His Mysterious Ways

“Were any of the alarms tripped?”

He shook his head. “There’s no way she could get through the lasers without all hell breaking loose.” He glanced up at Lassiter. “You want me to put the camp on alert?”

“No, not yet.” Lassiter was still watching the video, which now showed nothing more than mist swirling around the fence. “Let me have a look around first. I’ll let you know if I find anything. In the meantime, don’t mention that tape to anyone else.”

Taglio shot him a look, but whatever was on his mind he kept to himself. “You’re the boss. But just for the record, you never answered my question. How can a person just disappear like that?”

Lassiter shrugged. “I think you answered it yourself. It must have been some kind of optical illusion.”

“Yeah, that must have been it.” But Taglio didn’t sound convinced, and his expression was anxious as his gaze moved past Lassiter to the open doorway and the gathering darkness beyond. “Or else…”

“Or else what?”

Taglio’s gaze lifted and something that might have been fear flickered in his eyes, giving Lassiter a glimpse of vulnerability in the younger man that he suspected few people had ever witnessed. Taglio seemed almost embarrassed by what he had to say. “Maybe she isn’t human.”

Lassiter frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“A ghost, Lassiter. I’m talking about a damned ghost.”

LASSITER TRIED to laugh off Taglio’s supernatural explanation, but he found himself shivering even though the night was warm and humid.

But Tag had it all wrong, Lassiter thought grimly as he climbed into his jeep and headed over to Sector Seven. The woman on the video wasn’t the ghost. Lassiter was. He’d died a long time ago and he had some pretty damning proof that he should have stayed dead. Dead and buried in a watery tomb that now rested on the ocean floor hundreds of feet below the surface.

For a moment, the claustrophobic memories threatened to engulf him, and he could hear the cacophony of clanking metal and human screams slowly making their way to the surface. He shoved them away, buried them deep and kept driving.

He checked the fence along Sector Seven, but the metal hadn’t been cut and the alarms were still set. The woman couldn’t have gotten inside the camp. But just to be on the safe side, Lassiter drove the perimeter of the compound, making sure the guards were at their posts, and then he checked all the buildings.

The mess tent and rec hall were deserted, but he could see Kruger and Martin Grace still at work in the office, heads bent low, their expressions gloomy. They appeared to be arguing, but what compelling business kept them at it for so long, Lassiter had no idea. He didn’t interrupt them this time. He had other things on his mind.

Parking the jeep, he crossed the interior of the compound on foot and checked the infirmary. The place was run by a man named Angus Bond, an Australian expatriate Kruger had dug up from somewhere who claimed to be a doctor. Bond had padlocked the door to keep the more potent drugs from falling into the wrong hands. Or so he said. But it had been Lassiter’s suspicion for quite some time that old Angus wasn’t above a little self-medicating. The padlock was probably more self-serving than precautionary.

Lassiter started to walk away when the sound of breaking glass stopped him short. He turned and put an ear to the door.

Someone was inside.

His first thought was that Angus had returned early from his day off, but Lassiter had seen the Aussie head off to Santa Elena just before lunch, and the good doctor never came back early or sober from a furlough.

Besides, how would Angus get through a door that was padlocked from the outside?

How would anyone get through that door?

A ghost, Lassiter. I’m talking about a damn ghost.

CURSING SOFTLY, Melanie whipped the scarf from her head and quickly wound it around the cut on her wrist.

Damn! She was getting blood everywhere.

And everything had been going so well until that point. She’d made it inside the compound without being detected. Located the infirmary and gotten inside without any problem. The locked medicine cabinet had presented the first real challenge, but she’d solved that by simply smashing out the glass front. No problem, except when she’d reached inside, she’d cut her wrist on a shard.

But even worse, the sound of shattering glass had been like a gunshot in the quiet. Someone might have heard the noise and would soon come to investigate. Melanie knew she had to hurry.

Fighting off a wave of dizziness from the sight of her own blood, she directed her penlight into the cabinet, playing the beam over the vials and bottles of medicine.

Whoa, some heavy-duty stuff there. OxyCotin, Percocet, Demerol. And some good old-fashioned morphine.

Tempting, but not why she’d come there.

Skipping the drugstore heroine, she went straight for the antibiotics, scanning the labels until she found what she needed. Quickly she stuffed the packets of tetracycline into the leather bag she wore draped over her shoulder.

A slight noise, nothing more than a swish of air, sent a chill up her spine, and slowly she turned toward the door.

A man stood just inside, almost hidden by shadows. Even so, Melanie could tell that he was tall, broad-shouldered, muscular. His features were indistinguishable, but she knew his gaze was on her. A cold, sharp, penetrating stare that cut her right to the bone.

He was dressed like a soldier. Camouflage jacket and pants. Rugged boots. A rifle barrel jutting over his shoulder, and he carried a handgun that was pointed at her.

She knew at once who he was, and her whole body went slack with fear.

El guerrero del demonio…

“¿HABLA USTED Inglés? Do you speak English?”

The woman didn’t answer, just stood staring at him, unblinking, as if frozen. But Lassiter knew she understood him. Now that he’d gotten a better look at her, he could tell she was American by the way she carried herself, by the clothes she wore, the cut of her blond hair.

“How the hell did you get in here?” he demanded.

Still she didn’t answer.

Slowly, she held up her hands as she began to back away from him.

“Stay where you are,” he warned. “Don’t move.”

She continued to back toward the window, and Lassiter guessed her intent. “Stop!”

He rushed her, but she turned quickly, took a step toward the window and…disappeared.

Vanished into thin air.

Without thinking, Lassiter opened fire.

Chapter Two

“Let me see that wrist,” Dr. Wilder commanded as he reached for Melanie’s hand.

She put it behind her. “It’s fine. Just a scratch.”

His gaze turned reproachful. “Then why have you been hiding it from me all day?”

“I haven’t. We’ve both been busy, that’s all.” Which was true. They’d had a steady stream of patients coming into the clinic for hours with ailments ranging from dementia to dysentery, and Melanie, who had come to the clinic four days ago to volunteer, had been kept so busy she’d barely had a moment to spend with Angel.

But the child’s condition had been steadily improving. Her fever was down, the cough had subsided, and her breathing was finally normal. Both the oxygen and the IV had been removed, and with continued antibiotic therapy, Dr. Wilder was cautiously optimistic for a full recovery.

What would happen to the child once she was well enough to leave the clinic, Melanie didn’t want to contemplate. She’d watched enough cable news back home to know the miserable plight of war orphans in countries like Cartéga.

“Melanie?”

She glanced up to find Dr. Wilder waiting patiently. “Your arm, please.”

With a heavy sigh, she held out her hand, palm up, and Dr. Wilder carefully unwrapped the bandage she’d put around her wrist earlier that morning. The cotton was dotted with blood.

He looked up, his usually placid gray eyes now stern and ominous. “This is a very serious cut.”

“It looks worse than it is.” She tried to snatch her hand away, but Dr. Wilder held on firmly.

“It should have been sutured immediately. Why didn’t you come to me?”

“I already told you, the less you know of my whereabouts last evening, the better off you’ll be.”

“This happened last night? At Kruger’s compound?”

“No comment.”

His features tightened. “How did it happen? Who did this to you?”

The angry, possessive note in his voice startled Melanie. They’d only known each other a few days, but they’d bonded through their mutual concern for Angel. Their friendship had developed rapidly during the crisis, which was unusual for Melanie. She didn’t make friends easily or quickly, although her reckless behavior in high school had made her quite popular for a time, she thought dryly.

“No one did it to me. It was an accident. Let’s just forget it.”

“Easy to say until you develop a nasty infection,” Dr. Wilder scolded. “Now hold still.”

The door opened and Blanca, Dr. Wilder’s nurse, stuck her head around the corner. Tossing back her long black hair, she eyed them curiously for a moment before she spoke. She was a young woman, Melanie’s age perhaps, with delicate features and a curvaceous figure reminiscent of old Hollywood. The word lush always came to mind when Melanie saw her.

But Blanca’s eyes were her most striking feature. Dark, wide and soulful, they glinted with suspicion every time she turned her gaze on Melanie.

The woman’s instant and overt animosity was something Melanie still didn’t understand.

“There is a man here to see you, Doctor,” Blanca said in Spanish.

“English, please, Blanca.” Dr. Wilder barely glanced up. “What does he want?”

He still held Melanie’s hand, and Blanca’s curiosity turned into a scowl of disapproval as she continued to observe them from across the room. “He said it was official business. A matter of extreme importance,” she said in heavily accented English.

“He’ll have to come back.” Dr. Wilder released Melanie and began gathering supplies to suture her wrist.

“Wait a minute,” Melanie said. “He could be with the Ministry of Health. Maybe you should see him.”

Dr. Wilder gave a scornful laugh. “The minister won’t even return my phone calls. I highly doubt he’d send an emissary in person to meet with me.”

“What should I tell him?” Blanca asked.

“Just what I said,” Dr. Wilder replied curtly. “I’m with a patient. He’ll have to come back later. In an hour.”

Blanca’s mouth tightened, but she left the room without a word and closed the door more soundly than necessary behind her.

“She seemed upset,” Melanie said. “Maybe you should go see who this man is.”

Dr. Wilder shrugged. “Blanca is quite capable of taking care of the matter.”

“She does seem efficient,” Melanie said carefully. “How long has she worked for you?”

“A few months. Why?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I just get the impression she’s very protective of you.”

He turned away quickly, but not before Melanie saw a look of embarrassment flicker over his features. “I’m going to give you a local, but it may still sting a bit.”

He was hiding something, she decided. Obviously, he didn’t want to discuss his relationship with Blanca, but why? Was there something going on between them that Melanie had somehow missed?

If so, that would go a long way in explaining Blanca’s attitude, particularly if she regarded Melanie as a potential rival for Dr. Wilder’s affection.

But if she only knew, Melanie thought with a grimace. Romance was the last thing she needed. And besides, what man in his right mind would ever understand, let alone accept, this…thing she could do?

Melanie didn’t even understand it herself, but she knew instinctively that no good would come of it.

Where science is corrupted, evil often flourishes.

Dr. Wilder’s warning suddenly came back to her, and her hand jerked reflexively.

He looked up. “I’m sorry. Am I hurting you?”

“Not much.”

“I’ll try to be quick.”

He was as gentle as he could be, but thirteen stitches later, Melanie was fervently wishing for a hit of the Percocet she’d seen in the infirmary last night.

“I’M DR. WILDER. My nurse said you wanted to see me?”

“Jon Lassiter.”

Neither man offered the other his hand. Instead, Dr. Wilder walked around his desk and motioned to a chair across from him.

“Thanks, but I prefer to stand,” Lassiter said.

“As you wish.” Dr. Wilder took a seat and folded his hands on the desk. “What can I do for you?” His voice was surprisingly calm, considering how tense he’d seemed when Lassiter had been ushered into his office.

“I work for Kruger Petroleum. We had an intruder in our compound last night.”

Wilder lifted his brows. “I’m sorry to hear that, but what does it have to do with me?”

“The only thing missing were antibiotics. An odd choice, considering there were several opiates within easy reach, including morphine. Not a big demand on the black market for tetracycline.”

Wilder grimaced. “You obviously aren’t aware of the latest epidemic.”

“I know about the fever,” Lassiter said. “I also know that you have a patient here at the clinic, a girl about five years of age, who has typhuslike symptoms. Correct me if I’m wrong, Doctor, but the treatment for an infection caused by rickettsia bacterium is heavy antibiotic therapy, preferably tetracycline or chloramphenicol.”

Something flickered in Wilder’s eyes, but his expression never changed. “Are you accusing me of stealing your antibiotics, young man?”

“You don’t match the description of the thief.”

“Then I ask you again, what does any of this have to do with me?” Impatience had crept into Wilder’s voice, but something else was there, too. Lassiter had the distinct impression Wilder was protecting someone.

“The thief was wounded in the robbery,” he said. “I need to know if you treated anyone late last night or sometime this morning with a fairly deep cut, probably on one of her hands?”

“Her?”

“The intruder was a woman.”

Dr. Wilder shook his head. “I’ve seen no one, male or female, with such an injury.”

“What about a gunshot wound?”

Alarm flashed across his face. “A gunshot wound?”

“The intruder came under heavy fire,” Lassiter explained. “She might have been wounded.”

Wilder’s mouth tightened. He suddenly looked very angry. “I’ve seen no gunshots wounds, either.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“Positive.”

Lassiter knew the man was lying. The infinitesimal tick at the corner of his left eye gave him away. “I understand you have a young woman working at this clinic who does match the description of the intruder. Blond. About five foot seven.”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” Dr. Wilder said coolly.

Lassiter placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward. He could see something dark in the doctor’s eyes. Fear? Contempt? A little of both? “Let me give you a warning, Doctor. I don’t like playing games any more than I like being made a fool of in front of my employers.”

Wilder said scornfully, “You would place a higher premium on your pride than on a child’s life?”

Lassiter straightened. “Then you admit the drugs were brought to this clinic.”

“I admit no such thing.” Dr. Wilder pushed himself back from his desk and rose. “But if they had been, any rational man, any moral man, would see that the end justifies the means when an innocent child’s life is at stake. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m very busy. I trust you can show yourself out.”

Lassiter strode across the room, then paused at the door to glance back. “If you did have such a woman in your employ, I’d ask that you give her two messages, the first being that in future, if she needs drugs, she might try asking for them. And second, there are some places in the world where a thief would be made an example of by having her hands chopped off in the public square.”

“If that’s a threat…”

Lassiter smiled. “Just another friendly warning. So long, Doctor.”

He pulled the door closed between them and headed down the dim, narrow hallway toward the exit. Wilder’s nurse, who was lurking in the corridor, jumped back to allow him room to pass. He suspected that only moments earlier, she’d had her ear pressed to the door, listening to every word being said in Wilder’s office.

But as their gazes met briefly, she looked at Lassiter with neither guilt nor fear, but with a cool, deadly calculation that was more than a little disturbing.

FROM HER HIDING PLACE across the street, Melanie watched the man come out of the clinic and pause on the steps as his gaze went up and down the street. She shrank back into the alley, certain that el guerrero del demonio would have the ability to zero in on her even in the shadows, or in the middle of a crowd, or a hundred miles away.

They say he has…special powers.

Melanie shivered as she glanced around the corner of the building. He was minus the rifle and the camouflage gear she’d seen last night. Today he wore jeans and a snug black T-shirt that seemed at once nondescript and sexy. He might have been a good-looking tourist out for a bit of sightseeing—except for the rigid way he carried himself and that cold gleam she knew would be in his eyes.

Even from across the street, she could see the bulge of his biceps beneath his short sleeves, the depth of his chest through the cotton shirt. He was lean and muscular, a fighting man in the prime of his life. A mercenary who killed people for money, and Melanie had the impression he was very good at what he did.

Her stomach tightened as she watched him. He was looking for her, she knew that. He must have followed the trail of blood, so to speak. The clinic was the logical place to start his search.

How long before he gave up?

Or would he give up?

With one last glance down the street, he climbed into the jeep and made a U-turn in the street, heading north, toward the mountains. But Melanie knew he’d be back.

Her heart pounding uncomfortably, she waited until his vehicle was out of sight before she left her hiding place and headed in the opposite direction, toward downtown.

The population of Santa Elena was less than five thousand permanent residents whose meager livelihood depended on the tourists who came there to visit the cloud forest and the nearby Mayan ruins. The main thoroughfare ran through the heart of downtown, where a bustling open-air market catered to the foreigners and dilapidated buses dodged potholes, chickens and children playing soccer in the street.

Melanie’s hotel was in the center of the village, a three-story terra-cotta building with wrought-iron balconies and potted hibiscus. A lush courtyard, hidden behind stone walls heavily draped with bougainvillea, provided a cool, shadowy oasis for guests needing a respite from the hot midday sun.

As she entered the Hotel del Paraíso, Melanie was struck again by the Old World charm of the lobby. A huge fountain, surrounded by tree ferns, bubbled in the middle of the stone floor while palm-leaf fans twirled lazily overhead.

She nodded to the clerk behind the desk as she made her way to the elevator and shoved home the wrought-iron gate. The elevator clanged its way to the third floor, where her room was located at the end of a long, dim corridor.

The room was large and airy, with a private bath and a view of the street that Melanie had requested. She was quite comfortable with the accommodations, but she knew if she planned to stay in Santa Elena for much longer, she’d have to find a cheaper place.

When her mother had died a few months ago, she’d left Melanie the bulk of her estate, but taxes had depleted a substantial portion of the inheritance. And Melanie’s most recent job as a cocktail waitress hadn’t allowed her to contribute much to the nest egg. Still, it would last her for a while if she was careful. Luckily, she was not a person given to consumer excesses. The basics were really all she needed—food to eat, a roof over her head, clothes on her back.

Stripping, she took a quick shower—a difficult task with one hand that had to be kept dry—then dressed in fresh jeans and a white cotton blouse she’d picked up at a thrift store in Houston before she’d caught a plane to Cartéga. Grabbing her bag, she left the hotel again, intent on finding a quiet place to have a drink and watch the sunset.

This time of day, the hotel terrace would be full of tourists, mostly Americans and Asians, who would have just gotten back from their trek to the cloud forest or the ruins. Their excited chatter could be entertaining at times, but today Melanie’s nerves were on edge. She needed peace and quiet, a chance to think.

Heading down the street to a tiny café she’d discovered her first day in Santa Elena, she found a table on the patio, ordered a pineapple juice and then, settling in, let her mind wander.

“You must be new here.”

The Australian accent startled Melanie so thoroughly she realized she must have drifted off to sleep. Alarmed by the lapse, her gaze shot to the man who stood over her table.

He was older, mid-fifties at least, with a haggard face and thin, white hair that brushed the shoulders of his lightweight suit.

Melanie knew she had never seen him before, yet there was something oddly familiar about him. “I beg your pardon?”

“I asked if you were new here. I come in often, and I don’t believe I’ve seen you in here before.” He put out a hand. “Bond. Angus Bond.”

She couldn’t help but smile at the way he introduced himself. She shook his hand. “Melanie Stark.”

He held up a frosted glass garnished with a wedge of lime. “May I buy you a drink, Melanie?”

She nodded to her juice. “I already have one, thanks.” She’d meant it as a polite brushoff, but something about him, that familiarity, made her say impulsively, “But you’re welcome to join me if you like.” What the heck? He looked harmless, save for a nasty scratch down the left side of his face, and there was something irresistible about a man with an Australian accent, no matter his age.

“I’d like that very much.” He drew out a chair and sat down, then took a long, thirsty pull from his gin and tonic.

“Nectar of the gods,” he said with a sigh.

“I thought that was wine.”

“Not in my paradise.” He grinned and took another swallow. “So what brings you to Santa Elena, Melanie? The cloud forest or the ruins?”

“I intend to see both. How about you?”

He shrugged. “I’ve lived off and on in Cartéga for quite some time now. Santa Elena has always been a favorite haunt of mine. I like the quaintness.”

Melanie lifted a brow in surprise. “You live here? Judging by your accent, I would have guessed you’d just left Melbourne a few days ago.”

“Queensland, actually. I’m a banana bender, as they say.” He grinned and saluted her with his drink. “As for the accent, old habits die hard.”

“I know what you mean,” Melanie murmured. She realized then why he looked so familiar to her. The evidence was there in his face. The excesses and the abuses. But it was his eyes that were the true giveaway. They were flat, emotionless, empty. She’d seen those same dead eyes years ago, in rehab. And in the mirror.

“So what do you do here?” she asked him.

He toyed with his glass. “Right now I’m working for an American oil company that has a drilling site about thirty miles north of town. Kruger Petroleum. Ever heard of it?”

Melanie almost choked on her drink. “I don’t think so.”

“They’re a small, independent outfit, but they appear to be flush with cash. The owner, Hoyt Kruger, is a hands-on kind of guy. He supervises every aspect of the operation.”

“What kind of work do you do for him?” Melanie tried to ask casually.

“I run the infirmary. I’m a doctor.”