by Ronie Kendig
Dean balled his fists. “I knew he’d be here, but I didn’t expect…” His words tremored with pent-up anger. “I didn’t expect to want to take him down.”
“Then you weren’t thinking,” Sal said. “Because any normal person would have. Once Meng-Li and Ramsey are on deck, we’ll be ready to put the game in play.”
“Ramsey’s here but keeping a low profile,” Dean said. “I’ve narrowly avoided him twice. He’s too full of himself to think we might actually know what he’s up to.” Venom coursed through Dean’s words. “And Nianzu—I’m going to make sure he sees justice for what he did to Zahrah.”
“Hooah,” Sal said. “Be nice to have that resolution before you marry her.”
Dean sighed. Shook his head then shifted—saw Cassie. “Sorry.” He blinked. “You—what did Tang say to you?”
Cassie launched in a hurried explanation of some anime with rogue robots and how one character had to kill the other to prevent what the rogue forced it to do.
“She told you that—to kill her?”
“Well, she told me I might need to be her Shinji.” Cassie looked up at him, her face awash with the pain.
“It won’t come to that,” Sal said. “We’re stopping them. Tonight.” No way did he want her living with the torment of taking her friend’s life.
Relief rushed through her pretty features. She leaned into him.
“But where is Meng-Li? If Tang is here, why isn’t he?” Dean sought an answer from Cassie. “Do you know?”
“She only spoke to me through the earpiece.” Cassie touched the device.
“Keep it in,” Dean said. “She might reach out to you again.”
“It’s more important now than ever that I get to her, stop her. Let Kiew know we’ll help her.”
Across the room by the ice sculptures and drink fountains, Kiew Tang in her cream gown stood out as a lily placed on black lacquer. The suits around her stuck close. Not business acquaintances. Security. “I doubt they’ll let you get anywhere near her.”
“Agreed. Meng-Li might not be here, but his security team is—and they’re attached to Kiew. They haven’t left her once. Even when she used the restroom, they stayed outside.”
“Look,” Sal mumbled with a nod as Nianzu entered the protective perimeter around Tang without a glitch. Expected and accepted. “If that’s not proof he’s complicit…”
“He’s mine when it goes down,” Dean growled.
“Who’s the American with them?” Cassie asked.
“Where?” Sal shifted closer to follow her visual line. “Son of—that’s Slusarski!”
“Who?” Cassie turned—and their noses nearly touched.
“Okay, team, we have a full deck except Meng-Li.” After giving him a slap on the shoulder, Dean started away, speaking into the coms, “Stay eyes out and ready.”
“We have a problem.”
Could things get any worse? Sal pivoted, hand going to Cassie, who stepped into his touch, and found Takkar standing shoulder to shoulder with Dean. “My team believes Meng-Li is not coming.”
“Why?”
“Tonight was a distraction—”
“Right.”
“No, Meng-Li also used tonight as a distraction just as we hoped to do. My team monitoring his facility said he has not left.”
“So, he has us here to…”
“Keep us distracted.” A storm had moved into Takkar’s eyes and morphed into a full-on hurricane. “He is manipulating me. It has been his way from the beginning, but I believed I could turn and control things. My attempts to forge cooperation and unity were tossed aside like a dog.”
“Then why is Kiew here?” Cassie had singular focus where her friend was concerned. “Oh, look. Brie is there. She’s going to talk to Kiew.” Cassie started forward. “If she can—”
“No.” Takkar cuffed her by the elbow. “Stay.” His word came out like a hiss. “Watch.”
Once more, just as with Nianzu, the security detail parted. Brie walked over to Kiew Tang and greeted her. Not entirely unusual but—
“The hands,” Takkar said.
The fingers did a little dance. Then Brie walked away.
“Brush pass,” Dean muttered, disbelief coloring his words.
Immediately, Sal searched the crowd for Titanis. No doubt, just as Sal had kept tabs on Cassie as quietly as possible, the Aussie had done the same with Hastings. Sure enough, Titanis had the fury of being betrayed all over his face.
“Ramsey,” Dean breathed. “He’s with them.”
“My friends,” Takkar said. “I believe this is the most opportune time to realize your goals. Meng-Li will not be coming. You have three of the four targets in one circle.”
“One heavily armed circle.”
“I have but one request,” Takkar said.
Sal and Dean waited.
“Slusarski is mine.”
What? Since when did Takkar get rights to American soldiers? “But he’s—”
“Mine,” Takkar said.
Dean didn’t seem to like the situation either. “Meaning you want to kill him or you own him?”
“Meaning, he’s not to be harmed.” Takkar strode off.
“Get ready,” Dean said as he started for the corner. “Alpha and Sierra teams, we are a go. Move into positions.”
CHAPTER 42
Kabul, Afghanistan
10 April—1945 Hours
Eamon did as ordered, but his mind and thoughts were hung up on seeing Brie pass something to Kiew Tang. Instead of moving toward Ramsey, Eamon cleared a path straight toward Brie.
“What’d you do?” he growled. “What was that?”
Brie’s face blanched. Her lips parted.
“Yeah, I saw it—and so did the team. What’d you do, Brie?”
“How dare you—”
Eamon closed a hand around her wrist.
“Let go of me!”
“What’d you do?” He hated it. Hated what he’d been thinking. The pieces had fallen into place when he saw her enter the building tonight. Tracked her moves. He didn’t want to believe this, not of a woman he’d hoped to bring home to meet his dad. She was the one handing off the codes to Kiew Tang. Brie had been the mole. Then what… what about Ramsey?
She struggled against him. “Release me!”
With a twist of her arm, he anchored her against his chest. Had her tight. “It’s you—you’re the mole.”
Her lip lifted in a sneer. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Anxious to believe that, to believe she wasn’t really betraying her own country or friends, he searched her face. Searched for a sign of shock at being accused of something so terrible. But there was no fear. Just flat-out panic at being caught. “I think I do.”
He hauled her toward the door, toward the FBI waiting on the third floor, monitoring movement with Takkar’s men.
“Do I still intrigue you, Titanis?”
“I’m intrigued to know how you can live with yourself.”
“Easy to say coming from someone who could buy his way up any ladder he wanted. Try fighting it.”
“So, what? They offered you money?”
“A butt load. And respect—”
Eamon let out a laugh.
“Five years as Burnett’s lackey and no promotion.”
“Promotions are earned, not handed out. Maybe you didn’t get one because he saw through your facade.”
Surprise flickered through her blue eyes.
“Burnett might’ve been gruff, but he wasn’t blind.”
“Yeah, and what good did it do him? They killed him.”
“You killed him, you mean.”
“No.” Her eyes flashed. “That wasn’t me. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Hmm, maybe you should’ve told them. They would’ve listened, right, with all that respect you earned.”
“Go go go!” Dean rushed forward, weapon cradled in both hands as he approached Nianzu’s men.
T
he man had unbelievable instincts. As if something in the air alerted him, Nianzu snapped straight. Three men closed around him.
“Lee Nianzu,” Dean called.
The circle of men herded the man toward an exit.
“You don’t want to do that,” Dean said, his heart thudding. “Authorities are waiting out there.”
The bubble swung around. “I thought you better than this,” Nianzu said, his British accent present even now.
“Yeah, well, I guess you ripped the ‘better’ out of me.” Dean closed in on him, weapon at the ready.
Guns faced him, but Dean noted in his periphery as Riordan and his SEALs formed a protective arc behind Nianzu and his men.
“You have wanted this,” Nianzu spat, realizing he was cornered.
“I want justice.”
“What man wants justice when he can have vengeance?” Nianzu shifted, looking around, probably for a safe exit.
“I don’t play to that tune.” Though he had to admit the only tune he’d wanted for a long time was a death march for Nianzu. His mind became clogged with images of Zahrah lying in the hospital bed, hair butchered. Body butchered. He’d broken her. And yet… he hadn’t.
The gun in Nianzu’s hand wagged, as if he itched to open fire. To shoot his way out of this trap.
“Game’s over,” Dean said. “Put the weapons down. Hands up.”
Tense minutes clicked off the clock, but Dean refused to budge. Refused to talk their way through this. The order had been laid out there. It was up to Nianzu to comply now.
The men in front of him hesitated, lowered their weapons.
Relief soaked his muscles.
But the men raised them again.
Which forced Dean to do to the same. “You can’t win here. It’s over.”
The men bent at the knees, slowly, and lowered their weapons.
A peaceful resolution. Nianzu hadn’t surrendered his weapon yet, so Dean maintained vigilance, though he could see the defeat scrawled over the Asian man’s face.
Dean nodded, chiding himself for the small fraction of him that had hoped—
Nianzu’s weapon snapped up. Straight at Dean.
Instinct crackled. Dean eased back the trigger.
Crack!
CHAPTER 43
Kabul, Afghanistan
10 April—1945 Hours
Nianzu fell.
“Augh!” Dean shifted. Swayed. Went to a knee, grabbing his arm.
Sal surged. “Dean!”
He shook his head. “I’m good. A graze.” But pain pinched his features. Blood turned his sleeve dark. He scooted closer and pressed two bloodied fingers to Nianzu’s neck. Let out a breath and sagged. “He’s gone.”
Sal breathed a little easier, knowing the slick Asian guy wouldn’t make like a serpent and slither away this time. Seeing their leader taken out, the men around him raised their hands and moved away from their dead boss.
“Hold up,” Sal said, turning around and searching the chaotic room. Nianzu was down. Hastings was with Titanis. “Where’s Ramsey?”
“And Tang,” Dean said, coming to his feet.
Though Sal didn’t look directly at the doors, he knew security protected them. “Feds have the exits.”
“Which means Ramsey’s still in here,” Dean muttered. “Fan out—find him!” So the general was hiding like the chicken spit he was.
The crowds had split wide open, with a thick throng crowded near the windows and pillars. The rest huddled near the kitchen, where Takkar’s men guarded the doors.
Sal stalked the crowd, determined to end Ramsey. Not exactly acting like a general now.
“Spotted him,” Takkar’s people spoke through the coms, having the benefit of security cameras for an aerial view. “Heading toward kitchens, right side.”
Crack! Crack!
“He took the guard. Right side,” Takkar’s man said.
Just then, Ramsey was in view. Arm hooked around the guard’s neck and holding a gun to the man’s head, he dragged him through the kitchen door.
Sal launched himself toward the crowd, pushing through, using his size and speed to bowl them out of the way. Like the fool he was, Ramsey attempted to run. Stupid move. They had guns on all doors leading out of the building. He wouldn’t get far. But then, Sal didn’t want him getting killed. He wanted the guy to suffer in a federal pen for the rest of his life.
Crack!
The sound of a gunshot echoed out from the kitchen. Metal clanged and a woman’s scream pierced the room. The crowd roared in response to the shot, like a herd of buffalo rushing for exits. Trampling each other. He grew less concerned about being polite to the people and more about protecting them.
As he made it to the swinging door, Sal noted a sea of suits rushing through the other door.
“We have two people,” came Dean’s words. “Footage is grainy. Crowds are making it impossible to decipher—”
Sal stepped into the crowded kitchen. Stainless-steel refrigerators lined the wall on his three and a similar island spanned the length of the room. Metal shelving cut into the layout, packed with tubs of vegetables and fruit waiting to be served.
Movement drew Sal. “They’re at the back,” he said, gliding forward. To his nine, he twitched at the sight of someone. He snapped to neutralize the threat.
And veered off, a curse flinging through his mind that registered friendly! Harrier. Pulse leveling, Sal resumed course.
He eased around a corner and spotted a man. With about twenty feet between him and the swinging doors, Sal saw him. The youth they’d arrested and questioned. The brother of the little girl. Sal’s shoulders tensed. “Fariz is here.” What was he doing here? Had he lied to them?
“Come again?” Dean asked.
“Fariz—Ramsey’s son.” Sal inched closer. “How did you know?
“I hear my father talk on the phone. He also took me with him one time. I saw this and wanted to help the man he wanted to kill.”
Sal shook his head, trying to believe this. It seemed far-fetched. Should they trust him?
“What is he—?”
“Oh crap!” someone else—Harrier?—said.
Fariz reached for someone beside him. Sal tensed, expecting trouble, but he turned and spotted a huddled form, bent beneath the weight of pain, leaning heavily on Fariz for support. A weapon dangled from his bloodied hand.
At their feet lay a writhing Ramsey, clutching his leg that blood gushed down.
The shooter’s head lifted. Dirty brown hair and beard.
“Hawk!” Sal surged forward, throwing himself past the last lines of onlookers. “Move!” he shouted. This was worse than a nightmare. His legs weren’t leaden, but the guests refused to budge. “It’s Hawk! Hawk’s here,” Sal shouted into his coms. “He’s alive!”
Sal shoved between two people and broke into the clear.
Gray-green eyes met his. A beard crusted with blood twitched as a smirk hit. “’Bout freakin’ time.”
Kiew was gone. Somehow in the chaos of the shootings, Ramsey’s escape, Hawk’s return… she’d seized the confusion and used it to her benefit.
Cassie pushed into the kitchen area where Raptor and Riordan’s teams had gathered up around their back-from-the-dead team member.
“I’ll give Fekiria a call. She’ll have my head if I don’t tell her you’re alive.”
Hawk groaned but said little else. He’d been on his feet, and he’d managed to disable Ramsey and prevent him from running. But all that had been done with reserves of energy he probably didn’t really have. He’d told them of being held by Meng-Li’s men, aided largely in part by Ramsey, who had been loaded on another chopper in critical condition. Though the operators had been betrayed by a man they’d trusted with their lives, they’d treated him as if he hadn’t visited evil upon them.
“Take care, Hawk.” Sal squeezed his hand. “We’re glad you’re this side of dead.”
“That must’ve hurt to say,” Hawk chuckled.
“You have no idea.” With a grin, Sal stood back as the team of PJs moved in to carry Hawk out to the chopper, which would ferry him to a hospital for reparative surgery and recovery.
“Make a hole,” a voice barked.
Cassie shifted from the scene toward the booming voice. Her breath caught in her lungs. Sajjan Takkar steered one Lance Burnett into the room in a wheelchair and tubed with oxygen.
“General!” Two large strides carried Sal to Lance Burnett. “Holy—how in—what—?”
Captain Watters was at his side, taking a knee. “Knew you were too mean to die.”
Sal stood covering his mouth. Then ran his hand over his head. His expression went from shock and awe, to anger.
Burnett grunted. “Don’t get your pants in a wad, Russo. Couldn’t get rid of me that easy.”
“Apparently, sir,” Sal said with a smile. “How and why?”
“Takkar’s men got me out of there—in cooperation with Phelps and Ames.”
Cassie pressed a hand to her chest. “My boss?”
“He knew what he was doing planting you with the team, Miss Walker. But we knew Ramsey wanted me out of the way to finish his deal. To take care of his mistress and illegitimate children. Meng-Li had him over a barrel.”
Cassie shifted back as the men of Raptor gathered around their general.
“Besides, Takkar brought in the best surgeons and doctors to tend me here. Better than the hack-jobs working on me—and not knowing if they were in Ramsey’s pocket.”
“I can’t express how relieved I am,” Captain Watters said.
“That goes for me, too.” Sal nodded to the team. “And all of us, I’m sure.”
“Now that we’ve got the feel-good stuff out of the way, you all need to know I’m paralyzed. Can’t move my arms or legs—”
“Remember, my friend, that may be temporary,” Takkar put in.
“Maybe. But right now, it’s not. Right now, I have no use of my body.” His eyes glinted with determination. “Meng-Li turned our world upside down, gentlemen. We need to take him down.”
“Kiew Tang fled the building,” Takkar said.
“How did that happen?” Sal asked. “Thought your men and the FBI—”