But when she peered over the edge, Hawk was nowhere to be seen.
“I think you lost him,” Bahar said.
The pilot let out a celebratory whoop and high-fived his co-pilot before starting his descent.
Bahar couldn’t see the other skid and wasn’t ready to proclaim Hawk vanquished.
“Amir, what can you see on your side?” she asked the man who was sitting kitty-corner behind her.
He didn’t answer.
“Amir?”
She turned and glanced over her shoulder.
Amir was gone.
CHAPTER 28
Varadero, Cuba
ALEX’S GAZE BOUNCED between the road and her rearview mirror, not that seeing if the police cars were still behind her was really necessary. The flashing lights made it obvious the cops weren’t about to abandon their pursuit. Racing inland was the smart move, but it still didn’t solve her ultimate problem of how to shake the officers. If she got caught now, the chances of escaping a Cuban prison sentence were next to nothing, never mind the fact that she had three short-range missiles in her trunk that contained lethal chemical agents.
Maybe I would prefer a life on the beach somewhere.
Alex considered all of her options. Outrunning the police seemed like the best option, but it also might sound the death knell for her escape plan should more police get summoned to assist in apprehending her. There was also the get out and make a run for it. The problem with that plan meant she and Hawk lost any mode of transportation and would complicate their exit from Cuba, something they needed to do immediately. She also could just surrender and beg for mercy. However, the stories of U.S. spies who’d been incarcerated by the Cubans were legendary. That would be a roll of the dice she wasn’t willing to take. Declining all three of those options meant only one remained: deception.
Here goes nothing.
Alex swung a hard left onto the street leading up to the Varadero Azul Hotel. She headed straight for the fifth floor of the parking deck. In the distance, she could hear the screeching tires from the police cars still trailing her. However, she’d managed to gain a significant lead of two floors. She parked and took a deep breath before gathering her belongings and exiting the vehicle.
When the police cars roared around the corner, the officers barely looked at her. But when they noticed the vehicle they’d been chasing was parked and empty, they both threw their gears into reverse and backed up, blocking Alex’s path to the stairwell.
Nonplussed by their movement, she moved nimbly around their vehicles and kept walking.
The officers scrambled out of their cars and ordered her to stop.
Alex complied. She turned slowly toward them.
“Is there a problem?” she asked in Spanish.
“What is your name?”
“My name is Maria Olivar,” she said. “I’m making a service call for the hotel’s security system.”
The officers sauntered up to her.
“Let me see some identification,” one of the men said.
“I’m sorry, but I’m in a hurry and must decline.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
“Buenas noches,” she said before spinning around and resuming her path toward the stairs.
“Do not walk away from us,” the other officer said.
Alex froze and kept her back to the men. She raised her hands in the air.
“I don’t know who you think I am, but you’ve got the wrong woman. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my services are required immediately. And if I don’t show up within an hour, we have to provide free repair service. My employer won’t like that, especially if it happens on your account.”
“What’s in your hand?” one officer asked.
Alex clutched her key fob so hard she thought she might break it. But she refused to reveal the contents.
“I’ll ask you one more time—what’s in your hand?”
Thinking quickly, Alex opened her hand, dropping the fob onto the ground. One of the officers knelt down to pick it up. When he did, Alex seized her opportunity. She whipped her computer bag off her shoulder and clocked the standing officer in the face. As the other officer scrambled to his feet, Alex turned and stomped on his knee. Doubling over in pain, he tried to keep his balance before Alex kicked him in head, knocking him out. The other officer who’d been stunned by the blow from Alex’s bag staggered backward before regaining his balance. He then reached for his weapon. Alex slid to the ground and swept the officer’s legs out from underneath him, resulting in a hard landing on his back. He groaned as he rolled over and tried to reach his gun. When he did, he noticed it wasn’t there.
“Gotcha,” Alex said before pistol whipping the officer.
He collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Alex took one of the officer’s keys and unlocked the trunk. She handcuffed both men and lugged them up and into the back of one of the cars. Before she left, she parked both cars, moving the one with the officers up to the top level, which was completely vacant.
Alex hustled back down a level to her car and headed north along the main highway extending to the end of the peninsula and the Bay of Cárdenas. As she drove, she scanned the horizon for any sign of the helicopter. Worried that she’d lost Hawk, she eventually saw a chopper peeling back toward the bay.
It was too dark to tell what was happening, but she was determined to get a closer look.
CHAPTER 29
AS THE HELICOPTER LEVELED off, Hawk pulled himself up and peeked inside. He had a clear view of the back two rows with easy access to them both. His presence didn’t go unnoticed as the man in the back saw Hawk and rushed toward him.
Clinging to the skid with his right arm, Hawk reached up and grabbed the man by the front of his shirt. Hawk was surprised how easily he moved the man. Based on his size, Hawk figured the guy couldn’t have weighed more than
