She stiffened. Her hand was shaking as she reached for her phone. “I’ve got to call Joe.”
* * *
Asarti
Joe’s phone was vibrating in his pocket.
Not now. Later.
He couldn’t answer it. He was almost at the end of the tunnel. He could see Sebak ahead, rolling aside a large boulder.
“No!” Joe called. “Don’t go out there yet. We don’t know what’s happening. This might be too easy. It doesn’t take a mental giant to figure out that there might be a back way out of that gallery. Explosives. Fire. Then someone waits to see who goes running. Let me take a look.” He pushed Dobran at Gideon and strode to the opening. Shrubs. A thin stand of trees. A stretch of lawn that led to the road several yards away. As he watched, he saw their driver, Nassem, pull to a stop at the curb of that road.
No sentries. No police. No fire trucks. They all seemed to be at the front of the house, where he could hear sirens, shouts, breaking windows.
“Safe?” Gideon was beside him.
“How the hell do I know? Probably not.” Joe’s gaze was scanning the trees. “But it’s safer than any other option.”
“What are you doing to me?” Dobran had raised his head and was staring blearily at Joe. His voice was slurred. “You won’t get away with this.” He saw Sebak a few feet away. “Call the guards. Why are you just standing there?”
“You said you’d keep him away from me,” Sebak said to Joe. “He saw me with you. Knock him out or something.”
“Sorry,” Gideon said. “With the drugs, he’s handicapped enough. Yes or no, Quinn?”
“Yes. But you head for the car and let me follow. Zigzag. Don’t give anyone a good shot. I’ll cover you.” He unlocked Sebak’s manacles, then pulled out his gun and pointed it at him. “Help him get Dobran to the road. If you cause us any trouble, I’ll put a bullet in you, Sebak.” His gaze was scanning the trees. “Go!”
Gideon moved. Joe stood in the shadows for an instant, letting his vision become accustomed to the dark as Gideon and Sebak streaked toward the car. No one on the grounds or behind the trees. What about those upper branches? If he were a sniper, that’s where he would be.
But a sniper would now have to change positions because he had a prey constantly moving in a zigzag pattern.
Watch.
Look for any motion.
Which tree?
A rustle in the leaves of the oak tree.
Joe swung his gun to cover it.
An owl flew out of the branches.
But something nearby might have startled it.
The pine next to the oak.
A rifle barrel aiming, then leveling.
Shit!
Joe was aiming even as he ran toward the tree.
His shot was only a second behind that of the sniper.
That second was enough, dammit. He heard Sebak scream with terror as he watched the sniper plummet from the tree to the ground.
Joe barely glanced at the man’s bloody skull as he tore across the grass toward Gideon, who was kneeling beside Dobran.
Gideon looked up at him and shook his head. “Head shot. Dead. Either the shooter was good, or I wasn’t zigzagging at my top potential.”
Joe muttered a curse. “He was good, and there’s no doubt Dobran was the target. It was no random shot. He was being slow and careful, or I would have seen him before I did. And I went for the head. So I can’t even question him.”
“Then may I suggest we get out of here?” Gideon asked. “With all that noise going on in the front, I doubt if anyone heard the shots, but it’s best not to risk it.” He glanced at Sebak, who was curled up, frozen, a few yards away. “What do we do with him?”
“Take him with us,” Joe said curtly as he turned and ran toward the car. “You’re right, we have to get back to Robaku. We came up almost empty with Dobran. I’ll let Novak question Sebak and see what else he can drag out of him. And as soon as we get back to the plane, I want you to call Novak and tell him to find a way to get those security videos out of the gallery museum before the police yank them and get around to scanning them. The last thing we need is for anyone to know we were here if they didn’t know already. There has to be a