her superiors at MI-6 would have told her she was in danger. So who were these two men and who had sent them?
'Did you see her take down those two robbers?' Jason asked. 'There was no hesitation in her. She went straight at them. Like a bloody shark.'
'They were kids. Don't make a big deal of it.'
'I'm not.'
'Got a case of hero worship going on, if you ask me.'
Jason snarled, 'I wasn't asking you.'
'If you had a girlfriend, mate, maybe that would help take the edge off.'
'I had a girlfriend not too long ago.' Jason lifted tiny binoculars and trained them on the shop. 'She cramped my style.'
'Didn't know you had a style.'
Listening to the dialogue, Ajza knew the men weren't MI-6 agents. Agents were trained not to talk, and they often didn't work together enough to develop that kind of rapport. Ajza was so used to working deep undercover on assignments that she'd almost forgotten what it was like to have a partner.
'You want any tea?' the other man asked.
'No, mate. I gotta go move what I've already taken on. Are you awake enough to take over?'
'Yes. There's a restaurant up the way. They're still open. Why don't you bring back some fish and chips?'
Jason sighed and got out of the car. 'A babysitter and a bleeding waiter. That's all I am today. This bit better be over with by tomorrow.'
'The walk will do you good.'
'A bloody loo will do me good.' Jason walked away from the car toward the end of the block.
Satisfied the other man in the car was focused on the shop, Ajza stepped from the shadows and settled into quiet pursuit of Jason.
Anger and fear twisted through her. She didn't think any of the nasty business from Mustafa had followed her from Istanbul. Nothing like that had ever happened before.
And it's not happening now, she told herself. Mustafa is dead.
She'd seen the story in the news and wondered if the team that was supposed to exfiltrate her had killed Mustafa. She'd also wondered about the other group that had been there. MI-6 hadn't had any answers.
Then what was this? What had brought these men to her? To her parents?
That was what bothered her the most. Somehow she'd managed to expose her mother and father. That was unacceptable. She didn't like feeling vulnerable, but she couldn't bear the thought of her parents being in harm's way.
The man ahead of her — Jason — was about to pay the price.
Ajza lengthened her stride and caught up with him just as he started to pass another alley. This one suited her purposes perfectly.
The man became aware of her as she stepped alongside him. He swiveled his head toward her, not thinking anything was amiss, just a peripheral read. He should have opened the space between them first.
Without warning, Ajza swung her right forearm around and struck her target in the throat. She caught his right wrist in her left hand and shoved it up behind his shoulder blades. At the same time, she kicked his right foot behind his left leg and caused him to trip.
Off balance and still fighting for breath, the man fell forward. Using his trapped arm as a lever, Ajza shoved him forward. He smashed face-first into the alley wall. As he slumped to the ground, dazed and hurting, Ajza put a knee in his back to pin his arm, then jerked his jacket up and pulled the semiautomatic pistol from the holster at his back.
She flipped the pistol's safety off and shoved the barrel into the man's jaw.
'So far,' she said in an even voice that she had to work to achieve, 'I haven't killed you.'
The man gasped and wheezed and tried to push himself up. He lacked the strength.
'I will kill you if it becomes necessary. Do you believe me?'
The man swallowed hard, obviously trying to regain his breath. 'Why are you doing this? I helped you earlier today.'
'Yet you hang about and spy on me.'
He didn't bother to reply.
'A good Samaritan would have vanished after his good deed.' Ajza patted the man down and found his wallet inside his jacket. She took it out. 'Seeing you out here all day, I had to start wondering what nefarious things you were up to.'
'If I'd wanted to hurt you…'
Ajza pushed the pistol barrel harder into his jaw, making it difficult for him to speak. 'Shh. Don't speak unless I speak to you.'
'We were here to look out for you.'
With a vicious twist, Ajza raised the man's arm. She felt it pop out of place, then settle back in.
He cried out in pain.
'Talk again and I'll break it. You have my promise on that.' Ajza felt him cringing beneath her. She hated the way she felt, but all she had to do was think of her parents in the shop across the street and all thoughts of mercy vanished.
She went through his wallet and found his identification almost at once. His name — perhaps — was Warren Lesser. He was a field agent for MI-5, England's domestic intelligence agency.
'Your photograph is a good likeness,' Ajza observed. She took it from the wallet and slid it into her pocket. A further check of the wallet turned up nothing else of interest, and she tossed it on the ground near Lesser's head.
Cars passed on the street. Even pedestrians walked by. No one came to investigate.
'I want you to pass a message along for me,' Ajza said.
Lesser nodded but he didn't speak.
'Tell your bosses to find whoever put you two onto me,' Ajza said. 'That person has until ten tomorrow morning to contact me. If he doesn't, then I'll find you and your partner and start making people uncomfortable. Understand?'
Lesser nodded again.
'Tell him he can reach me in a chat room for Annie's Dungeon.' Ajza gave the web address and made him repeat it back. 'They're to log in as anything with the word
Lesser nodded.
'Stay down and don't try anything. If you do, I will shoot you.' Moving carefully, Ajza shifted her weight from Lesser's back.
The man moaned as she released his trapped arm. If he tried to do anything quickly, she knew the limb wouldn't hold up under him.
Ajza kept the pistol in her hand as she ran to the other end of the alley. Before she stepped out onto the street, she shoved the weapon into her coat pocket.
She didn't try to go back to her parents' apartment. It wasn't safe there. The only way she could protect them was to stay away. Until she knew how she'd become compromised, she could only hope whoever was looking for her would leave her parents alone.
20
Kate stabbed a forefinger at the touch-screen monitor and picked up a call on speaker phone. 'Sam?'
'I see you're still at work,' Samantha stated.
'Guilty.' Kate's eyes roved over the other files on her monitor. So many things were coming to fruition on a lot
