tell which was Tiny and which were the bad guys. The Black Wolf members looked like defensive linemen, though they moved as gracefully as any halfback. They stood upright on the roof, secure in their balance. One of the men had a rifle. The other held Tiny in one arm. He had Tiny’s own submachine gun in his other hand, pressed against the Whiplash trooper’s temple as if it were a pistol.
“You will move back!” shouted the man with the rifle. “Those helicopters — they will land! And you are doing a trick with the radio,” he added. “Turning my headset off. Do not do this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not a fool, American. No more this turns off, or your man dies. Then you. Move the helicopters back!”
“Have the Rattlesnakes back off, but keep the big building in their sights,” Danny told Flash, mike off. “I don’t want the guy in there to get away.”
Flash gave the command for the helicopters to back off a hundred meters.
“Team, hold your positions,” said Danny over the radio.
“Move back!” demanded the Wolves.
“Where do you want us to go?” asked Danny.
“Back!
Nuri couldn’t see exactly what was going on at the house, but from what he heard over the radio, it sounded like Danny was going to let them get away.
“Danny, what are you doing?” he demanded.
“Shut up, Nuri, and mind your business,” snapped Danny.
Shut up? Mind his business?
Nuri felt a flush of anger — then realized that Danny was playacting for the benefit of the Wolves in the house.
What was he planning?
Lacu looked at him.
“Your men should hold their positions,” Nuri told him.
“They have a hostage?” asked the deputy minister. “We have snipers.”
“It’s under control,” said Nuri.
“We have a car approaching on the highway,” said one of the Moldovans, running up. He was out of breath; he’d run with the message because of the instructions not to use the radio. “They’re coming to the roadblock.”
The Russians from the hotel. Reinforcements.
“Stop it,” said Nuri. Then he thought of something. “Wait. The snipers — have them meet me by the road.”
“If they stay that close together, we’re not getting a shot,” said Boston. “He must figure we have snipers.”
“They’re not dumb. We know that,” said Danny. “But they have to separate from Tiny to get down.”
“You and I would have to separate,” said Boston. “I’m not sure these guys have to do anything we’d have to do.”
Nuri could see the Russian car slowing as the two policemen put their hands up to flag it down. There were two police cars blocking the road behind it.
If they started to back up, what would he do?
Shoot them. But he needed the car intact. And he couldn’t use the radio to tell them.
He saw one of the policemen in tactical gear running to his right. One of the snipers.
“Wait!” yelled Nuri. “Wait!”
The policeman looked at him. Not understanding, he continued to run.
“Wait, wait!” shouted Nuri, closing the distance between them. He grabbed at the policeman’s arm. “Set up here — set up to get the driver.”
The sniper stopped.
“Get the driver first,” said Nuri, pointing.
The sniper dropped to one knee. Below on the road, the Russian was arguing with the policeman. The car started to back up.
“Now!” yelled Nuri. “Get him, get him, get him!”
They heard the shot in the distance, then another.
“What are you doing, American!” yelled one of the Wolves.
Before Danny could think of an answer, Nuri came over the radio.
“We have someone stopped at the roadblock,” he said. “We had to fire warning shots to get them to stop.”
“You will let the car proceed, American,” said the Wolf.
Boston looked at Danny.
“OK,” said Danny. “Nuri, let the car come up.”
Nuri pulled the passenger out himself. Blood was everywhere. He dragged the body to the side, then pulled off his jacket. He was wearing a watch cap, but it was too sodden with blood to put on.
“Give me your pistol,” he told one of the policemen.
Reluctantly, the man handed it over. Nuri rolled down the window, closed the door, then went to the driver’s side. The body of the driver had been taken out, but the seat was covered with blood. Nuri had no choice but to sit in it.
“I go,” said the sniper as Nuri rolled down the window.
“You have to be prepared to die,” said Nuri.
“I go,” insisted the sniper.
“Pistol only,” said Nuri, pointing to his. “They didn’t have rifles. You understand what I’m saying?”
“Understand. Yes.”
“Take off your shirt,” said Nuri. “You can’t look like a policeman.”
While he did, Nuri thought of one last thing. He leaned out the window.
“Give me a grenade,” he told the policemen. “One of the grenades you showed me at the church. Quick!”
They came back with several. Nuri took just one, then asked for a medical kit. He removed the pin, holding the handle with a pair of bandages. Then he put the grenade down between his legs.
The sniper glanced nervously at him.
“Yeah, I go first if this doesn’t work,” said Nuri. “I can think of a couple of jokes, but they probably don’t translate very well.”
Boston guessed what Nuri was up to as the car approached the driveway.
“They may know who’s been sent to pick them up,” warned Boston. “They’ll see them.”
Danny dropped back to his knee. “Flash, have one of the Rattlesnakes put its searchlight on and drop down. Shine the light so it blinds the guys on the roof.”
“You sure that won’t piss them off?”
“Let them get pissed off. They won’t do anything if they think they’re going to get away.”
The helo dropped quickly, its light flaring. The car came up the driveway slowly.
“Why does that helicopter have lights on, American!”
“I want to see what the hell is going on,” said Danny.
“Turn lights off!”
“No,” said Danny.
