Encrypted (44 page)

While completely unplanned, Zach would take it. He surveyed the room in a glance, finding the other attackers long gone. On the other side of the room lay two agents. Zach rushed over, checking their vitals. Weak
,
but there. With sirens in the distance
,
he knew the backup Quirk had called
for
was already on its way.

Which was great for the downed men. Not so great for
grabbing
Francois and getting out of here before the police showed up. Plus
,
he had one wayward hacker to find.

“Ronnie!” he yelled as he grabbed the keys to the cell from
a belt that had belonged to
one of the agent
s
. Damn it
!
Where
was
she?

As the sirens grew louder and louder, he’d have to find her once he secured Francois. Zach found the old man huddled in the corner of his cell. Had he been hit? Shoving the key into the lock, he
grabbed
the door
and
open
ed it with a clang
.

“Francois?”

The man’s head swiveled around
.
H
is gaze seem
ed
far off as he mumbled
something
in Latin.

“Francois, you need to come with me.”
And answer about a thousand questions
, but Zach thought he might wait until a little later for that part.

The arsonist shook his head, trying to tuck his body back into
the
fetal
position
.

“You’ve
got
to come with me,” Zach urged, trying to get the man on his feet. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

“No,” the old man said in English. “The time is gone.”

This only seemed to deflate the old man even more. Like a blow
-
up do
ll
with the air leaked out, he slumped into a pile of bones.

“Damn it,” Zach said shaking Francois. “These men did not risk their lives for you to give up.”

Francois looked up, his eyes brighter. “But I am a dead man.”

“Not yet,” Zach informed the guy as he hauled him to his feet. “Not freaking yet.”

“They will come. They will hunt us,” Francois said
,
still resisting Zach as he urged the man to
ward
the cell door. “The end is nigh.”

Zach swung the old man around. “Yes, yes it is,” Zach agreed, not knowing the whole story but after the sophisticated extraction attempt, he didn’t need to know much more. Major forces were at work, way over Zach’s pay grade. But that’s what they had Ronnie and Quirk for. He just needed to get Francois’ ass out of here before the cops showed up.

“Which is exactly why you are going to pull it together and
fight
them.”

Francois eyes sharpened. “Then you believe?” he said as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal the carved symbols.

“God help me,” Zach said
,
suppressing an urge to form the sign of the cross. “I do.”

With renewed vigor, Zach got Francois up
,
only to find a gun pointed at them.

“I’m sorry, Hunt, but I can’t let you walk out of here with him.”

Zach found Special Agent in Charge Danner blocking their exit.

“You’ve got to know I didn’t do this,” Zach said
,
indicating the dead and wounded around the
bull pen
.

“We’re going to let Quantico figure that out,” Danner responded
,
holding out a pair of cuffs. “Put them on yourself.”

Zach declined. “Danner, you’ve got to believe
that
I am not overstating the facts
, and
that if I don’t walk out of here with this man right now, the world could cease to exist as we know it.”

“I don’t have to believe anything, Hunt
.
I just have to do my sworn duty.”

Weighing his options, none seemed any better. Zach could put the cuffs on
,
which would lead to their incarcerat
ion—
which meant they were dead. Whether here
,
being transferred
,
or in jail, Francois was right
.
T
hey would be dead. Option two. Charge Danner with a fully loaded weapon
,
and more than likely Zach was dead
,
and Francois was still in custody, which
would result
in the Frenchman being dead.

So far
,
all options ended
with someone
ending up
dead.

“Don’t
make
me turn this on,” Ronnie said
,
stepping from around the corner, holding up the metal disc. Its lights glowed an ominous red. “Don’t make me.”

Perhaps never
gladder
to see
someone
in his life, Zach flashed her a warm smile.

However
,
Danner more harshly studied the woman
,
then the disc
, and
then the woman. “The Robin Hoo
d
h
acker
,
I presume
?
”

“At your service, but unless you want me to take that gun, your belt
,
and quite possibly the fillings in your molars, I would lower that weapon.”

Zach watched emotions ro
l
l over his boss’ face. In the end
,
Danner was a pragmatist. He lowered his weapon.

“Grant was the traitor, Danner, not me. Look into
it
,
and
you will see.”

“Oh, I will,” his boss promised.

Backing away, with Ronnie holding the disc between them and Danner’s bullets, Zach urged Francois along, but the old man balked.

“The painting. We must have the painting.”

“We don’t have time
—
”

But the Frenchman was far stronger than he looked
,
and jerked out of Zach’s grasp. He headed for Danner’s office.

“No, Francois
.
T
he painting will be in the evidence
—
”

Zach didn’t bother finishing his sentence as Francois walked out of the office with the crated Picasso. Zach eyed his boss. Could Danner be involved? But if Danner
was
involved
,
then would they really have needed to assault the place?

Before he could ask, sirens blared, bearing down on the field office. Whatever answers Zach wanted were going to have to wait until later.
Way
later. Taking Ronnie’s hand
,
he led them through the back halls of the office. If they could get out the back exit and hoof it to the rendezvous point, they might just make it.

Bursting out the emergency door and into the side street, Zach stopped short. A large SWAT van raced up, skidding to a stop. It wasn’t a SWAT van
,
though, or at least none like he’d
ever
seen before. This one was coal black, without a single marking. And the men piling out of the vehicle? Each
wore
black leather
, and each
wore
a cross around
his
neck.

“Feel free to fire up the disc,” Zach told Ronnie. When she didn’t answer
,
he glanced over
at
her.

“Yeah, about that…”

* * *

“The refrigerator really messed it up,” Ronnie continued.

“But you said
—
”

Ronnie shrugged
,
knowing
that
nothing she could say or do
would
lessen the blow. “I was bluffing. The disc is shot.”

The look of disappointment that crossed Zach’s face nearly undid her. After a breath
,
he was back at it
,
though. “What about Quirk
?
Surely he must have
—
”

Yes, she too was used to
him
pulling something out of
a
hat, but… “After the magnet
fritzed
,
I haven’t heard from him.”

She could only assume
that
Quirk
had
followed protocol and
had
gotten the heck out of the vicinity. Her assistant liked to call it the pirate’s code.

Zach’s expression looked more pained than it had after he stumbled out of that CIA safe
house.

“I’m
so
sorry.”

Sorry for everything. Sorry for getting him mixed up in this mess. Sorry for not field
-
testing the magnetic disc in a kitchen environment.

Zach squeezed her hand. “It
’
s okay.”

As the men, armed to the teeth
,
approached
,
squealing tires
also
announced the police on the other side of the building
.
N
one of it seemed okay.

“I got to meet you,” he said
,
leaning in.

It was absurd timing. It was crazy to stop and kiss right now, but absurd and crazy were meaningless right now. Time hung, suspended.

Then the wash of chopper rotors buffeted them back. Buffeted everyone back as it streaked in from the sky, then hovered right in front of them. Quirk opened the door.

“Told
ya
he’s into me,” the young man announced
,
as the gruff pilot nodded to
Ronnie
.

* * *

Oh, if only he could capture the look on his boss’ face. Except
,
of course
,
for the dozen or so ninja priests and law enforcement personnel bearing down on them.

“You
coming
aboard
,
or what?” Quirk asked.

Ronnie was the first to snap out of it and grab hold of Quirk’s outstretched hand. Zach bounded in after her
,
hauling a crate in with him. That left the old man
,
who seemed equally perplexed
that
there was a helicopter in front of him
,
yet oddly at ease with the fact as well. Quirk helped the man
to
board.

“We are good to go.”

Which was a good thing
,
since the ninja priests had also recovered and
had
beg
u
n shooting. As they gained altitude
,
the old man glanced around.

“How very strange.”

Right. This coming from a guy who tried to torch a Picasso.

Bullets pinged off the undercarriage as the pilot swooped them up and away. Ronnie turned to Quirk.

“When did you throw this together?”

Quirk shook his head. “Not me. You need to thank my sunshine at the controls.”

In a very rare occasion
,
Ronnie stammered to express herself. “I… I’m not sure… How to… Huh?”

“Please,” the pilot answered. “Like you people were getting out of this by yourselves.”

Quirk urged Ronnie into her seat. “To avoid radar
,
he’s going to have to do some spectacular low
-
altitude flying, so strap in.”

Once Quirk got everyone else settled and himself secured in the copilot seat, he nodded to the pilot. “Let her rip.”

Oh
,
and how did he. The helicopter tilted and swooshed through buildings, threading a needle between two high rises
and
then ducking under a bridge. If this was any indication of how the man handled himself in bed…

Quirk fanned himself as the chopper laid over. Like he said, the day was definitely looking up.