They took a moment to eye the battered North Koreans.
“This guy is a freaking nightmare,” Alex exclaimed.
“He just saved our lives,” Simpson pointed out.
“Oh, yeah? Probably because he wants to kill us all by himself,” Alex shot back. “So what I told you still goes. Shoot to kill the bastard.”
Stone looked at his watch. “We’re running out of time.”
Hemingway stood alone at the end of the hall, the two cells holding the president and Chastity behind him. The prisoners were unconscious after he’d given them amnesic drugs with their dinner earlier. He didn’t believe they’d want to have any memory of what had happened to them.
As the door opened at the other end of the hall, Hemingway receded into the shadows.
Alex stepped through the doorway with the others and called out, “Hemingway, we’ve come for the president.”
Hemingway made not a sound.
“You might not know what’s happened, Tom,” Alex added. “The Sharia Group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Right this instant the United States has a nuke aimed at Damascus. It’s going to launch in less than three hours unless the president is returned safely. That’s what Reinke and Peters were probably coming to tell you.”
Hemingway drew a quick breath but still said nothing.
“Tom, I’m being straight with you,” Alex continued. “The whole world is about to go up in flames. Every Muslim army and every terrorist organization in the world is gathering to attack the United States. We’re at DEFCON 1, Tom. DEFCON 1. You know what that means. Everything’s ready to blow.” Alex paused and then shouted, “We’ve got three hours, goddamn it, or six million people die!”
Finally, Hemingway stepped into the light.
“Why would the Sharia Group have claimed responsibility?” he asked warily.
“They didn’t, so I did it for them,” Captain Jack said as he darted through the doorway and pressed his gun against the side of Simpson’s head. He took her pistol and trained it on the others. “Now, drop your weapons, or you’ll get a nice view of this lady’s brains.”
The others hesitated for a moment, and then one by one Alex, Stone and the wounded Reuben dropped their guns.
“Damn, that’s the guy we heard earlier,” Reuben muttered to Stone, but his friend wasn’t listening. He was looking very intently at Captain Jack.
As Captain Jack’s gaze swept over them, it stopped and came back to Stone. Captain Jack’s brow creased. Then his attention was drawn to Hemingway, who said, “I thought we had an agreement.”
To Alex, Hemingway seemed coiled so tightly he looked as though he could have jumped clear into outer space.
“We did, Tom,” Captain Jack said pleasantly. “But then I got a better offer from the North Koreans. I told you I was only in this for the money. That was fair warning to you, mate, and don’t blame me if you didn’t pick up on it.”
Hemingway said, “Why? To start an American-Muslim war? What does that gain for North Korea?”
“I really don’t care. They paid my price.”
Alex said, “We’re going to drop a nuclear bomb on Damascus.”
Captain Jack looked at him disdainfully. “I worked for the Syrians for a while. They’re just as bloodthirsty as anyone else. It’s not like they don’t deserve it.”
“Six million people,” Alex said. “Including women and children.”
Captain Jack just shook his head wearily. “You’re really not getting my point, are you?”
“You’ve got dead North Koreans all over the place,” Hemingway said. “Do you really think your plan will work now?”
“I’ll have time to clean that all up, Tom. There’s an old mine shaft not too far from here. Perfect place to dump the bodies. Except for one. The world needs to see that one.”
“Brennan?”
“Have to finish the job.”
Stone spoke up. “So you’re intending on killing all of us?”
Captain Jack looked at him. “You seem very familiar to me.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, I plan to kill each of you.” He glanced at Hemingway. “I did right by you, Tom. Look at what happened in Brennan. Worked to perfection.”
“It doesn’t work if the president ends up dead too,” Hemingway said flatly. “I’m supposed to return him unharmed. That’s what I said I was going to do.”
“If it’s money you want, the U.S. has a lot more than North Korea,” Simpson said.
Captain Jack shook his head. “Even I’m not that greedy. And I seriously doubt I’d get paid. I mean you are the biggest debtor country in the world.”
Captain Jack shot Hemingway with a glancing wound to the left leg. The man grimaced and dropped to his knees. Next Captain Jack shot him in the right arm.
“Stop, please!” Simpson screamed.
Captain Jack said, “I’m sorry to do this piecemeal, Tom, but I have no desire to have my neck crushed by you.”
Hemingway said between gritted teeth, “You might want to reconsider your plan.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because the cell doors are booby-trapped.”
“Then turn the devices off and open the doors.”
Hemingway shook his head.
“Then I’ll just start killing them one by one until you do.”
“You’re going to kill them anyway, so what does it matter?” Hemingway said.
“We’ll just see how long you can take the screams. Your only weakness is you’re just too damn civilized, Tom.”
Stone managed to catch Hemingway’s gaze and motioned with his eyes to something. Hemingway gave a barely perceptible nod.
Captain Jack pressed the gun tightly against Simpson’s temple and said, “Good-bye, whoever you are.”
“My name is John Carr,” Stone said quietly as he stepped forward. “You were right, we
Captain Jack lowered his pistol slightly. “John Carr,” he said in amazement as he looked Stone up and down. “My God, John, the years haven’t been kind to you.”
“You were a bastard traitor back then, and I see you still are.”
“I went out on my terms. I don’t think you can say the same,” Captain Jack sneered. His attention was fully on Stone now, so he didn’t notice Hemingway edging toward the wall.
Stone took another step forward, blocking Captain Jack’s line of sight to Hemingway. “Why don’t you kill
“You’re still one cocky bastard,” Captain Jack growled.
“Unlike you, I earned the right to be. How did you screw up again? Oh, that’s right, you used the wrong barometric reading and you missed your target. They had to send me in a year later to do it right. Face it, you were a second-rate bungler.”
Captain Jack pointed his pistol at Stone’s forehead. “I won’t have to worry about barometric pressure this time.”
Hemingway leaped and hit the light switch, plunging them into darkness. Captain Jack fired. There were screams and shouts and scuffling and finally one horrific cry and then the sound of a body falling.
The lights came back on, and Captain Jack was lying on the floor, his guns gone. Stone was standing over him, holding a knife covered in blood, fabric and skin. He’d taken it from the room of truth.
