his breath left his lungs. He lost his grip on the door frame and tumbled out.
In the next instant the open door collided with a parked truck. The window shattered and glass fragments peppered the inside of the truck. The impact slammed the door shut with a metallic screech.
Ajza's heart pounded as she looked at the side mirror. The two vehicles tailing her pulled up alongside. Their occupants, men with whom she had eaten dinner the night before, brandished guns. A couple of them fired their weapons, and bullets ricocheted from the truck's cab and tore through the body.
Wrenching the wheel, Ajza slammed into the lead car. The truck's greater bulk shoved the car sideways. The car plowed through an outdoor cafe, narrowly missing the few patrons sitting there with coffee and breakfast. The car crashed into the corner of the next building.
Ajza hoped that Nazmi wasn't in the car. She liked him. She focused on her driving and spotted a police vehicle at the light ahead of her. Two police officers occupied the vehicle, but neither of them noticed the wreck Ajza left in her wake.
She tapped the brake and pulled to the left again. But she allowed her front bumper to scrape across the police vehicle's back bumper. Although she'd tried to keep the collision to a minimum, the force spun the police car halfway around.
'All right,' Ajza said, glancing in the side mirror as she passed the police car, 'come get me.'
The police car's lights came on and the siren screamed to life. Two cars bearing Mustafa's men roared past it.
Traffic became more difficult the closer she got to the harbor area. She braked and downshifted almost constantly to avoid smashing into vehicles. The truck's transmission groaned as she kept up the pace. Bullets smacked into the truck's rear.
Ajza's gut twisted as she thought about the explosion waiting to erupt if anything especially potent in the crates got hit. She took evasive action, swinging wildly across the street to block the cars zooming up behind her.
She tried to push one of them into a nearby building, but the driver pulled back and she only rammed into the building herself. Something fell in the truck's cargo area. Ajza waited for the detonation. Nothing happened.
Lying on the horn as she powered into the last intersection, she headed for the pier. She didn't know where she was, but the broad expanse of gray-green water in front of her told her she'd reached the harbor. Ships and boats sat at anchorage.
The large cranes and forklifts marked the area as one of the commercial districts. Men dodged out of the way as she barreled through. Another blistering hail of bullets raked the back of the truck. The side mirror on her door suddenly shattered and flew away. The metal housing came loose and battered the door.
The truck roared across the pier. Ajza continued to lean on the horn. One man abandoned a forklift and left it in her path. She swerved and tried not to hit it full on.
The impact strained Ajza's seat belt. The stiff material bit into the flesh of her hips and upper body. Crates in the back rushed forward and smashed against the cab.
Ajza screamed a curse. The forklift slid away in pieces and she continued down the pier. The right front tire pulled at the steering. The wobble told her that the collision had deflated the tire or ripped it to shreds. Her arms ached with the effort of holding the truck on course.
She aimed for the end of the pier and never lifted her foot from the accelerator. The image in the rearview mirror of Mustafa and the others bearing down on her guaranteed the lack of choice.
Ajza unfastened the seat belt and kept her foot on the accelerator. She prayed that God still watched over fools as the sounds of gunfire and police sirens filled her ears.
10
'She did not just do that,' tech support said in Samantha's ear.
Samantha couldn't believe the woman survived the collision with all the munitions in the back of the truck.
'That is one gutsy bird,' the head computer programmer said as he stared at the screen with a big grin. 'I think I'm in love.'
They all stared at the screen as the truck and Ajza disappeared into the ocean.
'My God,' Samantha breathed.
'What?' Kate asked.
Knowing Kate lacked visual access while she left the apartment in New York, Samantha ignored the request for information for the moment.
'Later,' she said. 'Red Team?'
'We're here, Indigo.'
'Are you mobile?'
'Since the convoy started up.'
That was good, Samantha told herself. She looked at the lead computer operator. He nodded and tapped on a keyboard.
Almost immediately the satellite view split on the wall screen. One side stayed with the white-capped wake that remained from the truck's plunge into the sea. The other shifted to a street scene. A yellow spotlight circled an SUV.
'Hold your position,' Samantha said.
'Did she make it?' the Red Team Leader asked.
'So far. Are you prepared for an exfiltration?'
'Affirmative. Red Team is ready to rock and roll. Especially for that hard-driving lady.'
Yanks, Samantha thought. All of them had showoff tendencies.
'If she survived, I'd like to try to get her home in one piece,' she said.
On the wall screen, she saw Mustafa's men bring their vehicles to a halt. The police car slid in behind them, then realized their mistake when Mustafa's gunners opened fire on them. The driver of the police car reversed and hastily backed away.
'The harbor roads stretch in two directions,' Samantha told the Red Team leader. 'Once I see which direction she's going to choose, I'll let you know. We'll coordinate the rendezvous from here.' Out of habit, she checked the time. Their window of opportunity was closing quickly.
'We can get out fast,' the lead computer tech said.
Samantha nodded and quickly brought Kate up to speed. 'I've asked Red Team to try to pull her out of there.'
'I heard,' Kate replied. 'I would have done the same thing.'
Samantha felt a little better about that. Room 59's policies emphasized maintaining a low profile. At this point they hadn't been exposed, but her decision would press that possibility.
But letting the brave young woman die needlessly put her off.
Come on, she thought, staring at the water as Mustafa's men spread out along the pier and searched.
'How deep is the harbor?' Samantha asked.
'At this time of year in that location, twenty-seven feet,' tech support said.
More than enough depth to sink a truck, Samantha decided. She admired the young agent's strategy. The chance of recovering some of the weapons intact remained, but not without getting caught by the local police.
The water remained relatively smooth. No one surfaced.
Come on, Samantha urged.
'I have her,' one of the female computer techs announced.
'Where?' Samantha shifted her gaze to the screen.
'That's my girl,' the male computer operator said enthusiastically. 'I really gotta give her props. You don't meet many like her.'
'Don't wee all over yourself in your excitement,' the other female said sarcastically.
'She's here,' the first woman said.
