A Cold Dark Promise (Cold Justice #8.5)(29)

Maybe he wasn’t quite as black inside as he sometimes feared.

He slipped out of the office but heard footsteps coming down the stairs at the end of the corridor. He ducked into a dark cabin that was thankfully empty and listened at the door. There was a lot of jabbering in Arabic in his ear from Masook’s security team. Then the sound of suppressed gunfire came clearly across the feed.

Shit.

Someone was shooting.

Alex looked around and tried the porthole, but it didn’t open. They were moving out of the harbor and into the Med.

Raised voices in the hallway outside made him freeze. They spoke in Arabic but he understood every word.

“You’ll never work again.” Masook. Who was he talking to?

“Ah, my friend, of course I will.” Salamander. Shit. Alex stilled as that familiar hatred and revulsion rose up inside him. “If you’re smart you’ll work with me.”

“With you?” Masook’s tone was hostile. “For you, you mean.” He was no fool.

“Working for me beats being dead, yes?” said Salamander.

“Why are you doing this? This is not how we work. Your client should have paid more,” Masook complained.

“My client doesn’t just want what you are offering. He wants the supplier, too.”

So did Alex, but he’d find them with or without Masook.

Masook laughed sourly. “If I give you that you’ll kill me for sure.”

Salamander’s oily reply snaked under the door. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

More indistinct noises as if someone else was joining them.

“But if you don’t tell me, I will kill your daughter.”

Alex drew in a sharp breath.

“How sloppy to bring a child on a business trip.”

Taylor shrieked. Alex closed his eyes. This op had suddenly gone to shit, and all because Charles Salamander was a treacherous backstabber. If only Alex had pulled the trigger all those years ago…

“Let me go!” Taylor Masook’s yelp of pain had Alex stretching his neck from side to side. The chance of making his own wedding was getting slimmer, but Mallory wouldn’t stand on this side of the door while a child was in danger.

Salamander’s voice grew patronizing, and he switched to English even though Taylor spoke Arabic. “I won’t hurt you, little girl. I just want something your father has.”

“That’s stealing! You’re a bad man. Ouch, you’re hurting me.” She squealed again.

“Your daddy is a bad man, too. He likes to sell deadly weapons to terrorists, but you live with your delusions, child.”

“You’re lying. My daddy wouldn’t do something like that!”

Poor kid. Her dreams were gonna get shattered one way or another, assuming she lived that long. With the laptop slung across his back Alex put his hand on the knob. Time to get rid of Salamander for good.

“I want the name of the scientist who created it else I’ll put a bullet in your poor, sweet child.”

Alex paused.

“Don’t hurt her! I’ll tell you what I know, but I don’t know the name. Let me get my laptop. I will show you my correspondence and how I make payments. Just let her go. This man is easily spooked. He is terrified the FBI is watching him.”

FBI? What the hell? Was this an American traitor?

“He will only deal with me. Without me you will never find him.” Masook sounded desperate.

Salamander enjoyed other people’s fear.

Alex’s time was up. Once Masook realized the laptop was gone he’d know he’d been robbed. Who knew what Salamander would do to the kid then.

Alex came out of the room and double-tapped the goon closest to him. The nanny he’d been holding hostage slumped against the wall. Alex turned and then, before Taylor had finished drawing in breath to scream, aimed his SIG between Salamander’s wide, brown eyes. He saw the flash of recognition but didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

Click.

For the first time on a mission Alex’s gun jammed. He lunged for the dead bodyguard’s gun and rolled across the passageway, kicking open the nearest door as bullets followed him and peppered the thin walls behind him. Taylor screamed so high Alex thought the windows might shatter.

He cleared the SIG and checked the other gun. Both were locked and loaded.

“Ah, Mr. Parker,” Salamander called. “So good to see you again after all these years. Come out and bring the samples with you and I won’t kill Masook’s child.”

Alex pressed his lips together. All he needed was one, clear shot.

“You have three seconds. Three, two, one…”

Alex had no choice. He came out and aimed his pistol, but Salamander was completely shielded behind the nanny. Another of Salamander’s henchmen held Taylor around the waist like a rag doll. Masook was nowhere to be seen.

Alex tilted his head slightly as he looked down the sights. “Hiding behind a woman, Charles?”

He caught the edge of a smile as the snake ducked back behind the terrified nanny. Maybe she was just the hired help.

“Ah, I missed you, Alex.” Salamander seemed gleeful at this turn of events. “I had heard that you retired from your position at the CIA, but the rumors were obviously exaggerated.”

The excitement in his voice crawled over Alex’s flesh.