Last Man Standing

CHAPTER FOUR

Drake scooped up the envelope and exited the cemetery in a hurry. Nobody spoke again until the team were safely entrenched in a hastily booked hotel suite. It wasn’t just that they didn’t trust safe houses anymore, though understandably so, it was mostly because they could already guess some of the particulars and parameters that might exist within the contents of the envelope.

Once secure, Drake opened the envelope and upended its contents. A small, silver voice recorder fell out, clattering onto the table with a plastic rap. The team simply stared at him. Drake reached out and pressed the ‘play’ button.

“Hello, Matt.” The sugary tones almost made him shiver. Old, great memories mixed with shocking betrayal and pure disbelief. Even now… even now he struggled to believe.

“And greetings to Torsten, Alicia and Mai, I hope. This message goes out to all of you. You are invited to attend the tournament of the decade. The world’s best killers will be there, thirteen in total. You will have twenty four hours to become the Last Man Standing, to prove that you are the best. For you, Drake, it offers the chance to face me — Coyote, also known as Shelly Cohen in case you haven’t recognized me.” Laughter.

Drake gritted his teeth in silence.

“I will join the fray once ten hours has elapsed to spice up the battle. For Torsten, Alicia and Mai it offers fair competition and the chance to help your so-called family. But make no mistake, team — this is purely last man standing. Only one can walk away.”

“But how—” Komodo stared to say, but Alicia waved him to silence.

“You may be wondering how I can hold you all to this? Well, if you don’t turn up I will kill you and your families. I’m sure you know by now that I can do it. And it will be slow — and painful — dragged out for years.” Coyote’s sickly laughter hummed through the tinny speakers. “As for your other questions, know that our tournament takes place in the heart of a sleepy country town. I already have enough explosives inside the town and around the perimeter to wipe it off the face of the map. I’ll reveal the location later but I warn you — tell no one. I will know. Exploding bumpkins are not your goal. Yes, I have other surprises, but it would be a shame if I revealed them all before we start, don’t you think? Check the classifieds in the Post tonight, last edition. And do not disappoint me, Team SPEAR. The world wants to know who is best. Let’s find out.”

Drake let the recording play for a while longer. Nothing else was said. The Yorkshireman held his head in his hands. “Shelly?” he breathed. “I just keep thinking she’s being framed. Or coerced.”

Alicia grunted. “I knew Shelly too. Nice chick, if a little slutty. One thing I do know is that Coyote is a part of this tournament. We’ll see her and break her, whoever she is.”

Mai’s mouth hung open. “Did you really just call someone slutty? You? And I thought I’d heard everything.”

Drake’s phone started ringing. “It’s Crouch,” he said. “Quiet.”

The commander wasted no time with pleasantries. “Just got a special invite, Drake. To your tournament. Guess I’ll be joining you.”

Drake frowned. “Won’t that just make her job harder?”

“Who knows? This Coyote’s clearly the cleverest bastard we’ve come across. Fooled me for God knows how many years. All of us.”

“I always had my doubts about her,” Alicia said with arms crossed.

Drake snorted. “Give it a rest. Just because now you think she’s a slut? Damn, Alicia, the only boss you never slept with was the President.”

Alicia smirked. “Ya think? Don’t be too sure.”

The room quieted. Even Drake narrowed his eyes to see if she was joking. Crouch cleared his throat down the phone.

“I never slept with Myles. Is that good?”

“Well, it’ll save you a few diseases,” Mai said practically.

Drake turned back to the phone. “We’ll see you there then, sir.” He finished the call and stood up. “So. Let’s find out when and where were going.”

Dahl looked around the room. “Which one of us do you think will win?”

Drake held his gaze. “So long as we get Coyote I don’t care.”

“Good,” Dahl said. “Since it’s obviously going to be me.”