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Malone studied the, unsure, and jittery How many tiuessed
The coain
He noticed that the steel door, which opened to the outside, contained no knob-operated latch, just a handle and a lock that engaged, once closed, in a steel catch, which required a key to release
“I don’t think these people understand English,” he muttered to Cassiopeia
The head man was impatient with their chatter but did not see Malone s his s”
The co only another gesture with the gun for them to leave
He turned and said to her, “He knows no English Ladies first Be ready to move”
She stepped through the doorway
He watched as the chief dropped back to give hiht do That way he could counter if they tried anything funny, the distance between the protection
Except for one thing
As Malone exited, he swung his right foot up and sla the policeman inside At the same ti the guard careening back
Cassiopeia pounced, attacking the man closest to her with a kick to his chest
Both guards had been caught unawares
Malone lunged forward and planted a fist into hisa grip on the rifle—bad idea—and Malone gave hiht jabs and thewith a pistol from a waist holster
He turned to see Cassiopeia having a little difficulty:
“Hurry up,” he said
Two thrusts of the other uard had already lost his weapon, which lay on the floor Cassiopeia lashed out, but the blow just grazed her opponent’s throat She then spun and ju in an arc that landed with full force in his chest Another leg jab smashed him into the wall, and she finished with two thrusts to the throat, which sent the guard slinking to the floor
“Took you long enough,” he said
“You could have helped”
“As if you needed it”
She stole the man’s pistol from his holster and retrieved the rifle The chief was no threat, locked away inside a steel roo in muffled Chinese
“There were two more earlier,” she said, “with rifles Plus the two drivers”
He’d already done the est we move with caution”
He slipped close to one of the s and glanced out, spotting the Range Rover parked fifty yards away The van was nowhere in sight
Which worried him
“Let’s hope the keys are in that Rover,” he said
They found the door and cautiously inched it open Night still loo field quiet
“They were either taking us so to kill us here,” he said “Either way, they’d need that van”
He saw she was thinking the sa
“No sense waiting around”
She stepped out, her assault rifle leading the way
He followed
A hundred and fifty feet lay between theht from the rooftop floods lit the way They were halfway to their objective when the roar of an engine disturbed the silence and the vantheir way
He saw an ar a pistol
Cassiopeia did not hesitate, spraying the windshield with a barrage froun in theto disappear and the van wheeled right, careening up on theels as it executed too sharp a turn, spinning out of control, sliding on its side, slaars
They raced to the Range Rover and hopped inside, Malone at the wheel Keys hung fronition
“Finally, soht”
He gunned the engine and they fled the fenced enclosure