“Fifteen minutes is not enough—”
“Fifteen minutes,” Quinn repeated, then turned his phone completely off.
• • •
They headed first south across the Thames River, then west toward Waterloo Station, the sound of raindrops thumping against the roof of the van. Per Quinn’s instructions, Petra made sure not to shake their tail. He knew as long as the person behind them had them in sight, the Ghost would still think he had the upper hand.
“Anything?” he asked Mikhail.
“Not yet,” the Russian said, his phone held firmly to his ear.
“Does your friend speak English?”
“Of course.”
“Put him on speaker.”
Mikhail said something in Russian into the phone, then pushed a button and lowered it into his lap. “Can you hear me?” he said in English.
“Nova, right?” Quinn said.
“Yes,” Nova said.
“This is Quinn. I appreciate your assistance.”
“Not necessary. The Ghost is no friend of mine.”
“He should be arriving soon,” Quinn said.
Nova was in a car near Waterloo. “Good. I have men all around the station. The moment they see him, I’ll know.”
“It’s important that he doesn’t realize he’s been spotted.”
“We understand,” Nova said.
“We’ll keep you on speaker. Let us know the moment there’s a change.”
“I will.”
Quinn pushed himself off the floor and shuffled into the front passenger seat. The rain was steady, but not hard, the windshield wipers more than a match for the storm so far. Quinn looked at the GPS device mounted on the dash, but it only showed a closeup of the road they were on. “Our friends?”
She glanced into her side-view mirror. “Still there.”
“Okay. Let’s do a little zigzagging.”
“Zigzag?”
“Take a few turns. Left-right?”
“Ah, yes. No problem.”
“But don’t lose them. Just make it look like we’re being cautious, and keep our basic direction the same. We want them to still think we’re headed for Waterloo.”
“Hold on,” she said, grinning.
Quinn grabbed the dash as Petra took the next turn, then leaned over enough so he could see the side mirror out her window. Nothing for several seconds, then a set of headlights made the turn behind them.
“Palavin’s men?” Quinn asked.
Petra gave the mirror a quick glance. “Yes.”
“Okay. Take the next turn. My guess is once we do, they’ll start to wonder if we know they’re there, and they’ll halve the distance between us.”
She turned again, and just as Quinn predicted, they were only a half block down when the trailing car showed up again.
“Keep it straight for a few blocks,” he said.
After several seconds of silence, Quinn looked over at Petra. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
He paused. “For Andrei.”
They sat in silence, both watching the road ahead. Suddenly Nova’s voice echoed over the speakerphone.
Quinn looked back at Mikhail. “What did he say?”
“Possible sighting,” Mikhail said.
Quinn glanced at the GPS unit. Waterloo Station was only a few blocks away now.
“Make it like you’re heading toward the station, but keep a block or two between it and us. If you have to, go all the way around. When I give you the word, break off and head toward point two.”
She nodded.
