And whoever had flung open that door had been excited to see what she was seeing now. Why not? With two horses Sasha would gravitate to any area where she could fade away into the natural camouflage of forests or boulders.

And they would figure that out, too. Someone had opened that door. Careful. She mustn’t make any—

Pain.

Darkness.

*  *  *

“Wake up.” Alisa was being roughly shaken. “You’re not hurt. I was careful not to hit you too hard. I don’t want to have to drag you if we have to get on the move.”

She opened her eyes.

Reardon. A savagely angry Reardon. She tensed, reaching for her gun. It was gone. Of course it was gone. What else could she expect?

She put her hand to her temple. She was bleeding…“Where is Sasha?”

“We’ll talk about the bitch later.” He was pulling her to her feet. “I have to get you to Masenak and see how we can arrange to get out of this hellhole.” He took out his gun and jammed it into the center of her back. “No noise. Do you understand? I don’t know how many men you brought in on that helicopter, but I’ll kill anyone you try to warn.”

“I won’t warn anyone.” Her head was clearing now. How to get out of this? She didn’t have a weapon, but she had strength and skill and that could be enough. The bastard was nervous, and all it would take would be a moment of distraction and she might be able to bring him down. “I might be a little slow. I’m dizzy…”

“If you’re slow, you’re dead. You’ve caused me too much trouble, and I won’t let you con me.” He jammed the gun in her back again. “Very quickly, Alisa.”

“Hello, Reardon,” Korgan said softly from behind him. “It’s been a long road and I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you. Just drop that gun and step away from her.”

Reardon whirled to face him. “Korgan.” His hand tightened on his gun, still pressed against Alisa’s spine. “Why should I drop it? You seem to have made the mistake of coming after her alone. You evidently want her alive, and that puts me way ahead of the game. If you shoot me, I’ll still press the trigger and she’ll die anyway.”

Korgan was here. Alisa felt a rush of relief. Together they could handle Reardon. Just concentrate on finding the right moment.

Korgan was smiling at Reardon. “Or I can stand here covering you until my old friend Gilroy appears with a team that will make your death absolutely inevitable. Stalemate.”