The Amulet of Power Read Free

entered the room landed a haymaker. It would have decked any normal man, but the big Arab just grunted, shook his head, and hurled himself at the newcomer—and now she could see that the intruder was Kevin Mason.
    Mason sidestepped the charge, picked up a bottle—she had no idea what was in it, and probably he didn’t either—and hurled it into the man’s face. The man’s mouth opened in a soundless scream, and he ran toward the door, covering his eyes. He missed, ran headfirst into a wall, and fell to the floor in a senseless heap.
    Meanwhile the knife-wielding Arab was back on his feet again. He charged at Mason without a word. Mason’s left hand shot out and grabbed the man’s wrist, holding the knife away. With his right hand he landed two quick blows to the Arab’s belly, then took a left to the jaw and staggered back.
    Don’t trade punches with him! Use your brain, not your muscles.
    The Arab charged again at Mason, his knife raised above his head. Mason ducked and stepped forward, and the larger man, caught by surprise, spun over Mason and landed on his back. Mason kicked the knife out of his hand, then knelt down and began pummeling him, again and again, right, left, right, left. Teeth flew out of the Arab’s mouth, blood poured out of his nose, and finally he lost consciousness. Mason got to his feet. “Are you all right, Lara?”
    “That’s twice you’ve saved me,” she replied weakly. As suddenly as it had disappeared, her voice was back.
    “This could become a habit,” remarked Mason. He turned on the light, then began looking through shelves and cabinets.
    “What are you doing?”
    “You may not be aware of it,” he replied, “but you’re bleeding rather badly. We’ve got to get you bandaged up. Ah, here it is!”
    He pulled out a roll of tape and a tube of antiseptic ointment. Then, kneeling down next to her, he swabbed away most of the blood with a towel, rubbed on the ointment as best he could, and began taping her arm.
    “I’m afraid that will have to do,” he announced when he had finished.
    “It’s not a very good job,” she noted.
    “I’m not a very good doctor—and I need the rest of the tape for
them
.”
    He knelt down and bound the two men’s hands behind their backs with tape, then taped their feet together as well. By the time he was done, both had regained consciousness.
    “All right,” said Mason. “Are you alone or did you come with others?”
    They stared at him sullenly.
    “I’m only going to ask you one more time,” he said. “Are you alone?”
    No answer.
    He picked up the knife that had nearly killed Lara. “If you won’t talk, then you won’t need your tongues. . . .”
    At this threat, the men merely smiled. Their grins spread grotesquely wide. Empty.
    “Ugh,” said Lara. “Looks like someone beat you to it.”
    Before Mason could reply, both men began gasping for breath. A moment later they were dead.
    “What the hell?” Mason frowned. “I was just bluffing with the knife. . . .”
    “Afraid you scared them to death? Not those two. I’ve read of assassins trained from infancy, their tongues cut out to make them creatures of silence. I never believed those tales— until now.” She paused. “Let’s get a doctor up here to determine what killed them.”
    “We haven’t got time,” said Mason, wiping his fingerprints from the knife and dropping it. “They obviously know you’re here, and if the hospital discovers the bodies, we’ll both be held for questioning.”
    “
Who
obviously knows I’m here?” she demanded.
    “The people the assassins worked for. We’ve got to get you to someplace where you’ll be safe.” He looked directly into her eyes. “I’m going to ask you one more time: Did you find anything in the Temple?”
    “I told you I didn’t,” she answered. “What’s going on here?”
    “I’ll tell you when we have a little time. But those two aren’t the only ones they’ll be sending after