"Guesswork," Jared said tersely. "The whole setup was off kilter. Your security measures left much to be desired."
"Yes, they did," Betz admitted calmly. "I was hoping you'd notice that, Dr. Ryker. I thought it quite likely you would. You're such a clever man."
"Jared said it was almost like a written invitation to escape," Tania said thoughtfully.
Betz permitted himself a faint smile. "A very clever man," he repeated admiringly. "That's exactly what it was. You could have walked out of here any time you chose in the last two days and none of my men would have lifted a hand to stop you."
Blood was spreading in an ever-widening stain on Kevin's plaid jacket, and Betz opened his coat to examine the wound. "Upper chest," he said. "Not necessarily fatal, I think, though there's quite a bit of blood."
Jared was releasing her and going over to join Betz at McCords side. "For God's sake, are you going to stand by and let him bleed to death?" he asked impatiently. "Fix him a pressure bandage."
"I don't believe the bullet severed any arteries." Betz was obediently extracting the pristine white handkerchief from his front pocket. "And may I call your attention to the fact that the man was attempting to kill you only a few minutes ago? Quite premeditatedly, too. When he told me last night that the senator was sending a helicopter to pick you up, I took the precaution of checking on it. It was McCord who ordered the helicopter, not Senator Corbett."
Jared took the handkerchief, wadded it up, and pressed it hard against the wound in Kevin's chest. "Hold this steady," he ordered. He took his own handkerchief out of his pocket, pressed the folded square over the first bandage, and put Betz's hand firmly over both.
"Is all this really necessary?" the security man complained. "We'd be much better off if McCord did die, you realize. He's a very tenacious man, and he's bound to cause us a good deal of trouble in the future."
"Us?" Jared's brow arched in surprise.
"Us," Betz said firmly. "I thought I'd made that clear. Why do you think I took such pains to make sure you'd escape?"
"I thought it might be a cat-and-mouse game Corbett was playing," Jared said slowly. "You're telling me you did all of this on your own initiative?"
"Yes, of course," Betz said with a satisfied smile. "I'm not without that capacity, you know. It takes me a good deal longer to make up my mind than most people, but I have no hesitancy about acting once I've decided what course to take."
"And in this case you've decided to act against Corbett's orders?"
"I considered all my options most carefully," he said earnestly. "Breaking with Corbett was a very difficult decision I was forced to make. I had a great deal to lose, you see." He sighed. "But I finally realized I would have to transfer my allegiance. It was necessary."
"Necessary?" Tania asked. That seemed to be the watchword by which he lived.
"Why, yes, Miss Orlinov," he said. "I told you that I was a very determined man, a very ambitious man. I'm slow, however, and it takes me more time than it would a more clever man." His brown, Basset eyes were serene in his plump face. "But give me that extra time and there's nothing I can't accomplish. I can be anything I want to be. Dr. Ryker's breakthrough is going to give me that time. That's why it's very important that he get a chance to release it, because that's the only way a man in my position will get a chance to use it." His smile faded. "Senator Corbett would never have considered me a
candidate for his privileged little group of Methuselahs. He wouldn't have thought me 'worthy' But give me enough time and I'll travel farther than the senator ever dreamed."
Tania could believe it. Such obsessive determination and self-discipline would be as irresistible as a riptide, and just as deadly.
"I trust you're going to help us escape, then?" Jared's eyes narrowed on the other man's face.
Betz nodded. "The helicopter will be much more convenient than ground transport. I think we should take advantage of Mr. McCord’s perfidy, under the circumstances. You and Miss Orlinov can find a place that's fairly safe and then notify me of your whereabouts. I'll come at once and take measures that will insure your security." His face had a childlike gravity. "I'm very good at my job, Dr. Ryker. You won't be disappointed."
"I'm sure I wouldn't, Betz," Jared said dryly. "But I don't think we'll require your services after you help us escape. We'll be able to handle everything ourselves from that point on."
"You won't be letting me know where you are?" Betz sighed gloomily. "I always knew you were a very difficult man, Dr. Ryker. Now I'm going to have to waste a great deal of valuable time tracking you down." His jaw set doggedly. "But I will find you. You've got to be kept safe. It's absolutely necess—"
Jared held up his hand. "Yes, I know, Betz," he interrupted. "Unfortunately we don't agree on the importance of your presence in maintaining that safety." He shrugged. "Not that I believe it will deter you from trying to find us. I'm surprised you're not insisting on coming with us right now."
Betz shook his head regretfully. "I thought about it, but decided it would be better for me to join you later. I have some loose ends to tidy up here." His gaze rested
thoughtfully on McCord’s unconscious face. "Yes, I'll definitely have to take care of a few other things first."
"Like removing the pressure bandage and letting Kevin bleed to death?" Jared asked grimly.
"I didn't say that." Betz's face was impassive. "I can't understand why it should matter to you one way or the other. As I said, McCord is something of a fanatic, and could prove a threat to us."
"Kevin may be a fanatic, but he genuinely believed what he was doing was right." Jared's voice was weary. "And he was willing to risk everything to do it."
Tania moved to stand beside them. "He tried to kill you," she said fiercely, "and he'll try again, damn it.
"So we're to go on demanding an eye for an eye Jared shook his head. "No, Tania, we can't live like that anymore. We've got to start somewhere, and it might as well be here."
She stood looking up into his silver eyes, and suddenly she understood what he was trying to tell her. "Childhood's end?" she asked softly.
"Childhood's end," he affirmed, smiling gently.
"Dr. Ryker, I'm afraid you don't—" Betz began.
Jared pulled his gaze from Tania's, and suddenly his face was no longer gentle. "McCord lives," he said crisply. "You're going to take very good care of him to insure that, Betz. Because if you don't, even if you do track me down, I promise you won't stand a chance in hell of changing my mind about accepting your services." He smiled grimly. "You'll find just how difficult I can be. Do you understand?"
"Oh, yes, I understand." He looked wistfully down at the pressure bandage. "McCord will live," he said reluctantly.
"Good." Jared rose to his feet and took Tania by the arm. "Now I think it's time we left. I'd like to say goodbye, but I'm very much afraid it will be au revoir, Betz."
He was propelling her swiftly toward the helicopter, and as he opened the copter door and lifted Tania into the passenger seat, he heard Betz's colorless voice behind him. "I said you were a very clever man. Au revoir, Dr. Ryker, Miss Orlinov."
Betz watched tranquilly as the rotors began to whirl, starting a minor hurricane, and then the helicopter lifted off the pad, making a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn before it started to climb. One of Betz's hands calmly smoothed his hair back into orderliness, while the other held the pressure bandage on McCords chest.
It was going to be very inconvenient being tied to the chateau until McCord was well, he thought with a troubled frown. There was no doubt that it was going to interfere with his tying up the loose ends he'd referred to in his conversation with Dr. Ryker. It was fortunate that Ryker had assumed he was talking about McCord, or he'd probably have wrung another promise from him about Corbett. He shook his head in bafflement. Dr. Ryker's reasoning was totally incomprehensible. Couldn't he see that when a danger presented itself, it was only logical to remove it?
Well, he'd made no promises regarding Corbett, and he had every intention of making sure the senator would present no future threat to Dr. Ryker. That was absolutely necessary. Certainly luring the senator to the chateau presented no real problem. Ryker's escape and McCord’s shooting would accomplish that. Now all he had to do was adjust his plans to encompass the delay McCord’s convalescence would entail and then proceed. . . .
The huge, many-turreted chateau towered on the top of the mountain with a dark and pompous grandeur. As the helicopter gained height, it seemed to shrink into a cozy, postcard stereotype of Disneyworld, except for the tiny pinpoint of light on the landing pad that was Betz's lantern. There was nothing in the least cozy about the man they'd just left kneeling beside McCord, Tania thought with a shiver.
She glanced at Jared at the controls next to her, and was unsurprised to see his gaze on that little flame of light also. "Betz is a very dangerous man," she said soberly. "Give him the time he needs to develop and we'll have another Corbett." She grimaced. "And one Corbett in the world is more than enough."
The dim lights on the control panel illuminated the curious smile on Jared's face. "Perhaps. We'll have to wait and see what the next fifty years bring. He said he could be anything he wanted." He darted her an amused glance. "Evidently we're going to have him in our corner whether we want him or not. Maybe we can convince him it's absolutely necessary' that he become a saint."
"Somehow I doubt that," Tania said dryly. She leaned back on the padded seat and tried to relax, Everything had happened so fast that she could still feel the adrenaline sweeping through her. "Where do we go from here?"
"We'll land at the farm in the valley and change helicopters," he answered. "Then it will probably be best if we spread a false trail by zigzagging across the country before we zero in on our ultimate destination."
"And where is that?" She should have known that Jared would have everything planned in advance.
"I've developed a fondness for islands over the past four years," he said with a smile. "When I sold the one I had in the Caribbean, I bought another in the south Pacific in case I needed somewhere to go to ground. I made sure the sale was drowned in an avalanche of red tape and paper work and the deed issued in another name." His hand reached out to squeeze her thigh affectionately. "There are a few hills, but no mountains, I promise you, sweetheart."
"That's something, I guess." She sighed. "I suppose this means that the New York residency requirement I gave you is down the drain. There isn't, by any chance, a resident ballet company in this pagan paradise?"
"I'm afraid not, little Piper. And it won't be safe for you to perform in public for some time to come."
"I suspected as much." She was silent a moment, trying to smother a disappointment that was heartbreaking. "Well, what's on the agenda for the next few years?" she asked, keeping her tone light with no little effort.
"We establish a base on the island and form our own network for using my work." His eyes were narrowed in thought. "I'd still like to find a way to set up an international body to avoid the turmoil that's bound to erupt, but I'm a little wary of trying to find an intermediary, after our experience with Corbett." He shrugged. "If I can't find a person whom I can trust, I'll just send a release to all the newspapers in the world, and we'll sit back and see what happens. Either way, we go public on the process for life extension."
"If you follow the second course, we may need Betz after all. We're going to be awfully vulnerable on that island, and you'll be the most wanted man in the world for one reason or another."
"With the most wanted woman," he said lightly, his hand rubbing her thigh in a gentle caress. "I'll always be in the very best company."
"And what will you be doing while we're sitting back watching the fallout?" she asked, covering his hand with her own. "Working on the refining of the process?"
He shook his head. "I have plenty of time for that. I thought I'd start working in a new direction entirely, on something a little more urgent." He grinned. "Something our friend Betz would thoroughly approve of, by the way."
"And what is that?"
"Mind expansion. At the present time we're using only one tenth or less of our potential intelligence. There should be some way to tap that great reservoir. We're going to need every bit of our mental resources if we're to go interplanetary before conditions become critical."
She started to laugh, and when he looked at her inquiringly, she shook her head. "You're utterly incredible, do you know that, Jared Ryker?" Her dark eyes were dancing. "You're not satisfied with making all of us Methuselahs, we're going to have to be Einsteins too!"
He smiled. "Why not? It's all out there, just waiting for us." Then his face clouded with concern. "I've got my work cut out for me, but you've been robbed of yours. God, I'm sorry, love."
"Who says I've been robbed?" She lifted her chin defiantly. "I still intend to be the best ballerina on the face of the earth. I'll just have to delay it a little while. I'll still maintain my practice and work on new choreography." Her spirits were rising even as she spoke. "And there are other subjects I can study and master while I'm waiting." She darted him a challenging glance that was brimming with mischief. "Who knows? I may decide to give you some competition in your own field, or I might take over the dissemination of the process."
"No one could do it better." The look he gave her was so full of pride and love that it started a joyous singing inside of her more beautiful than any wind chimes on earth. "Thank you, little Piper."
"Because I'm being so marvelously philanthropic and fantastically generous?" she asked teasingly, and when he nodded, she said lightly, "But you should have expected it, Jared. It's the traditional attitude for a woman in love." She felt his hand tense beneath her own. She continued clearly, "And I do love you, Jared. Now and forever." It seemed so easy to say, she thought wonderingly. Why had it been so difficult before? Perhaps the experiences they'd undergone tonight had broken the final bonds and set her completely free.