scored a direct hit with the oncoming van twenty-five yards away.
But rolling along the street had been no big win for Zack Hightower. His knees and elbows and back screamed in pain, and it took him longer than he would have liked to recover enough to stand upright, pull the Smith and Wesson out from the retention holster under his torn blazer, and raise it towards the car crash.
Brewer had instructed him to meet force with equal force, and he intended to do that, more or less. But Zack had no interest in a fair fight, so when he saw the first man step out of the steam, his pistol leveled at the car Zack had just exited, the American went lethal, firing twice into the man before he even looked up the street.
A woman standing on the sidewalk near Zack screamed, and this sent his gun spinning in her direction, but only until he saw that she was no threat, and then his attention, along with his pistol’s barrel, shifted back to the wreck. He advanced on it, weapon high, and then he saw two men close together, moving out from the smoke and steam.
He recognized Marty Wheeler and took the other man for an armed extraction asset, so he shifted aim off the CIA man and onto the unknown individual.
A pistol jutted from the man’s hand, and for Zack that was more than enough justification to go weapons free. He shot the man twice, once winging him on the left side of his head and once in his upper chest, knocking him back from Wheeler a few steps, but somehow the man did not drop.
The gunman raised his weapon towards Zack, who fired again and again, finally spinning him down to the pavement with a half dozen .40 caliber rounds in him.
And then Marty Wheeler began to sprint off.
“Shit!” Zack said, because he fucking hated to run.
CHAPTER 47
Suzanne Brewer had last heard from Romantic three minutes earlier, telling her he was going to attempt to cut off Wheeler’s access to the Peruvian embassy on Sloane Street. She didn’t know exactly what he meant by this, but she drove along Knightsbridge Road, planning on seeing her asset holding Wheeler and the others at gunpoint, and she thought about driving up on that crazy scene, right here in the heart of London.
Brewer asked herself what the hell she was doing here. She was not a field asset, and the only reason she’d told Romantic she would come to his aid was that she knew he would tell Hanley if she didn’t come. She didn’t know what she could do to help; she was unarmed and only knew her way because she’d punched Romantic’s location into Google Maps while she drove.
But here she was, barreling into danger in a blacker-than-black operation that would do nothing to advance her career, even if she somehow managed to save the fucking queen in the process.
Her phone rang and she answered it, expecting it to be her asset, but instead it was Matt Hanley.
“I’m at the embassy, meeting with conference security officials, giving them vague and useless information about a new threat we’ve identified. Can’t tell them about Mars because of their leak, and I need you here to—”
Brewer interrupted. “Sir . . . the mole is Wheeler. He’s been picked up by some kind of security crew here in London and they seem to be making their way towards the Peruvian embassy in Knightsbridge. Romantic is in pursuit with orders to stop the vehicle by any means necessary, and I am going to the location to assist.”
Hanley did not reply.
“Sir, did you—”
“I’ve known Marty Wheeler since the Army. Thirty fucking years, Suzanne.”
“The evidence is pretty clear, Matt. Romantic says Wheeler ran an SDR before switching vehicles, loading up with some fighting-age Slavic-looking men.”
“Not Marty.”
“Matt . . . the asset is seconds away from attempting a stop on the vehicle.”
After another delay, Hanley said, “Dammit! Okay. All right. If Zack gets him, tell him not to bring him here to the embassy.”
“Sir?”
“We need to interrogate him outside the official chain of custody. I’ll call you back with an address, somewhere out of the way.”
Brewer closed her eyes a moment in deep irritation. “Matt, you can’t interrogate a senior executive of the CIA off book.”
“Who the hell says I can’t? Certainly not the director. He’d want me to get this sorted out as quickly and as quietly as possible.”