Xander King BoxSet

by Bradley Wright

  As they wound around the streets of Paris, deeper into the city, Sam pulled her SAT phone and dialed Marv’s number.

  “Hello, Sam,” Marv answered.

  “Any idea where I am being led?”

  “At first, no. But I checked a couple of points in the direction you are headed. For some reason something stuck out to me, because it is really sort of out of the way—”

  “Marv,” Sam interrupted, “I really don’t have time for the long version.”

  “Right. I looked back and checked Xander’s Uber ride from the airport earlier today, and I am confident they are taking you back to that same warehouse.”

  “Good on you, Marv. Xander may be right about you yet. How is Kyle doing?”

  “You don’t know, do you?”

  Sam’s stomach dropped and that forced a deep inhale. “Marv, please tell me he’s all right. He’s not dead, is he?”

  “Oh God, Sam. I’m sorry. No.”

  A wave of warm emotion flooded through Sam.

  Marv continued. “But he has been taken by Khatib’s men.”

  Her stomach turned another one-eighty. She knew immediately how frightened he would be after what happened in Syria. “Please tell me we know where he’s going.”

  “He managed to hide the burner phone. Xander is tracking him now. We think Khatib is having Kyle brought to him.”

  “What makes you think that?” Sam said.

  “Well, they think he has the President’s daughter with him.”

  “He doesn’t?”

  “No, her friend. Kyle managed to help Adeline escape.”

  Sam smiled. Kyle Hamilton was full of surprises. “Is she all right?”

  “Well . . .”

  “That doesn’t sound good, Marv.”

  “We have men searching the area for her, but we haven’t been able to locate her yet.”

  Sam said, “Khatib knows.”

  “What? Why would you think that?” Marv was surprised to hear the confidence in Sam’s statement.

  “You really think he would neglect to show his men a picture of one of his targets? They all have cellular phones, Marvin. This isn’t the 1980s. He sent the men a picture of her. All of them.”

  “I hope you’re wrong, Sam. But we have three teams searching now. Listen, you are getting close to the warehouse. I am sure that is where Melanie is leading you. You need to talk to Xander, he’s been in there, maybe he can help.”

  “Connect me.” Sam waited on the line. She was worried about Kyle. If Khatib gets his hands on him . . . She shuddered at the thought.

  “Sam?”

  “Xander! Please tell me you are staying close to Kyle.”

  “I’ve got him. Don’t worry. Marv says you’re heading back to the warehouse I was at earlier?”

  “Seems that way, any pointers?” Sam asked.

  “Yes. There is a parking garage under the building with an elevator to the first floor. That floor is a large open room with temporary cubicles set up in the form of a large square in the middle, and more cubicles are lined all along the outside walls. But don’t go in.”

  “All right, and why is that?”

  “Sarah and Zhanna are on their way. I noticed a green dumpster half a block to the east. Wait for them there. They are bringing a few goodies that will help you,” Xander explained.

  “Now you’re talking. But I want Melanie for myself.”

  Xander laughed. “Take that up with Sarah and Zhanna. I think they’re still mad at her over the jet escape out of Moscow. She did try to blow them up too, you know. Don’t be selfish.”

  Then Xander changed his tone. “Sam, I really don’t know what Kyle and I are going to be walking into. If something happens, and you have a chance to save Natalie, forget about Melanie, will you?”

  Sam’s tone was sharp. “Don’t talk like that, Xander. You’ll figure it out, you always do. And don’t tell me you love me, either. It gives me the creeps when you say that before you go off on a shooting spree. I’ll see you in a bit when this is over. We can swap stories about how outstanding each other was in our victory.”

  “Fine, I won’t say it. I like your version better. But Sam?” Xander said.

  Sam rolled her eyes. “What?”

  “I love you.”

  Sam heard the line go dead. She could hear Xander smiling through his words.

  She said aloud to herself under her breath, “If he gets out of there alive, I’m going to bloody kill him.”

  38

  What a Wonderful…ly Dangerous World

  Xander ended the call with Sam. And though he was trying to keep it light so she wouldn’t worry about him, his mood was as heavy as the SUV he had been riding in. He kept the call with Sam on speakerphone so he could continue to track Kyle. The GPS blip hadn’t moved in a couple of minutes, and that was when Marv’s number appeared on the screen.

  “Where is he, Marv?”

  “Port des Saints-Pères. It’s a tiny little port on the river across from Le Louvre. Only room for one or two boats.”

  “I’m assuming you’ve already checked the cameras,” Xander said.

  “I have. They conveniently aren’t working.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Xander, I have to call this in. I have to let the local authorities know that there could be terrorist activity going on that close to the museum.”

  “No way, Marv. It’s late. The museum is closed. Khatib might blow up the entire thing if the police show up sniffing around. You have to let me handle this.”

  “X, I can’t. If something happens, I won’t be able to live with myself.”

  “Marv, who the hell are you going to call that is better suited to deal with this than I am? If you can tell me that, then you can call it in.”

  Xander let Marv sit with that for a moment. He already knew what Marv would say. Marv had been around at a time when the government was sending Xander on mission impossible after mission impossible. He knew there absolutely was no one they could bring in who would know better how to handle Khatib and his men.

  Marv finally spoke up, resignation heavy in his voice. “Damnit, X. You and I both know the French couldn’t find anyone better suited for this than you if they trained them from birth. Not to mention they are on boats, so let the frogman in you go wild.”

  “Will do. Jack Bronson is with me. He will help me establish a perimeter. He’ll have my back with the sniper rifle. Marv?”

  “Yeah, X?”

  “Do you think Natalie is there? Do you think they never left the port?”

  Marv let out a sigh. “I really don’t know. But I think there is a good possibility. I’ll keep an eye on all the surrounding cameras to see if I can pick up any clues. Kyle hasn’t moved in five minutes or so now. So you’d better get in there.”

  “What, you aren’t going to wish me luck?”

  “If that son of a bitch Khatib is down there, you won’t need luck. But you will need a spot on your office shelf for another award or two. I know that much.”

  “Awards are for the insecure. Seeing Natalie finish her movie in Paris will be all the reward I’ll need.”

  “I hear ya. In that case, break a leg.”

  Xander ended the call. Their SUV was parked along the street about a block away from the X that marked Kyle’s spot. A spot that hadn’t moved in a while. Xander didn’t like that.

  He got out of the car and walked around to where Jack and Viktor were standing. “Jack, you know where you want to be?”

  Jack pointed up to the building across the street. “Third floor, far left window. I’ll be able to shoot the cherry off a kid’s ice cream cone at the museum across the river from there.”

  “Works for me,” Xander said. “You gonna be able to tell the difference between me and the bad guys?”

  Jack smiled. “Ain’t that what I got Viktor for?”

  “Real comforting.”

  Xander loaded the last magazine from his go bag into his Glock, racked the slide, and gav
e Jack a nod. Then he turned toward the river and walked down the stairs to the riverwalk and into the shadows of the wall above him. There were a lot of things to think about, a lot of things to distract him. Natalie strapped to that wall, Kyle held captive, Sam and company walking into an obvious ambush. But Xander took one look at the timer on his watch—forty minutes remaining—and everything but what was right in front of him disappeared. With a deep breath, inhaling the stale and moist river air, he settled into the shadows.

  His mind focused.

  In front of him, along the wall to his left, was a row of thick leaved trees. The leaves helped block the lights of the city and would help him stay hidden. On his right was the river, and just beyond that, Le Louvre was lit up in the distance. The millions of people surrounding him had no idea how close they constantly were to danger. If people knew what Xander knew, they would be hard pressed to ever leave the house, for every dark corner had the potential to hold something sinister. And if you happened upon the wrong corner at the wrong time, you could be caught up in something as minor as a mugging or something as major as what was about to happen here. A full-on terrorist attack and hostage situation. He feared for his niece in that moment. Even though the world wasn’t near as ruthless as it used to be, it was still unbelievably dangerous.

  Xander walked slowly along the foot of the wall. Up ahead he could see a large dinner boat, just like the one he boarded from the water with Sam not long ago. He pictured the inside of the dining area, and unfortunately, his mind saw Natalie up on that wall. He shook this from his brain and trained his eyes on the right side of the boat. There was another slot in the concrete for another boat just like that one to be able to dock. Instead of a dinner boat, however, there were two smaller boats. Xander assumed one either had Kyle inside, or at the very least he knew the phone was there. There was absolutely zero movement on the dock. No people out for a stroll and no guards waiting to keep people away. A pit began to form in Xander’s stomach. They didn’t have time to be wrong about this being the right place. If Natalie and Kyle weren’t here, it was over.

  Xander gave a glance over his shoulder back up at the building Jack pointed to a moment ago. Sure enough, three floors up, back inside the far left window, he saw three quick flashes of light.

  Jack was in place.

  It was time to see if Akram Khatib was as well.

  39

  Girls’ Night Out

  Sam sent the cab driver away. She didn’t have any money, but one flash of her MP5 submachine gun and suddenly that didn’t much matter. He would live. She spotted the dumpster that Xander had mentioned almost immediately. The two beautiful women huddled behind it may have helped a little. Sam stayed close to the brick building as she approached Sarah and Zhanna, surprised at herself that she was happy to see them.

  “You ladies have this figured yet?”

  Sarah and Zhanna jumped and turned their pistols on Sam.

  Sarah’s face went from “shoot to kill” to complete relief when she realized who had come up behind them. “Sam! Jesus, you scared the hell out of me.”

  Sam said with a wry smile, “Hopefully Melanie will be as easy to sneak up on as the two of you are.”

  Zhanna got down to business. “There is definite movement on first floor. And across street, there are two men on top of building.”

  “All right, any movement from the underground parking garage?” Sam said.

  “Nothing,” said Sarah. “That is definitely the way in. But how do we get up the elevator without them seeing us?”

  Sam smiled. “Leave that to me. You girls ready for this? No telling how many will be waiting for us inside.”

  Sarah handed Sam an extra pistol. “Glock 19’s your weapon of choice, right?”

  Sam took the gun, gave it a press check, then smiled. “My kind of girl. What other goodies have you?”

  “One smoke, one flash, and one frag grenade. Preference?” Sarah asked Sam.

  “I like flashy. Xander is rubbing off on me.”

  “And we both have backup guns as well.” Zhanna pulled her pistol and held it down by her side.

  Sam smiled as she began to walk toward the exit of the underground parking garage. “Well, doesn’t this bring a whole new meaning to girls’ night out.”

  Sam pressed the button that called for the elevator. The parking garage had a couple of vans inside. While that didn’t make the three of them nervous, it definitely helped them focus on what was ahead.

  “So we’re just going to let them know we’re coming? Just like that?” Sarah asked.

  Sam moved an orange construction barrel from outside the elevator over in front of the doors. “Just follow me.”

  The elevator dinged and the doors opened. After making sure the elevator was empty, Sam quickly moved in the barrel, hopped up on top of it, pushed in one of the tiles and climbed up through the ceiling. After a quick glance and a shrug of the shoulders between them, Sarah and Zhanna followed. The elevator doors closed and they began to move up to the first floor. Sam readied her flash grenade, while Sarah and Zhanna readied their pistols.

  “According to Xander, there are cubicles that run along the walls of the space and more cubicles in the center of the room,” Sam whispered. “When the door opens and they see the barrel, they will let off some rounds out of fear. When that stops, I’ll throw the flash grenade. Cover your eyes and let’s get behind the cubicles along the wall on the left. From there, we’ll have some cover and can start to work our magic. Zhanna, if you see a cluster of men with guns, don’t be afraid to use the frag grenade. No sense hanging on to it.”

  Zhanna nodded. The cables wobbled around them as they moved the elevator upward. Then the elevator came to an abrupt stop, jolting them as they crouched atop it. When the elevator dinged, Sam nodded to assure them she was ready. And just like she said they would, when the doors opened, blasts and pops came from the guns of the waiting enemy. Clinks and clanks and thuds rang out inside the elevator. Sam heard a man shout something, and before the last gun spit its last bullet, Sam had already released the flash grenade and it rolled out the front of the elevator, followed by a magnificent bright light. As the group that had been firing into the elevator reeled from the flash, Sam jumped from the top of the elevator, sprinted out the left side and dove behind the cubicles that were right where Xander said they would be. She immediately raised just her MP5 submachine gun above the top of the cubicle and let off a spray of bullets to serve as cover for Sarah and Zhanna. A split second later, they were on the floor beside Sam, readying their weapons for an attack.

  “Melanie, give it up now and I promise I will only send you to prison,” Sam shouted. “You can write love letters to Kyle from there.”

  A man spoke instead of Melanie. “Melania is not here. She had to retrieve something very important that we picked up for her. You are unlucky, you have to deal with Sebastian.”

  “Sebastian?” Sam laughed. She was stalling as she ejected the magazine on the MP5. By the weight of it, she felt as if she had ten or so rounds left. “You are in the wrong story, Sebastian. This is not a romance novel.”

  She had definitely spent far too much time with Xander. His dreadful humor was beginning to rub off on her. As Sebastian replied to her quip, she motioned to Sarah that she was going to move toward the back wall by the cover of the cubicles.

  “Not many romance novels end with the pretty British woman getting her pretty little head blown off,” Sebastian said.

  By the time he finished his sentence, Sam had already moved to the back of the room. She raised her head above the cubicle just in time to see Zhanna toss the grenade into a group of three men standing close to the elevator. Two seconds later a nasty blast filled the warehouse, and as Zhanna and Sarah began to trade fire with the men who were left, Sam continued on around to the other side of the room. Now she had a fantastic angle from behind them. She traded the MP5 for the Glock. Trading volume for accuracy. She bounced up from behind the cubicle, aim
ed her pistol, and shot two men standing on the left side of the room, some seventy feet away. Four quick squeezes.

  Sarah or Zhanna one-dropped another man who was closer to them, and Sam could hear groans from men who must have been hit by the grenade. Sam moved up to the first cubicle in the center of the room. When she peeked over the cubicle, she could still hear a couple of people firing from the front center of the room, but like her, they must have been ducked behind a cubicle wall.

  Sam shouted, “Tell me where Melanie is, and we will let you live.”

  At the other end of the room, beyond where the gunmen were posted, Sam heard a door open and close.

  “Sounds like a fair trade to me, Sebastian,” Sarah shouted. “Your freedom for Melanie, who you probably don’t really even know. You might want to consider accepting.”

  Then a female spoke up from beyond Sebastian. “You want me? Well . . . here I am.”

  Melanie.

  That must have been the door that Sam heard open and close. A bolt of adrenaline flashed through Sam’s body. She stood up and trained her gun on Melanie. But she almost dropped her gun when she saw who was with her. Sam glanced over at Sarah, and Sam could see the terror written all over Sarah’s face.

  This was bad.

  Real bad.

  While everyone held their weapons on each other, Sam reached her left hand into her pocket and slid out her phone. She thumbed to Marv’s contact and typed a one-line text message:

  Melanie has the President’s daughter.

  40

  Visions of Violence Danced in His Head

  As Xander crept his way to the water’s edge from the shadows, for the first time he noticed movement. Beyond the dinner boat, near the exact mark on the GPS where Kyle’s phone should be, two human shadows crossed in front of the boat. Xander had to be very careful how he approached. This was a heavily populated civilian area. These shadowy figures could easily be a couple of young lovers trying to—