Страница 78 из 84
The man staggered to one side but didn’t go down. He grabbed Brea
“Stop!” said Dr. Gustov. “If you’re looking for me, I am here. Leave the others alone.”
Da
“Give me your pistol,” he told the man.
“But—”
“Don’t you have a backup weapon?”
The man hesitated, then reached down to his ankle where a small Glock was strapped. Da
Zen watched the Black Wolf’s face. There was obviously something going on, though it was impossible to tell exactly what.
Most likely the men he was going to kill were on their way here. What would happen when they arrived? Would Stoner kill him, too?
“Stoner, what’s going on?” Zen demanded. “Why are you doing all this?”
The man glared at him but said nothing, his hand pressed over his ear to listen to the radio.
“The Mark Stoner I knew was a patriot,” said Zen. “A CIA officer as dedicated as any person I’ve ever met.”
“Shut the hell up,” barked Stoner, pointing the gun at him. “Shut the hell up or I’ll shoot your tongue out.”
Brea
The man gri
“Don’t shoot him!” shouted Brea
Three loud pops followed.
Brea
He was still standing.
The intruder was lying on the ground, the back of his head shattered by bullets. Blood was spurting everywhere.
“Bree! Bree!”
Da
The Black Wolf frowned. Green had gone off mission and entered the room without orders.
The Black Wolf pressed his hand to his ear, trying to hear what was going on.
“Green?” he demanded. “Report. What’s the situation? Green?”
“There’s gunfire upstairs,” said White.
“Investigate.”
“On my way.”
Green had obviously decided to take matters into his own hands. There was no excuse for that. He’d deal with him later, in the helicopter.
It should be only minutes away.
“What happened to you?” repeated Zen.
The Black Wolf looked over at him. He’d almost forgotten he was there.
“Who are you?” said the Black Wolf.
“Your friend,” said Zen.
“I don’t have any friends.”
“You did, fifteen years ago.”
“I didn’t exist then,” he answered.
The Black Wolf stared at the man in the wheelchair who called himself Zen.
It was so familiar, yet so far away.
Da
“Is everyone OK?” Da
“I am OK,” said Minister Gustov.
“It’s OK, it’s OK,” said Brea
The two Ukrainians on the floor groaned. Da
One of the Czech officers yelled at someone in the hall.
“Stay here!” Da
Gunfire erupted in the hallway as Caroline opened the door to the bathroom.
“Stay down. Get behind something—get in the bathtub,” Brea
“Mama!” cried Teri.
“Stay down, Teri. I’m here.”
Brea
“The head! They’re only vulnerable in the head!” shouted Da
It was a mad, crazy scramble. Da
“Da
“Get back in the room.”
“No. Who’s shooting?”
“He’s near the elevator. One of the guards who came with me tried to stop him.”
“He’s with the Wolves?”
“I don’t know—I haven’t seen them.”
“The man in the room, was he one of them?”
“I’m pretty sure. They’re all huge.”
There was fresh gunfire. Someone began screaming in pain.
“Stay down,” said Da
Two more quick shots and the screaming stopped.
A bad sign.
“Aim for the head,” he said, raising his pistol.
The man turned the corner. Da
His first shot grazed the man’s face; the second and third hit lower. The man swung his gun in Da
Something exploded in Da
The Wolf assassin got off a single, errant shot before falling to the ground, dead.
The Black Wolf heard White go down. He’d been ambushed on the fourth floor.
It was time to abort.
“Blue, Red, we leave by the back,” he told the others over the radio.
“What’s going on?” asked Blue.
“We leave by the back.”
“What about the people in the locker?”
“Leave them. I have a hostage,” the Black Wolf said.
Zen braced himself as the Black Wolf approached, not exactly sure what he was going to do.
“You’re not going to shoot your way out of this, Stoner,” he said. “But I can help.”
“Shut up.”
“Listen, Mark—”
The Black Wolf grabbed the back of his wheelchair and spun him around. He pushed him toward the kitchen. Zen started to reach for the wheels, but they were moving so fast he realized he wouldn’t be able to stop.
“We’re taking a cripple as hostage?” said the gunman in the kitchen when they entered. “We should take someone who won’t slow us down. There’s a girl—”
“I’m a U.S. senator,” said Zen. “I’m worth more.”
Zen felt himself being lifted from his chair from behind.
“Shut your mouth,” growled the Black Wolf, flipping him over his shoulder as if he were a sack of potatoes.
Brea
Da
Brea
“I can’t hear,” said Da
“Teri!” said Brea
No one inside had moved. She ran to the bathroom.
“Teri! Caroline!”
“We’re OK!” yelled Caroline.
“It’s all right—you can open the door,” said Brea
They cracked the door cautiously, then pushed it open. Brea
“The Czech security forces are surrounding the building,” said Da
“Zen—the elevator attendant said he went to the basement.”
Da
“Zen is downstairs. In the basement,” said Brea
“Zen? They’ll get him. The Czechs are surrounding the building.”
“Here’s a helicopter with troops now,” said General Josef, going to the window. “It’s landing right across the street.”
Zen tried to turn his eyes and brain into a human video camera, recording everything that he saw happening around him, in case it would be important later. Stoner carried him through a narrow, twisting hallway that zigged out from below the building, ending in a set of steps. They were up them in a flash. Light poured over him—they were out in a small open area, moving across gravel.