Cameron glanced at Catherine. “Satisfied?” He shook his head resignedly as he saw that Catherine had levied herself onto the bank. “I brought a cover for you, too.” He gestured to the dark cloth on the ground. “If you’d been more patient, I would have given you—”

She was already wrapping herself in the blanket. “Warm. Very warm.” Her hands were running over the material. Not plastic. Not cloth. Somewhere in between. But it was blocking both sharp wind and frigid cold and seemed to be completely retaining her body heat. “It’s working better than the space-age tech stuff they issued to get me through the mountains. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“There is nothing like it. A friend invented it.”

“What is it?”

He ignored the question. “Cover your head. Don’t bother putting on your boots. They aren’t going to do you any good until they dry out. Just run for the jeep and tuck yourself in with the blanket.” He picked up Erin and carried her toward a jeep parked a distance away.

Catherine jumped to her feet and was right behind him. “Put her in the backseat and let her stretch out. I’ll cover her and make sure she’s—” She stopped. Cameron was already carefully settling Erin in the backseat.

He gently stroked Erin’s cheek. “I’d reset your shoulder, but we don’t have time. The road is rough, but I’ll make sure you don’t feel the pain.”

“I know you will,” she said quietly. She glanced at Catherine. “Get in the car, Catherine. You heard him, we don’t have much time.”

“I believe we established that fact a long time ago,” she said dryly. “We didn’t need him to repeat it.” She got in the passenger seat. “Let’s go, Cameron.”

“Cover up,” he said briefly as he slipped into the driver’s seat and started the jeep. “I’ll put on the heater, but it’s not going to do much good for a while.”

She tucked her feet beneath the blanket and drew it tighter around her. The action brought immediate warmth. “Why didn’t you bring one of these covers for yourself?”

“I’m used to the weather. I spend a good deal of my time in Tibet.”

“Why?”

He smiled. “I find it fertile ground.”

“Really?” She gazed out at the barren landscape. “Then you must be as innovative as Hu Chang about promoting growth. I can’t see how anything could grow here.” Her gaze narrowed on his face. “But that isn’t what you mean, is it?”

“I admire Hu Chang. I understand his latest experiments have been very successful. Mine aren’t nearly as promising. I guess it depends on what you’re trying to grow.”

She was too tired to decipher oblique meanings. “We heard Kadmus back there, and you said he wasn’t as close as we thought. How near is he?”

“I’d judge from the sound of the cadence of those echoes that he’s just reached the hot spring in the mountain. We have a sizable head start.”

“Judge? How the hell can you even guess?” She shook her head. “No, don’t try to explain. I’ll just accept it for right now. I’ll explore it later.”

“I’m sure you will,” he murmured.

“Does that head start guarantee that Kadmus isn’t going to catch up with us?”

“No guarantees. It depends on how much information he was able to gather about the hot springs or if he’s searching blind. But it does give us an excellent chance of avoiding him until I can get you a flight out.”

“Why?”

“I know this mountain very well. I’ve used it for exits before. Kadmus will be running around frantically trying to gather information from the villagers and sending his men all over the mountain.”

“Villagers?” Erin repeated from the backseat. Her voice was tense. “You know what that means, Cameron.”

“I’ve told the monks from the monastery to lead them inland. They’ll do what I say,” Cameron said gently. “Kadmus won’t find anything but empty villages. They won’t be hurt, Erin.”

“Good.” She relaxed. “I couldn’t stand—”

“I know,” Cameron said. “He won’t find anyone to question until after I get you away. Which would make it nonproductive for him to use force on anyone.”

“Except you,” Catherine said. “You’re talking about getting us out. What about you?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps I’ll go with you. Probably not. I’ll make a decision later.”

“And we’re supposed to leave you on this mountain surrounded by Kadmus’s men?”

He smiled. “Would you stay and do battle by my side, Catherine?”

“Don’t be stupid,” she said curtly. “If you decide to do something that crazy, why would I try to stop you? I’ve got a life to live and a son to raise.”

“That’s true. But you have warrior instincts that cause you to do unreasonable things on occasion. You’d be foolish to risk either. Just as it was foolish for you to come to rescue Erin.”

“But you said I had nothing to do with that decision, remember? Pure manipulation.” She grimaced. “Not that I believe you.”

“Oh, I think you might believe it.” He paused. “But I would never do anything to convince you to come and do battle by my side. That would have to come from you.” He met her eyes. “But, oh, what a battle that would be, Catherine.”

Power.

Excitement.

Magnetism.

Heat.

She had to force her gaze away from him. “The only battle I intend to fight is to get Erin to a safe place.” She glanced at Erin in the backseat. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing deeply, steadily. “I think she’s asleep. Your work?”

“No, but it makes it easier for me to shelter her from the pain. This road is going to get bumpier.”

It was already rough. The jeep was bucking like a bronco, but Cameron seemed to have perfect control. “How long will it take us to get to this hut?”

“Another fifteen minutes. From this side of the mountain, the road winds in and out like a snake and crosses through a dozen passes. That’s good because it will be almost impossible for Kadmus to track us if he starts at that hot spring. Though the road is clearly accessible by vehicle. That’s what I planned on him doing. But, if by some bad luck, he starts at the road on the other side of the mountain, we might have a harder way to go.”

“Why?”

“The trail goes straight up the mountain and leads directly to the hut. They could take the vehicles as far as the plateau, but then they’d have to go on foot the rest of the way. It would take hours, but they’d be able to locate us fairly simply.”

“It’s an Achilles’ heel,” Catherine said. “But if he’s coming through the hot springs, there’s no reason for him to go clear on the other side of the mountain.”

“So one would suppose. And I left clear tracks on the first few miles of road. We’ll have to see. And the trek up the mountain on foot would certainly discourage them. It’s even rougher than this road. Hu Chang wasn’t pleased that I chose that path.”

“What?” She stared at him, stunned. “Hu Chang?”

“Yes, we had a disagreement about certain difficulties regarding the—”

“When?”

“This afternoon.”

She drew a deep breath. “Let me get this very clear. Hu Chang is here, on this mountain?”

“Yes, he’s at the hut waiting for you. Well, not exactly waiting. I didn’t tell him I was going to go and fetch you. But when I left, he probably deduced that it was something to do with you and Erin. Hu Chang is a brilliant man, and he would be able to put two and two together.”

“May I ask why you didn’t tell me?”

“You were worried about his coming after you. It was better for your concentration that you didn’t know that he was already on the scene.”

“Did you help him get here?”

“Yes, but don’t underestimate Hu Chang, he would have been able to get to you without me. I just furnished the means.”

“But he wouldn’t have been able to get here as quickly.”

“I don’t know about that. He’s an amazing man.”

“I wanted that amazing man to stay safely in Hong Kong,” she said sharply. “That’s why I came after Erin, dammit.”

“He was certainly one of the prime reasons why you did it. But there were several others.”