Jihad

CHAPTER 21

With Asad bedded down for the night, Dean and Karr flipped a coin to see who got the first shift, staying nearby in case something happened.

Dean won. But rather than going off to sleep, he volunteered to back up Lia and the CIA people at the hospital.

He’d just found the terrorists’ car when Rockman warned him that shots had been fired inside. Stifling the impulse to run inside and help Lia, he drove past the car, pulling into a parking spot a short distance away.

“One guy, watching the driveway to the hospital,” he told the Art Room.

“All right. Stick with the game plan. Stay back,” said Rockman. “Let’s not make any unnecessary fuss.”

Dean rolled down the window and slid a video bug on the mirror to give the Art Room a view of what was going on. Then he leaned back in the seat, calmly waiting as directed.

For all of five seconds. Then Dean reached below the seat, pulled out his silenced .22, and went for a walk.