The Ajax Protocol

CHAPTER 12

The next morning Selena called Nick.

"I'm sorry." She sounded tired over the phone. "I lost it, I shouldn't have gotten mad. I know you worry about all of us, about making sure we get in and get out alive when we go in the field."

"Okay."

"I'm angry, I want to see the bastards that killed my father get what's coming to them. But I'm not going to let any of that get in the way of what we have to do."

"That's good enough for me. Maybe I could have been a little more diplomatic." He paused. "Sorry I slammed the door."

"So, we're okay?" Her tone was light but Nick knew it was serious.

"We're okay. Listen, Lamont is getting out of the hospital today. Let's have breakfast at that café near your place and then go pick him up. I'll call and let him know we're coming."

"Deal."

After breakfast, they headed for the hospital. Twice, Nick thought he saw a blue car following. He watched for it in the side mirror. When it didn't reappear, he relaxed. Sometimes a car was just a car.

They found Lamont in his room, reading a back issue of Sports Illustrated and looking bored. He was dressed for the street. His face broke into a big smile as they came into the room.

"The cavalry's here," Nick said. "Get your gear."

Lamont held up a red gym bag. "Boy am I glad to see you two."

"How you feeling, Shadow?"

"Ready to get out of here. I was waiting for the doctor to show up and sign me out."

"Let's go find him."

Lamont had been a Navy Seal before Nick brought him into the Project. Lamont's mother had been a big fan of the Shadow radio show and named her son for the hero, Lamont Cranston. His Seal team had dropped the nickname of Shadow on him. It had stuck.

There wasn't much of anything except muscle on Lamont's wiry frame. His skin was the color of fine coffee. He had unusual blue eyes, a gift from some forgotten Ethiopian ancestor. A thin ridge of pink tissue ran from over one eye down across his nose, a souvenir of Iraq.

He picked up large pill container from the side table and put it in the gym bag.

"You still on meds?" Nick said.

"Antibiotics. Some new version. They mess up my guts, but the medicos say I have to keep taking them. I don't like them much." He zipped up the bag.

They found the doctor. Ten minutes later they were in the hospital parking lot.

Selena's car was a Mercedes CLS 550, a sleek 4 door product of German engineering with a turbocharged V6 engine and over 400 horsepower. Selena liked the Benz cars. She'd had a burgundy red coupe with more horses for a while, but it kept ending up at the dealership for repairs. She'd given up on it and traded for this one. Before that, she'd had a silver Benz she'd owned when she'd first met Nick. That one had ended up full of bullet holes and riding on the rims. This one was a beautiful metallic gray with an undertone of blue, a color somewhere between gunpowder and midnight.

Lamont opened the rear door and tossed in his bag. At the edge of Nick's vision, something flashed. There are some things you never forget, like the reflection of light on a rifle scope aimed at you.

Nick was standing between Selena and Lamont. Without thinking he ducked and pushed out and knocked them aside as the dulled sound of a silenced rifle came from somewhere in the rows of cars parked in the lot. Nick felt the round go by. The rear passenger window of the next car over shattered into a thousand pieces. They scrambled away from the Mercedes and ducked behind a white Ford truck in the next space.

Lamont crouched down behind the rear tire. "Where is he?" he said.

Before Nick could answer, a rapid burst from the shooter peppered the Ford, blowing out windows and striking the truck body with flat, metallic sounds. The tires on the side away from them blew out. The truck settled heavily onto the asphalt, listing to one side.

Lamont began swearing. Nick risked a glance over the hood of the Ford. He caught a glimpse of the shooter behind a blue sedan.

"He's on the left near the exit road," Nick said, "behind a blue Caddy. Lamont, are you armed?"

"Nope. Hospital, remember?"

"He can't keep this up, it's too public. Selena, you and Lamont stay here. I'll work across the lot and try and get behind him. If you can spot him, take a shot to keep him busy."

Selena was about to answer when they heard the squeal of rubber on pavement. Nick looked in time to see the shooter's car speed away, headed out of the hospital parking complex. The car was moving fast, already beyond an easy shot. The angle was bad. Nick held the Sig in two hands and kept the white dots of his sights lined up on the driver's side window of the speeding vehicle. He let out half a breath and squeezed off three rounds. The big pistol rocked back in his hands.

One. Two. Three.

The window shattered. The car drifted to the right and crossed a curb at speed. It plowed into a row of parked cars with a sound as though someone had dropped ten tons of scrap metal from the sky. For a moment there was silence, then the gas tank exploded. Flame and black smoke billowed into the air over the parking lot.

Lamont and Selena stood and gazed at the destruction.

"Nice shooting," Lamont said.

"I think I saw him behind us earlier, when Selena and I drove over here," Nick said.

Selena raised an eyebrow. "You didn't say anything in the car."

"I thought I was just being paranoid."

Lamont gestured at the burning car. "Looks like you had a good reason."

Nick took out his phone. "The cops will be here soon. I'll call Harker."