and slowed down, trying to estimate when Lourds had departed Herat and how fast he would go. That had proven impossible.
All Linko had to go on was the mile marker and the time of the meeting. He’d arrived early and taken to traveling the last mile or so over and over in an effort to make the connection.
To make matters worse, the ANA had patrols out on the highway that had made zooming around any particular stretch of road very risky. Linko was pretty certain his papers would still hold up even after all the excitement at the dig site, but Anna Cherkshan’s stories in The Moscow Times concerning the attack on the dig site had mentioned his cover name. The fact that the stories had been picked up by several news agencies had been even worse luck.
But now he had his quarry. Linko reached under his jacket and freed his pistol. He glanced at the three men with him, all mercenary muscle for hire that the FSB had contracted out for him.
“Are you ready?”
They all confirmed their readiness and brandished weapons in their hands. He wished now that he had gotten another car team, but he was convinced that he had more than enough men to take care of a single college professor.
One of the men in the back suddenly squawked in alarm. “Look out!”
Glancing to his left, Linko saw a Jeep with a large push bar welded onto the front closing fast. He cut the wheel hard, trying to dodge the military vehicle.
***
Tensely, Layla Teneen sat in the rear seat of the sedan where Captain Fitrat had put her. He was still with her as her personal bodyguard because she’d asked him to stay. He’d agreed to the assignment, and the details had been worked out.
Fitrat spoke quickly into the mic affixed to his sun visor giving orders to his men in the two Jeeps that rode before and after their sedan.
Layla’s heart was in her stomach. She’d seen Lourds briefly when he’d been standing outside the rented SUV and had tried to call him when she saw the sedan turn around and speed back in his direction.
The black sedan bore down on the small SUV, and Layla wished she had gotten a larger car for Lourds. The one he was in now looked like it was a tin can about to be crushed. “Captain Fitrat, you must—”
Before she could finish, one of the Jeeps rammed the black sedan and knocked it off track, shoving the vehicle back until it banged against the corner of the small store at the side of the road.
Fitrat spoke calmly from the front passenger seat. “Call Professor Lourds. Tell him to head into Kandahar. Tell him not to stop until he gets there. We will be right behind him.”
Layla took out her phone and dialed. Pick up, Thomas. Pick up, pick up...
***
Lourds pulled back onto the highway and stared at the Jeep and the sedan. He’d been stunned by both events and was now moving on autopilot.
“Who were they?” Anna craned over the seat, looking through the back windshield.
“I would venture to say they’re either with Yakov or some other group coming after the scrolls.” Lourds had been thankful that Anna had held back that part of the story concerning Boris’s death. The last thing they needed was a lot of treasure hunters hot on their heels as well.
She’d agreed to the constraint in exchange for an exclusive to the story, which he had gladly given. The details could all be worked out later.
His phone rang in his pocket. He plucked it out and watched as a newer sedan wheeled around and trailed after him. His stomach knotted into a ball of worry.
Layla’s image showed on the phone screen.
Lourds answered immediately. “Layla, you need to stay away. The man—or men—who have been looking for me have—”
“We’re here, Thomas. Captain Fitrat and me and several of his men. They’re the ones that kept the black sedan away from you. We’re in the car behind you.”
Glancing in his rearview mirror, Lourds watched as the car behind him flashed its lights.
“Your girlfriend?” Anna continued to stare out the rear window.
“Yes.”
“I suppose these are her friends.”
“From the ANP, yes.”
Anna shot him a smile. “I like her already.”
“A lot of people do.”
“Not, I would be willing to wager, Yakov and his thugs.”
Layla kept talking over the phone. “I’m arranging for a place for us to meet, Thomas. Keep driving into the city.”
Lourds pressed his foot down harder