crash, the prosthesis still in the cabin.
He was followed by Eddie. ‘Evening,’ he said blearily to the two men who picked him up, wincing as he realised his forehead was bleeding from a deep cut. He looked for his friends. All were in similarly beaten states.
Where was Nina?
He shook off the supporting hands and staggered to the APC’s mangled rear to find Kit, a palm pressed against his bloodied head. ‘Where’s Nina?’ he asked the Interpol officer.
‘I – I thought she was behind me.’
Eddie pushed past him. ‘Nina!’ he shouted as he looked through the hatch, fearing what he might see . . .
A hand held up the case containing the statues. ‘Hold this, will you?’
‘Oh, for Christ’s sake,’ Eddie grumbled as he took it. Nina clambered out, her clothes ripped and smeared with blood from several cuts. ‘We’re in the middle of a fucking warzone, and you still make me carry stuff for you!’
She gave him a pained but genuine smile. ‘Love you too, honey.’
‘Yeah, I know.’ He gave her back the case and pulled her to the throng surrounding Suarez. The Hind was coming back. ‘Macy, we’ve got to get into that TV station now.’
Macy passed on the message. Suarez nodded, then exhorted the crowd to come with him, rousing cheers and yells of ‘Viva Tito! Viva el Presidente!’ Their leader at their centre, his followers moved en masse towards the building, Nina, Macy and Kit going with him.
‘I think I’ll stay here,’ said Mac, sitting back against the wrecked V-100. He looked morosely at his left leg. ‘A hopping man’s not much use in a situation like this.’
‘You still kicked arse even with only one leg,’ Eddie assured him. ‘See you soon.’
‘Fight to the end, Eddie.’
‘Fight to the end.’ He shared a look of brotherhood with the older man, then pushed through the mass to join Nina.
‘They’re out of the car,’ Stikes told Callas. ‘Krikorian, use the rockets, take out everybody within fifty metres—’
‘No!’ the general cut in. ‘If we do that, it will turn the people against me – even some of my soldiers.’
‘In that case,’ said the mercenary commander through his teeth, ‘we should destroy the TV station, and then take out the crowd.’
Callas shook his head. ‘No. Land this thing. I will take command of my forces from the ground. We can still capture Suarez – then I can make him turn power over to me legally. On television, in front of the whole world. No one will be able to challenge me.’
With barely contained contempt, Stikes said, ‘As you wish. We’ll circle to give you fire support if you need it.’ Callas nodded impatiently. ‘Okay, Gurov, find us a place to touch down.’
Nina looked back in dreadful anticipation, expecting the Hind to attack, and was startled to see it instead moving in for a landing. ‘What’s he doing?’
‘Callas must want to finish us off personally,’ Eddie replied. ‘Macy!’ he shouted. ‘Tell him to move faster!’
She did so. Suarez boomed out more orders, and the multitude ahead parted to clear a path to the studio entrance. The big screen above showed the scene from an elevated angle, the movement looking almost like a zip being teasingly unfastened.
The soldiers could see what was happening too. ‘Stay close,’ Eddie warned Nina as he pushed up behind Suarez.
The Hind landed, rotors still whirling ready for a quick takeoff as Callas jumped out. Soldiers ran to meet him. He jabbed a hand towards the studios, ordering them to move in and take the building – and Suarez.
Alive if possible . . . dead if necessary.
Stikes watched Callas head away with his troops, then turned to Maximov. ‘You get out too.’
The giant Russian stared back, bewildered. ‘Boss? What do you mean?’
‘I mean I don’t employ idiots. This is all your fault – if you hadn’t let Chase trick you, Suarez wouldn’t have escaped. You’re fired. Get out.’
‘But—’
Baine pointed his M4 at Maximov and flicked off the safety. ‘You heard him. On yer bike.’
Maximov’s scarred face tightened angrily, but he unfastened his seatbelt and squeezed out of the cabin. ‘Zhópa,’ he growled. ‘What am I supposed to do now?’
‘I think we can rule out a career in rocket science,’ said Stikes with a mocking smile. ‘Gurov, take us up.’
The Hind left the ground, blasting Maximov with dust. He shook an angry fist at the departing chopper, then looked round. The soldiers nearby regarded him with suspicion. The Russian hesitated, then turned the other way and hurried along the boulevard, disappearing