Jihad

CHAPTER 22

Lia slammed her elbow against the crash bar, pushing the door open as she threw herself into the hall. It took her only two seconds to sight her gun and fire — but that was at least a second and a half too long, for it allowed the terrorist to point his AK-47 in her direction and fire. His bullets flew high; Lia’s did not. Two struck him square in the forehead, the small-caliber bullets punching through his skull and sending him to the ground.

Reisler rolled into the hallway behind her.

“I got them,” said Pinchon.

Lia glanced in the doorway, saw two bodies on the floor, and raced to the elevator, jamming the button to bring the car to their floor.

“Security people are heading for the stairs,” said Rockman. “They don’t know yet where the gunfire was. Your nurse is coming back — up the corridor at the left side of the station.”

“Pinchon, bring him to the elevator,” said Lia, moving to the corner of the hallway. “Hit him with the Demerol and make sure he’s out.”

Lia saw the nurse running toward her in the comer mirror at the ceiling. She put her gun in her left hand, watching the woman with one eye and glancing down the hallway with the other. As the woman came around the corner, Lia threw her body around and kicked out the nurse’s legs. Then she leapt over her and smacked the back of the head, knocking her out.

“I’m sorry,” Lia said, making sure the woman was out.

The fire alarm began to sound.

“Security people are checking each floor,” said Rockman. “You have about three minutes, maybe a little more.”

The elevator was just arriving. Pinchon emerged from the room with Asad’s driver in his wheelchair. He sprinted down the hall with Reisler in pursuit. An old man appeared in the doorway of one of the rooms; Lia raised her pistol and shooed him back inside.

“Go! Go!” yelled Reisler.

Pinchon barreled into the elevator. Lia reached into the one next to them and released it. She bumped Reisler getting into the car with Pinchon. The doors closed. It seemed to take forever before the car started downward.

“Get the gown off!” Lia barked at Pinchon. “Go, come on.”

Pinchon was already fumbling with his clothes. Lia grabbed at the collar and helped, buttons popping as she pulled.

There was blood on the wheels. Lia took the gown and started sopping it up.

“Let me,” said Pinchon, dropping to his knees next to her. “You hide the guns.”

“There are two security people in the lobby,” warned Rockman. “They’re looking at the elevators now.”

Lia glanced at the panel. They’d just passed the second floor.

The driver of the Mercedes tapped nervously on the side of the door, keeping time to a song Dean couldn’t hear. Dean walked past him, making sure he was alone in the sedan.

“Charlie, they’re in the elevator,” said Rockman. “They need you — fast.”

“On my way,” said Dean, turning around. He walked to the Mercedes and rapped on the car window.

The driver glared at him, then reached for the door. The bodyguard had his pistol in his hand, but before he could even point it in the American’s direction, Dean put a bullet an inch and a half above his nose.

Lia stood behind Reisler and the wheelchair, holding the .22 down at her side as the doors to the elevator opened.

“Here we are now, almost home,” she said in Turkish, mimicking the translator’s accent as closely as possible as they started from the elevator. The security people glanced at her, then at the “patient” in the wheelchair. Lia saw from their eyes that they sensed something wasn’t right, but they weren’t quite sure what it was. She flicked her left hand behind her, keeping the pistol hidden.

“Dur!” said one of the guards. “Stop!”

In the next second, something exploded in the elevator — the small flash-bang grenade Lia had tossed a second before. Everyone dropped to the floor — except Lia, Reisler, and Pinchon, who began running for the door. Lia dropped two more small grenades — they were about the side of cigarette lighters — and a second loud explosion and bright flash rocked the lobby. Smoke spewed behind them.

Through the door, Lia turned to her left and started to run. A horn sounded to her right. She turned, and saw a Mercedes.

Charlie.

Charlie!