“Making sure we’re not being followed by anyone except Terry,” Nick answered.
For the next ten minutes he led Terry on a mad ride above the cliffs, swerving fast and tight. More than once Nancy shut her eyes, sure that they’d never make the curve and the car would be sent flying into the ocean.
At last Nick veered off the highway and onto a narrow road. Nancy looked behind them and was relieved to see that Terry had survived the roller coaster ride.
Nancy felt her tense muscles relax as Nick turned onto a dirt road and stopped the car beneath a stand of redwoods. Terry pulled up beside them a few minutes later. He and Nick got out of their vehicles at the same moment. By the light of their headlights, the two men who hadn’t seen each other since they were teenagers stood absolutely still. Each looked as if he couldn’t believe what he saw.
“Kirkland,” Nick said softly.
Terry’s voice was hoarse with amazement. “I thought you were dead all these years.”
Nick shook his head. “I was almost dead. More than once.” He gave Terry a reckless grin. “Don’t understand it myself, but the Pilot still hasn’t caught up with me.”
“I’m glad,” Terry said.
Fascinated, Nancy watched the reunion. Both Terry and Nick looked as if they thought the other might disappear at any second, as if the entire night might be a dream.
“I’m not the one who kidnapped your daughter,” Nick said abruptly.
“I know,” Terry told him. “I never thought you were.”
“But I know who did.” Nick looked at Nancy for the first time since they’d gotten out of the car. “And so does she. Let’s find a place to talk.”
Nick led the way up a wooded slope on the side of the road. Nancy walked behind the two men. Night had fallen. She could barely see Nick ahead of her, and she couldn’t hear either man. Both of them wove through the dark woods silently. What a day, she thought wryly. First the fog and now a pitch-black forest. I wouldn’t be surprised if quicksand were next.
Terry startled her from her thoughts by suddenly appearing at her side. “This way,” he said, nodding toward a small clearing to the left.
Nick sat on a large boulder that appeared white in the moonlight. “Sorry,” he said to Nancy as she entered the clearing. “I know all this hide-and-seek stuff seems extreme, but if I’m right, there’s a good chance we’re being followed by Elgar.”
“Malcolm Elgar?” Terry echoed. “The guy who thought he was a ninja?”
“You’ve got it,” Nick said grimly. “Elgar was trained for intelligence work,” he explained to Nancy. “That means that while he was in the military, he learned a lot about how to get in and out of places without being seen. And how to do a lot of damage. From what I can tell, he picked up a few nasty tricks on his own after that.” His eyes met Terry’s. “He’s deadly.”
“He didn’t kill Amy,” Terry pointed out.
“That’s only because he was using her as a warning. You might not be so lucky next time.”
“Why is Elgar following you?” Nancy asked.
Nick ran a hand through his red hair. “I guess you could say we’re following each other. I’m beginning to feel like I’ve been following him since the day our unit was hit.”
“You mean the day you were declared missing in action?” Nancy asked.
Nick nodded. “What actually happened was that all of us who weren’t killed were taken captive. I spent the next three years in a prison camp.” His voice tightened as he continued. “I’m not going to go into what went on there. Let’s just say that three years later I was very happy to escape.”
“And then what?” Terry asked. “Where have you been since then?”
“Thailand mostly,” Nick replied. “Somehow, after being a POW, coming back to the States just didn’t make sense to me.”
“Then why did you come back now?” Nancy wanted to know.
“Malcolm Elgar.” Nick picked up a stick from the ground and snapped it angrily in two. “I ran into him a few months ago in Bangkok. I couldn’t believe it. I was sure he’d been killed in that attack, since he certainly wasn’t taken prisoner. We had this big, emotional reunion. And while we were talking, he started telling me that he was looking to buy Burmese jade, the real light translucent stone. He said it was worth a fortune. Which reminded me of something I hadn’t thought about in years.”
“The jade tiger,” Nancy and Terry said at once.
“Right. I made the mistake of telling Elgar about it. I said, ‘I used to have a statue made of that stuff. I didn’t know it was all that valuable. Found it in a Vietnamese temple we looted.’ ”
Nancy wanted to make sure she understood this. “You stole the jade tiger from a temple?”
Nick shrugged and looked slightly embarrassed. “The temple was deserted. There weren’t any monks there or anything. Not that it excuses doing it, but a lot of guys in our unit were helping themselves. These things happen in war.
“Anyway,” Nick went on, “I told Elgar I’d found a jade tiger like that years ago, and I’d given it to you, Terry, to hold for me.”
“Why did you tell him that?” Nancy asked.
“I guess I was all caught up in the excitement of seeing an old buddy I’d thought was dead. It didn’t occur to me that Elgar wasn’t a friend until the day after we met. That’s when something he said hit me funny.”
“He was showing interest in the jade tiger?” Terry guessed.
“No,” Nick answered. “We were talking about that last mission. And Elgar said, ‘I knew that hill was trouble from the start. I never liked those coordinates.’ ”
Nick’s answer didn’t sound terribly sinister to Nancy, and her face must have shown it. Nick was quick to explain. “The coordinates are the numbers on a map that tell you exactly where a mission will take place.”
“And this mission was top secret,” Terry said, following Nick’s train of thought. “Which means that Elgar shouldn’t have had those coordinates.”
“Exactly,” Nick said. “The only ones who should have known our destination were our lieutenant and our sergeant. Both of whom were killed.”
“Elgar knew where you were going, and he shouldn’t have,” Nancy said.
