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He heard Jada scuffling with the third one, and he wanted to intervene, but rushing in noould only get him killed and it seemed clear they wanted her alive However, the men who’d come after them in New York hadn’t seemed all that concerned about whether she lived or died, and if these bastards orking for the same employer, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill her if it caestured for the other to circle around to their left--Drake’s right They were a few cars away, but if they split up now, they would flank him in moments He’d have to try to take the his precise location

He took a breath, finger resting on the trigger He’d shoot the one who seeunshot split the air, and Drake flinched, thinking they’d found hiun Jada and the third thug were fighting over, and ice twisted in his gut

"Son of a bitch," hecaution to the wind, he ran between the truck and the bullet-riddled sedan, taking ai and started to take aih the air and shattered glass butlot, pistol clutched in both hands Olivia was behind hi frantic, like she wanted to bolt The black-suited linebacker dropped behind a car; he was smarter than he looked If he’d taken the tih it looked like Sully needed target practice

"Nate, watch your three o’clock!" Sully shouted

Drake spun, saw the olive-skinned goon appear between ts of cars, and squeezed off a shot A bullet screah that he felt the displacelanced over at Sully, and saw that his old friend had done the saun barrel pointed heavenward like a cop about to break down a perp’s door

Or Jaht Sully would love that Or maybe shoot hie of the shooters She was trapped there unless she wanted to go back into the hotel and deal with the chaos that would bring The guests and restaurant patrons would be freaking out now, soure out as going on They weren’t alone in that

"Jada, you alive?" Drake shouted

In answer, she struggled to her feet For a second he thought all would be well, but then he saw that she wasn’t alone The third guy held her tightly from behind White, early thirties, ex-military by the way he carried himself But he didn’t look well, and the bullet hole in his shoulder probably had souy not in a suit His shirt had been gray or blue, but a stain had spread out fro black in the dark

Drake twisted and took aiuy doithout shooting Jada He was only a half-decent shot, not souy winced in pain but didn’t le, but he’d gotten the gun back Now he ja to drill a hole

"Back off or she’s dead!" the gunun still leveled at Jada and her would-be abductor, but without a safe shot

"Drop the daun, Drake," the lanced at Sully and Olivia Sully still had his back against the corner of the hotel, hidden froun still aimed at the sky He saw the frown on Sully’s face and knew it reflected his own These guys knew their names If they worked for Henriksen, the boss had done his homework Of course, Olivia had known Sully ith Jada, and she could have guessed that Drake was the other man with her on the basis of descriptions froured that out hiunun, then darted behind a battered, dusty Jeep He’d give up his gun if he had to, but he wasn’t going to stand there and wait to get shot

"Diunht Middle Eastern turned out to be Dimitri--a Greek He kept his weapon aimed at the Jeep and hustled over to their BMW and slid behind the wheel He kept the door open, ready to shoot again

The linebacker didn’t need to be told what to do He went to the man Drake had shot dead and lifted the corpse under the ar him around the back of the car

"Open the boot!" he shouted to Dimitri "The police will be here in moments"

The Greek popped the trunk of the BMW, and it started to rise

Drake took several deep breaths, waiting for theJada would try to muscle her into the backseat He had seen the fear in her eyes, but he had seen the deterht hiain, Drake would be ready He would shoot the son of a bitch the second he had a target, and he knew Sully aiting for the sa

Distant sirens reached theht happen to an Ayptian jail

He heard a new scuffle, and ashe had tried to fight back He swung out froht beside the BMW where Jada and the wounded thug had been a moment before They were still there, but they weren’t alone

A darker figure had risen up behind the gunripped the wounded thug by the hair and cut his throat with a long, wickedly curved blade Jada had tried to twist free, had gotten her hand on the gunun barrel away from her skull Now she held on to the man’s wrist and watched hied froht ures Two of the him in near silence Another appeared fro like liquid darkness over the seat andDimitri, who pounded the car horn--but only for a moment

Sully had stepped out from the corner of the hotel and taken aim, but he watched in astonishures made short work of Jada’s would-be abductors For her part, Jada staggered backward in shock

Hooded figures put the linebacker in the trunk with the man Drake had killed Others tossed the one Jada had wounded into the backseat of his own car One of the assassins shoved Dimitri over and took his place behind the wheel of the BMW Drake kept swinging the barrel of his gun back and forth, wondering if he ought to be shooting at theh they hadn’t made any attempt to attack him or his friends

Then one of theer, he had no chance of hitting theinto her ear and then retreated into the shadows between cars The BMW’s engine roared, and Drakeinto the road and vanishing up the street

When he glanced back at the scene of the melee, Jada was alone Sully ran toward her, and so Drake did the san She had vanished

"Get the car," Sully snapped at him

"But--"

"The cops!" Sully barked

Drake ran for the car, digging out his keys He was behind the wheel and had it started in a ear, and pulled up beside Sully and Jada, who quickly piled in

"What about Olivia? We can’t just leave her for the police," Drake said

Beside hilance "Are you kidding me? She took off You still think she didn’t set us up? Let’s go!"

Drake didn’t have to be told twice He hit the gas and tore out of the parking lot, raced along the street, and slowed at the corner, taking the turn just as a police car barreled toward the hotel fro, he kept his speed down until they were out of the city and the desert sky had opened up above theuys who tried to take uys who killed them?" Jada asked

"Either one," Sully said

"Jada, what did that guy whisper to you right before they did their disappearing act?" Drake asked

She glanced at hi whether to tell Then she exhaled "Go home," she said