belt of one of the guards and shot it into his neck even as his foot hit another in the chest and knocked him over the stair railing so he fell three stories below.
He saw Jack get in position on the opposite side of the stairway, and they both worked their way to the center of the staircase, taking out the rest of the guards until it was only the two of them standing at the top of the stairs.
“Update,” Gabe ordered.
He pulled his knife from the guard it had been buried in and wiped it on the man’s clothes. He and Jack started down the stairs to the lower gallery floors, moving cautiously.
“Two guards blocking each entrance,” Logan said. “Police have been dispatched. It’s time to disappear. I’m packing up here. I’ll meet you at the rendezvous point. Grim Reaper out.”
“What can I do?” Ethan asked. “I hate just sitting here.”
“Make sure the backup plane I ordered is a go,” Gabe said. “We’ll be ready for takeoff in twenty minutes. And make sure you talk to the pilot directly. Tell him to take every precaution. I want to make sure he’s alive when we get there.”
Gabe slapped a full clip in his gun as he heard the sound of boots hitting the stairs and coming toward them. He nodded once at Jack to cover him and jumped over the stair railing, simultaneously firing at two of the guards. Jack covered his back and fired steadily at those blocking the front entrance until they were ducking for cover.
Gabe and Jack ran out the front entrance together, shots echoing behind them. They split off and disappeared into the night and sand just as a dozen police cars surrounded the museum.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
They were running out of time.
All air traffic into London had been diverted or grounded after the explosion of his building, including private planes with high-level security clearance. They’d finally been granted clearance at the military airfield in Kent after Gabe had called in every favor he’d ever been owed. They still had an hour ride by train into the city and a ten- minute walk to Oxford Park Station with only seventy-two minutes left on Kimball’s time clock. If anything went wrong, Grace would be the one to pay.
“I’ve sent an aerial view of Oxford Park to each of your computers,” Ethan said. “It’s not in a particularly good area of town, and the station is a graveyard of sorts for the old train cars that transported coal.”
Ethan had finally made his way to the safe house sometime during the night. His electronic setup there wasn’t quite as extensive as it had been at headquarters, but it was close.
Jack and Logan joined Gabe on the train into the city, and they sat in a car that was deserted—mostly because they’d blocked the entrance at each end—their laptops open on the small Formica tables, and maps spread open so they could determine the best route to take once they were there.
“We have to assume the place is wired for explosives considering what he did to headquarters,” Logan said softly.
“That’s why you and Jack are going to take that nifty device Ethan gave us and look for a bomb while you’re searching for Grace.”
“You can’t think to meet Kimball without backup,” Jack said, shaking his head.
“I need both of you searching for Grace. He’s going to want to kill her as soon I make the exchange.”
“And what are you going to do once you’ve made the exchange?” Jack asked.
“He’s going to want to kill me too. I’m going to try not to let him.”
“I’ll have the station up on satellite imagery,” Ethan said. “Body heat will be traceable. If the area isn’t too saturated with people, I’ll be able to find Grace if she’s there.”
Gabe tried not to think about what it might mean if she wasn’t there. He wasn’t going to give up. And he’d be damned if someone like Kimball was the man to defeat him after all these years.
“Something else you’re going to have to be aware of is the 12:05 train,” Ethan said. “It’s not a passenger train, but it will come through all the same. From what I can tell from the manifest, it’s transporting steel and building materials. Four engineers are on board.”
Gabe barely heard Ethan in the background of his mind. He ran every scenario he could think of through his mind, and still he couldn’t make the outcome end in his favor.
“Gabe,” Jack said.
Gabe looked up and saw the understanding in his friend’s gaze. He knew Jack had come to the same conclusions he had.
“We’re with you to the end, my friend. We’ll find her,” he promised.”
Gabe nodded at the lie. He would find Grace. Whether it be in this world or the next.
“Satellite is up and running,” Ethan said. “Shit, this place is fucking crowded for a junkyard. I’m counting twelve men circulating the area. I can’t tell how heavily they’re armed. The metal from all the railcars is screwing with my imaging.”
Gabe checked his watch once more and moved faster until he was all but running through the streets to Oxford Park. Jack and Logan had both taken alternate routes, and Kimball would know he’d bring men with him. They were playing a game in Kimball’s mind, and Grace had become the pawn.
“Kimball’s already at platform seven, Ghost,” Ethan said. “He’s having a telephone conversation with someone, but it’s a secured line, and I’m not able to listen in with the equipment I have here.”
“Renegade in position,” Jack said. “Northeast corner.”
“I’ve got you in my sights,” Ethan said. “You’ve got a man at three o’clock and another at nine.”
“Have you found Grace?” Gabe asked.
“Possibly,” Ethan answered. “I’ve got a weak heat signal dead center of the lot, and four guards are surrounding the area. Her heat signal isn’t good, Ghost. She’s either hurt really bad or she’s locked inside one of the train cars and it’s messing with my equipment.”
“Help Logan and Jack,” Gabe ordered. “Be their eyes. I’m going offline.”
“But—”
Gabe flicked the button on his watch and welcomed the silence. He’d slowed to a walk as he crossed each platform, his backpack slung over his shoulder, and his breathing was even, though his heart was racing in his chest. He saw Kimball in the distance but didn’t hurry to catch up to him. The only way this would work was if he timed everything just right. He’d have to trust Jack and Logan to take care of Kimball’s men on the ground.
“So you’re the infamous Gabe Brennan,” Kimball said, looking him over slowly from head to toe. “You look different than the last time we met.”
“As I recall, you were going by the name of Kenrick the last time you did a job for Tussad.”
“You’ve a good memory. It’s been two years since I’ve used that name. I believe your daughter was the last job I did for my good friend Kamir. I had to go underground for a while after her death. You were very angry, and you must have used every resource you had to track me down. But I was always a step ahead of you.”
Gabe didn’t allow any emotion to show at Kimball’s words. That’s exactly what the man wanted, and control was important right now. But he now knew with certainty that he was looking into the eye of his daughter’s murderer. Something in Gabe’s expression must have given him away because Kimball’s smiled faded, and he put his hand in the pocket of his windbreaker where his gun was.
“You know, you’re something of a bogeyman in agency circles,” Kimball said.
“I’m just a man, Kimball. Like anyone else.”
“I doubt that,” he said. “Do you have my painting?”
“It’s close by. Do you have Grace?”
Gabe watched in satisfaction as Kimball’s jaw clenched in frustration. He was surprised Kimball had lasted as long as he had in the CIA, showing as much emotion as he was. An emotional agent was a dead agent.
“What do you mean, ‘It’s close by’?” he asked. “You were supposed to bring it here.”
“Where’s Grace?” Gabe asked again.
Kimball smiled and took a step closer, and Gabe watched the hand in Kimball’s pocket, not moving at his enemy’s obvious threat.
