“Lose him,” Levi commanded. “Or better yet, get us to the airfield as fast as you can. If he wants to follow me in, I’ll shoot the fucker, and I won’t miss this time.”
Levi reached to his side, pulling the SIG Sauer out of its place in the shoulder holster he wore.
It was time to cause some chaos. If she could break free, she was running for that car the minute she could. They would have to kill her before they would get her body on that plane. He was about to find out she wasn’t going gently into that medicated night.
She brought her hands up over her head.
“Don’t do it, Solo,” Levi said between clenched teeth.
She brought her hands down with all the force she could muster and dragged them apart, splitting the plastic of the zip ties. He really should have used cuffs.
Adrenaline started to pour through her system as she readied for the fight of her life.
That was the moment she heard the shot and felt the limo careen out of control. Levi cursed as the limo started to roll. She held on and prepared to make her escape.
* * * *
Ezra’s heart was in his throat as he punched the gas. The limo had turned off the M25 exactly where Nick said it would. They’d been following the fucking douchebag limo for the last half hour, and every single mile had been nauseating.
What had Levi already done to her? Had he drugged her to make sure she couldn’t fight back?
“He made the turn?” Walt’s voice had been steady over the line. He was playing the Overwatch position, and it was something he seemed to do well.
“Yes.” Ariel had spent the drive preparing for her role. The go-bag she’d pulled out of the trunk seemed to contain everything she would need, including a couple of guns. One for her. One for him. “They’re going for the airfield. He’s in a limousine but there’s an SUV in front of him. I believe he’s got at least four men with him. They’ll be armed. Should we expect the police?”
“You will find the police around here are currently dealing with a situation at a local shopping center,” Walt explained. “I don’t have any vehicles within a five-kilometer radius, but you have to be quick. A prolonged firefight is going to catch someone’s attention, even out there. I know the airfield is private and they only have one departure scheduled in the next few hours, but there are at least five employees working. They’ll likely be able to hear gunfire.”
“Are we a go?” Ezra asked, his voice sounding tight even to himself. That wasn’t surprising since his whole fucking body felt like a live wire ready to go off. He hadn’t been this wound up in…he didn’t get wound up. Being emotional during a mission got an operative killed. Even when he’d been angry as hell, he’d been able to turn that emotion to ice in his veins.
“We’re in place.” Nick’s voice came over the system. “Brody and I are outside the airfield. There’s some security. I suspect they’re hired guards and not military in any way. Mr. Green has gotten arrogant.”
No. Mr. Green thought he wouldn’t have any resistance at all. “He didn’t think we would care.”
“Or he wanted a fight and he couldn’t have witnesses to it,” Ariel offered. “You need to stay calm, Ezra. You cannot let him bait you into doing something you shouldn’t.”
“Like stopping the Agency from arresting one of their own?” He was well aware that what they were about to do would kick up a hornet’s nest that could sting them all.
“I meant like putting a bullet between his eyes. He’s got a team with him and they likely believe everything he’s told them. We can’t kill a bunch of Agency employees. If we keep things clean, we might get away with it.”
“You don’t think he’ll bring the bosses down on me?” He said me because he fully intended to take all the responsibility for tilting at this particular windmill.
“I would bet anything that he’s doing this under the table. He would have to or Kim would have gotten notification.” Ariel worked a long-sleeve jacket over her arms and shoulders. It was dark and would camouflage the brightly colored dress she’d worn today because she’d had no idea she would be taking on the Agency. “Otherwise he would have shown up with an actual warrant. He didn’t produce one, did he?”
Why hadn’t he thought of that? Kim had been working for some heavy hitters lately—including the president and his closest advisors. Somehow he didn’t think Connor Sparks would have let this hit his desk without asking some questions. “No, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a deal with British intelligence. The director knew what was going down.”
“Still, they won’t make an international incident out of it,” Ariel assured him. “They can’t because too many questions would be asked. If we can extract her without too much trouble…well, we’ll still have questions to answer.”
“Blame it all on me,” Ezra replied.
“Big Tag has already been informed,” Brody Carter said, his Aussie accent thick over the line. “Beyond listening to him shout every curse word he knows, he’s firmly behind us extracting Solo. He’s already putting a plan in place. We’ve got a safe house ready for you. And don’t worry about the rest of us. Nick and I are back in Soho on assignment. There’s CCTV of us. Thanks, Walt.”
“Glad to help out, partner,” Walt replied cheerily. “And Ezra, you dropped Ariel off for her lunch date. Hayley says you’re really enjoying the fish and chips at Meg’s this afternoon.”
They had put together alibis very quickly. He would be the only one to take the fall, and that was how he wanted it. He would take Kim and they would figure out how to bring that fucker down. All that mattered was not leaving
