Everything hung on the smuggler’s hold.
The irony of that didn’t escape him. There was something almost humorous about men like him and Ramirez relying on a criminal device for survival.
Glancing at Danny, he gave the kid a tight smile. The boy was holding up well, which wasn’t surprising. He’d proved himself more than once over the last week.
Cox walked into the room. “Well, this is a twist.” He barely glanced at the boy before settling his gaze on Ethan. “I expected more finesse from you.”
“Sorry, I’m fresh out.”
Cox frowned. “Where’s Ramirez?”
“Do you think I’m stupid enough to bring him with me?”
“Don’t play games with me, Decker.”
“No games.” Ethan held up his hands, palms out. “You have the kid and I have Ramirez. He’s all yours, once Sydney and I are safely off this rock.”
Cox turned to Morrow. “Bring her.”
Morrow looked ready to object. “What about the boy?”
“Leave him for now.”
As Morrow left, Ethan stretched out in the expensive leather chair. “I have to congratulate you, Avery, I didn’t know you were so devious.”
Cox ignored him.
“Putting Morrow on my team to kill Ramirez was a good move.” Ethan nodded his approval. “Too bad it didn’t work, it would have saved us all a lot of trouble. Instead the kid dies, and you end up with the Agency’s top assassin on a rampage. Talk about bad luck.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I? George Taleb, or should I say James Cooley, runs from the island with one of your precious children. But you can’t allow them to get away. They know too much. So you send in Ramirez, but he doesn’t take care of the kid.”
“I misjudged you, Ethan.” Cox settled into a conference chair and folded his hands. “You have quite an imagination.”
“How long have you been looking for Ramirez without success? Three years? So you decide to pull me back into the game to do your dirty work. Not bad. A bit inconvenient for me, but a good strategy on your part.”
“You talk too much.”
“Funny, I said that same thing to Ramirez not more than,” he glanced at his watch, “a couple of hours ago.”
The door opened, and Morrow shoved Sydney into the room.
Relief flooded her eyes when she spotted Ethan, then she saw Danny. “Oh, no.”
“Kill her,” Cox said flatly.
All color fled her face. “What—”
“Sorry about this, Doc.” Morrow grabbed her arm, pulling her back and pressing a gun to her head.
“If you shoot her . . .” Ethan put ice in his voice and called Cox’s bluff. “You’ll never get Ramirez.”
Cox seemed to consider. “Maybe I should kill the boy instead.” He drew a pocket Colt from his jacket and pointed it at Danny.
Next to Ethan, Danny flinched.
“No,” Sydney pleaded. “Ethan, do something.”
“You won’t hurt him, either. He’s worth too much alive.”
Cox studied Ethan a moment, then lowered his gun. “You’re right.” His eyes hardened, his smile turning deadly. “Morrow, take out her kneecaps, one at a time.”
Morrow grinned and took aim.
“Wait.” Ethan lifted his hands. “You’ve made your point.” Hopefully he’d bought Ramirez enough time.
“Where is he?” Cox asked.
“On the boat.”
Cox looked at Morrow, who shook his head. “We searched it.”
“He’s there,” Ethan assured them. “Your goons didn’t look hard enough.”
“Take a couple of men and make sure.” Cox grabbed Sydney’s arm and dragged her into the chair next to his. “I can handle Dr. Decker and her errant husband.”
Morrow left, and Ethan looked at Sydney. She was pale, but her eyes betrayed her anger. Good. Because no matter how things went with Ramirez and the boat, she’d need her anger to get through the next few hours.
“You know what I still haven’t figured out?” Ethan said. Cox looked bored. “I thought you had all the answers.”
“How did you get Anna to go along with the children’s escape, when she knew Ramirez was hunting her?”
Cox laughed. “You never were as smart as you thought you were, Decker.” He relaxed in his chair, his expression smug. “I had nothing to do with Anna’s decision to run with the kids. She came up with that brilliant idea all by herself. Pretty stupid of her, don’t you think?”
Ethan struggled to keep his anger in check. Like Ethan, Anna had been recruited, trained, and used by Cox. He owed her more than a flippant account of the mistake that had killed her.
“Opportunity knocked, I acted.” Cox waved a dismissive hand toward Danny. “Because you’re right, that boy and his sister are far too valuable to run free, even to bring down Marco Ramirez.”
Ethan scooted forward in his chair. “Why, so you can use them like lab rats?”
Cox ignored the question. “As you said, it would have been more expedient if you’d just gone after Ramirez when he killed your son.”
Ethan froze.
Across the room, the last bit of color drained from Sydney’s face.
“Oh, I see.” Cox turned to her. “You didn’t know.”
Ethan gripped the chair arms. “Cox.”
“You know, Dr. Decker.” Cox radiated charm, taking Sydney’s hand and patting it. “I believe honesty is always the best policy in a marriage, don’t you?”
Sydney, obviously dazed, looked at Ethan.
“You see,” Cox continued, “your son’s death wasn’t an accident.” He shot Ethan a satisfied smile. “Someone murdered him.”
Her eyes begged Ethan to deny it.
“There was a certain logic to it,” Cox said. “Your husband . . . Excuse me, your ex-husband, killed a child under Marco Ramirez’s protection. So in Marco’s mind, it was fair retribution to take your son.”
Sydney seemed to sink into herself.
Ethan lunged to his feet, but the guards snapped to attention, weapons drawn, and stopped him cold. “You son of a bitch.”
Cox smiled.
The next instant, an explosion wiped it from his face.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
THE BUILDING TREMBLED, jarring Sydney back from hell.
The men in the room came alive as well: Cox jumping to his feet and dragging her with him; the two guards scanning the walls and ceilings as if they’d fall; Danny gripping the arms of his chair.
And Ethan. Immobile. And unsurprised.
“Check that out,” Cox ordered one of the guards. “And you,” he said to the other, “don’t take your eyes off—”
A second blast rumbled, followed by brief popping sounds.
“You.” Cox turned on Ethan, waving his gun. “This is your doing.”
Ethan didn’t move, his expression deadly calm.
When the third explosion rocked the building, the lights flickered and died. Silence filled the room.
It took Sydney a mere second to react. This could be her only chance. Cox had a vicelike grip on her upper arm, and before she could second-guess herself, she drove her fist down into his crotch.
Grunting in pain, he released her.
Reeling backward, she collided with a chair and grabbed at the table. Darkness blinded her. Her eyes should have adjusted by now. Why couldn’t she see anything? Shapes at least. There was only sound, echoing through the inky blackness with terrible clarity: bodies slamming against bodies, muffled grunts and curses, furniture breaking.
Fear gripped her.
She backed farther, heart racing and hands trembling as she attempted to get her footing. Her fear wasn’t just for herself, however. It was for Danny. And for Ethan, in the center of the maelstrom.
Then a shot. The crack ripping through the darkness and ringing in her ears. A door slammed. Then silence.
“Ethan?” she whispered, afraid he wouldn’t answer.
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“I’m here.”
Relief coursed through her.
The lights blinked on, dimmer, as the backup power system kicked in. Ethan crouched beside one of the guards, stripping him of weapons and ammunition. The man was unconscious or dead. Sydney didn’t want to know which.
“Danny?” she said, looking for the boy.
He crawled out from beneath the table, his face pale and eyes wide. “Here.”
“Thank God.” Sydney wrapped her arms around him before he could object.
Ethan stood and slung the guard’s automatic weapon over his shoulder. “Are you both okay?”
Sydney nodded, though she doubted she’d ever be truly okay again. At least, not for a very long time.
“Ramirez hit the island’s power station,” Ethan said, moving toward the door.
“He’s here?” Surprise and shreds of her earlier anger surfaced. “He’s causing these explosions?”
“It was the only way,” Ethan answered, but his concentration was elsewhere. Holding a handgun as though it were an extension of his arm, he edged through the door, pivoting first one way then another. “Come on,” he said, gesturing for them to follow.
“Where’s Cox?” Danny asked.
“Probably out regrouping.” Ethan ushered them through the door. “We need to get out of here while we can.”
Another explosion rippled through the walls, followed by the distant cracks of gunfire.
“Where’s Callie’s room?” Ethan asked.
“This way.” Danny started forward, but Ethan grabbed his arm.
“Stay behind me.”
They hurried through the empty corridors to the enclosed breezeway, which connected the facility’s two main buildings: administration in one, and the school, hospital, and dormitories in the other. Except for the occasional blurts of gunfire outside, it was too quiet.
“Upstairs,” Danny said as they entered the far building. “The steps are over there.”
Silence drenched the second floor as it had the first.
Sydney strained to hear something, anything other than the soft pad of their feet. The abnormal stillness unnerved her, testing the grip she had on her fear. She wanted to shout. Or scream. Everything about this place felt wrong.
Ethan must have sensed something as well, because he slowed, checking around each corner before proceeding. Sydney kept close, one hand on his back while the other clutched Danny’s. The building seemed deserted, but she knew that wasn’t true. Two dozen children lived in this facility, and Cox wouldn’t leave them unguarded.
Finally they reached what Sydney guessed was the hall leading to the dormitories. Ethan inched around the turn but jerked back, pressing himself against the wall.
“Guards,” he mouthed and motioned for her and Danny to stay back.
“There’s another way,” Danny said in a whisper. “Come on.”
“Wait—” Ethan didn’t speak the word, but Sydney clearly read it on his lips. It was too late. Danny had already slipped his hand from hers and started back the way they’d come. She and Ethan had to hurry to catch up.
Danny led them to a door several corridors away. “These are all classrooms.”
“How will we get to Callie?” Sydney asked.
The boy just smiled as Ethan checked out the room before waving them inside. Danny went directly to a desk near the wall, clambered on top, and removed the mesh cover from a maintenance shaft.
Of course, Sydney thought.
“These run all through the building,” Danny said. “It’s how I used to get into Callie’s room without the Keepers finding out.”
Ethan stepped up to have a look. “I’m not crazy about the idea, but I don’t want to get into a firefight on a floor full of kids, either.” He readjusted the automatic weapon he’d taken off the guard and holstered the handgun, then gave Danny a boost. “Wait here, Sydney. We’ll be back with the girl.”
“No way.” Without waiting for Ethan’s response, she climbed into the opening behind him. “I’m coming.”
Ethan mumbled something incoherent, but Sydney ignored him. He’d gotten her into this, he wasn’t leaving her behind now.
As they crawled through the network of heavy, industrial aluminum, the last hour closed in on Sydney. In the aftermath of the explosion, she’d nearly forgotten Cox’s claim.
Nicky murdered? Was it possible? Had Ethan known?
The idea churned her stomach, nauseating her. Of course he’d known. And he’d kept it from her.
Another blast, and the shaft bucked and groaned, straining against its supports. Sydney froze, fearing the structure would collapse around them, trapping them in an aluminum coffin. No one would ever find them, or know about the wrongs visited on the children of this place.
The tremor passed, and the cold alloy beneath them stabilized. Sydney closed her eyes, fighting back tears of relief.
“Damn it,” Ethan said. “It feels like he’s trying to blow up the whole place.”
The comment fanned her anger. “Are you sure he’s not?” She wiped dust from her eyes, smearing it across her cheeks.
Ethan glanced back at her, but in the dim light she couldn’t make out his expression. It didn’t matter. Even if she could see his face, she couldn’t trust what it told her.
Stop it. She couldn’t do this now, not when Callie’s life hung in the balance.
“Let’s go,” she said. “You’re going to lose Danny.”
The boy had scrambled ahead of them, smaller, more nimble, and more accustomed to traveling through aluminum tunnels.
Ethan hesitated, then continued on.
A few yards farther, and Danny popped the grate ahead of them and clambered out of the shaft. “Hey, Callie.”
Ethan and Sydney followed him into a small room identical to the one Sydney had occupied. Callie was fully dressed and hugging her brother. “I knew you’d come.”
“You’re not sick anymore,” he said, looking a bit embarrassed by his sister’s show of affection.
“I’m all better.”
“Hey, sweetie.” Sydney wrapped the little girl in her arms. “You feeling okay?” She pressed a hand to Callie’s forehead. “No fever or anything?”
“I’m fine.”
“We were worried about you,” Danny said.
“Let’s have the reunion later.” Ethan stood near the door, the gun once again in his hand, listening. “We need to get out of here.”
“What about the others?” Callie looked from Ethan to Sydney. “We can’t leave them.”
“She’s right,” Sydney said. “We have to take all the children with us.”
“Forget it,” Ethan said. “We can’t even get to them.”
“We can go through the maintenance shafts again,” Danny suggested.
“Then what?” Ethan asked. “How are we supposed to get them past those guards?” He positioned a chair under the vent. “Let’s go. If the four of us make it out alive, we’ll send back help.”
Callie settled on the bed with crossed arms, resembling her stubborn older brother. “I’m not going unless everyone goes.”
Sydney sat next to her. “I’m with Callie.”
“Danny . . .”
He backed up. “I’m not going, either.”
“This is nuts.”
“Do we really have time to argue about it, Ethan?” Sydney asked. “You won’t change our minds. So, let’s just go get the rest of the children and be done with it.”
Ethan glanced from one of them to another, his frustration obvious. “You three are crazy, you know that?”
“But we’re right,” Danny said. “We can’t leave them.”
“Okay, where are they?”
“The girls’ dormitory is at the end of the hall,” Danny volunteered. “The boys’ is on the next corridor over.”
Ethan just looked at them, and Sydney winced. Of course there would be separate dormitories. It would make their escape more difficult.
To Ethan’s cr
edit, he simply shook his head and gestured toward the chair. “Danny, you lead.”
Both children climbed into the shaft, with Ethan and Sydney behind them. They emerged cramped and dirty a few minutes later into a large room with a dozen frightened girls in pajamas, the youngest about Callie’s age, the oldest Danny’s.
“It’s okay,” Sydney said. “We’re here to help.”
They shied away from her, closing in around Danny and Callie instead with a buzz of questions.
Ethan pulled Sydney aside. “There’s no way we’re getting these kids back through that shaft. We have—”
Suddenly, gunfire erupted outside the room.
“Quick.” Ethan spun toward the door. “Take cover.”
The children froze.
“Hide!” Danny yelled, and they scattered behind beds and into closets.
Sydney crouched beside a desk, and Ethan pressed his back to the wall beside the door, both hands gripping his handgun.
More shots, and the door crashed open. Two men burst in. Back to back, one guarding their retreat from the hallway, while the second swept the room with his weapon. Ethan swung around, grabbing the first man’s arm, yanking him off balance and firing twice in quick succession, dropping the man in the hall, then the other at close range.
Sydney suppressed her gasp of horror as the bodies tumbled to the floor, and Ethan flattened himself against the wall again. All she could think of was the children, who’d just watched two men shot to death.
Silence.
Then, a distinctly Latin voice, “Amigo, is that you causing such havoc?”
A moment later, Marco Ramirez stepped through the doorway.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
ETHAN LOWERED HIS GUN. He never thought he’d welcome the sight of Ramirez. “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you.”
“You are still alive, too, I see. A shame.”
“How bad is it out there?”
The assassin shrugged. “There are a few guns looking for me. And you. When they do not find us outside, they will come here.”
“Then we better get going.” Ethan slipped the dead guard’s .44 Magnum into his holster. “Danny, get everyone together.”
One at a time, starting with Callie and Danny, a group of frightened little girls crept out from the shadows and corners of the room.
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