Kyle finally answered Sarah. “No, I’m not all right! I’m on a boat, with a bomb, and some mercenary thugs after me!”
Sarah seemed baffled. What was he still doing on the boat? “Then jump, Kyle!” she screamed. “For God’s sake, they’ll kill you and the President’s daughter!”
“Adeline is gone. We made her jump and swim for it. Karol says maybe the men will think she’s Adeline. You think that will work? You think that will keep them from searching for Adeline?”
“I don’t know, but the two of you will be dead. Do you have any weapons? Is there any way you can take them out?”
Kyle heard Sarah, but he had no idea how to answer. He raised up from behind some sort of bolted container that he and Karol were hiding behind at the bow; he heard the voices of men shouting at the back of the boat. The men were boarding. Kyle and Karol had two choices: jump and try to swim to safety, ruining the iPad in the process and maybe Adeline’s chances of escaping, or hold out as long as he could while the file loaded on the screen—a file that Kyle thought could be the very thing that might save Natalie—then take his and Karol’s chances on trying to fight off the men who were after them.
Kyle whispered into the phone, “Sarah, listen, I found a file on the boat. I think it might be—” Kyle stopped talking when the file finally loaded on the iPad. It was a kill message. It was sent to a device to wipe it completely clean of all of its contents. Now he had no helpful information to pass along. He had nothing. Nothing but a knife. The voices were closer now, maybe even inside the cabin just around the corner from where Kyle was crouched. He could hear Sarah screaming his name through the phone.
“Kyle, Xander just called! I am going to merge the calls! Can you hang on? Maybe he’ll know what to do!”
Sarah came back to the call. “Xander, are you there?”
Xander finished toweling off outside the SUV where Viktor and Jack were waiting with their CIA driver at the river’s edge. Sarah had only told him that Kyle was in trouble before she switched over to his end of the call. She quickly stated that Adeline was trying to swim to safety while her friend Karol and Kyle stayed behind on the boat to be a distraction. Xander was so proud of Kyle. It took a lot of guts to hang around and wait for armed men to board your boat. All to give a woman he didn’t even know a chance to escape.
“I’m here, Kyle, you there?”
“Xander!” Kyle half whispered and half shouted.
“Kyle, take a deep breath. Try to calm down and just listen to me. I’m proud of you. But listen, you can’t fight the men boarding that boat.”
“What? I have a knife, maybe I can—”
“Kyle, listen! If they think you are with Adeline, and those men will have no reason to think otherwise, they won’t kill you. They will do what I need them to do. They will take you.”
“Take us? But where?” There was fear in Kyle’s voice at the thought of being captured again. Xander knew he still hadn’t gotten over what happened last time he and Sam were captured in Syria.
“If they relay to Khatib that they have the President’s daughter, I believe they’ll take you right to Khatib . . .” Xander checked the timer on his watch, which read less than an hour before the four hours Khatib had given Natalie to live was up. “And I believe that will also be right where they are holding Natalie.”
“But Xander, I can’t. And even if I could, how will you know where they take me? And what about the bomb?”
“If they are boarding the boat, they will stop the bomb. And we will know where you are by the phone you’re using. Marv will track exactly where you’ll be, and I’ll be following alongside you on the road, right behind you.”
Sarah jumped in. “All of that sounds perfect, Xander, but they will take the phone from him and destroy it. They might be Khatib’s lackeys, but they will know to do that much.”
“Not if you hide it, Kyle,” Xander said.
Xander knew Kyle wasn’t going to like hearing where he had to hide it. But this was the one chance Xander had to save everyone. It was their only lead. And with less than an hour, it was the only lead they were going to get.
Kyle said in a hushed shout, “Hide it? If you mean my ass, it will never fit up there. This is an iPhone, Xander!”
“Kyle, it doesn’t have to go up your ass. Just pinch it between those big ass-cheeks of yours. When they frisk you, they’ll pass right over it. I promise.”
Xander couldn’t guarantee that is how it would happen, but he wanted to give his friend reason for hope.
“Shit, they’re coming,” Kyle said. “You better be right, X. And you better come get us!”
“Oh, I’m coming, Kyle. And I’ll be bringing Khatib’s entire house down on top of him when I do.”
Kyle ended the call, then immediately “rear-ended” the phone. Karol raised an eyebrow, but Kyle was not deterred. He stood from behind the box and squeezed the phone with the cheeks his mother had so graciously bequeathed him.
“Did you hear the conversation?” Kyle asked Karol as he took her hand and helped her up. She looked scared when she nodded.
“Do you have a wallet on you?”
Karol handed him her clutch, and he immediately threw it over the side of the boat. He knew if they found her ID, they would both be dead in seconds. Karol seemed to understand what he was doing, and she seemed resigned to the fact that there was nothing they could do to escape.
Kyle tried to console her as best he could under the circumstances. “I know this sucks. But that guy I was just talking to? He’s the real deal. He will save us. I just need you to be brave and put on your best Adeline.”
Kyle knew it didn’t matter what Karol acted like. But he just hoped that none of these men were ever shown a picture of Adeline. If they were, this entire thing would backfire and they would kill them both on the spot.
“Just follow my lead,” Kyle said to Karol. He put himself between her and the men who would be coming out of the cabin of the boat any minute. Karol just gave another nod. Sure enough, just then, two men came around the corner and immediately raised their guns, training them on Kyle’s chest.
Kyle threw up his hands. “Do whatever you want to me, but let her go! If you do, I’ll make sure the President knows you saved her life!”
One of the men walked forward. “This is President’s daughter?”
Kyle nodded. “If you hurt her, you know our government won’t stop until they kill all of you. So do the smart thing and—”
The man swung the butt of his assault rifle and busted Kyle in the mouth. “Stop talking.” The man then turned to the other gunman. “Call him. Tell him we have stopped the bomb, and that we are coming with daughter of the President of the United States. He will be very pleased.”
Kyle’s mouth was on fire, and blood poured out onto the deck of the boat. But it seemed as though they had bought it. The man pulled Kyle back up to his feet and told him to spread his legs.
This was it.
The man began to frisk him. He started beneath Kyle’s arms, then down his sides to his waist, then on down the outsides of his legs. Kyle continued to squeeze, but he didn’t know if it would be enough. The man worked his hands back up the insides of Kyle’s legs, then around his ass, patting at his back pockets.
“He is clear. Let’s get them onto boat.”
Kyle let out a sigh of relief but made sure not to relax too much. He still had a long way to go before he and the phone made it where they were going. But at least they were alive. For now. And at least Adeline had a fair shot at getting away. And maybe, just maybe, Xander was right, and wherever they were being taken, Natalie would be there too.
Staying on Track
“You still there, Sarah?” Xander asked.
“Still here. You okay? I’m assuming you didn’t find Natalie?”
“It was a trap. Melanie was there instead. Sam is following her now. Are you all right?”
Sarah sighed. “No, I’m worried about Kyle. He hasn’t had the pr
oper training for this, Xander.”
“I know. But I’ve seen him in worse situations, and he can handle himself. Can you patch Marv in real quick? I know he is already tracking Kyle, but I need that sent to this phone. And I need him to be following the SAT phone that Sam has. I have a feeling Melanie is going to lead her as far away from Natalie as she can get. And there is sure to be an ambush waiting.”
“Of course, hold for Marvin.”
Xander took the phone away from his ear for a moment and gave his head a slow roll to try and loosen up his neck. He was freezing. His clothes—the only clothes he had—were soaked through from the swim. And he had every one of his friends to worry about. If Khatib’s men took Kyle somewhere other than where Natalie was, Natalie was dead. That thought forced Xander to begin pacing around the outside of the SUV as he waited.
“You okay, son?” Jack asked.
Xander stopped and covered the receiver of the cell phone. “You know, Jack, I have been through a lot of battles in my day. Been in some hairy situations. This scares me as much as any of them. I don’t like being separated like this. Kyle on his own, Sam walking into God knows what . . .”
“I hear ya. But I’ve been around the block a few times, so you just tell me where you need me to be and I’ll help make sure your friends have some backup.”
Xander would have hugged Jack in that moment, wet clothes and all, but Marv came on the line. Xander gave Jack a nod of thanks, and Jack returned it with a knowing tip of his cowboy hat.
Marv jumped right in. “Xander, I’ve got tracking on Kyle and Sam. Kyle is on his way west, and I’ll have a car to you in two minutes so you can get moving. Sam is headed in the opposite direction, more into the city. I’ll send her coordinates to Sarah and Zhanna. Maybe they can help Sam if she gets into a spot.”
Xander said, “Oh, she’ll be in a spot. Melanie has had it out for her as long as they’ve known each other. Sarah, are you sure you don’t mind?”
Sarah answered, “Of course not, Xander. We have two sets of agents on the way to pick up Adeline. They know around the area she jumped into the water, so they will be combing both sides of the river for her. Nothing more I can do. I’d love to help Sam kick a little more ass.”
“You’re the best, Sarah. I mean it,” Xander said. He couldn’t have been more sincere when he said it. Then he walked over in front of Jack. “Marv, cancel the car. Jack and Viktor are coming with me.” Xander nodded to Jack. Jack gave him a wink.
Viktor was a little less subtle. “Jack! We are going to help boss get pretty lady back! Yes!”
Xander smiled. It continued to amaze him how these people who were mostly strangers continued to show up for him when he needed them most. Xander would not soon forget it.
Marv said, “Whatever you say, X. Be careful out there. I’ll be watching and send any help I can from here.”
“Marv, I love you,” Xander said.
Marv chuckled, “You always were the sappy one. But I’ll be damned if I wanted to be Akram Khatib right now. Do us all a favor and erase that son of a bitch!”
“Will do. And Sarah, be careful, okay?”
“You too, Xander. See you soon.”
Xander ended the call. “Jack, you got that sniper rifle ready?”
“X-man, these bullets might as well already have names on ‘em.”
Xander’s phone chirped. Marv had already sent the tracker following Kyle’s phone down the river.
Xander looked back up at Jack and Viktor.
“Boys, let’s go end this thing once and for all.”
A Score to Settle
Sam was absolutely sopping wet and quite literally freezing, but she considered herself incredibly lucky to still be on Melanie’s trail. She figured Melanie must have had a phone stashed in her knickers somewhere. That is the only way she would have been able to have a car pick her up. Though Sam imagined that there would be many Frenchmen willing to pick up a girl in her underpants. Even luckier was the cab Sam was able to find, and luckier still that the driver was so willing to follow another car for her. And the fact that he didn’t see the MP5 she tried to hide behind her back was no small thing either.
Sam wasn’t naive. She figured Melanie knew she was following her, and her instincts led her to assume that she wasn’t heading anywhere near Khatib or Natalie. But Sam didn’t really care. She knew Xander would be hot on that trail. For the first time in a long time, Sam had a score to settle for herself. Killing Sanharib Khatib in Syria could certainly be considered revenge after what he’d done to her, but this was different to Sam. Some scumbag terrorist doing what a terrorist does didn’t hit that close to home. But Melanie infiltrating Xander’s inner circle, and then betraying him, was deeply personal. It wasn’t easy to fool veterans of the game like Sam and Xander. Melanie had managed to do it very well. It made Sam wonder what exactly her background might be.
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.”
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.
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