“Cameron.” Her eyes widened. “What happened to Cameron?”
“Cameron will be okay.” Erin was suddenly beside her with a bottle of water and two aspirins. “We saw explosions while we were taking off. You don’t have to worry about Cameron.”
“I wasn’t exactly worried. I just didn’t want to leave a man behind.”
“And you were right,” Luke said fiercely. “If you wanted to go get Cameron, then Tashdon should have let you. I would have gone with you.” He was glaring over his shoulder at Hu Chang, who was helping the pilot to his feet. “He shouldn’t have touched you.”
“The pilot.” She had to struggle to remember the name Luke had called him. “Tashdon hit me?”
“He had no right to hit you,” Luke said. “No one has a right to hurt you.”
“You made your opinion clear on that subject, Luke,” Erin said dryly. “However, it might be wise to talk before acting.” She turned to Catherine. “But I don’t believe he’s going to listen to anyone but you, and he’s been edging toward Tashdon again.”
“Why? What happened to Tashdon?”
Luke didn’t answer.
Erin shrugged. “Tashdon hit you with the shaft of his gun when you were trying to jump out. Then he took a step back, closed the helicopter door, and tried to say something to Hu Chang.” She made a face. “He didn’t get the chance. Luke tackled him, then was on him like a cat. He bloodied his nose and gave him a karate chop that put him out. I don’t know how much more damage he did before Hu Chang pulled him off.”
“Considerable,” Tashdon said. “I wasn’t expecting it. Keep him away from me.”
“He’s only a boy,” Catherine said. “He’s eleven years old.”
“Who is almost as tall as me,” Hu Chang said. “He doesn’t have a man’s strength yet, but he has skills that made up for it. He was all ferocity and very intimidating. He knew what he was doing once he got his hands on Tashdon.” He looked at Luke. “Didn’t you?”
“Karate?” Luke shrugged. “Of course I knew. Rakovac wanted me to know anything that had to do with killing. He wanted me to kill. But I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do anything he wanted me to do.” He looked at Tashdon. “But I wanted to hurt him, and it was easy for me.”
“You don’t kill someone just because you can,” Catherine said.
“He hurt you.” He paused. “And I didn’t kill him … quite.”
“I have to go back to the cockpit,” Tashdon said. He turned to Catherine. “I’m sorry I hurt you.” He added ruefully. “In more ways than one. I was trying to explain to you when I struck you.”
“Not the time for explanations,” Catherine said. “And I may disapprove of Luke’s taking you down, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t do it myself.”
Luke took an eager step toward him.
“No, Luke, not you.” She said coldly to Tashdon, “Make your explanations and get out of here. It was Cameron?”
He nodded. “He was sure at some point you would … opt to stay and join the fray. He said to be prepared and not let you do it when that time came.”
“He told you to knock me on the head?”
“He told me to stop you. I couldn’t think of any other way to do it. I didn’t mean to knock you out. I just wanted to give you a glancing blow that would get you away from the door.” He gazed sourly at Luke. “I’m a pilot. I don’t know any of that other stuff. Cameron wanted it done. So I did it.”
“It’s not always wise to obey blindly,” Hu Chang said. “I heard what you said before you struck Catherine and deduced the reason.” He added coolly, “Otherwise, you would have had to contend with me as well as the boy. You would have found me even more lethal. Luke knows the method but is obviously controlled by passion. That’s sometimes counterproductive. He will have to be mentally and emotionally schooled before he’s fully effective. But you might be a good subject on whom he can practi—”
“Stop, Hu Chang,” Catherine said. “Let him go fly the damn helicopter. And you will not school Luke in anything lethal. It’s bad enough that I’m always worried about you and those poisons.”
Tashdon quickly nodded and fled for the cockpit.
“Cameron did it?” Luke was frowning. “He must be lying. Cameron wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”
And Luke was willing to blame anyone but Cameron, Catherine thought. Even in the short time that they had been together, Cameron had made a potent impression on her son.
“Not intentionally, Luke,” Erin said. “He would only do it to keep Catherine safe.”
“But she has a right to do what she wants to do. He shouldn’t have told that pilot to hit her.”
“Drop it, Luke,” Catherine said. The last thing she wanted was for Luke to be aggressive toward Cameron when they saw him again. Cameron had far too many weapons at his disposal. She didn’t think he would use them against the boy, but Cameron was unpredictable to say the least. “I agree with you in principle, but I’m willing to withhold judgment until I get an explanation from Cameron.”
“That doesn’t sound like you.”
“No, it does not,” Hu Chang said. “It’s much too reasonable and logical. At last she must be listening to my sage advice.”
Luke shook his head. “I still don’t like—”
“Cameron saved us, Luke,” Erin said. “Forget everything else. Just remember what odds he took on to help us.”
Luke nodded. “I wasn’t sure what was happening at the time, but then everything started blowing up.” He smiled. “Pretty cool.”
“Yeah.” Erin smiled back at him. “Cameron is always pretty cool.”
Thank heavens Erin had managed to distract Luke. Catherine couldn’t be sure of sounding too convincing when her head was throbbing, and she was a hell of a lot angrier at Cameron than Luke. She turned to Hu Chang. “I take it I wasn’t out long?”
“No, but you missed the best part.”
“That’s a matter of opinion. So we should be in Hong Kong in about three hours?”
“That’s a good estimation. However, we may not be going to Hong Kong. We’ll have to transfer to another flight to go to the U.S., and Cameron may have made other arrangements. Hong Kong may not be safe.” He turned away. “But things were in such tumult after we took off that I didn’t get a chance to inquire of Tashdon. I’ll go up and see if he’s regained his composure enough to discuss it with me.”
Erin got to her feet. “Since this is all about me, I believe I’ll go with you.”
Catherine watched them leave before turning to Luke. “I didn’t ask you. Are you all right? Did Tashdon hurt you at all?”
Luke looked at her in surprise. “No, Hu Chang told you that I was the one who—”
“But I didn’t see it happening. I had to be sure. You were wrong, you know. You should have waited and found out—” Luke was shaking his head. “Okay, I’m not sure I would have waited. I have a habit of acting on instinct.”
Luke smiled faintly. “So do I.”
She reached out and touched his cheek. “Probably because you’re my son. I hope you haven’t inherited any more of my faults.”
“Who knows if that’s a fault? Hu Chang would say it is, but I’m not him. People aren’t the same.” His smile faded. “You were angry that I hurt that pilot.”
“No, not angry. It was a mistake. I just wanted you to realize it and correct it.”
He was silent. “I’m not sorry I did it,” he said jerkily. “I’d do it again. He hurt you.”
“Luke…”
“And there’s another reason I’m not sorry. You got to see me like I am. I couldn’t tell you. You had to see it.” He moistened his lips. “I’m not good-natured and full of jokes and all that other stuff. Sometimes when I’m with other kids my age, I just don’t get them. I try, but it’s like I’m from another planet.” He paused. “I felt more comfortable going after that pilot’s jugular than I have since you took me away from Rakovac.”
She hid the ripple of shock she felt. Poor Luke. She should have seen beyond her own need and fear and tried to make him talk to her before this. “In an emergency, it’s natural to go back to the habits of your early training.” She smiled with an effort. “And though I didn’t actually see it, I feel that I couldn’t have had a sharper awakening regarding your present mind-set. Am I going to be faced with anything more mind-boggling?”