The Survivor (Eve Duncan #30)

My God. It couldn’t be, but it was.

Unicorns!

It can’t be. But deer of some sort.

Hundreds of them. Running and playing in the snow, prancing as if in a children’s story.

Nadim raised the satellite phone back to his ear. “Bevan, are you still there?”

“Still here.”

“We have a new objective.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.” Nadim stared at the amazing creatures on the screen. “My friend, we’re going to leave these mountains with a prize far greater than we ever imagined. Stand by for coordinates and further instructions. I’ll have a helicopter take me up there with a snowmobile to join you.”

CHAPTER 11

Riley looked at the helicopter disappearing over the horizon as she hurried after Cade. “How long will it take them to get to the airstrip?”

“Less than twenty minutes,” Cade said. “The cargo plane is warming up for them now. They’ll load the sarcophagus and coffers and take off as soon as the copter gets there.” Cade turned toward her with an uneasy expression as he looked down on the sporadic fighting to the east. “Galdar may be right, they do seem to be fleeing the area.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“It’s not like Nadim to give up so easily.”

“That didn’t feel easy to me. Considering that we almost had an army to intimidate them.”

Cade crouched at the cliff’s edge. “Did you see which way his men were headed earlier when he first saw the attack coming?”

“No. I was busy with getting the helicopter ready for you.” She looked at the mountain’s north face and the valley just below. “They scattered, and then… nothing. I don’t even see their snowmobiles now.”

He picked up his thermal binoculars and trained them on the snow-covered expanse. “That’s because they’re not there. It’s like they totally gave up on the sarcophagus. But it doesn’t look like they’re trying to get away, either. It’s almost as if…” He froze. “Wait.”

“What is it?”

“I just caught some thermal trails, probably from their vehicles.” He lowered his binoculars. “Son of a bitch! I bet they’re heading for the unicorns.”

“No!”

“My thought exactly. But I’m afraid so.” He gave a low curse. “They were ready for a switch. Those crates they have would be able to handle deer as well as a sarcophagus and treasure.”

“Shit. How’d they find out about them?”

“Spies? Bevan? Or someone may have spotted them when they were trying to get the drop on Kagan’s friends in the stronghold.”

Riley bit down hard on her lower lip. “If they realized what we had up there, they’d know it was far more valuable than the sarcophagus. And Maya told me Bailey’s up there in the cave. We need to get there before Nadim’s men do.” Riley looked up as the wind and snow began to blow harder. “This storm isn’t going to make things easier for any of us.”

“I won’t argue with that.” Cade extended the antenna of his own radio. “You try to get hold of Bailey and Maya. I’ll tell Kagan what’s happening and see if he and his team can intercept Nadim’s squad. Either way we’ve got to get up there and help.”

INSIDE THE CAVE

“It’s almost over, Riva. It has to be.”

Bailey’s voice was agonized as she moved away as the deer lurched forward, her legs trembling.

Oh, no. Something was wrong, she thought desperately. Really wrong. She’d seen live births before, and they were nothing like this.