The bouncer frowned. “I said—”
“Go on,” Alicia leaned into his personal space, “I dare you. Raise that finger one more time and see where it ends up.”
Mai and Kenzie backed her, stepping to each side. This would be easy. The bouncer stared at all three of them and then beyond them, eyes widening.
Alicia sensed it was coming before she heard it.
Mattheus’s voice: “Stop those bitches! Stop them now!”
Alicia kicked out, stunning the bouncer who folded quickly. Kenzie pushed him further to the floor. Alicia yanked the exit door open. Mai was right by her side.
A gunshot rang out and a bullet struck the frame above their heads.
“Do not move any further. Or at least one of you will die.”
Alicia weighed the odds. She could make it; probably Mai too. But Kenzie was at the back and would get shot first.
This was no joke. Alicia halted and raised her hands, turning back to the dance floor. To her right Mai did the same. Kenzie was already facing Mattheus. Across the dance floor the black-haired man stood, face bruised where Mai had punched him and nose red with encrusted blood. By now, the remaining revelers had gotten the message too and were clustered around the outer walls, trying to appear as unobtrusive as possible. Alicia saw guards at every side and more emerging from the back, where Drake and Luther had relieved Mattheus of an entire safe.
The crime boss waved at them. “What has been going on in my club?”
“A burglary, boss,” one said. “We have men searching for them now.”
“What did they take?” Mattheus’s voice rose an octave, making several guards flinch.
“The . . . safe,” came the quiet answer.
Mattheus glared in disbelief at first, but then, quickly, his face grew intensely red. “You call that a burglary? My entire safe? Missing? You should shoot yourself quickly, idiot, and save me the trouble.”
“See,” Kenzie murmured. “Always kill the messenger.”
Mattheus’s head whipped toward them. He started walking, holding out a hand which was hastily filled with a small 9mm Beretta. “Her.” He pointed at Mai. “I want her first. I want her to suffer.”
The guards crowded forward, surrounding them as they drifted to the center of the dance floor with its still-flashing lights and music beat. As if by good fortune one of Alicia’s favorite songs started playing, I Like The Way, by the Bodyrockers.
She caught the eyes of Mai and Kenzie. “Three minutes to the end,” she said. “Let’s make ’em count.”
As the beat kicked in, Alicia smashed the nearest gun out of its holder’s hands, sending it skidding across the floor. She grabbed another wrist and broke it, letting the gun fall. Mai and Kenzie pounced to either side, the Japanese woman leaping into Mattheus’s arms as if he were a long-lost friend.
The movement certainly shocked him. At first, he linked his arms, grabbing her, then realized his error and tried to let her fall. The gun useless, Mai brought her forehead smashing down into his already broken nose.
The scream drowned out the Bodyrocker’s chorus for just a few seconds. Alicia’s lips moved as she sang along, using the throbbing rhythm of the song to guide her movements and fire her adrenalin. A shot was fired, the bullet passing between everyone. The bouncer at the door waded in, only to find himself dumped very quickly onto his face, now becoming the bowling ball in Alicia’s strike at the oncoming guards. Several went sprawling over the rolling bulk. Bones broke. Those that remained standing aimed at the women and prepared to fire.
But Mai managed to shove Mattheus in the way. Terrified, the guards held off as their boss staggered between them. Mai was riding his back, careful not to let him fall since he was their only shield. Alicia spun in time to the musical pounding, tripping one guard, pocketing his weapon, then rising to punch directly under the chin of another. The disco beams flashed bright red, green and blue strobe lights flickering through the half-dark. Guards crawled around the filth-encrusted, sticky floor.
Mattheus bucked Mai again and again, finally managing to dislodge her by falling to his knees. Blood poured from his nose. He came around but Mai felled him once more, at the same time dealing with another guard. All of them were down now, or trying to stand. Alicia knew immediately that they couldn’t hope to flatten them all, not simultaneously. There had to be another way.
Unfortunately, four were already on their feet. Two more were finding their guns and another was rising with a Glock to hand. Alicia heard the song coming to an end and saw her life about to expire with it. Mattheus was on his knees, a rictus of a grin stretched across his face as he saw most of his guards still in the fight.
“Revenge,” he blurted. “I want—”
Alicia didn’t hear the rest, launching herself headlong at three guards. Two staggered but the third remained upright, carefully focusing the short barrel of his gun upon her.
Ah, crap . . .
All hell erupted around her. Windows blew inward, shattering to fragments. Frames and even block work followed as one wall was battered. Revelers fell dead and wounded, bleeding on the floor. Alicia was struck by flying shards of brick, the lethal ragged edges drawing blood from her cheek. Kenzie was knocked to the ground, her head bloody as a brick-sized chunk struck her skull. It soon became clear that unceasing firepower was being used to gain entry to the nightclub.
Tempest, was Alicia’s only thought. They arrived late but they arrived in force.
Hooking Kenzie underneath the armpits, she dragged the struggling Israeli along the debris-filled floor, pushing guards out of the way as she went. Two were dead, others injured. Mattheus was groaning, rolling in the scattered remains of his empire and his employees. The bar was being destroyed, glasses dancing and breaking, large capacity bottles of spirit exploding and pouring their contents out onto the floor.
Alicia crawled faster. Mai pushed Kenzie from behind, pressing her haunches hard to encourage her to go faster. Kenzie groaned and tried to keep her head still as her body slithered under no volition of its own.
They snaked and scrambled their way past the bar and through the door marked Private that led to Mattheus’s back rooms, aware of a brand new exit. Alicia saw rooms to left and right, dens where drugs were prepped and money laundered. Where porn was distributed and computers hacked. She took the opportunity to scream at all the occupants, sending them into panic and hoping they would never return.
Behind them the nightclub took more heavy fire; the lights crashed to the floor and the music finally died. Men with machine guns jumped through the new entrances and fought with the remaining guards and Mattheus.
Mai threw the glass, still in its protective wrapping, to Alicia. “I’ll block the way.”
“Dammit, Sprite, it’s bloody broke.”
“Well, you try riding bareback on the shoulders of a Greek crime boss whilst trying to bludgeon him to death. See if you can keep your tumbler intact.”
Alicia lifted Kenzie and soldiered on, knowing they still had Mattheus’s fingerprint even if the glass was broken. Mai dragged desks and dumped computers in their path and then set it all alight.
“Go, go, go,” she said, following them out into the dark alleyway where Drake and Luther had worked earlier.
“Which way?” Alicia asked.
“Into the dark,” Mai said. “You should know that by now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
As dawn rose, the team regrouped atop a small hill overlooking a vehicle scrapyard. The van stood hidden beneath overhanging trees, its front end concealed beneath brush and branches that Drake and Luther collected. Through phone calls they had directed the women to them and waited until the team was reunited before allowing themselves a single moment of respite.
Drake nodded as Alicia walked up to him. “Looking good.”
“Bollocks.” Alicia punched his arm and wiped her face. “I look like I barely survived a terrorist attack, which is what we did.”
“Yeah,” Mai
said, a step behind. “But it is better than your normal look.”
“Where’s the safe?” Kenzie asked, sporting a new bandage across her scalp. “And for that matter—where’s the van?”
“Close,” Luther grumbled, watching Mai. “Is everyone okay?”
“I am.” Mai smiled. “But it was close. We were running on good luck there for a while.”
Kenzie glared around. “Oh, I’m fine thanks.”
“Good.” Drake led the way back to the van, confident they were alone as a golden glow of sunlight spread across the eastern horizon. They could easily see the single road twisting away for miles in both directions and had a good view across the fields. The scrapyard below wasn’t open for business yet. Thessaloniki itself lay three miles away and out of sight.
Drake ducked under the tree cover and slid back the van door with a loud crunch. “Let’s see what we’ve got. Do you have Mattheus’s prints?”
Alicia handed over the broken glass. “Mai broke it, not me.”
Luther intervened. “I have a few shaped charges left if the glass won’t work.”
“This requires finesse, Luther, not brute force.”
The bald man looked disgruntled.
Drake, with Luther’s and Mai’s help, finally managed to get the safe open by using a large piece of broken glass with Mattheus’s unblemished fingerprint. The iron door swung wide to reveal its dark innards.
Drake peered inside, holding a flashlight due to the darkness of the van’s interior under the overhanging trees. Three shelves held various useful items including weapons and ammo, an assortment of expensive chocolates, jewelry and two laptops. The shelves were high up and bunched together because the entire lower area was taken up by the Waters of Neptune.
It was a beautiful artifact, about three feet high and, as they had come to expect by now, entirely black. Neptune sat at the crest of a wave, holding her trident in her left hand, with sculpted waves lapping over her feet. The base was a flat piece with an undulating surface, fashioned to look like a rolling sea.
“A weapon?” Luther asked. “I don’t see how.”
“It’d hurt if it bonked you over the head,” Alicia pointed out. “Maybe this one’s just an artifact.”
“Or,” Drake said, seeing something for the first time, “could it be the substance these relics are made out of? Or the rare element inside?”
Luther nodded, handling the Neptune object with care. The three-foot-high piece looked quite small in his hands.
“Let’s pack it away.” Drake pulled away. “Along with whatever else we can use at Mattheus’s expense. We won this round but Tempest are getting pretty damn close.”
He walked back to the knoll of the hill and sat down among the overgrown stems of grass. Alicia came to sit by him and Mai stayed with Luther. Kenzie went to find some water to cleanse her wound. The land all around was silent and still, except for the pleasant breeze in the air. Drake took a moment to be with Alicia with no outside interference to pressurize them.
“Hanging in there, love?”
“Considering the circumstances, I’m hanging in there quite well.”
Drake remembered vividly the moment she’d decided to stop running. “Understood. We’re running again, I know, but not for long.”
“Can you really believe that?”
He had to. “It keeps me alive, sane and hopeful. Memories can’t be changed, but the future is ours to shape.”
“I think we need a rest.”
Drake studied her, wondering if she meant right now or in their near future. He thought about all they had accomplished and couldn’t see any obstacles to a vacation.
Apart from Tempest.
“Once this mission is done,” he said. “And successful. Once we’re legit again, not being hunted, there are no unresolved issues. No unsettled debts. We can kick back, if you like.”
“Didn’t we try that once before? I forget.”
“You know what I mean. Beat Tempest and then we’re clear. What else could possibly happen?”
“Don’t say that!”
“I know, I know, but it’s not like the worst, most vengeful enemy of our careers is just around the corner, is it?”
“Kovalenko is dead.”
“The Blood King? Yeah, I know, I was there. What I mean is—there are other teams capable of doing what we do. We have no personal investment and I’m pretty sure nobody can say we didn’t do our bit.”
“I don’t want anyone else to die,” Alicia said quietly.
Drake saw the hard veneer temporarily lifted and placed an arm around her shoulders. “Me too.”
“Even Mai,” Alicia added gruffly.
“Oh, I know. And Kenzie?”
“Maybe a little wounding. Nothing too bad.”
“Time to heal, then?” Drake picked up her earlier thread of taking a break.
“Time to live,” Alicia shrugged, “a different life.”
“You know?” Drake scrunched his eyes up as the sun rose higher. “To do that—we’d have to leave the . . . team.”
He had almost said the word “family,” but changed his mind at the last moment.
“Shit.” Alicia playfully slapped the hard ground. “They’d all bloody die without us.”
“When this is done,” Drake said. “Nothing else will be coming for us.”
Alicia looked at him for a long time, and he thought he saw a question in her eyes. They both felt it—the hollow ring to his words—but only in their bones.
“You think something’s coming?” Drake asked. “Something from the past, don’t you?”
Alicia looked away. “I have a feeling, but it’s probably nothing, just my anxiety talking. Being on the run and then tracked by a Special Forces team doesn’t help.”
Drake nodded, joining her in silence, unable to shake the exact same feeling. Even if they did manage to destroy Tempest, was the worst still to come?
*
Mai sat apart, studying the fields and ensuring she was weapons-ready. She’d heard Luther make the call to Cambridge and knew they were waiting to learn the location for the artifact’s hand-off point. She sat for a while, eyes closed after she’d finished her work, letting the sun warm the left side of her face. It was easy out here, simple. Part of her wanted that minimalism and a way out of the world she had inhabited for as long as she could remember. The real enemies were all gone. Her parents safe and living a clean life. Her sister with Dai over in Tokyo, the two of them as safe as anyone could be, moving toward a promising future. The dead still haunted her though as, she assumed, they did everyone that had lost a parent, to someone that had killed a mortal enemy.
Beyond Drake though, she’d never come close to finding a real, solid partner. The knowledge weighed heavily on her. Their split didn’t worry her—she had only been doing what she needed to do at the time. So, the whole Drake and Alicia thing was immaterial. It had happened—move on.
Tears sprang into her eyes, not for all the men and women she’d killed but for those that didn’t deserve it, and those she’d cared for. The thing is—life didn’t care whether she enjoyed it or not. It was up to her to make the good times, and make them memorable.
As thoughts of Grace flowed around a happier outlook she felt the presence of someone beside her. She looked up, knowing already that the shadow would be huge.
“Mind if I sit?”
She nodded, and the enormous soldier sat himself down. They didn’t speak for a minute, gauging each other’s mood, but then Luther offered a thoughtful subject.
“This team,” he said. “I’m still trying to get my head around it. Some of you are friends, some are enemies, but then you’d die for each other. And has everyone slept with everyone else? ’Cause that’s just bizarre.”
Mai laughed. “This isn’t an American sitcom, Luther. We’ve been together a long time, been to hell and back. This team was forged in fire, literally in the tomb of a god. We’re enemies and friends, united and conflicted at time
s. We are a family, however that sounds. You live and breathe and fight with someone long enough—” she paused “—you form the greatest bond.”
Luther shifted. “I get that. I’m a soldier. I can’t forget some of the things I’ve seen but I can use my better memories to overcome them. War will never end, but as soldiers we can make all the innocent lives we touch a little better.”
“And how about other lives?” Mai asked impulsively. “Can you make those better too?”
Luther looked anywhere but at her. “I can try.”
Mai reached out a hand. “Then . . . try.”
“Soldiers, eh?” Luther let out a noise that was half grumble, half laugh. “When it comes to personal, we don’t have a clue.”
“Depends what you start with.” Mai smiled again. “Let me know.”
And for the first time since she’d met him, Luther looked unsure.
*
A number of phone calls later, Drake announced there were two choppers inbound. One, to collect the Waters of Neptune; the other—Hayden’s recently arrived team who were flying out to them. Within half an hour the artifact was winging its way covertly to London and the entire SPEAR team was reunited. Drake tried hard not to appear overly happy to see Dahl, but when the Swede grabbed him in a bear hug he held on tight.
“Well met,” he said, meaning it.
“And you, my friend. We have a lot to catch up on.”
So, they sat like carefree companions as the sun soared higher, and each told their stories. Kinimaka had brought a bagful of food and bottled water, and shared them out equally. Hayden related their train exploit and Dahl threw in the garnish. Five weapons collected so far and they were still behind Tempest. Kinimaka spoke of the new list of weapons and how the Gates of Ishtar were claimed to be “practically unobtainable.” They wondered aloud where Tempest were at and how many weapons they might have seized.
“We’re of the mind that it’s the weapons’ material Tempest want,” Mai said. “Or the element within.”
“Makes sense,” Hayden agreed. “Why the hell didn’t I think of that? Anyway, Lauren and Secretary Crowe are doing their best in DC. Crowe helped get us out of the country.”
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