Assassins Rogue

by Rachel Amphlett

  She blamed herself – she knew the bookstore was a risk but it had been a convenient place to gather her thoughts after her last mission, a place to recover, and a place of sanctuary during that time.

  It had once been her grandmother’s shop, until Eva had transferred the title to Nathan as a gesture of thanks before disappearing again – the man had saved her life, despite his lack of training and field experience.

  She had found it too difficult to settle, choosing instead to wander through Europe while she tried to work out how the hell she was going to sever her ties with the Section and her past – and whatever the future held if she didn’t manage to do both.

  There were plenty of people who wanted her dead, and she had only returned to Prague in recent weeks with a reluctance borne from a growing realisation that she wouldn’t escape her past without a fight.

  And now, this.

  ‘We need to get out of here,’ she said as Nathan appeared.

  ‘We can’t leave Prague yet,’ said Nathan, his eyes wide. ‘We have to find the intelligence officer before they try to kill her, too. She’ll be trying to make her way to us as well––’

  ‘She’ll have to take her chances. We’ve got to get Kelly to safety while we still can, and we’ve got to work out what the hell we’re going to do with what she’s told us. If she’s telling the truth, then someone in the British government has got some explaining to do.’

  ‘Eva, please. Twenty-four hours – that’s all I’m asking.’ Nathan gestured to the window. ‘We can keep a lookout for any trouble. You’ve got weapons here, we know the area, we can––’

  ‘If we stay here, we could all end up dead.’ Eva crossed her arms. ‘Why are you so concerned about the intel operator? We need to go – before they kill us next.’

  Nathan dropped into an armchair facing her, his face ashen.

  ‘Because she’s my sister.’

  ‘Your sister?’

  Eva froze as Nathan slumped in his chair. ‘Are… are you sure? You haven’t spoken to her in what…’

  ‘Three years. Not since we’ve been in hiding.’

  ‘Then how can you be sure it’s her that Kelly’s talking about?’

  He raised his head, misery in his eyes. ‘It has to be. She uses our mother’s maiden name – and the last time I had contact with Marie, she mentioned she was doing aerial reconnaissance work. She couldn’t say what though.’

  Eva closed her eyes. ‘Shit.’

  ‘What happened, Eva? How the hell did she get mixed up in this?’ he said, an urgency in his voice. ‘What the hell’s going on?’

  ‘We’ll find out,’ she said, trying to shake off the tired reluctance sweeping over her as she realised her plans for a different life were slipping through her fingers. ‘But we have to deal with Kelly first.’

  ‘It’s too dangerous to move her,’ he replied. He crossed to a table beside a window covered with a net curtain and opened a laptop computer before entering a convoluted password.

  When the screen came to life, Eva could see six black and white video images of the front street and side alleyway outside, along with two images of the inside of the bookstore.

  ‘Can you see anyone?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then let’s move her before they find out she’s here. If they can trace her to Prague, it won’t take them long.’

  ‘We can’t,’ said Nathan. ‘She’s lost too much blood already, and she’s weak. If we move her, it could kill her. We have to stabilise her first.’

  ‘Well, we have to get her help – I can’t stop the bleeding, and I couldn’t see the bullet in the wound either.’ Eva exhaled. ‘Christ, this changes everything doesn’t it? All right. There’s only one thing for it.’ Eva leaned over and picked up a mobile phone, typed in an encryption code, then pressed the speed dial. ‘Doctor Novotný? I need your help. No – we’re okay, thanks. We have an unexpected guest... You’ll need to park your car a few streets away and then walk. We may be under surveillance… Thank you.’

  ‘He didn’t ask what it was about?’ said Nathan over his shoulder as she ended the call.

  ‘He knows better than to do that. Even if my phone’s encrypted, he’s still on an open line. He’s only five minutes away – he’s just dropped his wife at her mother’s house and he’ll be straight here.’

  The Czech doctor was a friend of a close friend, someone who could be trusted – and someone who had once saved Nathan’s life.

  She could only hope that he would be able to help Kelly.

  Eva rose from the sofa, walked over to the small kitchenette that took up one side of the room and began to pull bottles of painkillers from a cupboard above the sink. ‘Why use an RAF crew to pilot a drone on a rogue mission? Come to that – where the hell did this Colonel Richards get his hands on a Reaper?’

  ‘That’s what I’m trying to find out,’ Nathan muttered, his fingers tapping frantically at his laptop. ‘There’s no chatter about one being stolen, and all the ones I’m aware of are accounted for.’

  ‘Did Kelly give you a serial number before you came up here?’

  ‘She said there wasn’t one on it. It’s rare for them to be marked anyway, in case they crash…. Hang on a minute.’ He pushed back his chair, and waggled his forefinger. ‘Maybe that’s it.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘What if this Colonel – whoever he is – managed to salvage a drone that had been written off?’

  ‘Don’t those have to be accounted for?’

  He managed a smile. ‘Not if whoever lost it is embarrassed – or lost it while they were flying somewhere they shouldn’t have been.’

  Chapter Five

  ‘If someone’s got control of a Reaper, then they’d do anything to keep it a secret, won’t they? Especially if it’s been used to murder a British diplomat.’

  Eva stalked the cheap linoleum floor, her thoughts in turmoil.

  ‘If we’re right and it has been stolen, at least that goes some way to explain why Kelly’s co-pilot was shot trying to escape, and why she’s being hunted,’ said Nathan.

  ‘Do you think she’s telling the truth?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You seem certain.’

  He didn’t answer.

  Eva checked her watch, then crossed to the table and picked up the 9mm pistol, handing it to Nathan. ‘Take this. We’ll ask Novotný to get Kelly stabilised, and then we’ll get out of here the minute Marie turns up. If she does…’

  ‘She will.’

  ‘I’ll make another phone call to see if Decker might know somewhere we can stay, or––’

  Movement on the laptop screen caught her eye. ‘Novotný’s at the end of the next street. I’ll go and intercept him to make sure he isn’t being followed. You’d better check on Kelly – we’ve been up here too long as it is.’

  ‘Eva?’

  She shook her head and turned. ‘We’ll talk about this later.’

  ‘We have to wait for Marie.’ Nathan pushed his chair back, the sound of the wooden legs scraping across the tiles ricocheting off the walls. ‘We can’t leave yet.’

  ‘I know.’

  She didn’t wait for a response, hoping that the ex-Section analyst would be able to focus on the urgent care required for their uninvited guest, and now ruing the day they had agreed to put in place a sanctuary for others like them.

  Others who had nowhere else to run.

  Retrieving the gun she’d tucked into her waistband, Eva removed the magazine and checked it before slapping it back into place with the heel of her hand, then tore down the stairs to the ground floor.

  She swung around the newel post at the bottom and headed towards a service door, releasing the three bolts holding it in place, then tapping in the security code that Nathan changed on a weekly basis.

  Eva peered outside, weapon raised, but saw no-one in the alleyway along the back of the shop. Next door, a Chinese takeaway remained closed, its doors shuttered until Wednesday night while its owne
rs took a well-earned break after a busy weekend’s trading.

  Industrial-sized bins overflowed with empty food cartons, a greasy stench permeating the air and clinging to the brickwork.

  She let the door swing shut behind her with a soft thud, then set off along the alleyway, gun at her side.

  Her neighbours had never worked out what she did for a living, and she had no wish to alert them now. If there was the remotest possibility that Kelly had managed to locate the bookshop sanctuary without drawing attention to herself, then they might stand a chance.

  Jogging to the end of the thoroughfare, she crept to the corner of the junction with a narrow lane. A few locals passed by, their eyes downturned as they negotiated the slippery cobbles and clutched umbrellas against the swift breeze whipping along the street, the overhanging buildings crowding the pavement and creating a wind tunnel effect.

  Satisfied the people she saw posed no threat, Eva tucked her gun away and hurried over the crossroads, entering a second alleyway that zig-zagged behind boutique clothing shops and cafés, windows steamed up from the hot food and drinks being served inside.

  None of the customers sat at the tables inside paid her any attention as she quickened her pace, keen to intercept the doctor before he got any closer to the bookshop.

  The path narrowed, her ankle boots scuffing through discarded cigarette packets, food wrappers and takeaway cartons. A pungent smell of rotting vegetation clung to the brick walls, and she turned her attention away from an overflowing heap of flattened cardboard as a fat rat scurried underneath it.

  She spotted the end of the alleyway ahead, a glimmer of daylight breaking through the dull gloom––

  The screech of brakes reached her, and she froze before flattening her body against a fire exit door, above which a dead neon sign for a backstreet bar hung above the lintel.

  A car horn sounded, followed by an indignant shout that turned to loud Czech swearing, and then an engine revved and the vehicle sped away.

  Eva swallowed, exhaled, then walked to the end of the alleyway, her heart racing as she hovered beside the doorway to a gift shop bereft of customers.

  There were no assailants waiting for her.

  Instead, Doctor Novotný stood leaning against a lamp post, umbrella held aloft in one hand while the other clasped a large canvas bag, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

  He nodded in recognition when she emerged from the shadow of the gift shop and beckoned to him after checking he wasn’t being observed by others.

  ‘Thanks for getting here so quickly,’ she said, hustling him back into the alleyway, and gesturing to a side street that would take them to the bookshop a different way.

  ‘It is not a problem.’ The man moved efficiently, showing none of the signs of his seventy-plus years as he swung the bag over his shoulder and kept an even pace beside her.

  His shaggy grey hair was offset by a neatly trimmed beard. Brown eyes swept the crossroads as they hurried over and down another street leading them to the end of the lane where the bookshop was located.

  ‘What do you have?’ he said as they passed the front door of the Chinese takeaway.

  ‘Female, shot,’ Eva replied. She reached out for his arm and pulled him to a standstill a moment, pausing to check they hadn’t been followed. ‘The bullet’s stuck. I can’t help her, and she’s lost a lot of blood since she’s been with us.’

  ‘When did she turn up?’

  ‘About an hour ago.’

  ‘Do you know her?’

  ‘Never seen her before in my life.’ Eva turned back to him. ‘The problem is, she knows Nathan’s sister. And apparently, she’s in trouble too.’

  Novotný shook his head, dropped the cigarette to the pavement and crushed it under his shoe before lowering his umbrella.

  ‘There’s always trouble where you’re involved, Miss Delacourt.’

  Chapter Six

  Eva knew trying to save Kelly would be hopeless the moment she peered into the room at the back of the shop and saw Nathan’s face.

  He looked up as she pulled back the curtain to let Novotný go in ahead of her, his features pale as he crouched next to the tattered armchair and held Kelly’s hand.

  ‘Her pulse is weak,’ he said, moving out of the way as Novotný gave him a gentle shove. ‘She was murmuring under her breath for a while, but she’s fading…’

  Eva didn’t hear the rest of what he said.

  Kelly cried out in pain, her eyes opening in shock, tears streaming over her cheeks.

  Novotný placed his bag next to the chair, pulled on protective gloves and began to examine the damage to the woman’s abdomen. His fingers gently traced her skin while he spoke in a calm voice, soothing his patient as he worked.

  Eva ran her gaze over the blood-soaked blanket, the tea towels thick with the dark red colour, and knew they were too late. She had seen wounds like this before – and Kelly had expelled copious amounts of energy fleeing the market where she had been shot to get to safety.

  If the woman had been treated at the scene, if she had been able to reach a hospital, if––

  ‘Eva.’

  Novotný’s voice penetrated her jumbled thoughts, and she blinked.

  ‘Yes?’

  The doctor had his bag open, a syringe in his hand. ‘I’m going to give her a shot of morphine. Kelly – this will help the pain, okay?’

  ‘Wait.’ Despite the pain, the drone pilot’s voice was firm. ‘I need to tell you… the Reaper was carrying four Hellfire missiles. I only used one of them. Whoever’s flying it now…’

  ‘Has another three missiles up their sleeve.’ Eva exhaled. ‘Bloody hell. Do you know where the missiles came from?’

  Kelly gave a weak shake of her head. ‘They were loaded when we got there. I’m sorry. I don’t know anything else.’

  ‘And now, please – let me treat my patient,’ said Dr Novotný.

  The drone pilot closed her eyes as the needle met the skin of her arm.

  Nathan crossed his arms over his chest and turned away, unable or unwilling to meet Eva’s eye.

  She hovered beside the doctor, nibbled at a ragged thumbnail and then raised an eyebrow as Novotný dropped the used syringe and needle into a plastic box before sealing the lid.

  He straightened, then pointed to the door. ‘A word?’

  Eva tapped Nathan on the arm as she passed him, then waited until he joined her and the doctor on the other side of the curtain. She leaned against the counter and lowered her voice.

  ‘She’s not going to make it, is she?’

  ‘I am sorry, but no.’ Novotný held up a sealed transparent glass bottle. Inside, a bloody shard of metal rattled across the bottom. ‘Do you know what this is?’

  ‘I know it isn’t a bullet.’ Eva peered closer. ‘Is – is that a dart?’

  ‘It is, but not a variety I’m familiar with. It’s designed to fragment once it penetrates the skin.’ He glanced over his shoulder to where Kelly lay, her eyes closed and her breathing shallow. ‘I believe your friend has been poisoned. Whatever substance was used, it was mixed with an anti-coagulant agent to make sure the bleeding will not stop.’

  ‘We’ll need to find out what it was,’ said Eva. ‘I’ve never come across anything like this before.’

  ‘I will arrange for this to be sent for testing. Discreetly, of course.’ The doctor sighed and looped the strap of his canvas bag over his shoulder. ‘The poison is attacking her vital organs. Even if she was able to make it to a hospital, I doubt very much they could do any more than I’ve just done. At least with the morphine, she is no longer in any pain.’

  ‘This complicates things.’

  ‘No shit,’ Nathan muttered. ‘Now what do we do?’

  ‘Find out who did this to her,’ said Novotný, his eyes moving from Nathan to Eva. ‘You owe her that much.’

  ‘I was trying to leave all of this behind, Doc.’

  ‘I know.’ A sad smile flittered across his face and he reached out for
her arm. ‘But sometimes in life, we don’t get a choice. Besides, your friend is worried about his sister.’

  Eva wriggled from his grasp. ‘Given what’s happened to the rest of her crew, I think he’s got every right to be.’

  ‘What about Kelly?’ said Nathan.

  Novotný bowed his head. ‘I do not think she will last long. She will fall into a deep sleep now. I will send someone around to, erm, take care of her later. Will that be all right?’

  ‘Jesus.’ Eva placed her hand on the doctor’s arm. ‘Yes – sorry, Novotný. Please do that – but be careful. We might be compromised. Your man will need to watch out.’

  ‘Do you have a spare key?’

  ‘Here.’ Nathan pulled out a keyring and handed over a small brass key. ‘You can have mine to the back door. I’m guessing that if we have to leave, we won’t be going out the front.’

  He swiped his phone screen, his brow puckered. ‘Cameras are showing the streets are clear. No-one hanging around. We’re still safe – for the moment.’

  ‘You have a lot to do,’ said Novotný. ‘I will leave via the alleyway, if that is all right with you, Eva?’

  ‘Go back the way I brought you here, but turn right at the crossroads and then cut through the convenience store at the end of the street to get back to your car, just in case.’

  ‘I will.’

  ‘I owe you. Again.’

  He waved away her thanks. ‘You would help me if I needed it. Besides, Decker vouched for you, and anyone he says is a friend of his, is a friend of mine.’

  He slipped through the back door and into the alleyway, setting off at a brisk pace.

  Eva watched him go, made sure he reached the end of the alley without incident, and then turned to Nathan.

  They stood for a moment, a shocked silence between them, and then he sighed.

  ‘Here we go again.’

  She choked out a bitter laugh. ‘It wasn’t going to last forever, was it?’

  ‘We’re going to need help, Eva,’ he said. ‘We can’t do this on our own. Not this time.’

  ‘What are you proposing?’

  She could hear the edge in her voice, feel the sudden spike in her heart rate as she waited for his answer.