The Eye of Shiva

CHAPTER 24

Nick and the others moved to the corner of the building and used the shrubbery between the back wall of the embassy and the Chancery as cover. They crawled past the blown out windows of the ballroom. Nick got a glimpse of the hostages sitting against a wall. He looked for Selena but didn't see her.

They made it to the south wall without being seen. The tree they needed to climb rose above the roof line. It looked like a short leap from the branches to the flat roof.

"Nick, where are you?" It was Selena's voice over the link.

"Getting ready to climb a tree."

"I'm free. There isn't much time before they know I'm gone. I'm heading to the roof."

"Got it," Nick said. "Meet you there."

Lamont had already started up the trunk with Ronnie right behind. Nick looked at the tree. The last time he'd climbed a tree, he'd been twelve years old. It was a big oak tree in their backyard. It was his refuge, the place he went to when his father came home drunk. If he could get out of the house without being noticed, he'd climb the tree and wait until the shouting stopped and his father passed out.

Then one night his sister ratted him out, one of her many betrayals. His father had beaten the hell out of him and the next day he'd cut down the tree. Nick had never forgiven her.

He started up the trunk after Ronnie. By the time he got level with the roof, Ronnie and Lamont were already over. Nick leapt and landed hard. Pain shot up his back from the jump injury he'd gotten in the Himalayas.

Ronnie saw him wince. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Nick ignored the pain and looked around. "Over there."

They moved to the door that led down into the building. Nick tried it. It was locked. Then he heard the lock click and the door swung open. Selena stood there, holding an AK.

"Took you long enough," she said. "We'd better hurry. They must've missed me by now."

"How do you want to play it?" Ronnie asked Nick.

"Once they figure out Selena is missing, they'll send people after her. If we can get their weapons we'll be in better shape."

"I can be bait," Selena said. "If they see me they won't shoot. They'll want to know what happened to Gibril."

"Who's Gibril?"

"This used to be his rifle."

"They see you with that, they won't ask questions." Ronnie rubbed a knuckle across his nose.

"Here." Selena handed him the AK. "Give me your pistol."

Ronnie took the rifle and handed over his Sig.

"We have to keep it quiet," Nick said. "They hear shots, they'll all come running."

Ronnie reached up behind his neck and pulled a throwing knife from a scabbard concealed under his shirt. The blade was about eight inches long, razor sharp and double-edged. It was a thing of lethal beauty, swelling out in a smooth curve and then tapering to a graceful point. The handle was a checkered extension of the surgical steel blade.

"I forgot you carried that," Nick said.

"Just get me reasonably close," Ronnie said.

"We'll clear each floor as we go," Nick said. "Most of the bad guys are going to stay down on the ground floor with the hostages. A little luck, we'll take a few out before they know what's happening."

"I'll go first," Selena said. "They're looking for me, they won't be surprised if they see me."

"They'll probably send two men. Where did you leave the guy who used to have this rifle?"

"In the bathroom on the ground floor. It's right next to the stairs."

"They could use the stairs or there's an elevator. I'd use the stairs."

"We walk out into the open, there's no way we're going to keep this quiet." Ronnie rubbed a knuckle across his large nose.

"We'll try to keep it quiet but we can't mess around. If you have to shoot, do it."

"What I'm saying, maybe Selena can draw them into a room."

"Where we're waiting for them." Nick finished the thought.

"Yep."

"Might work. I like it." He turned to Selena. "What do you think?"

"If they don't shoot first, it could work. But we'd better hurry."

Without waiting for an answer, she started down the stairs.

Nick cracked open the heavy fire door to the third floor, enough to see into the hallway beyond. There was no one there. The door opened onto a wide, carpeted hallway. The carpet was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it muffled their footsteps. On the other, it would be hard to hear anyone approaching.

This part of the embassy consisted of offices, a large storage area, a radio room and a suite that could serve as guest quarters for VIPs. It was very quiet. There were doors for each room, most of them open. An old, cage-type elevator shaft with a black lattice gate was set in the middle of the hall. Cables hung down the shaft. The sudden whine of machinery broke the silence. The cables in the shaft began moving.

"Guess they didn't want to walk," Lamont said.

"They're coming here. It's what I'd do, work from the top down." Nick looked at the open doors along the hall. "This one will do."

They stepped into an office. Gold letters on the door announced Alan De Witt, second commercial attaché.

"Second attaché," Ronnie said. "Probably the spook's lair."

The office was in the front of the building. From the window Nick could see Roxas Boulevard and the Marines and vehicles below. If he were in command, he'd have a Marine sniper looking for potential targets. He stepped back from the window. No point in getting mistaken for a terrorist.

De Witt's desk was large and solid. A row of locked filing cabinets took up most of one wall. An old-fashioned carved wooden wardrobe made of thick, dark mahogany stood by the door.

Outside the office, the clanking sound of the elevator stopped. They heard the lattice gate open, the sound of metal pieces banging together.

Nick signaled with his hand. Lamont ducked down behind the desk, Ronnie to one side of the door, Nick to the other, past the wardrobe. Nick nodded at Selena.

She put Ronnie's pistol into her waistband, behind her back and took a breath. She stepped part way into the hall as if she wasn't sure what to do. She made sure that her hands were visible and empty.

See? I'm unarmed.

Two of the terrorists stood in front of the elevator. They carried AKs. One of them shouted at her and raised his rifle. She ducked back into the office. Nick signaled her to the window. She drew the pistol and held it out of sight behind her back, just in case.

One of the terrorists called out. "You, woman, you come out now. We not hurt you."

Selena said nothing.

"You come out, or we come in." There was menace in the man's voice.

"Don't hurt me," she called. She made her voice sound frightened. If she had been in the hallway, she would have seen one of the men smile at the other. It was not a good smile.

"We not hurt," the man said.

He walked toward the office door. His companion laid a hand on his arm, a gesture of caution. The first man shrugged it off. It was only a woman. When he came to the door he paused and glanced in. He saw Selena standing in front of the window. She had her left hand held out in front of her, palm out, as if she could ward him away. She looked helpless. The Sig was in her right, behind her back.

He walked into the room, his comrade close behind. He only had time to sense movement through the air before Ronnie's knife buried itself in the side of his neck.

Even the best trained soldier takes time to react when everything goes wrong. It took the second man an instant to realize what had happened.

It was an instant too long.

Nick came at him and drove his elbow into the man's neck. He put everything he had into it, grunting as the blow landed. There was a dull, wet crunch and the terrorist collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. His feet thrashed against the floor and he made gargling, choking noises. His face turned red as he gasped for air. After a minute he stopped moving.

It had taken no more than twenty seconds to kill both of them.

"Take the guns," Nick said. "Selena, you said there were twelve, is that right?"

"Yes. Three less, now."

"Better odds, but still too many. We start shooting, hostages are going to get killed. We need to come up with a plan. "

"The leader's crazy," Selena said. "You can see it in his eyes. I think he doesn't care. He'll blow up the building and kill everyone if he thinks the game's over."

"We need a distraction," Nick said. "Something to get his attention, confuse him."

A gunshot echoed through the building. They looked at each other.

"I think they just shot another hostage," Selena said.

A second shot sounded, louder than the first, then a third.

"Shit," Ronnie said.

"That didn't sound like an AK or a pistol," Nick said.

"It was right below us," Lamont said.

Nick picked up one of the AKs. Lamont took the other.

"They don't need these anymore." He checked to see if it was loaded.

"Let's go see," Nick said.