SAVE THE QUEEN: AN ALEX HALEE AND JAMIE AUSTEN SPY THRILLER (THE SPY STORIES Book 4)

by Terry Toler

  No way Alex could explain his way out of this.

  ***

  Iran

  Pok was trying to do two things at once. Monitor Halee’s location and watch the news reports from London to try and piece together what happened. The bomb had exploded prematurely. No one knew why. The Iranians thought it was a good thing, and a buzz of excitement filled the room. Pok wasn’t so sure and wouldn’t celebrate until he knew the end result.

  When the London news reported that only one person was dead—the bomber, the jubilation in the cyber lab dissipated like a puff of smoke in the wind..

  Niazi was furious. He pounded his fist into a wall so hard, it left a hole in the sheetrock. If Niazi noticed the blood on his knuckles, it wasn’t obvious he even cared. His thirst for vengeance against Halee started raging out of control like a wildfire next to dry kindling as he filled the room with expletives in several different languages.

  Pok needed to channel Niazi’s hatred toward a productive end. Niazi’s focus was still on Halee.

  “We need to kill him,” Niazi said.

  “In due time, my friend. In due time.”

  “I don’t understand why no one else was killed when the bomb exploded.”

  “Water under a bridge as they say. We need to focus on the next attack. Where is your other man?”

  “He’s outside Halee’s hotel.”

  “Perfect.”

  Pok had seen Halee leave the hospital with his wife. He assumed they were headed back to the hotel. That would be confirmed soon as Pok had the security camera at the entrance pulled up on his screen.

  “Forget the first bomber. He served our purposes and didn’t die in vain. I have a plan,” Pok said. “The second man doesn’t need to track Halee. We’ll hit him in his hotel.”

  “I like that plan.” Niazi’s demeanor changed immediately.

  “Tell your man to get ready to move on my instructions.”

  “What do you want him to do?”

  “Explode his bomb in the hotel lobby.”

  23

  London

  The ten-minute drive from the hospital to our hotel took a lot longer than that. Jamie asked the driver why the traffic was almost at a standstill. I thought I already knew the answer, which the driver confirmed.

  “A suicide bomber blew himself up earlier this afternoon,” he said. “That, and with the royal wedding this weekend, security is going to be tighter than my wife’s pants for the next couple days. I’ll be glad when everybody clears out of here.” I got the feeling that wasn’t the first time he’d used that” tighter than my wife’s pants” line. What he said about wanting everyone to leave probably wasn’t true either. The meter on the cab kept churning cash for him even though we weren’t moving.

  After he mentioned the bomber, Jamie leaned toward me and whispered, “Do you know anything about that suicide bomber, Alex?”

  When I shrugged my shoulders, the look of resignation on her face told me she knew I was involved. A lot of things had happened while she was in the hospital, but I wasn’t about to go into information about our mission with the driver within earshot. Another thing I didn’t want to tell her was that when we got back to the hotel, we needed to pack up our things and leave as soon as we got there. Something she wasn’t going to like which was why I hadn’t already told her.

  “Are we going to make love when we get to the hotel?” she asked in my ear, as she interlocked her arm with mine and snuggled her shoulder against me.

  “I’m not sure you’re up for it. Aren’t you still in pain?” It hurt me to try and come up with an excuse.

  “I’m fine,” Jamie said.

  As desperately as I wanted to be with her, we had to get out of the hotel and go into hiding. Pok’s failure with the first bomber meant he was almost certainly planning another one right that minute. I didn’t want to make us an easy target. He obviously knew about our hotel. Until we were off the security camera grid, I didn’t plan on being stationary for any length of time. Even stalled in traffic was making me uncomfortable.

  Unfortunately, going dark usually meant finding the seediest hotel in the worst part of town. One that took cash and didn’t require a passport at check in. No security cameras would be operating there. The last thing the establishment wanted were eyes on who came and went on a regular basis.

  Perfect for hiding but not great for romance and a honeymoon. Jamie wouldn’t want to even lay on the bed, much less have sex on it.

  She turned to face me. When she did, she suddenly cried out in pain. Our knees accidentally touched and, by the grimace on her face, I could tell the pain level was still high. Turned out, that made the argument for me even clearer. I couldn’t imagine we could enjoy any type of intimacy with her hands and knees still that tender.

  “See what I mean,” I said, apologetically. “Your hands are so tender you can’t touch me. How would I avoid hitting your knees? We’re going to have to wait a day or two until you’re healed.”

  “I still want to try.”

  “Let’s see when we get there,” I said, knowing it wouldn’t be an option.

  Neither of us said anything for a couple of minutes. We stared out the windows at the traffic, which was still at a standstill. I decided a little humor might break the monotony.

  “I told you we should’ve joined the Mile High club,” I said jokingly.

  Jamie rolled her eyes and turned her head away from me to look out the side window. The same reaction I got the first and second time I brought up the subject.

  The night before our wedding, Jamie was lamenting the fact that we weren’t going to have a traditional wedding night. “Why do we have to wait for London?” I asked her. “We could join the Mile-High club.”

  I was only halfway joking.

  Jamie’s reaction was exactly what I expected.

  “Alex Halee, get that thought right out of your mind!” she said emphatically. Her cheeks turned red.

  “It’d be cool,” I argued. “Something different. We’d always remember our first time.”

  “You’ll always remember it anyway. Trust me.” She had a seductive look on her face when she said it.

  “Yeah, but this would really be different,” I said, not willing to let it drop.

  “I’m not having sex on an airplane with people around! Not going to happen.”

  “No one will be around. We’re in business class. We have our own cubicle. It’s an overnight flight. Everyone else will be asleep. No one will know but us.”

  “No! I’m not going to do it. What if a flight attendant walked by? Somebody might hear us. I’d be too embarrassed.”

  “Think about it. We’d have a great story to tell our grandkids.”

  “I’m not talking to our grandkids about our sex life!” Jamie said. “Have you lost your mind?”

  “I’m surprised at you. I thought you were a risk taker. You parachuted into the eye of a hurricane. Now you’re worried about what a flight attendant might think. Having our first time on an airplane forty thousand feet in the air would add to the adventure and make it exciting.”

  “It’s going to be exciting anyway,” she retorted. “I want it to be romantic. In a beautiful hotel room. With a glass of wine.”

  “Is that what’s going to happen when we get married?” I argued. “We’re going to become one of those boring married couples! Just like everyone else we know.”

  That argument resonated.

  “I’ll think about it,” she said. “But no promises.”

  Of course, that plan was moot when our plane reservations were changed to coach instead of business class. That didn’t keep me from bringing up the subject on the flight from our coach seats. About halfway through the flight, Jamie had said. “I’m going to the restroom.”

  A stupid thought popped into my head and I blurted it out before I could stop myself. “Do you want me to join you?”

  Jamie’s lips twisted into a look of disgust. “No,” she said quickly and emphatic
ally.

  “Have you given any more thought to joining The Mile High Club?”

  “In an airplane bathroom? Have you lost your friggin mind?” she said sternly but barely above a whisper so the other passengers wouldn’t hear. “You’ve waited this long. You can wait a few more hours.”

  Neither of us could’ve possibly known that the few hours had turned into a few days. From the looks of things, it might be a few days more.

  ***

  The taxi finally arrived at our hotel. Out of habit, I always check my surroundings when exiting a vehicle. It wouldn’t be that hard for Pok to have a bomber waiting for us in front of our hotel.

  Turns out, it wasn’t a bomber. Agent Weaver was the first person I saw when we entered the lobby. Fortunately, he didn’t see us. I took Jamie by the arm and ushered her quickly through the lobby to the elevators without Weaver seeing us.

  When we got to our room I said, “We have to pack and get out of here.”

  “What’s going on, Alex?”

  I explained everything to her. The security cameras. Pok. The vest bomber. The trap I’d set. My suspicions that another bomber was lurking nearby. My discussions with Brad. The mission he gave us to find the dirty bomb.

  “Weaver’s in the lobby,” I added. “That complicates things.”

  After showing her the laptop and the cyber lab in Iran, Jamie realized the gravity of the situation and immediately started packing. I scrolled through the security camera system until I came to the front of our hotel. I didn’t want to be caught by surprise when we exited the hotel.

  I also wondered where Weaver was. More than likely, he was throwing his considerable weight around with a manager to get a key to our room.

  What I saw sent a chill through my spine.

  Weaver wasn’t our biggest worry.

  A vest bomber was standing across the street. I was getting better at identifying Pok’s men in a crowd. At the moment, he was only standing there. I suspected he was waiting for us to leave. With Weaver present, there wasn’t time to create a plan to lead the bomber away from the hotel and into a trap. I wasn’t sure Pok would fall for the same trick again anyway.

  The best thing for us to do was to get out of there as soon as possible. Perhaps we could take the stairway to the parking garage and avoid running into Weaver. I thought about ditching my gun along the way but thought better of it. In case I needed it for the bomber.

  I closed the laptop and threw my things into my backpack.

  A knock on the door startled me.

  Weaver!

  I motioned for Jamie to remain still and quiet.

  The banging on the door got louder. “Steele. I know you’re in there. I heard you. Open the door. You’re under arrest.”

  Jamie looked at me in disbelief. “Why are we hiding from him? You’ve done nothing wrong,” she whispered.

  “You heard him. He said I’m under arrest. I haven’t done anything wrong, but if they take me down to the station, we’ll lose valuable time. I’ve got to find out where that dirty bomb is and when and where Pok intends to detonate it.”

  When I heard Weaver inserting a keycard into the door, I realized that a confrontation was inevitable. When the door didn’t open right away, I could tell he was having trouble with it. That bought me a few more seconds to think. What were my options? I could easily overpower him. Even pull my gun if I had to. That would only make things worse. The best thing was to try and talk my way out of it and force would be the last resort.

  Rather than letting him open the door, I opened it for him.

  “Sorry it took so long,” I said. “We just got back from the hospital. I was trying to get my wife settled. What can we do for you, Agent Weaver?”

  He brushed past me, knocking against my shoulder for emphasis and didn’t stop until he was well into our suite. “What do you know about the suicide bombing earlier today?” he asked me.

  “I heard no one was injured or killed,” I answered.

  “Don’t play coy with me. I saw you on camera. You were there. What happened?”

  “What happened was that no one was injured or killed thanks to me.”

  “Why are terrorists targeting you and your wife, if she really is your wife?”

  I could tell that almost got a rise out of Jamie as her fists balled and her shoulders tensed. Fortunately, she chose not to respond.

  “That’s obvious, isn’t it?” I said. Weaver was between Jamie and me. I’d prefer her next to me so we could make a quick exit if we had to.

  “Why don’t you explain it to me?” Weaver said.

  “We maimed one of their guys at Kensington Park. They’ve been following us around ever since. Trying to get payback.”

  Jamie had the presence of mind to interject, “As you can see, Agent Weaver, all our bags are packed. We were just about to head to the airport and go home.”

  “Not so fast. Why are you running an operation on London soil without permission?”

  “We’re not,” I said. “I told you we’re not with the CIA.”

  “That’s right you’re not. Or at least you aren’t,” he said pointing at me. “I’m not sure about her.” He turned his accusatory finger and pointed it in Jamie’s direction.

  “I’m not with the CIA either,” she said.

  “You used to be,” Weaver retorted almost angrily. “Does the name Bond Digby ring a bell?”

  I saw the flash of recognition on Jamie’s face, but I doubt Weaver picked it up. Didn’t matter anyway because Jamie said, “Okay. I used to be with the CIA. I know Bond. We worked together on a mission. Why are you harassing us? I’m sure he vouched for me.” Jamie obviously made the call to reveal what Weaver already knew anyway.

  “You, I’m not worried about,” Weaver said, referring to Jamie. “It’s you, Steele. You’ve been traipsing around London trying to be a hero. Putting innocent civilians in danger. What if that bomb had exploded in Trafalgar? Then what? Dozens of people could’ve been killed. And it would’ve been your fault.”

  “How’s it my fault? They’re obviously targeting me. I’m just trying to stay alive.”

  “How do you know when and where the attacks are going to take place?” he asked in an accusatory tone.

  “I don’t know. Like Jamie said, Weaver, we’re leaving. We’re on our way to the airport. We’ll be out of your hair for good.”

  “You’re not going anywhere. I’m taking you down to the station. We’re going to sort all this out. I want to know what you know and who you’re working for. Where’s your gun?”

  That threw me off guard for a second. I didn’t know he knew about the gun which was in the front of my pants. There was no way we were leaving that hotel room without him searching for it. At that point, I made the decision that I was going to have to take Weaver down. Not hurt him but overpower him so we could get away. I looked over at Jamie and our eyes met. I could tell she was thinking the same thing.

  Before I could take a step, the room suddenly began to shake.

  Violently.

  A loud noise followed. An explosion.

  I pushed past Weaver to the window. Pillars of black smoke poured from the front of the hotel. Debris was blown out in the street. Several people looked to be injured outside the hotel.

  The alarm in our room let out a deafening sound that echoed through the entire suite.

  “What was that?” Weaver asked.

  “Another suicide bomber,” I shouted over the din. “In the lobby.”

  My worst fear had come to pass.

  What do I do now?

  24

  The Palace Hotel

  When the bomb exploded, what I did next was probably a mistake. Judging by Jamie’s reaction, she felt the same way.

  “Alex, what are you doing?” she cried out.

  The gun previously tucked in the front of my pants was now pointed at Weaver. I relieved him of his weapon and searched him for any others.

  “You’re making a big mistake, Steele,�
� Weaver said with his arms raised and his lips twisted in disdain.

  I didn’t doubt it.

  “It’s not my first and won’t be my last,” I said, realizing right after I did it that turning back was no longer an option. My only focus was doing everything I could to stop more bombings from happening. At the moment, Weaver was the one standing in my way and had to be dealt with. Getting arrested was not an option. Neither was hurting him.

  I was walking a fine line.

  “Let’s go Jamie,” I said. “We have to get out of here.”

  “We can’t leave him here,” Jamie responded. “Everybody needs to evacuate the building. There might be a fire. We don’t even know if we can get out.”

  I hadn’t thought that through. The elevators were programmed to go immediately to the first floor in the event of a fire or emergency. If the stairway were blocked with smoke, we’d have to evacuate to the top of the building and hope for the best. Hard to do with a hostage. Tying him up in the room wasn’t an option. He could die from a fire or smoke inhalation.

  I opened the door to the hallway. No smoke. “Weaver, you go to the left stairs, and we’re going to the right. Don’t try and follow us. Come on, Jamie.”

  Jamie limped toward me. I’d forgotten she wasn’t moving well because of her injured knees. A quick getaway wasn’t a sure thing as we’d have to take the stairs carefully. My plan was to take the stairs by the service elevator. The one in the back of the building the manager brought us up in when we first checked into the hotel. If I remembered the layout correctly, the stairs would bring us to the laundry area, which would lead to an employee entrance. Or if we went back toward the lobby, we could go to the parking garage. There we could commandeer a vehicle and get somewhere safe.

  As we exited the hotel room, I pointed to the left and waved my gun at Weaver. “Don’t follow us. Leave us alone. I’m trying to help you.”

  “You won’t get far,” he said and took off running for the exit sign.

  We had to hurry as well. But we couldn’t run. I took the time to give Jamie his gun just in case. I wasn’t certain another bomber wasn’t lurking in the building.