“Quiet,” commanded the man, touching his earpiece to hear a radio transmission.
“This is security,” said the man outside the door to Teri and Caroline’s room. His English was heavily accented. “We have an important matter to discuss.”
“What matter is that?” Breanna demanded.
“There are reports of men with guns in the hotel,” said the man.
“We haven’t seen them.”
“I have been sent to protect you,” said the man.
“We’re fine.”
Major Krufts was desperately searching the room for something to use as a weapon. Breanna pointed to the lamp near the bed. But it was clamped to the side table.
The defense secretary and general were standing next to her. Caroline had taken Teri into the bathroom and closed the door.
“My orders are to protect you,” said the man.
“Great.” Breanna saw that the latch to the door had not been closed. She moved toward it quickly. “Stand guard in the hall.”
“I must see you to make sure you are not being held against your will,” said the man.
“Take my word for it,” said Breanna.
“I’m sorry. I cannot do that.”
Breanna reached the latch and pushed it closed. As she did, she heard a key entering the lock. She grabbed at the interior turning bolt, but couldn’t hold it back. The door opened, then caught abruptly at the latch.
Breanna threw her shoulder against the door, pushing it back to the frame. The latch caught. She pushed the lever closed, relocking it.
It was a momentary respite. The handle exploded, shot through from the other side. She spun back and to the side as the door flew open.
Danny heard the gunshot as he entered the building.
“The stairs!” he yelled. “Where are they?”
Even as the words left his mouth, he saw a door near the elevator at the far side of the hall. He raced to it, heart pounding.
“We are with you!” yelled one of the security men as he pushed into the stairwell. “Lead the way!”
Major Krufts jumped at the man as he came in. Krufts hit his arm and side, trying to grab the man in a bear hug. The intruder pushed him off as if he were no more than a fly, swatting him back with a sharp flick of his arm.
Krufts flew a good ten feet through the air, crashing into the wall near the bed.
The man turned and started to raise his gun. Breanna charged at him, her arm lassoing his neck. He remained upright, though her blow threw his aim off; three or four bullets crashed into the dresser and wall near the door.
Desperate, Breanna began kicking and clawing, trying to hit the man’s groin. He pushed his right arm up next to his chest and pried her off his body, flipping her down. As he did, General Josef hit him over the head with the heavy desk chair, which he’d managed to lift in front of him.
The man staggered to one side but didn’t go down. He grabbed Breanna, still flailing at him, and pulled his arm back to pistol-whip her.
“Stop!” said Dr. Gustov. “If you’re looking for me, I am here. Leave the others alone.”
Danny heard shouts as he reached the landing on the fourth floor. He grabbed at the door, then turned back as the first Czech security man reached him.
“Give me your pistol,” he told the man.
“But—”
“Don’t you have a backup weapon?”
The man hesitated, then reached down to his ankle where a small Glock was strapped. Danny took the gun and began to run toward the commotion.
Zen watched the Black Wolf’s face. There was obviously something going on, though it was impossible to tell exactly what.
Most likely the men he was going to kill were on their way here. What would happen when they arrived? Would Stoner kill him, too?
“Stoner, what’s going on?” Zen demanded. “Why are you doing all this?”
The man glared at him but said nothing, his hand pressed over his ear to listen to the radio.
“The Mark Stoner I knew was a patriot,” said Zen. “A CIA officer as dedicated as any person I’ve ever met.”
“Shut the hell up,” barked Stoner, pointing the gun at him. “Shut the hell up or I’ll shoot your tongue out.”
Breanna fell to the floor as the intruder released her. She saw Dr. Gustov, the minister, standing erect across the room, head high, jaw jutting forward, as if daring the man to shoot him.
The man grinned, and raised his gun.
“Don’t shoot him!” shouted Breanna. “Stop! Don’t shoot him!”
Three loud pops followed.
Breanna looked back toward Gustov.
He was still standing.
The intruder was lying on the ground, the back of his head shattered by bullets. Blood was spurting everywhere.
“Bree! Bree!”
Danny Freah loomed in the doorway.
The Black Wolf frowned. Green had gone off mission and entered the room without orders.
The Black Wolf pressed his hand to his ear, trying to hear what was going on.
“Green?” he demanded. “Report. What’s the situation? Green?”
“There’s gunfire upstairs,” said White.
“Investigate.”
“On my way.”
Green had obviously decided to take matters into his own hands. There was no excuse for that. He’d deal with him later, in the helicopter.
It should be only minutes away.
“What happened to you?” repeated Zen.
The Black Wolf looked over at him. He’d almost forgotten he was there.
“Who are you?” said the Black Wolf.
“Your friend,” said Zen.
“I don’t have any friends.”
“You did, fifteen years ago.”
“I didn’t exist then,” he answered.
The Black Wolf stared at the man in the wheelchair who called himself Zen.
It was so familiar, yet so far away.
Danny put his knee in the back of the man on the floor, dropping down to make sure he was dead. Blood was spurting from his head, flowing like water from a small fountain.
“Is everyone OK?” Danny asked. He looked across the room. The only one standing was an older gentleman, whose face was white. “You all right?”
“I am OK,” said Minister Gustov.
“It’s OK, it’s OK,” said Breanna, rising from the side of the room nearby. She leaped over the body and ran to the door on the left, yelling to her daughter and niece in the bathroom that it was all right.
The two Ukrainians on the floor groaned. Danny turned his gun toward the one against the wall on the far left, but it was obvious he wasn’t one of the Wolves—he was normal-sized, and a little pudgy.
One of the Czech officers yelled at someone in the hall.
“Stay here!” Danny told the others, bolting out of the room.
Gunfire erupted in the hallway as Caroline opened the door to the bathroom.
“Stay down. Get behind something—get in the bathtub,” Breanna yelled.
“Mama!” cried Teri.
“Stay down, Teri. I’m here.”
Breanna pulled the door closed, stayed outside—she could do more out here, she thought, racing to see what had happened to the dead man’s gun.
“The head! They’re only vulnerable in the head!” shouted Danny as the security officers began firing at the man near the elevator.
It was a mad, crazy scramble. Danny pressed against the side of the hallway, ducking down as bullets whizzed down the corridor.
“Danny, what’s going on?” hissed Breanna, crouching behind him.
“Get back in the room.”
“No. Who’s shooting?”
“He’s near the elevator. One of the guards who came with me tried to stop him.”
“He’s with the Wolves?”
“I don’t know—I haven’t seen them.”
“The man in the room, was he one of them?”