“Now, look—” Nick began, and stopped suddenly as he found himself surrounded by eight vibrant women with fire in their eyes. They were gorgeous, they were sexy, they were appealing, they were determined, and they outnumbered him. The worst of it was that without Paula he could not find the place. And she was against him, too. He caught her eye and scowled.
The bitch was smiling at him.
“You do want to come with us, don’t you?” she said invitingly.
He gave up. They were too much for him.
Dr. Tsing-fu danced a crazy little jig of delight. “That’s all we need, that’s all we need!” he crowed exultantly. “Mao-Pei, you can find the place?”
Mao-Pei stood in the doorway of Garcia’s living room, his sullen face alight. He nodded.
“I can find the place. He gives good directions, the stupid pig”
“Then let us go,” trilled Tsing-fu Shu. “Chin You, kill the fool!”
Garcia-Galindez had figuratively spilled his guts. Now he did so literally. Chin You knew how to kill to please his master.
Tsing-fu sighed happily. It was a pity not to prolong the joyous moment, but he had other things to do.
The crescent moon cast its sickly light upon the mountain slope. Nick glanced back and dimly saw them following him, eight shapeless forms that he knew belonged to eight lean and leggy, lovely women. The nearest one was close behind him.
“Have them spread out along the rim, Paula,” Nick said quietly. “And don’t let any of them make a move until I give the signal. You’re sure this is the place?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Didn’t I spend half the night looking for landmarks?”
“Yes, you did, slowpoke.” Nick patted her cheek and grinned at her in the darkness. “Now deploy your troops and keep them quiet until dawn. It won’t be long now. If anybody hears anything—”
“They’re to give a whistle,” she finished for him, and turned away to head for her second-in-command.
“Wait.” Nick touched her lightly on the arm. “When you’ve talked to them, come back to me. I’ll be up there.” He gestured up toward the rim of the ravine.
“All right,” Paula said softly, and glided off.
Nick climbed the last few yards of the steep slope and stared down into absolute darkness. The faint moonlight showed outjutting rock and thickly foliaged treetops, and that was all. He could well imagine the shadows that must envelop this place even at high noon.
The soil beneath his feet was covered with soft moss and rotting leaves. To his right, the great umbrella-like leaves of some luxuriant tropical plant bent low to form an excellent hiding place. Nick crouched beneath it and looked back to see Paula spreading out her squad of women. One by one they were taking up positions to either side of him and disappearing into cover. They were all armed, all disciplined, all silent as guerillas in a jungle. It was a funny way to pay a visit to a bunch of innocent monks, supposing there were any monks about, but by the time Nick and his unlikely troop had gone through all the clues again and considered the opposition it had seemed to be the only way.
He sniffed the fresh night air. And frowned. It was not quite so fresh as it should be. Smoke. So? Even monks built fires. He sniffed again. Cordite? Phosphorus? It was both, he was almost sure, and there was a smell of burnt wood as well. For a moment he was tempted to toss his own flare into the valley below to see what its bright light would reveal. But that would be the end of stealth, so he decided not to. Yet the smell in the air convinced him that he and Paula’s Terrible Ones were not the first arrivals.
He heard her soft whistle from nearby and he whistled back.
Paula appeared beside him.‘
“You’ve found yourself a nice, secluded spot,” she murmured.
Nick reached for her swiftly and pulled her down to the soft moss.
“I had to be alone with you for just one moment,” he whispered. “The ladies are all dolls and I love them dearly, but they do get in the way.” He brushed his lips over her face and kissed her tenderly. She cupped his head between her hands and stroked his hair.
“It has been difficult,” she breathed. “I wanted so much to come into your room, but…” She chuckled softly. “I think they all did. It would have been unfair of me.”
“Oh, I wanted you,” he murmured, and his arms encircled her. “When this is over we’ll find a place to be alone together— a boat, a barn, right here, anywhere. Whatever happens tonight, promise me we’ll have that time.”
“My darling, my darling, I promise you.” Their arms tightened about each other and their lips met in a flaming kiss. Nick’s pulses raced as he felt her so close to him, felt the soft warmth of her breasts press longingly against him. His tongue probed passionately and his body filled with sudden heat. Paula trembled violently against him and gave herself up completely to his kiss. He ground his body against hers, wishing savagely that he could rip the clothes off both of them right then and there and sink himself deep into the warmth of her. Paula gasped and clung to him, her fingers digging into his back and her tongue searching desperately as if with her mouth she could give him all the love that was stirring so hotly in her body.
Just as suddenly they drew apart, panting for breath and fighting down their rising desire.
“Oh, Paula,” Nick muttered, pulling himself together with an effort. “Let’s get this thing done with so we can do what really matters.”
She touched his hand lightly and moved away from him.
“It will be soon,” she promised. “I know it will be soon. But I must leave you now, or it will be — too soon.”
He laughed softly, wanting her still but knowing this was not the time.
“I’m going down there now,” he said. “I know we agreed to wait for morning light but I have a suspicion that someone’s beaten us to it.”
Paula drew in her breath sharply. “But how will you see where you are going?”
“For the first part of the trip I don’t need to see,” he said grimly, pulling on his climbing claws. “This can’t be any worse than Cap St. Michel. And wait for my signal, understand?”
“I’ll wait. But please take care. I love you.”
She kissed him once more, quickly, and was gone.
Nick felt his way toward the edge and lowered himself gingerly. It seemed to him that he was always climbing when he would much rather be doing something else. But at least this was a little easier than the Haitian climb.
Minutes later he was on the floor of the narrow valley pulling off his claws and peering into the pre dawn gloom. There was no sign of anything remotely like a castle. There was no sign of anything at all.
A frog croaked hoarsely nearby; the croaking ended in a tiny splash.
Still waters! Nick’s heartbeat quickened. ‘Still waters’ in the Valley of the Shadow… of Death? The smell of smoke hung heavy in the air, a reminder that death was probably quite near.
Nick raised his night-seeing telescope and held it to his eye. Through its circle of eerie green light, visible to him alone, he could see the sharp outlines of the valley walls. He swung the finder slowly over rocks and trees. Stopped suddenly, swung it back and re-focused. A stone wall sprang clearly into view.
It was the wall of something very much like a medieval stronghold, built under overhanging rock and blending imperceptibly into the natural rock face. A clump of thick bush almost, but not quite, hid a doorway… and the heavy, iron-studded door was hanging limply on its hinges, a great hole blasted through it. Leaning against the clump of bushes was a Chinese soldier with a carbine dangling from his shoulder, an odd way for a man to stand.
He was not standing. He was sprawled back against the bushes, and he was dead.