"I take it Benoit didn't die," Annja said.

"No," Lesauvage agreed. "Benoit didn't die. The storm that poured out its fury and took away his fighting terrain also offered him a means of escape. A stream runs at the foothills of the Cévennes near the ruins. With the arrival of the storm, the stream swelled and overflowed its banks, becoming a raging torrent."

Annja had been in mountains caving when flash floods had struck. She'd always been amazed at how much water was dumped during a sudden storm.

"Benoit shed his armor as he ran, knowing his only chance was the stream." Lesauvage flicked ash from his cigarette. "He reached a cliff overlooking the water. Before he could jump La Bête overtook him." Lesauvage smiled. "They fought. Benoit was armed with only a knife. He didn't fare well. But he wounded the beast enough that he was able to escape and leap into the stream. La Bête tried to follow, but couldn't swim."

"Why didn't Benoit recover his ransom later?" Annja asked.

"Unfortunately, Benoit was not only injured by La Bête, but also by the plunge into the river. He was in a coma for nine days. Everyone thought he was dead. Then, on the morning of the tenth day, he woke to find that he had suffered a spinal injury that robbed him of his legs and most of the use of his arms."

Annja waited, knowing Lesauvage was doling the story out as he wanted to.

"Condemned to his bed, Benoit still intended to have both his ransom and his vengeance against the monks," Lesauvage said. "He rallied the other knights who shared his interest in the Wild Hunt and told them that the monastery of the Brotherhood of the Silent Rain was giving shelter to La Bête."

"They believed him?" Annja asked.

Lesauvage shrugged. "Either way, they were going to be rid of the monks and their insistence that the Wild Hunt be stopped. They took up arms and destroyed the monastery, pulling it down stone by stone and burning what was left. For his revenge against the monster, Benoit struck a secret deal with the most renowned knight in all of Gévaudan at the time, Scarlet Didier, whose blood was made of ice water and whose thirst for action was unquenchable."

"He agreed to hunt La Bête?"

"When it wasn't found at the monastery, yes."

"Why?"

"For money, of course. Benoit had claimed a coin from the monastery. A piece of metal stamped with the Brotherhood of the Silent Rain's symbol. On the other side, Benoit crafted an image of a wolf and a mountain."

Annja waited.

"That image," Lesauvage said, "is a map to the treasure. Benoit gave the charm to Scarlet Didier and told him he would give him the secret of the map after he had killed La Bête and brought back the creature's head."

"Scarlet Didier didn't come back from that hunt," Annja said. She remembered the dead man holding on to the spear in the cave.

"No. After Didier went up into the mountains, he was never heard from again," Lesauvage said. "Three days after Didier left, Benoit had a relapse caused by an infection. He died a week later, never regaining consciousness."

"You expect that treasure to still be there after two hundred years?" Roux asked in a manner suggesting that Lesauvage was insane or a fool.

"It was never found," Lesauvage replied.

Roux snorted in open derision. "More than likely the monks took it back."

"The treasure was never found at the monastery," Lesauvage argued.

"Then it never existed." Roux's conviction was damning.

Lesauvage wheeled on the old man and struck him with his fist. Roux's head turned to the side. When the old man turned to face his tormentor, he glowered at him.

"No man," Roux said in a quiet, deadly voice that barely rose above the steady whir of the tires, "has ever laid a hand upon me without paying the price in blood. I will kill you."

Bending down, Lesauvage shoved his face close to Roux's. He raised his voice. "Marcel," he called.

One of the guards stepped forward.

"Tie that length of chain around the old man's leg," Lesauvage directed.

The big man knelt and carried out the order. The oily black chain left smudges on Roux's pants.

"Now open the cargo doors."

Marcel opened the cargo doors. The highway passed in a dizzying rush. Trees stood black and dark against the moon. One of the Renaults, flanked by motorcycles, followed closely.

"When I tell you to," Lesauvage said, "heave the old man out the cargo doors. If he somehow is missed by the car or survives the impact, we'll keep dragging him until there's nothing left of him."

The big guard nodded and seized Roux's bound feet. He dragged and pushed the old man to hang poised over the edge. Roux never said a word.

Horrified at the prospect of what was happening, Annja tried to break free of her bonds. The metal cuffs felt loose, but she could not break them.

She pictured the sword in her mind's eye and reached for it. But somehow she couldn't manage to take the hilt up into her bound arm. It was as if the sword were suddenly behind a glass wall.

Frustrated, Annja said, "If you hurt him, you might as well kill me."

Lesauvage threw up a hand, freezing his minion in place. "Are you that brave?" he asked.

"If you're going to kill him," Annja said, "I know you'll kill me. If I know you're going to kill me, why should I help you?"

"What do you propose?"

"Leave him alone," Annja suggested. "Once we get up into the mountains, I'll help you find the ransom Benoit hid."

"You'll help me anyway." Lesauvage leered. "I've got a taste for torture. Breaking you could be a delight."

Swallowing the fear that threatened to engulf her, Annja made herself stare back at Lesauvage. Don't let him see that you're afraid. He's like any other predator. Keep him off balance, she thought.

"Breaking me will take time," she promised. "And what do you do if you go too far? Do you want to lose time and take the chance on losing the information I have?"

Lesauvage stood. "Pull the old man back inside and close the door."

The guard did that. Immediately the road noise inside the van diminished.

"Now," Lesauvage said to Annja, "here's the deal you reaped. The first time I get the impression that you're lying to me, I'm going to kill all of you. And I'll take my time while I'm doing it." He paused. "Is that understood?"

Annja nodded, not trusting her voice.

"Good," Lesauvage said.

Little more than an hour later, they were up in the Cévennes mountains. They left the BMW, Renaults and van at the base of the mountains.

Lesauvage checked the GPS locater he carried, then gave directions to his team. All of them were heavily armed. From his conversation over the cell phone, Annja knew that he had a helicopter standing by. Evidently Lesauvage planned to use the helicopter to transport the treasure and for a quick exit.

"Are you going to continue to be his captive?" Roux whispered. He stood beside her against the van.

"I don't have much choice," Annja said.

"You have the sword," Roux hissed.

"The sword isn't exactly available at the moment."

Roux glanced at her in consternation. "What do you mean?"

"I can't get to it." Annja flexed her hands behind her back. The cuffs held her arms in place. "I reach for it, the way I always have, only it won't come."