Last Man Standing

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

Drake flew backwards, slammed off his feet by the blast. Blood and other things struck his body and face as he went airborne. Coyote’s lone hand slapped his cheek, thwarting him for the last time. Even as he bounced to the ground he knew that, in her final moments, Shelly Cohen had returned and made Coyote take that all important step back.

Any closer, and they would all have been dead.

His first job was to check on his teammates — all of whom were stunned and blooded but in good shape — and then turn to check on Alicia. The sight of her straddling Beauregard didn’t really surprise him. He did a double-take when she threw a punch at the injured man though.

“You still softening him up?”

“Quite the opposite,” Alicia said. “I think he likes it.”

Mai groaned.

Alicia climbed off the prone Frenchman. “You gotta see this thing, Mai. The tights really don’t do it justice. It’s huuuu—”

Three soldiers mercifully approached them just then, shutting Alicia up as they waved their guns. Crouch raised his hands and diverted them, no doubt establishing protocols.

Dahl surveyed their surroundings. “Well, we lost Coyote and captured Beauregard. The Frenchman is a link to the Pythians. Could be worse. I wonder what happened to the hacker.”

Drake clicked his tongue. “We learned only what they wanted us to learn,” he said. “It’s how and when we find out why that worries me.”

Crouch turned to them. “We all have a rather large amount of explaining to do, but we’re good here. Carry on.”

Drake motioned for a phone. “We’ll call Karin and Komodo and catch up with the guys in DC.” He turned to Mai. “Surprised you haven’t heard from Smyth.”

“Phone’s on silent,” she said, fishing it out and then making a face. “Oh hell. Looks like he’s filled it up.”

“Damn. Well, we’d better call them first.”

Drake made the call. As he did so he turned full circle and surveyed the fiery skies and the scorched earth; the place where his long-held nemesis, Coyote, had died; the bruised and bloody SPEAR team and Mai Kitano — his old past and future.

Full circle indeed.