No Fortunate Son (Pike Logan, #7)(77)

Nung took up the chase, me right behind. We passed several groups of tourists, all frightened at the turmoil, but none doing anything to stop us. The tunnel wound forward endlessly, and I began to wonder just how long it was. Surely they couldn’t expect tourists to walk miles. Could they?

I broke out of the bone district, entering back into the limestone, and the light increased. I picked up my pace, gaining on Nung and hearing the footfalls of Braden in front of me. I reached an open cavern, seeing a stone stairwell on the side with a modern illuminated EXIT sign. Nung was blocking it, hands held high, and I knew it was the endgame.

Braden had a knife out, waving it back and forth, a cell phone in his other hand. He shouted into it but was getting no signal from underneath the ground. I advanced into the cavern, and he saw me. He gave a war cry and attacked Nung, the single thing blocking his exit out.

He stabbed forward with the knife, and Nung danced, blocking the downward blow and twisting Braden’s arm in a circle. Braden flung the cell phone from his other hand and clawed at Nung’s face, screaming in pain. Nung leveraged the elbow downward, bringing Braden to his knees. I jumped forward to assist, but not fast enough.

Braden scrambled at his ankle with his free hand, and like magic, a small stiletto appeared. He jabbed it over his head, trying to connect with the flesh of the man holding him. Nung saw it coming, ducked under the blade, then snapped the elbow forward, the crack ricocheting in the cavern. Braden shrieked in pain, and Nung circled his arms around Braden’s neck. A meter away, I screamed, “No!” and saw the life leave Braden’s eyes as his spine popped.

I reached them and said, “Nung, damn it, he’s no good to us dead.”

He stood up, saying, “He was calling his friend. Telling him to kill the hostages. Whoever is on the other end of that phone has them.”






53




Hearing the voice mail, Seamus hung up. For the third time.

Kevin said, “You want me to send the chat request? The room’s open.”

“No. Not yet. You sure this VOIP thing is working? I’m getting nothing trying to contact Braden.”

Kevin said, “Yeah. If he’s not answering, it’s because he’s got the app turned off or he’s out of digital 3G or 4G coverage. Call him direct.”

“I don’t want to taint the phone. Right? If I call on the cell network instead of VOIP?”

“Yeah, but if you’re that worried, what’s the big deal? It’s a single call. You’ve been using VOIP for Braden since we started.”

“Because if I’m that worried, it’s the exact wrong time to do it, jackass.”

Kevin retreated to his computer screen, saying, “Well, do you want to send the request or not? I got the room open.”

“No, damn it. We need the new Snapchat video. I want to hit them with the Bitcoin request, then when they stall, hit them with the death of their hostages.”

Sitting aside, listening to the back-and-forth, Colin finally said, “What’s the holdup? Where’s Braden?”

“I don’t know. I keep getting his voice mail.”

“He called before, right? Saying the diversion was going down?”

“Yeah, but I can’t get him now. I don’t know about the robbery.”

“Why does that matter? Call the team sitting on them. Tell them to make the Snapchat. They can execute.”

“I don’t trust them,” Seamus snapped. “They f*ck it up, and they’ll have the world coming down on their heads. A hornets’ nest. Then it’ll be coming to us.”

Colin said, “I thought that didn’t matter to the mighty Seamus.”

Seamus looked at him and said, “You dumbass, of course it matters. I don’t want to give them a road map to find us, and it would take one mistake for the NSA to grab.” He paced around the room, running his hands through his hair. Feeling the pressure.

Kevin interrupted his thoughts, saying, “Seamus, got something out of Paris. You ought to see this.” He pointed to a separate laptop, streaming with live news. A breaking story appeared.

Seamus said, “Turn it up.”

The sound came on, the announcer speaking French. Seamus said, “Shit. Can you find one in English?”

“By the time I search, the story will be over.”

The screen showed a broken-down apartment complex, the area out front blockaded with all manner of emergency vehicles, the blue lights flashing like a circus. As the man spoke, the camera zoomed in to the fourth floor, grimly framing a blackened window, the drapes, stained by flame, fluttering in the breeze.

Entranced, Seamus stared at the screen, not believing he had created the chaos. The picture flashed back to the news desk, and the anchor spit something out in a rapid manner, looking flustered and holding his hand to an earpiece. The screen cut to a picture of a jewelry store called Bulgari, then to a picture of a necklace, a thick gold chain encrusted with diamonds, a heavy ruby in the center.

Colin whooped and said, “The robbery! It went off.”

Seamus smiled and said, “Looks like it.”

One of the cell phones on the windowsill went off. Not the one he held, so it wasn’t Braden. Still looking at the laptop, he waved his hand and said, “Someone get that.”

Colin moved to the window, and Kevin said, “You want to start the chat?”