word against hers.

Maybe then the others would believe her.

She released her sword and quietly made her way back upriver to their camp.

Along the way, one thought kept playing over and over again in her mind.

Of all people, why did it have to be him?

32.

The smell of frying antelope brought her out of her sleep the next morning. Mason, rolling up his bedroll just a few feet away, greeted her with a smile and a cheerful good-morning.

Annja turned away with just a quick nod, not trusting herself to speak, and went to splash some water on her face and get a plate of food. Antelope strips weren't as good as bacon, but they were a lot better than the powdered eggs she'd been eating for the past few days. She wolfed them down, knowing she'd need the protein for the day's events.

After breakfast, Annja found reasons to avoid Mason as she packed up, but always made sure she was close enough to hear what he had to say. When he ordered Jeffries to help him fill everyone's water carriers from the river outside, she knew that was her call to action. She made sure no one was looking in her direction and then slipped out ahead of them.

She made her way downstream a short distance to the clear pool where they had been gathering their water since they'd arrived. A thick pine tree extended over the spot and its lower branches were easily accessible. She grabbed one and pulled herself up into the tree, finding a spot where she could see what was taking place below her but that was also s.h.i.+elded enough to keep her from being seen.

Satisfied with her position, she settled in to wait.

It didn't take long.

He came down the trail alone, the canteens he was supposed to fill slung on a rope over his shoulder. He squatted down at the edge of the water, removed the containers from the rope, and began to fill them one at a time. He stood them up next to one another in a line behind him, and by the time he was done he had more than a dozen containers lined up on the riverbank.

Annja tensed, knowing that this was it. If something was going to happen, it would happen now.

He straightened and then carefully looked around, no doubt making certain that he was alone.

If the circ.u.mstances hadn't been so dire, she might have laughed at the sight. No one ever looks up, she thought with a slim smile of satisfaction.

He reached into the inside of his coat and removed a paper packet, like the kind old-fas.h.i.+oned druggists gave their powdered medication in. Opening it, he moved toward the first bottle in line.

That's my cue, Annja thought.

She let go of the branch that she'd been holding on to and dropped lightly to the ground. Drawing her sword, she came up silently behind him and touched the point of her weapon to the back of his neck.

Before she could say anything, the sound of a gun being chambered came from almost directly behind her.

"Don't move, Annja," Mason said.

She didn't.

He moved into her peripheral vision on her left side, far enough away that she couldn't easily swing the sword and reach him, yet close enough to keep her from rus.h.i.+ng for cover and escaping.

In front of her, Jeffries tensed, as if considering making a run for it himself, and she applied a little more pressure down the length of the sword, letting him know that it was a bad idea.

A very bad idea indeed.

"Someone want to tell me what's going on here?" Mason asked in a soft but deadly tone.

Annja kept her sword hand steady and her eyes on Jeffries. If he was going to try something, it would be while Mason's attention was on her.

"He's working for Ransom," she said.

"Jeffries?"

"I don't know what she's talking about, boss," the other man replied. "I came down here to fill the water bottles, just like you said."