Leaning down, Sara reached inside her own car to yank her purse off the front seat and remove the keys from the ignition. It couldn’t be more than a mile now to her uncle’s house. Luckily she’d worn comfortable sandals. She straightened up, stepped back to slam the car door, spun around and found herself staring straight into Brady Vaughn’s hawklike face.
„Congratulations, Miss Frazer. You made excellent time.“ He motioned almost negligently with the compact, snub-nosed gun he held in his right hand. „I just put the car across the road fifteen minutes ago. Thought you’d take a little longer to get here.“
„I shouldn’t have hurried, apparently,“ Sara managed in a tight little voice. She couldn’t take her eyes off the gun. The casually efficient way Vaughn held it seemed as frightening as anything else that was happening. A man who held a gun that coolly must have had plenty of practice. „Who are you, Mr. Vaughn?“
„Let’s just say I’m an old acquaintance of your uncle’s.“ He nodded toward his vehicle as he spoke. „Now I think we’d better get these cars off the road. This isn’t a well-traveled area but I wouldn’t want some stranger coming along and starting to ask silly questions.“
„Such as why you’re holding a gun on a woman?“ Sara didn’t move. She wasn’t certain she could.
Vaughn’s smile was an odd travesty of humor. „Take it as a compliment, Miss Frazer. I learned long ago that the female of the species can be just as dangerous as the male. I don’t take chances. Get in the car. You’ll drive.“
When he stepped toward her, Sara discovered that she could, indeed, move. She edged back toward the nondescript compact that was lodged across the road. „Drive where?“
„To your uncle’s cabin, of course. That’s as good a place to wait for him as any.“
„I thought you said he was in Southeast Asia!“
„I lied. I do that quite well. You should start getting used to it. A lot of men in your life lie to you. Now move, Miss Frazer. And please, for both our sakes, don’t try anything too tricky, okay?“
There was no opportunity to try anything clever even if she had been able to think of something truly brilliant, Sara discovered. At the point of the gun she slid into the driver’s seat. Her fingers trembled as she took the wheel. Her red shirt was turning dark under her arms from nervous perspiration. Vaughn got in beside her, his eyes never leaving her for an instant.
The drive to Lowell Kincaid’s cabin was a short one. Sara fantasized briefly about stomping down on the accelerator and trying some wild maneuver that might dislodge the weapon from Vaughn’s hand but common sense warned her it wouldn’t work. There was no way she could get the car up to a fast rate of speed before he could put a bullet in her. There would be plenty of time for him to kill her and grab the wheel.
The cottage appeared exactly as she and Adrian had left it. When Sara obediently switched off the ignition, Vaughn ordered her out of the car.
„Now we’ll walk back and get the other one.“ He stood aside and wailed for her to start back down the road ahead of him.
„Why the stunt with the car across the road? Why didn’t you simply wait for me in the cabin?“
„I was afraid you might be suspicious about entering the house when you noticed the strange car in the drive. And there wasn’t any convenient place to hide it and still have it readily available.“ He indicated the clear area that extended from the drive to the front of the house. „I also didn’t know if you and your uncle might have some particular signal.“
„You’re giving me a lot more credit for caution and observation than I deserve,“ Sara told him dryly. „I doubt that I would have thought twice about the car. I would have assumed it was my uncle’s. And we don’t have any special greeting signal! Good grief, I’m his niece, not a secret agent.“
„Oh, I’m aware of who you are, Sara Frazer. Very much aware. I’m counting on your identity to lure your uncle out into the open, you see.“
She turned to glance back at him over her shoulder. The gun was still pointed unwaveringly at her back. „But that was my uncle’s voice on the phone. I don’t understand. Where is he?“
Vaughn arched an eyebrow. „It was your uncle’s voice, all right. Right off the tape on his answering machine.“
„His answering machine! But he didn’t say those things on the machine,“ Sara gasped, startled.
„Sure he did,“ Vaughn told her with a soft chuckle. „He just didn’t say them in quite that order.“
„You mixed his words from the tape into different sentences?“
„And recorded them onto another tape. It takes a little work and the right equipment, but it can be done. I had both his recorded message to callers and the message to your friend Adrian with which to work. Plenty of material from which to get a few simple sentences.“
Sara stared unseeingly at her car as she rounded the bend. „You appear to be very professional at this sort of thing, Mr. Vaughn,“ she whispered dully.
„Very,“ he assured her. „It would be best if you didn’t forget it.“
She drove the second car back to the cottage under the same circumstances as she had driven the first. When she finally parked it beside Vaughn’s compact, he motioned her into the house.
„What now?“ she asked quietly as she stepped inside.
„Now we wait. Make some coffee if you like. It’s probably going to take a while.“ Vaughn appeared unconcerned.
„But what exactly are we going to wait for?“
„Your uncle should be contacting us in the near future.“
„But why would he do that? How would he even know where I am or that I’m with you?“ The shock of the situation was affecting her mind, Sara thought vaguely. She couldn’t seem to think properly. Perhaps she ought to take Vaughn’s advice and make some coffee. At least it would give her something to do. She was very much afraid that if she sat down or stood still she would begin to tremble uncontrollably.
„Your uncle is looking for me. If s only a matter of time before he figures out I’m waiting patiently right here on his home stomping grounds. And when he does, he’ll discover I have you with me.“
Sara turned on the tap in the kitchen sink, aware of Vaughn watching her from the doorway. „You’re going to use me?“
„I’m going to trade you to your uncle for the information I want,“ Vaughn confirmed. „I see it all as a business deal.“
„And what information is it that you want, Mr. Vaughn?“ she demanded softly.
„Don’t you think you should start calling me Brady?“
„I don’t see us ever getting together on a social basis,“ she gritted out as she set the pot into place in the drip machine.
„But we are together, Sara,“ he drawled smoothly. „Perhaps for some time. You made it very easy, really. I was a little worried about how to get rid of the boyfriend. I wasn’t sure until yesterday where he fit into the scene. I had a couple of plans I thought would work but he simplified matters considerably when he obligingly left on the morning plane to Mexico City. His leaving for Mexico also confirmed his part in all this.“
„Mexico City!“
„I got the clerk at the airline counter to verify that he bought a one-way ticked to Mexico. What’s the matter, Sara? Didn’t he tell you where he was going?“
„Yes, but I… I just don’t see how you could find out that sort of information.“ Sara was surprised that she could get the lie fairly glibly past her lips. Mexico City! It didn’t make any sense. You didn’t pop down to Mexico City for the day and return by early evening. And just yesterday Adrian had been telling her tales of how a man could disappear into Mexico City and reappear on the other side of the world.
„You can get all sorts of information out of people if you flash the right badges at them,“ Vaughn informed her. „Poor little Sara. You still don’t realize what he’s done, do you? You’ve been had, lady. In more ways than one.“
„He’s a writer,“ she explained, struggling for something
logical to say. „He does a lot of research and he’s had this trip planned for some time. My showing up got in the way of his schedule, I’m afraid. He’s setting the next book in Mexico.“ Did that sound reasonable? „I didn’t have the time to go with him.“
„Is that a fact?“ Vaughn said musingly. „So he just left you up here all by yourself to worry about your uncle? After asking for forty-eight hours to think over your problem?“
„I…yes.“ It was probably better not to weave any more strands into the story. She wouldn’t be able to keep it straight in her own head.
„Not terribly gallant of him, was it?“
Sara said nothing. She focused on the pot filling with coffee.
„You’re a fool, Sara,“ Vaughn finally said calmly. „You’ve been dumped. As long as Saville figured you were the easiest way to get at the gold, he was willing to play lover. But yesterday when I let him know that others were getting close to the prize, he panicked and decided you were no longer the quickest or safest means to an end. I know better. I know that you still are the best means to this particular end. I’m a patient man, Sara.“
She cast him a quick, frightened glance. He smiled again. „Want me to tell you the real reason he’s gone south?“
„What’s your explanation, Mr. Vaughn?“
„Oh, it’s simple enough. Mexico City is a wide-open town. It has a certain reputation in the industry. Among other things it’s a jumping-off point for people who want to head for such places as Cambodia without letting the U.S. government know where they’re going. You can buy anything in Mexico City, including alterations on your passport. Your boyfriend has skipped out on you. He’s probably heading for Southeast Asia.“
„I thought,“ she said weakly, „that the stories about Mexico City were just the product of espionage fiction. Legends and tales.“
„Fact, I’m afraid. Your lover has skipped.“ Vaughn seemed amused.
Sara lowered her lashes. „Why would he do that?“
„Because he’s decided to risk going after the gold on his own instead of waiting for your uncle to return. As I said, he got nervous yesterday when he realized others were closing in on it. He’s obviously a friend of your uncle’s and Kincaid made the mistake of trusting him, both with his niece and with the information about the gold. Kincaid never used to make mistakes like that, but he’s getting old. He’s trusted the wrong man with the details of what was probably intended to be your dowry. The race is on, Sara, but I’m the one with the inside track. I’ve got you. I’m not worried that Saville tried to buy himself forty-eight hours for a head start. It won’t do him any good because he’s obviously an amateur. A greedy amateur, but an amateur nonetheless.“
„Why do you say he’s an amateur?“
„Because a professional would have realized that you’re the most useful key around. And that I’m the biggest threat. A professional would have made a try for me before leaving town, if for no other reason than to find out just how much I know. Southeast Asia is a big and dangerous place to go hunting without specific directions and a few contacts. Saville will probably just succeed in getting himself killed trying for your uncle’s gold. And it does nothing to change my plans. One way or another I wound up with you, and ever since you appeared on the scene so conveniently, that’s been my goal. I’m a highly adaptable man. Before you came along I was using a different approach. I’d been through this cabin with a fine-tooth comb. I was just realizing how useless that method was going to be when you showed up out of the blue. Couldn’t figure out who you were at first, but after you’d left the first time I remembered seeing the phone-answering machine. I played it back to see if I could pick up any information about Kincaid’s unexpected female guest, and sure enough, all the news I needed was on that tape. That’s how I found out you’re Kincaid’s niece.“
„You want that gold, don’t you?“ Sara reached for a cup and poured coffee with exaggerated care. She was afraid that if she wasn’t extremely cautious she would spill the hot liquid all over her feet. „The gold you said my uncle left behind in Southeast Asia.“
„Yes, Sara. I want the gold. Pour me a cup, too. Just set it on the counter. I’ll get it. Wouldn’t want you trying to throw it in my face with a grand, heroic gesture.“
„So you’re going to use me to force my uncle to tell you exactly where he hid the stuff?“ Sara persisted, standing back so that Vaughn could pick up his coffee.
„Precisely.“
„You said Uncle Lowell thinks you’re in Hawaii,“ she began with a frown as she tried frantically to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
„I made certain he got information to that effect. Rumors are very effective in our crowd, even among the, uh, golden-agers. I wanted him sidetracked for a while so that I could try getting the data I needed the easy way.“
„You searched this place,“ she whispered, remembering the chaos she and Adrian had discovered.
„Unfortunately, as I said, my search didn’t turn up anything so convenient as a map or a set of coordinates that would have made my task a straightforward one. I really thought I’d have a chance of finding what I wanted because I knew your uncle rather well at one time, Sara. I know his theories on hiding important data, for example. He always got a kick out of concealing things right in front of someone’s nose. Kincaid had a sense of humor, you can say that for the man. When I didn’t turn up anything, I realized matters were going to get complicated. I made the search look like the work of punks and decided to keep watch on the cabin for a while. It paid off. You happened along and greatly simplified my life.“
Sara leaned back against the counter, her hands braced against the cool ties. „Why would my uncle go tearing off to Hawaii just because he thought you were there, Mr. Vaughn?“
„He thinks that after all these years I’ve decided to go after the gold. He’s got a couple of other reasons for following my trail, too. He and a few others, I believe, have some private suspicions about me.“ Vaughn sipped tentatively at his coffee. „Not bad,“ he declared. „I enjoy good coffee.“
Sara took a deep breath before plunging in with the next question. „My uncle has other reasons for hunting you down?“
„‘Hunting’ sounds a bit melodramatic, don’t you think? Let’s just say he couldn’t resist the hint that I might have surfaced and that he might be able to find me.“
Sara met his gaze unflinchingly. „Do you by any chance go under the code name of… of Wolf?“
Vaughn went still, the coffee halfway to his mouth. Slowly he lowered the cup, his dark eyes narrowing speculatively. „Now what would you know about the man called Wolf?“
Her fingers tightened around the counter’s edge. Sara was beginning to wish she hadn’t brought up the subject. „Not much. My uncle mentioned him once. That*s all.“
„And you’ve been assuming I might be… Wolf?“
She didn’t like the cold amusement that was suddenly in his eyes. „The thought occurred to me.“
„Fascinating.“
„Well?“ she challenged bravely.
Vaughn’s mouth drew back in a humorless smile. „Your uncle always could tell a good story.“
„Is that all Wolf is? A Lowell Kincaid tale?“ she breathed. It was getting difficult to tell legends from reality, she realized.
Vaughn chuckled, shaking his head. „No. As usual with your uncle, there’s a germ of truth in the story. There really was a man called Wolf. I never met him. Few people did and survived to tell about it. His cover was very deep and he protected it. They said he had a thing about maintaining his cover.“
A man who liked to be in total control of his surroundings. Sara shivered. „What do you mean his cover was deep?“
„He’s a legend, Sara. Just like the gold that never made it out of Vietnam. But he was real like the gold, too. Lethally real, from what I understand. In my business legends can be real.“ His mouth twisted ironically.
„But you’re not him?“
&nbs
p; „Hell, no.“ Vaughn grimaced. „Give me some credit. The guy cracked up completely, according to the old gossip. Went bonkers on his last mission. He never returned.“
Sara was very still. „What do you mean, he cracked up?“
„Just what I said. The story goes that he broke like a fine-tuned violin string. Came apart. Went crazy. Cracked. Couldn’t handle what he was paid to handle. Got himself killed on his last assignment. Why the interest? Because you’ve been assuming I’m him?“
„The thought had crossed my mind,“ she admitted softly.
„I’m not especially flattered. The guy may once have been good, the best there was, in fact, but I sure as hell don’t intend to lose my nerve the way he did.“
„What are you going to do with the gold if you get it?“ she pressed, desperate to keep the conversation moving. She had no particular wish to chat the afternoon away with Brady Vaughn, but she somehow felt safer when he was talking.
„I’m going to retire, Sara. Somewhere far, far away. Some nice island, perhaps where a lot of gold will buy a lot of silence and a lot of what I want out of life. I’ve been living under a great deal of tension for the past couple of years. And you know what they say about the dangers of too much tension. I’ve done well financially, but as the magazines say, stress takes its toll.“
„like it did on the man called Wolf?“ she flung back.
Vaughn shook his head. „That was an entirely different sort of situation. According to the story, he simply broke. With me, dropping out is more of a reasonable, strictly pragmatic business decision. You see, I’ve been working very hard lately. And I’m a little tired. Holding down two jobs will do that to a man.“
„Two jobs?“ she questioned, confused.
„Never mind.“ Vaughn shifted his position in the doorway. „I really don’t feel like discussing it any further at the moment. Let’s go into the living room and sit down. We might have a long wait ahead of us. But have no fear. Sooner or later your uncle will figure out that he’s been sent on a wild-goose chase. When he does he’ll rush back here. We’ll be waiting for him. I bought some food. Enough to last us a couple of days, if necessary. But I doubt we’ll have to put up with each other’s company for that long. Your uncle is a smart man.“