The Freedom Broker (Thea Paris #1)(87)

It killed her not knowing what was happening outside.

She waited another two minutes to make sure the men were gone. Sweat from her forehead dripped onto the galvanized steel. Okay, onward. She crawled away from the fire, searching for an external vent where they could slip out of the hotel unnoticed.

Intense thirst overwhelmed her, and she needed to pee. Not good signs. Her blood sugar levels were rising in the absence of insulin. She had to return to her room or the conference space and give herself an injection. But first she had to get the prime minister to safety.

They reached another bend in the ductwork. She considered the structure of the building. Her gut told her to turn right. This place was an absolute maze with all its twists and turns. She hoped like hell she hadn’t gotten them lost.





Chapter Sixty-Eight



Gabrielle concealed herself in the alcove adjacent to the room Nikos had entered, and from there she could hear the sound of voices but not what they were saying. Then the sound of two gunshots, followed by two more. Then silence.

Who else was inside that suite?

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, startling her. She quickly checked her cell. Max. Christos Paris is being held nearby. Meet me at the Victoria Falls Bridge.

At long last, positive news. She texted back: Hotel under siege. Will come as soon as I can.

Movement. Sounds. The hotel room’s door opened. She remained hidden in the alcove, where she had a view of the hallway. Nikos again. She hoped he was headed the other way. To her relief, he exited the room alone and hurried toward the rear stairs.

She waited a few moments to make sure he was gone. What to do? Curiosity overrode any hesitation. She raised her SIG Sauer and inched toward the room. The door was ajar. She listened, but only silence greeted her. Cautious, she pushed the door wider so she could look inside.

A metallic scent filled the room. A woman’s body lay supine on the white carpet, blood framing her in a crimson blot. Quan Xi-Ping. A quick glance to the left revealed Quan Chi slumped across an armchair, also dead, his brains splattered on the chair and wall. Sister and brother, forever bonded in death.

She cleared the bedroom and bathroom. The suite held no other bodies.

A whiff of smoke flooded her nose. Time to leave. A cell phone rested on the floor beneath Chi’s hand. She picked it up using a napkin from the table and scanned the screen. Locked. She slipped the phone into her pocket for examination later. It might hold answers to this unusual turn of events, and she didn’t want it destroyed in a fire.

She exited the room, scanning the hallway, making her way toward the stairs. Nikos Paris had murdered the Chinese delegation vying for the same oil deal as his father’s company. This took negotiating to a whole other level. Was he working on behalf of Christos, or did he have his own agenda? If he and General Jemwa were in cahoots to stage the coup and give the oil rights to Paris Industries, why did he need to kill the Chinese? And why had Nikos shot the soldier? Questions and more questions. Gabrielle tabled everything until later. She needed to reach the bridge and find Max.





Chapter Sixty-Nine



Nikos descended the stairs to the ground-floor exit. The General’s men had started fires with incendiary devices on the east side of the inn. Before long, the iconic Victoria Falls Hotel would be consumed by hungry flames.

The General had brought only a small force, probably because they were in the sovereign territory of another country and he couldn’t risk having their movement look like an invasion. That gave Nikos and his men an advantage.

Two sharpshooters targeted the General’s soldiers from outside, while three of his operatives worked the inside. He’d assigned his best man the job of making sure Thea escaped safely. No matter how well trained the Kanzian platoon was, the men would be no match against his special-ops team.

Nikos exited the building and crept along the thick foliage nearby, then sprinted toward the General’s Land Cruiser, which was parked at the far end of the hotel. The giant was issuing commands from the safety of the armored vehicle. This close to grabbing the throne, he wasn’t about to put himself in jeopardy.

When Nikos was within range of the General’s view, he slowed his pace and faked a limp. Chi’s blood helped sell the story. His breath was raspy from running as he approached the Land Cruiser. “I’m hit. Kimweri’s on the west side of the building, still alive.”

The General assessed him shrewdly. He hadn’t reached his position by being a fool. Deeply obsessed with his own safety, he never went anywhere alone, as evidenced by the two bodyguards sitting in the rear of the vehicle. But Ita Jemwa’s paranoia was outmatched by his lust for power, which Nikos was depending on. More than anything, the General wanted to be the next ruler of Kanzi.

His radio buzzed.

“The prime minister’s escaping. We need backup,” one of Nikos’s snipers shouted in Swahili, pretending to be a rebel soldier.

The General pressed the talk button. “Which way?”

“West.”

“Go.” The General gestured to his two guards. “Track down the old man.”

“Through the jungle path.” Nikos pointed. “You can catch him. The prime minister is old and slow.”

“Kill Kimweri and anyone with him,” the General instructed the guards.

The men exited the Land Cruiser and sprinted across the field, disappearing into the jungle. Rain pelted Nikos’s face. He opened the driver’s-side door. “The gods are angry today.” He gestured toward the sky.