“He is a savage, Mrs. Manning.”
“You truly think that, don’t you? And that’sprecisely why you’ll never find him. You couldn’t pick him out of acrowd to save your life.” They were making the same mistake sheonce had. Looking for a primitive savage who grunted and pounded onthe table for his food. She almost laughed because he had done thatonce … almost. They would never believe Hugh read Michio Kaku muchless understood his work. Not if she swore it on a stack ofBibles.
“God damn it, woman!” Jameson ground out.“We’ll follow you. We’ll always be a step behind, and eventuallyyou’ll lead us right to him.”
“No, Phil,” Claire said, unable to fullybanish the grief from her voice, knowing that in that one thingthere was truth. “I won’t.”
She wrenched open the door and to hersurprise, there was Hugh filling the small space. He looked fromher to Jameson’s hand on her arm and pierced the agent with afierce scowl, a low growl rumbling from deep within his chest.
“Who the hell are …” Jameson began beforeHugh’s fist shot out and caught him hard across the jaw. The agentspun, his eyes rolling back in his head as he fell to theground.
Chapter 40
Ten minutes earlier
“Did you find her?”
“Aye,” Hugh answered slipping into the seatof the small sedan, a vehicle considered the “nicest” available toany of Danny’s minions. If he had understood the dark-skinnedIndian—this time a young man truly native to thatcountry—correctly, it belonged to his mother. It wasn’t asluxurious as Sorcha’s ‘Goose’, but the nondescript vehicle hadserved its purpose in delivering them without incident past theBainbridge terminus.
Sorcha’s car remained undisturbed where theyhad left it the previous night, which meant either that she hadbeen apprehended and taken away or that she was still in the area.It was Danny, with his knowledge of the twenty-first century, whohad recognized the significance of the large black van parked onthe street about a block away, and it had been Hugh who haddirected Danny farther up the street as he scouted the area,determining the number and location of the guards assigned with itsprotection.
Danny’s tense features relaxed into a smileas the nervous tapping of his fingers against the steering wheelsubsided. “Thank God. I thought you’d been busted for sure, and Iwas sitting out here for so long I thought for sure that some copwould think I was the getaway driver for some bank robbery and haulme away. I don’t think I’m cut out for fieldwork,” he added. “Myplace is definitely at a keyboard, but at least it all worked outokay, right?”
Aye, Hugh had found out what he wanted toknow with incredible ease. No doubt it had been far simpler thanconvincing an officer at a Vancouver Metropole station that astrung-out junkie hoping to finance his next high couldsuccessfully rob a man of Hugh’s height and breadth might havebeen. “She’s in a rear compartment of the van wi’ two men,” Hughsaid. “I counted a half dozen more guarding the vehicle.”
Danny swore. “How are we going to get herout, then?”
Hugh grinned. “As I said, there are only sixof them. If their resistance proves to be as laughable as in everyother confrontation I’ve had wi’ them in the past day, there shouldbe no difficulties.” Jameson’s underlings were skilled to an extentbut they were not experienced in true combat. He doubted any ofthem had ever fought for their lives, for their homes, or foranything greater than their own self-interest.
“In broad daylight?” Danny asked. “Well, ifyou’re sure.”
“Aye,” Hugh nodded. “I will retrieve yersister and impress upon them the necessity of ceasing their pursuitin the future.”
Danny laughed at that. “Well, don’t impressthem too much. It is a federal offense to assault a federal agentin this country.”
“But this isnae my country, is it?” Hughpatted the pocket of his sport coat, where the new passport Dannyhad given them rested to confirm his identity if needed, just incase the agents were somehow able to recognize him as the escapeefrom Mark-Davis.
“Still, don’t get too close,” Danny warned.“I know I won’t. Call me when you’re done.”
“Yer nae coming?”
“Oh, hell no. I like to keep my distancefrom the NSA.”
“I daresay they feel the same.”
Hugh pushed open the door and strode backdown the street to where the van housing Sorcha was parked. Theplan was a simple one, and he could only hope it worked.
The first agent standing sentry at thecorner went down without a sound as Hugh took him out in a mannersimilar to the one he had employed near the market a few days past.Given that the attack was unexpected, the man went down without astruggle before Hugh tucked him safely among the hedgerow liningthe street. The next one was far more aware of his surroundings andturned upon Hugh’s approach. The fight was brief but served to getHugh’s blood pumping pleasantly.
Hugh flexed his fingers as he approached thevan. Here things would get thornier if he were not to simply killthe men, which would have been more expedient but would alsocertainly offend Sorcha’s sensibilities. There were two agentsremaining outside and pair more within before he would find Sorchaensconced with the two older agents at the rear of the van. Heneeded to defeat the remaining quartet efficiently enough tosilence them for a prolonged amount of time without rousingsuspicion from within.
There was a challenge in that at least.
It was good to know that his Highlanders wholost at Culloden would have found victory in this time if the fightwere in hand-to-hand combat. These men were not raised and bred tobattle as his own were, and they did not have a cause worthshedding their blood.
They did have guns, though. One of theagents turned, pistol in hand, as Hugh neared and raised itdefensively. Hugh spread his arms wide in supplication beforelowering his shoulder and charging into the man’s abdomen, drivinghim to the ground as he wrenched the weapon away while blocking hisblows. He was just about to slam his fist against the agent’s jawwhen he felt the weight of another man on his back, pulling at hisarm.
Hugh wrested his arm back, flinging the newopponent to
