by Dee Davis
“No idea,” Avery said. “Can you use satellite to get us an approximate count?”
“Consider it done,” she said, “but it’ll take a few minutes to pull things together. Gotta hitch a ride on the right satellite.”
“I can help with that,” Emmett responded. “Avery, do you want me to try to join you?”
“Not enough time.” Avery shook his head, even though Emmett couldn’t see him. “I don’t think they’ll keep them alive long.”
Nash swallowed back a wave of fear and used his silenced gun to shoot off the lock on the outbuilding’s door. Inside, they waited a moment for their eyes to adjust and then looked around. “It’s a generator room. Looks fairly new. I don’t see any kind of access to a cellar or tunnels.”
“How big is the room?” Hannah asked.
“Maybe ten feet square.”
“Look behind it. Is there anything more? Ruins maybe?”
Avery moved to a second door in the back of the room, cracking the door open. “Looks like we’re right up against a cliff. There’s maybe three feet of clearance and then an outcropping of rocks.”
“Wait a minute,” Nash said, peering into the darkness. “There’s something at the foot of the rocks. A shrine maybe?” They moved out the door into the little yard, circling slowly to make sure they weren’t being watched.
“We’re clear,” Avery said, relaxing his stance. “It is a shrine. Or at least I think so. There’s a small arched gate and a slab of stone.”
“Can you get in the gate?” Hannah asked.
“There’s no lock, but it’s rusted shut,” Nash said as he pulled on the structure. Picking up a large rock, he wrapped it in a handkerchief and slammed it into the latch a couple of times. The gate groaned and then sagged open.
They waited for a moment to be sure that no one had heard and then moved into the little alcove. “There’s some carving on the rock, but it’s not legible. Years of wind and rain.”
“Can you move it?” Hannah sounded excited, and her enthusiasm carried over the air.
Avery shifted to the far side of the stone as Nash bent to get a solid grip.
“On three,” Avery said. “One, two… three.”
Together they lifted, surprised to find the stone much lighter than anticipated. And behind it yawned a dank, dark opening.
“It’s here,” Nash said as he stepped into the abyss.
“What the hell happened?” Drake rolled to his feet, rubbing his head. “Last thing I remember, we were surrounded by Kim’s thugs.”
“Said thugs clubbed you over the head. You weren’t in the most cooperative of moods. How you feeling?” Annie asked.
“Head hurts like hell, but I’ll manage,” he said, searching the room for a way out.
“It’s no good, I’ve already been over it. There’s no way out.”
“Any idea where we are?”
“No. We’re still on the first floor, but I lost track of exactly where. I tried to keep up but there were too many turns, and it wasn’t exactly a leisurely stroll.”
“Fuck.”
“That sums the situation up nicely. But I think I managed to contact Nash and Avery before they took our gear. At least I hope I did. It all happened really fast. Kim was talking and I was trying to use the conversation to give Nash a hint to our whereabouts. But then Kim noticed the headset. One of his men grabbed the earpiece and smashed it. So I’ve no idea if Nash will be able to decipher what I said.”
“Did Kim know there was someone on the other end?”
“I told him there was just you and me. But I don’t think he bought it. And he didn’t seem inclined to chat. After he found the communications equipment, he had his men drag us in here.”
“How long?”
“Fifteen minutes, maybe twenty. They took my watch.”
“At least they didn’t tie us up. Evens the odds a little.”
“Except that they’re carrying guns.”
“Hey, it ain’t over till it’s over.”
“I hope to hell you’re right. Our lives are riding on it.” She crossed her arms, trying not to think about Adam. The best thing she could do right now was keep her focus. “So you got a plan?”
“Not yet, but I’m working on it. I think we can assume that Avery will come after us. But until then, we’re on our own.” He lifted the leg of his pants and reached down inside his boot to produce a small handgun complete with silencer. “Always bring a spare.”
“You are a man of many surprises, Mr. Flynn.”
“What can I say, I like to be prepared. Think you can make like a grieving girlfriend?”
“Somehow, I’m not buying you as Boy Scout,” she said as he slumped down in the corner, playing dead. “But you’re right, you’re not looking very good.” She gave him a nod and knocked on the door. “Help. Please. Something is wrong with my friend.”
The door opened a crack and the guard looked in, his eyes suspicious. Annie knelt next to Drake. “I don’t think he’s breathing.”
The guard stepped into the room as Drake came to life, getting off a shot before the man even realized what had happened. He fell forward, his eyes wide with surprise, Annie grabbing him under the arms to break his fall.
“Come on,” Drake said. “We don’t have much time. His buddies are bound to get curious when he doesn’t check in.”
Annie grabbed the man’s rifle and they headed out the door. They hadn’t made it more than about twenty feet when a cadre of men rounded a corner behind them shouting in Turkish and firing their guns. Annie ducked and pivoted, managing to get off a successful shot, then fired again.
“You really are a sharpshooter,” Drake said as they rounded the corner, the others still in pursuit.
“Yeah, but there’s no way I can get them all. We’re still seriously outgunned, and you’re not going to do us much good with that.” She nodded down at the little handgun.
“Well, then I suggest we get a move on,” he said, already sprinting away from the shooters. “That, and pray for the cavalry.”
Nash worked to open the padlock on the grating in front of him. They’d already maneuvered around three blocked passages, so this latest encumbrance was only a minor annoyance by comparison.
“You got satellite, yet?” Avery barked into his earphone. Hannah had been trying for the past half hour or so with no luck. But at least they had light. The first half of the tunnel had been completely dark, their penlights not making much of a dent, but after they’d cleared the second rockslide the passage had smoothed out, opening off onto various storage rooms, a string of bare light bulbs stretching along the ceiling. Someone was clearly using this part of the tunnel as a cellar of sorts.
“Still working on it. But according to the blueprint you should be coming out into the east wing of the building. Which according to my intel is unoccupied.”
“Grate’s open,” Nash announced as they pushed through it, the sheet-shrouded room confirming Hannah’s assessment. “Now what? This place is too big to wander around blind.”
“Well, you don’t have to,” Hannah said, her tone relieved. “I’ve got satellite. Infrared showing your area clear. But I’ve got warm bodies all over the west side of the building.”
“Any way to find Annie and Drake?”
“Not specifically, but two of the hot spots are moving pretty damn quick. If it’s them they’ve got people on their tail.”
“All right then,” Avery said. “Let’s go.”
They moved out of the room together, Nash taking the left, Avery the right.
“Clear,” Avery called.
“You need to go straight about ten feet and then take your first left,” Hannah said, her voice sounding tinny as they moved farther into the old fortress.
They continued up the hallway until they reached an intersection. “Left,” Avery confirmed as they moved forward into the adjacent hall.
“Correct,” Hannah said. “Now go about twenty-five more feet and take a right.
You’re still clear of company.”
“And Annie?” Nash said, unable to keep from asking.
“They’re still moving, but the guys on their tail are closing.”
Avery and Nash swung around into the right-hand hallway. “We’re clear,” Avery said. “Now what?”
“Okay, it’s going to start getting dicey. I’ve got hot spots coming up in the hallway. No way to know who, but I’m betting they’re not friendlies. In about ten feet the hallway curves sharply and just around the bend you’ll see a doorway. You’ve got people inside. I’m seeing what looks to be two people. With another one in the hallway maybe five feet farther along.”
“Stationary or moving?”
“All stationary, but the guy in the hall was on the move just a few moments ago.”
“What about Drake and Annie?” Avery asked.
“If I’m right, they’re coming up on the same room. Different hallway. Looks like there’s another doorway. Hostiles are still in pursuit.” Hannah paused for a moment, the silence telling. “Look, guys, I hate to say it, but the shortest route to Annie and Drake is through the room.”
“We’ve got a bit of a problem with that,” Avery said. “If we round the corner we’re going to have to deal with the man in the hall. I’ve no doubt we can take him, but not without alerting the people in the room to our presence. Which means our chances inside just got minimal. Any other options?”
“Maybe,” she said. “Hang on a minute.” Nash could hear Hannah shuffling paper on the other end. “Okay, I’ve got it. If you backtrack about eight feet, you’ll see a door to your right. Once inside you should see a door in the far wall. According to the blueprints, it leads into the main room.”
“All right,” Avery said, motioning Nash back the way they’d come. “We’re on the move.”
The door was a small one and it protested with a squeak when they opened it. Nash pivoted into the hallway checking to see if anyone had heard. But everything was quiet. “The man in the hall still stationary?” he asked Hannah.
“He is. Nothing’s moving. At least on your side.”
“Annie and Drake are still headed the same way?” Avery asked as they slid inside the room and closed the door.
“Yes.” Hannah concurred.
The room was small, and like the others they’d encountered, covered with drop cloths. There was only a smattering of furniture. And no second door.
CHAPTER 26
They still back there?” Annie asked as they dodged around a corner, the guys on their tail firing randomly as they closed the distance. They’d managed to take out another two, but there were still at least four in pursuit and Annie had no doubt that there were others heading their way.
“Yeah,” Drake said. “And they’re getting closer.”
“So maybe we should find a way to narrow the odds a bit. I don’t like the idea of a shoot-out in the hallway, too much ricochet. But maybe if we draw them inside somewhere.”
“All right, pick a room.” He nodded at the doors lining the hallway.
Back to the wall, she reached out to open a door, then swung into the room. It was empty, but too small for a face-off. “No good,” she said. “We need something bigger. Better angles.”
Drake nodded and they moved across the hall to try another door. The second room was smaller than the first. A closet or anteroom of some kind.
“What’s that door?” Annie asked, nodding across at a second door in the far wall.
“Only way to find out is to open it,” he said.
“You go”—she motioned—“I’ll cover the hallway.” She turned to face the door, lifting the rifle.
Drake started for the door, but before he could pull it open, shots rang out, Annie firing as a man crossed into the doorway. He clutched his chest and fell but was immediately replaced with two more men, both also with rifles at the ready.
Annie dropped her gun, hands raised, blocking Drake, who managed to slip the pistol back into his boot.
“You, there.” The guard motioned to Drake as another man joined his comrades. Annie smiled. From six to three. At least she’d managed to thin their numbers a bit. “Get up.”
Drake stood slowly, hands at chest height.
“In there.” The man motioned to the door, his English accented but passable. “Move.” He shoved her forward with the barrel of his gun. It took every ounce of strength she possessed to keep from spinning around and kicking him in the teeth. It was a delicious thought, and had he been alone she’d have given it a shot. But there were two other men, which meant the move would be suicide.
Drake shrugged slightly, the gesture indicating that he’d had the same thought. With a sigh of regret, she followed him through the door into what appeared to be a library. Huge mahogany bookcases were interspersed with gilded frames containing works by the masters. Annie recognized a Titian and a Rembrandt.
“I should have killed you when I first found you here.” Kim Sun sat in an ornate wing chair, a glass of cognac on the table beside him. Across from him, ensconced in a leather chair, Annie recognized the man who’d attacked her in her room, Kim’s son—Chin-Mae.
“Why didn’t you then?” she asked as two of the guards took up position in the doorway, the third keeping his gun on Drake.
“I have other plans. A slow, lingering death. Nothing is too good for the woman who killed my son.”
“I almost got two of them,” she said, anger getting the better of her.
“But you didn’t,” Chin-Mae said, his jaw tightening as he closed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “In fact, if I remember it correctly, it was you who almost lost your life.”
“Yeah, but close doesn’t count,” Drake said.
“Enough.” Kim raised a hand. “You are here. And so we have won.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Your son grows up alone. And you will pay for my son’s death with your life. I find that a fitting ending.”
“Better that the kid was dead,” Chin-Mae said, eyes narrowed as he looked at his father. “You should have killed him when you had the chance.”
“I did what was necessary,” Kim Sun said, his attention still centered on Annie. “I just hadn’t anticipated her making it so difficult.”
“He’s just a child,” Annie said, anger strengthening her resolve. There had to be a way. She just had to find it. And to do that, she had to keep Kim talking. “And you were going to blow him away.”
“The bomb was not my idea.” Kim frowned over at his son. “And he was well cared for. I told him you would come to get him. And I was right. Anyway, what’s done is done. The child lives. And I, unlike you, Ms. Gallagher, have no innocent blood on my hands.”
“Jin was far from innocent,” she said, praying that it was the truth. “Did you know he was in Lebanon to train with the insurgents? That he was working against everything diplomacy stands for?”
“He was a child. And like most children he played with fire.”
“You knew?” She fought against her surprise.
“Not at the time. No. I truly believed my son was kidnapped. But later, when I began to uncover what really happened, the truth of his youthful idealism came out.”
“Idealism? His actions were treasonous. Against my country and yours.”
“We have no allegiance to your country,” Chin-Mae said, his voice colored with contempt. “Nor to the imperialistic regime that resulted from your invasion of my country.”
“Looks like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. You and Jin are both traitors.” Drake coughed beside her and from the corner of her eye she saw him tip his head toward the far wall. It was covered with two large tapestries, and unless she missed her guess, they were moving. First the left. Then the right. Then the left again. The movement was so slight she would have thought she’d imagined it, except for the fact that for a moment, she’d also seen the flash of a face.
Nash.
The cavalry had arrived.
&n
bsp; “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Chin-Mae was saying, his face red with anger. “Our cause is a just one.”
“Perhaps.” Kim nodded. “But that doesn’t mean that I approve of using violence to obtain one’s goals.”
“What do you call kidnapping my son? Yanking him out of bed in the middle of the night? Threatening to kill him if I didn’t comply?” Annie protested, taking a step backward toward Drake as she forced herself to stay focused on Kim. She needed to keep his attention away from the tapestry.
As far as she could tell Kim wasn’t armed. That left the three guards, each of whom had rifles, and Chin-Mae, who, although not brandishing a weapon, was still a bit of a wild card. The odds weren’t perfect, but they also weren’t as bad as they could be.
“I call it necessary,” Kim was saying, “but we have talked enough. The time for action is at hand.”
“No shit,” Annie said as she swung backward with her elbow, catching Drake’s guard in the gut. Taking the opening, Drake grabbed the rifle as Nash and Avery burst from behind the tapestry, guns blazing.
Two more guards ran into the room, and all hell broke loose as bullets went flying. Annie scrambled across the floor, intent on reaching Kim, who was trying to make it to the far door and the safety of the hallway beyond.
“Annie,” Nash yelled as she moved past him. “Catch.” He lobbed a handgun and she jumped in the air to catch it, then hit the floor again, running now, as Kim came within inches of his goal. “Move and you’re dead,” she said, leveling the gun at his head. The room had grown quiet, and she grabbed his arm, moving him in front of her as she turned to face the room.
More guards had arrived, but Drake and Avery were holding them back. Nash was bending over one of the dead guards, blood dripping from his hand.
“You okay?” she called.
“Fine,” he said, wincing as he used his teeth to tie the dead man’s handkerchief around his forearm. “It’s just a scratch. Where’s Chin-Mae?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head, her gaze sweeping the room. “I don’t see him.”
“My son has escaped,” Kim said, his tone gloating.
“Yeah, well, can’t say the same for you,” she said as she moved Kim farther into the room, her gun still at his temple. “Tell them to drop their guns and fall back or I’ll drop you right here where you stand. And you of all people should know that I mean what I say.”
