by L. T. Ryan
“He was the one that wanted them protected. He called Spiers.”
“Because he knew you were with them?”
She shook her head. “He doesn’t know that I’m in London. I haven’t reached out to him. I played dumb with Spiers. Jack knows nothing about me being here.”
“I wonder how he and Spiers knew each other.”
“We all know each other,” Randy said. “You’re just never invited to the convention.”
Sinclair shook his head. “Yes, well, we’ll determine whether or not he knows you are here at a later date.” He put the van into gear and pulled away from the curb.
“Where are we going?” she said.
“Away,” he said.
“But the girls,” she said.
“What about them?”
“I’ve got to help them. Didn’t you see those men kidnap them?”
“One of those men was a British Intelligence agent. I’ve got every reason to believe they thought you were going to harm the two girls and that’s why they took them.”
“That’s a load and you know it.”
Sinclair said nothing.
They drove until they reached the M11. They merged onto the highway and headed north.
CHAPTER 59
Jack double parked the Audi at the back of the emergency room parking lot and ran toward the entrance. Halfway between the car and hospital the thought occurred that he might have left the door open. He felt the keys strike his leg with every step he took, so no one could steal the vehicle, easily at least.
Bear had remained with Alex and Jon. He’d said he wanted to spend a little time with Mandy to make sure she was OK. The kid hated being cooped up for more than an hour or two. Jack imagined she’d had a tough time being underground in a box for so long.
Sasha had left Number 10 before Jack had. She had to go to the office and wanted to stop by the hospital and check on Mason. The same hospital Jack was about to enter. But that wasn’t the reason Jack was here. Erin had been taken to the same hospital the day before. She’d been rushed into emergency surgery to repair her torn femoral artery.
Jack walked past the double sliding doors that led to the emergency room and instead used the main hospital entrance. He hadn’t bothered to wash up or change his clothes from the night before. He’d gotten used to the smell by the time they reached the outskirts of London. His dirty appearance drew several stares from patients, visitors and staff. The woman at the information desk was no exception. She avoided making eye contact and spoke to him with disdain in her voice as she told him Erin’s room number and gave him directions.
He thanked her and moved quickly through the halls. When he reached Erin’s room, he found the door open. He took a step inside and rapped his knuckles against the door. Leon, who had been asleep in the chair next to the bed, jolted up. The guy’s hand slipped inside his coat, eased out when he realized it was Jack in the room.
Erin turned her head from right to left and smiled. The tension Jack felt in his neck and shoulders lifted.
“Hi, Jack,” she said.
He crossed the room, leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You OK?”
She nodded. “Going to be fine.”
Leon rose. “I’ll be out in the hall.” He bumped into Jack’s shoulder as he passed. The space between the bed and wall was tight, but not that tight.
“What is it with him?” Jack said.
She shrugged. “No clue. Grumpy, I guess.”
“Where’s Mia?”
“She’s with Hannah.”
“Where are they?”
“They left a while ago.”
“Erin, where did they go?”
“I shouldn’t tell you this.” She bit her lip, reached for his face. “Then again, maybe I should.”
Jack intercepted her hand and placed it on the bed, resting his on top. “What?”
“They’re with an old friend of yours.”
“The only old friend I have in London is with the Prime Minister right now.”
“Clarissa.”
“What do you mean, Clarissa?”
“She’s here. She’s watching the girls. Taking them someplace safe.”
Jack glanced over his shoulder. Leon stood in the doorway. The man nodded. “Someplace safe.”
“How did this happen?” Jack said.
“She was with the man you called to help us in Paris,” Erin said.
“Spiers? How did she end up with him?”
Erin shrugged.
Jack remained quiet for a moment. He processed the new information and let it settle. The pieces began to fall into place. He knew the connection between Clarissa and Spiers intersected through Sinclair. That must’ve been the reason she left.
“OK,” he said. “We can deal with this soon enough.”
“Don’t be a fool, Jack.”
“What’s that mean?”
Behind him, he heard Leon answer his phone and step into the hall.
“It means that you and this woman are meant to be together. Don’t be a selfish jackass and drive her away.”
“You don’t understand. That’s not how...”
“That’s not how what?” she said. “I know you better than you think. Seven years hasn’t changed you all that much, you know.”
“There’s more important things than my love life at play here, Erin. The Prime Minister has been threatened. We thought we eliminated the threat, but it’s ongoing.”
Her face became worried. “Do you think they are still after us?”
“I don’t know if the two are related. It seems that way. Yet, there’s a link missing. Every person I suspect turns out to be clean. What the hell is the connection between me, you, and the Prime Minister?”
“You’re the spy, not me.”
“Thanks for the observation.”
Leon entered the room, the color drained from his face.
“Leon,” Erin said. “What is it?”
He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Jack turned and walked up to him. “What’s going on?”
He looked from Erin to Jack. “Come to the hall.”
Jack followed him out of the room. The lights in the hall shone brighter and he squinted to adjust to the brightness. Three nurses, one who looked fresh out of nursing school, passed. They all stared at Jack’s dirt covered clothes. He heard one make a comment, but dismissed it after did you see.
Leon interlaced his fingers behind his head and forced out several quick, deep breaths.
“Leon, what’s going on?”
“The girls,” he said.
“What about them?”
“They’ve been abducted.”
“All three?”
“There’s only two.”
“The woman you sent with them.”
He shook his head. “They don’t know what happened to Clarissa. Something about a car crash, bullets flying.”
Jack’s vision darkened around the edges, his head spun. His lungs felt like they had collapsed. He couldn’t force a breath into them. He reached for the wall, fell against it.
“Jack?”
Leon’s words sounded like they came deep inside a canyon, over a mile away. He heard his name over and over, more and more diminished each time. He’d experienced this in the past, but it had been a few years at least since the last episode. Jack felt himself collide with the wall, then the floor. The world around him went black.
A burst of ammonia roused Jack from his unconscious state. The three nurses hovered over him. The young one looked scared.
“Are you all right, sir?” one of the older ones said.
“Fine.” He struggled to find his balance and rose. He reached out and used the wall to steady himself. “What happened?”
“You passed out. Have you been feeling well?” the nurse said.
“I’m OK. Go on.”
Leon stepped back, looked Jack up and down. A certain amount of fear hid behind the man’s eyes.
&
nbsp; “That’s never happened,” Jack said.
Leon shook his head in short, smooth bursts. “No worries. It was nearly my reaction as well. Look, Jack, whatever you need, I’ll help.”
They both brushed the incident aside. Jack nodded. “We’ve got to tell her.”
“I know.”
Together, they reentered the room. Erin sat upright in the bed, tears streamed down her cheeks. She shook her head when they approached.
“No,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said.
“We’ll do everything we can to find them,” Leon said.
Jack hugged Erin for several seconds, then pulled away. “I’m going to find whoever did this, and I’m going to kill them. Erin, I won’t rest until these people are dead.”
“Just find my baby, Jack.” She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Find our baby.”
CHAPTER 60
“I will,” Jack said as he leaned over and kissed Erin on the forehead. He gave her one last look, pushed off the bed and headed for the door.
“Jack,” Leon said.
Jack pushed past the man, said nothing. Leon followed him into the hall, called for him twice. Jack kept going. He navigated the maze of hallways and exited through the ER waiting room. Through it all, he ignored the stares from people offended by his dirty clothes, and the harsh words of those telling him he didn’t belong in a certain part of the hospital.
Single, focused thought and action.
To hell with them and anyone else who managed to get in his way.
The ambulance lane was packed four deep. Medics unloaded gurneys with people who looked like they had been lucky to survive a major accident. For a second he wondered if there had been another attack. He figured the hospital would have been buzzing if that were the case.
He walked between the front and back of the first two ambulances and then jogged across the traffic lane between the parking lot and hospital. A white mini-van stopped and waited until he passed. The parking lot was full. Fuller than it had been when he arrived. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the key fob and pressed the panic button. A horn went off in three second intervals. He saw the silver Audi and its flashing lights. The driver’s door was closed. An electric car no bigger than a refrigerator had wedged itself between the Audi and a car next to it.
Jack slid into the driver’s seat. He had to adjust himself to being on the right hand side of the car. Every time he drove in London it played with his brain. He’d narrowly avoided a few accidents due to habit taking over. He didn’t avoid hitting the electric car when he backed out.
Oh well.
Being a motorcade vehicle, the Audi was equipped with strobes and a siren in addition to its advanced GPS navigation features. As he pulled out of the parking spot and neared the exit, he switched all three on. The drive, which could have taken upwards of an hour in London’s parking lot they called roads, took Jack fifteen minutes. The GPS unit led him to the parking garage that adjoined the underground room that connected to the labyrinth of tunnels beneath and around Number 10.
He parked and stepped out of the car. Gas fumes surrounded him. The only door in the room opened following a series of clicks. Multiple locks, various types. Jon entered the room.
“How’s your lady friend?” Jon asked.
“She’s going to be fine.”
Jack walked past Jon without looking at him and took the tunnel in the only direction it led.
Jon caught up and placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “But?”
Jack jerked to the side to free himself from the man’s grasp. His opposite arm brushed against the tunnel wall. Condensation coated his hand.
“There’s more trouble.” Jack said.
“What happened?” Jon said.
Jack cast a glance behind, verified no one else was inside the tunnel. He decided it was time to test Jon. He twisted to his left, drove his right fist into Jon’s solar plexus. The guy let out a wheezing gasp. Jack grabbed the man by his throat, refused to let him bow over and relax his diaphragm. He hoisted Jon up and slid his back against the domed wall, head to the ceiling so he was forced to look down at Jack.
“What?” Jon tried to say. It came out hollow.
“Why’d you do it?”
The man said nothing. It wasn’t that he had nothing to offer. He couldn’t speak. His face turned deep red. Veins poked out on his forehead, like serpents riding the surface of a blood red sea. Jon’s eyes started to bulge and roll back. Jack let go. The man fell to the floor, knees, forearms, then face. His body formed a huddled mass. He rolled to his side. A loud gasp escaped his mouth when he finally managed to force air into his lungs.
“That’s enough,” Jack said. He reached down, grabbed Jon by the collar and yanked him back up. He pushed the guy into the wall, pinned him there, but did not choke him this time.
Jon panted, caught his breath. “What are you doing?”
“You tell me.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“No idea, huh? Ask me why I don’t believe you.”
Jon said nothing. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
“Ask me!” Jack yelled. He pulled out his Beretta, jammed it under Jon’s chin.
“Ask me,” Jack said again.
“Why?”
“Tell me why you did it.”
“Did what?”
“The girls. Why’d you have them kidnapped? What kind of game are you playing here?”
Jon went slack. Every tensed muscle in the guy’s body seemed to relax. Or maybe he entered some kind of forced paralysis. The guy leaned his head back against the wall, his shoulders drooped. He looked down his nose and leveled his gaze with Jack’s.
“Tell me,” Jack said.
“Jack, I didn’t do anything. My sole responsibility is to Alex. That’s it. I’m one hundred percent legit. I’ll give you anything you need to find them. I’ll scour the damn city with you. You have to believe me. I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Jack lowered his hands and took a step back. Jon didn’t move. Jack holstered his weapon and kept his gaze fixed on Jon.
“I don’t know if I believe you.”
Jon extended his hand, sideways, fingers spread.
Jack didn’t accept it.
“I’ve been there before, Jack. Everyone is an enemy until proven otherwise.”
Words that Jack lived by. And Jon still hadn’t proved himself, one way or another. On one hand, he’d been distant and snapped at them. On the other, the guy had managed to pass every challenge they’d put him through.
“Let’s go,” Jack said.
Jon led and Jack followed through the maze of tunnels. He kept one eye on Jon, one eye ahead. He kept track of each turn in the event he walked into a setup. When they reached the main tunnel that led to the house, he relaxed. They reached the end, climbed a set of stairs and continued past the first level of the house. Two more flights with a hall in between deposited them into the meeting room with the old long wood table and the bar with the two thousand dollar bottles of whiskey. Jack forced himself not to take a line that led to the first opened bottle he spotted.
Bear was the first to greet Jack when he entered. The big man rose and took a few steps forward.
“We just got word,” Bear said.
Jack said nothing. Alex approached and grabbed him by the shoulders and moved his head in front of Jack’s until they made eye contact.
“I pledge to you every man I have.”
“You need them,” Jack said.
“So do you.”
“This is a tactic. We all know it. They’re trying to divide us, get us away from you, Alex.”
“Won’t work,” Alex said. “I’m going to be by your side, and I’m going to put a bullet into the head of whoever took your little girl.”
“Appreciate it,” Jack said. “Where’s Mason? Still at the hospital?”
“No,” Alex said. “Sasha picke
d him up and dropped him off here. He’s down with Gloria.”
“Think he’ll be any use to us anymore?”
“Not sure. He’s still pretty shaken up about all of this. Might be better to keep him in the bunker room.”
“We might need him. I’d presume he knows more about his partner Godfrey than anyone else.”
“If that were true, then he’d have known that the guy was corrupt,” Jon said.
“Point taken,” Jack said. “I’d still like to talk to him.”
Jon’s cell rang. He excused himself and stepped out of the room to take the call.
“I’ll phone down and have Mason sent up,” Alex said.
Jack took a seat next to Bear, who had poured two fingers of whiskey into a glass. Jack took the glass and drained it in one pull. He hoped the alcohol would settle his nerves. Doubted it would, though. He’d reached the point of no return.
Alex set the phone down. “He’ll be up in a few. Go easy on him, Jack.”
Jack nodded. He didn’t think treating Mason the way he had treated Jon in the tunnel would exact any results other than damaging the guy further.
Jon rushed back into the room. He placed both hands on the table, leaned over, could hardly breathe.
“What is it?” Alex said.
“They’ve located Godfrey,” Jon said.
CHAPTER 61
The news came as a shock to them, but their disbelief soon turned to excitement. As best any of them could tell, a huge piece of the puzzle lay with Godfrey. They had to act on any tip that placed them within the vicinity of the man. For all Jack knew, taking him down could put an end to the whole ordeal.
A tense moment passed as each man looked at another.
“Where is he?” Bear said.
“Other side of town,” Jon said. “Someone reported a suspicious car that pulled in behind an abandoned house. They got the plates. The car’s registered to Joseph Godfrey. Our Joseph Godfrey.”
“And the house?” Jack said.
“That’s the kicker. The house is owned by Joe Godfrey and Ben Kemp. That second name sound familiar to you?”
“Yeah,” Jack said. “Mason said he pulled the trigger on Naseer.”