I was staring down the barrel of his .44. The suppressor of my gun was inches from my opponent’s face, centered on the bridge of his nose. Our fingers were on the triggers, both of us just ounces of pressure away from oblivion.
We glared at each other. Each of us battered, cut, bleeding, and pulped. I was blowing frothy blood bubbles every time I exhaled. He moved his mouth. He was talking.
Careful not to let my gun move, I reached into my vest, grimacing as my hand brushed the area that was now one massive spreading bruise, and pulled out Adar’s box. “I’ve got what I came for.”
Nightcrawler was confused. “That? I don’t even know what that is!”
“I’ll be going now,” I said.
He was shaking badly, and blood was dripping from his forearm, but it wasn’t pumping like I’d severed the artery.
I didn’t hear the door open behind me, but I did feel the terrible impact as they smashed a rifle butt over my head. I ended up on the floor. The last thing I remember was looking at the ceiling, surrounded by angry shadows pointing guns at me. I couldnunderstand a word they were saying over that damn
Chapter 19:
Best Laid Plans
VALENTINE
It was like an old John Woo movie. Lorenzo and I stood in my little room, not six feet from each other, guns drawn. Neither of us fired. I don’t know why. My arm was bleeding badly and burned with pain. I was dizzy and felt sick. It hurt to breathe. Only
He was so focused on me that he didn’t notice the door opening behind him. Tailor, Hudson, and two of Hunter’s security guys came rushing in, weapons at the ready. I lowered my gun just as Hudson bashed Lorenzo in the head with the buttstock of a carbine. The intruder’s gun clattered to the floor as he collapsed. He lay there for a second, staring bleary-eyed at the ceiling before losing consciousness.
I stepped back, setting my revolver down on the bed, and clutched my bleeding arm.
“Michael!” Sarah said, pushing her way through the men in my room, holstering her Sig .45. She threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly. “What happened?” she asked. “Your face! You have a cut on your face! I was walking back to the dorm when I heard the shots. Oh my God! Your arm!” She turned to yell at Hunter’s men as they picked Lorenzo up off the floor. “Get a medic up here right now! He’s injured!” Shouts went out for the doc.
“Val, what the fuck happened up here?” Tailor asked. He lowered his carbine as Hunter’s two security guys dragged Lorenzo away.
“That’s the guy from Hasa Market,” I said, wincing with the pain.
Nervously, Tailor looked around for anyone who wasn’t in the know. “Did he come back for his money?”
“He was in here looking for that puzzle box I found in Adar’s safe. I jumped him. Son of a bitch is a hell of a fighter. If I hadn’t got the drop on him he’d have sliced me open.” I said, straining. “Where the hell is Hal? Christ, I’m bleeding like crazy here.” I wiped the blood from my cheek, smearing it across my face.
“Stop being a pussy,” Tailor said. “Focus. You sure he wasn’t after the money?”
“He only seemed to care about the box.”
“Tailor looked thoughtful. “Shit. We need to tell Hunter.”
“You’re going to tell him about the money?” Hudson asked, concern in his voice.
“No. Especially not this dude’s cash,” Tailor said. “We found that box and a bunch of money in Adar’s safe. We’ll just tell Hunter about the box and shut up about the rest.”
“Damn.” Hudson whistled. “You guys find a lot of money laying around, don’t you?”
A moment later, Hal, the medic, came rushing into the room, carrying his jump bag. Tailor gave everyone the eye so there would be no more talk about the money. “Everybody get back,” Hal said. “Let me see him. Sit down on the bed, Valentine. Goddamn, you got yourself all cut to shit, didn’t you?” He looked me over, illuminating my wounds with a small flashlight. “Yeah, that one on the cheek is going to leave a nasty scar. Not too deep, though. Let me see your arm. Wow, yeah, you’re going to need stitches on this.” I winced as he poked and prodded the bleeding gash. “Quit being a little girl,” Hal chided. “Holy shit, you’re lucky. Any deeper and this would’ve severed your radial artery.”
“Just patch me up, Doc. Was anybody hurt in that explosion?”
“I don’t think so,” Hudson said. “I was outside when the truck blew. Nobody was nearby. Did that guy have something to do with that?”
“I think so. Hal, please hurry. I need to talk to Hunter right away.”
“Just hold still,” Hal said. “This is going to hurt.”
He wasn’t kidding. Hal expertly stitched up the long gash on my arm without bothering with anesthetic. He then bandaged my face and stuck cotton balls in my nose to stop the trickle of blood. Lorenzo had elbowed me pretty hard, but my nose wasn’t broken.
I turned to Sarah as Hal applied the last of my bandages. “Go get your body armor on and tell Hunter I’ll be there in a minute. Tell him that the guy we caught is the same shooter from Hasa Market. They call him Lorenzo. Bring the puzzle box to him, too. We have a major security breach here. Somehow this guy was able to track us back to the fort. If he found us, Al Sabah’s forces might have, too.”
“Okay,” Sarah said. She picked up Adar’s puzzle box and turned to leave the room. She paused by the door and looked back at me.
“I’ll be right there,” I said. “Don’t worry.” Sarah flashed me a worried smile and was out the door.
It wasn’t until after she’d left that I remembered that the key Sarah was wearing on her necklace had been inside that box.
LORENZO
I woke up in terrible pain. “What time is it?” I asked.
“Time for you to start talking,” a voice said. The screeching banshee death wail in my right ear had calmed down enough that I could hear, but I had the worst headache ever. Waves of throbbing suffering cascaded through my skull with each heartbeat. Every bit of me hurt.
