Rogue Angel - The Spirit Banner Part 30

Annja resisted the urge to skewer him where he stood. She wouldn't convince Mason of anything by doing so and might end up getting shot herself. That would leave the rest of the group in danger.

"Ask him what the packet in his hand is for," Annja said.

Mason moved out from behind her and around to the side where he could see both Annja and Jeffries. He had his pistol in his hand and he kept it pointed in their general direction.

"Show me," he said to Jeffries.

Jeffries slowly lifted his arms out to his sides and opened his hands.

They were empty.

"He's got it on him somewhere. Search him," Annja said. She could hear the anger leaking into her voice.

Jeffries sensed Mason's hesitation and went on the offensive. "For heaven's sakes, boss. Will you get this crazy bi-"

"I'd watch that mouth if I were you!" Annja shouted. She twisted the sword back and forth in her hand to make sure he got it the point.

Mason lowered his gun slightly. "Look, Annja. I don't know what's going on here, but..."

"I've already told you what's going on. He's working for Ransom and he intended to do something to our water supply."

Mason shook his head. "This expedition is getting to all of us. Ease off, okay?"

"Not a chance. Not until you search him."

Jeffries was quiet, biding his time. Annja knew she had only seconds left to convince Mason that she was telling the truth. He'd worked with Jeffries for years. Considered him a friend. It was his word against hers and right now she wasn't coming out on top. She needed something...

The phone!

Jeffries had made calls with a satellite phone and had put it in his jacket. The same jacket he was wearing right now.

"There's a satellite phone in the inside pocket of his jacket, Mason. If you check the last number dialed you'll see that it goes right to Ransom."

Please don't have deleted your list of calls, she thought.

If Jeffries handed over his phone without a problem, she was dead in the water.

But he didn't. Instead, he started protesting harder, calling her a liar, saying the whole thing was absurd and she'd better let him go or else.

Annja could see the wheels turning in Mason's eyes. Thou dost protest too much...

Mason stepped toward Jeffries. "I'm going to reach inside your jacket. Might as well get this over with so that there aren't any issues later."

"If you must," Jeffries said, the disgust that Mason wasn't taking his word evident in his tone.

As Mason stepped closer, Jeffries made his move.

He lunged forward and to one side, taking him out of easy reach of Annja's sword and directly into Mason, who had made the fatal mistake of not keeping his gun on his former comrade. As Annja watched, Jeffries barreled into Mason, trapping the gun between their bodies. Jeffries' elbow came around in a vicious arc that connected with Mason's jaw, sending him to the ground as Jeffries charged past, headed for the river.

Annja rushed after him.

She scooped up Mason's gun as she went by, then, hearing a splash that told her Jeffries had gone into the river, angled to the left in an effort to cut him off, knowing the current would quickly take him out of reach if she didn't do so in time.

Detouring around a large outcropping of rock that blocked her path to the river, Annja reached the water's edge just in time to see Jeffries rus.h.i.+ng past her. He was in the middle of the river, stroking hard, hoping to get away.

Annja wasn't prepared to let him do that.

She raised the gun and fired off several shots in rapid succession.

At least one struck Jeffries, possibly two. The impact drove him under and he stayed down for several long minutes.

Annja ran along the riverbank, gun extended, ready to fire again, when he broke the surface, but as it turned out she didn't need to. When Jeffries popped back up, he was facedown in the water and no longer moving. She watched his body roll in the current and disappear out of sight downriver.

Mason was waiting for her when she returned upstream.

"How did you know?" he asked, as she handed his weapon back to him.

"I've been wondering how Ransom knew where we were going all the time. Bugging our trucks is one thing, but someone had to plant those bugs and that required an inside man."

"Ransom could have hired someone from the rental-car company to do it."

Annja shook her head. "I didn't think so, because he would have to be certain it had been installed by someone who knew what they were doing and not some local yokel."

"But how did you know he was going to try and do something to our water supply?"

"I overheard him making a call last night. It sounded suspicious, so I've been watching him ever since."

Mason shook his head. "I can't believe I didn't see through his act. I must be-"

He was interrupted by the ringing of a telephone.

They looked at each other and then sprang into action, both of them searching around frantically for the source, hoping to find it before it stopped ringing. Mason spotted the black casing of the dropped cell phone first and s.n.a.t.c.hed it up. He answered the call, then hit the speakerphone b.u.t.ton so Annja could listen in.

"Is it done?" the caller asked.

The voice was unfamiliar to Annja, but she could guess who it was. Judging by what Mason said next, she was right.

"You mean are we dead yet? Not even close!"

"Jeffries?"

"Mason Jones. Your faith in Jeffries is misplaced. We're all still alive and he's dead. So help me G.o.d, if I catch you anywhere near us again I'll gut you myself. Do you understand me?"

Mason's voice rose in intensity as he went on, until he was shouting into the phone in anger.

Ransom shouted right back. "You'll never make it out of Mongolia alive. That tomb is mine!"

"You just try it, Ransom. 'Cause when you do, I'll see to it that you wake up in h.e.l.l!"