“No, I’m not ready yet to go after them.” He’d had his own experience with those damn religious fanatics when he’d kicked them out of Daksha. They’d clung to the villagers and caused him nothing but trouble. He’d rather go after Cameron at a place easier for him to control. “Keep on searching. You have a name. That should help.”

“I also have the name of the pilot who delivered them to Hong Kong. George Tashdon. They transferred to another flight at a private airport outside the city.”

“Going where?”

“I’m still working on it.” He held up his hand. “I know the name of that pilot, too. Jack Sen. Be patient. I’ll have it all for you within a few days.” He paused. “Don’t you think I deserve a reward?”

Kadmus’s gaze narrowed on Brasden. “What do you have in mind?”

“Just a small cut of the pie that you’re trying to devour all by yourself. Who is Cameron to you? Tell me, and I’ll serve him up to you with all the fixings.”

Who was Cameron to him? He was the answer. The guide to everything he’d always wanted to be. If he had Cameron, he could force him to make all the dreams of power come true.

“I’ll consider it.” Kadmus moved toward his jeep. “Find out where Jack Sen is taking them. Cameron won’t risk leaving them on their own. Follow Erin and Ling, and we have a chance of finding Cameron.”

I have your name, Cameron. I know what you look like. I know you have a weakness for Erin Sullivan.

I’ve got you in my sights, Cameron.

CHAPTER

11

“How are you doing?” Catherine sat down in the seat next to Erin. “Whenever I looked up from working, you were always snoozing.” She set her computer on the table between the seats. “Best thing for you, of course.”

“I’m doing fine,” Erin said quietly. “These long flights can be exhausting, but I’ve always been able to sleep on them. From the time I became a journalist, I’ve always considered that a blessing.” She paused. “But evidently you didn’t choose to sleep on this one.” She glanced down at Catherine’s computer. “The one or two times I looked back at you, I saw you pounding those computer keys.” Her gaze rose to Catherine’s face. “And now you’re here and smiling at me and about to pounce. Just what were you doing back there?”

“I was doing searches on the little information that I’ve been given and trying to make educated guesses.” She added, “And ‘pounce’ is a word you use about an enemy. I’m not your enemy. I’ll never be your enemy. You must have a good reason for keeping me in the dark, but I can’t stay there. It’s not my nature. I had to find a way to let light into the darkness.”

Erin stiffened. “And how did you do that?”

Catherine took a deep breath, then threw it at her. “Shambhala.”

Erin’s eyes flickered. Her lips tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But there had been a definite response, Catherine thought. Erin knew the word, and it had been a shock to her coming from Catherine.

“I’m talking about a place that’s said to be a hidden paradise that was supposed to be the center of wisdom in the highlands of central Asia. Its inhabitants’ prime goal in life was to store power and knowledge and prepare the way to start life over after the outer world had destroyed itself. Its existence has been rumored for thousands of years in the myths of India, China, and even Europe.”

“Really?”

“You haven’t heard about it? That’s strange when you’ve been living intimately with the people of Tibet. Shambhala is an essential part of their culture.”

“I’m a journalist, not a historian.”

“I think you do know about it. But I’m not going to try to make you betray yourself or your word or whatever.” She smiled. “That would be pouncing. Instead, I’ll tell you how I came around to finding Shambhala.” She gestured to Erin’s necklace. “I thought that could be the key, so I googled eight-sided lotus and spent hours trying to find a clue.”

Erin’s hand tightened around her pendant. “A clue to this Shambhala?”

“I didn’t know anything about Shambhala. Oh, I might have heard a reference to it sometime or other, but it wasn’t on my radar. Until I finally found a reference to an eight-sided lotus that connected it to Shambhala.” She slowly shook her head. “It blew me away.”

“Why? You said yourself this place is only a myth.”

“I said that it was said to be a myth. What if it actually existed?”

“Then it would have been discovered and debunked decades ago.”

“Would it?”

“People are always hunting for hidden treasures or lost cities like Atlantis. Do they find them? No, because they don’t exist. And because of modern technology and satellites, there’s no place to hide any longer.”

“Perhaps.”

“No perhaps,” she said firmly. “Anything else is the stuff of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider movies.”

“It’s strange you should mention movies.” She smiled. “Though the one that could pertain to Shambhala wasn’t that recent. It was a vintage classic. Lost Horizon. It was based on a novel by James Hilton and was all about a perfect place called Shangri-La. Where people only wished to live in peace. I’m sure you’ve heard of that particular myth.”

“Of course, I even saw the movie on late-night TV.”

“Hilton modeled his hidden city of Shangri-La on Shambhala. He borrowed some of his material from the memoirs of Abbe Huc and other Catholic missionaries who explored Tibet and the culture of the lamas in the nineteenth century.”

“So he built on one myth to perpetuate another.” She moistened her lips. “Shangri-La doesn’t exist either though it’s become part of world culture. I understand that the Chinese even built a tourist-trap city in Yunnan Province and claimed it to be the location of the Shangri-La in the movie.”

“Yes, the Chinese are nothing if not opportunistic. You can even fly into Shangri-La airport. Though the Chinese located their Shangri-La in the Kunlun Mountains and not the Himalayas. But they assured the world that their scientists had studied the topographical features of the entire area, and they were sure they were correct. They did a good, though extremely commercial job, of building their city, and millions flock to the place every year.”

“You researched it?”

“I had reason,” she said. “Shangri-La was modeled after Shambhala, and I had to know everything about it. Because Shambhala had to be the center of what was happening around me.”

“Just because of my lotus necklace?” Erin’s brows rose. “You’re reaching, Catherine.”

“And I don’t know all the answers. But I have a feeling I’m on the right track. I think Shambhala exists and that you know something about it. Oh, I don’t mean as an actual place. But the idea of creating a perfect world like that, with those values, would attract you. When I thought Cameron was some high-priced security mogul working for an organization that was trying to control the world through technology and political manipulation, I couldn’t understand why you’d be drawn to it. From what I knew about you, that didn’t compute. But then I ran across this connection with Shambhala. It clicked. What if you thought that this committee was trying to be guided by all those highfalutin goals that are attributed to Shambhala. You’re an idealist. I know how persuasive Cameron can be. He could paint you a wonderful picture of this conglomerate trying to save the world, of working to create a new Shambhala. Yes, I think you know a good deal about all of it.” She looked her in the eye. “And I think Kadmus wants to know what you know. I believe that’s why he wants to find Cameron. Because he’s sure Cameron knows even more than you do about the place. I’m not sure he’s even aware of Cameron’s conglomerate or that committee. He may be looking for Shambhala itself.”