They kept their distance and spread out. Chris tried to keep at least two people between him and Animus, and he searched for a place to duck out of sight in case Animus doubled back. The man kept going, though, and joined a line of customers at the Air France ticket counter. When he seemed near the end of his transaction, and before he turned around, Chris snuck into a restroom and waited, his heart pounding. He estimated how long he thought it would take Animus to leave the area and near security. While waiting, he heard footsteps approach the restroom door.
That could be him.
Chris hid in one of the stalls as sounds from the airport lobby entered the restroom. Footsteps echoed, closer and closer. Within the small confines of the stall, Chris felt ambushed. If the other person in the restroom was Animus and he started shooting through the door to Chris’s stall, he’d be trapped. Whoever had entered used the urinal, but Chris couldn’t see who it was. He could peek over the door, but he’d risk being seen. His heart pounded even harder and he pulled out his pistol, preparing to defend himself if the shooting began.
But the man left, and Chris gave him time to depart the restroom before stepping out of the stall. He left the men’s room and scanned the terminal. Sonny briskly walked toward him, but Chris couldn’t see Animus. Hannah was missing, too.
“If you shake it more than once, you’re playing with it,” Sonny quipped.
“Where’s Hannah?” Chris asked, ignoring the joke.
“She’s going to find out which gate Animus went to so we know his destination. She already bought a ticket and gave me her pistol to pass security.”
Chris’s eyes widened, concern churning in his gut. “What if she gets into trouble and needs backup?”
“She said she’ll call before the trouble gets troubling.”
“We should’ve given her backup.”
“And do what with our guns to get past security?” Sonny asked.
“We have diplomatic passports. Maybe we can pass through the crew line without being screened.”
“You’re assuming Athens airport security gives a shit about our diplomatic passports.”
“We could stash our pieces in a locker.”
“Just chill,” Sonny said. “We’ll do her more harm than good. Animus is more likely to spot three of us than Hannah alone. He’s also never met Hannah. You, he’d recognize.”
“I don’t like this,” Chris said.
“If you weren’t banging her, maybe your tactical judgment would be clearer.”
Chris took a deep breath. “I’m not banging her.”
Sonny shrugged. “Whatever you call it.”
Chris pulled out his cell phone and tried to keep his anger from bubbling over. “If Hannah rings for help, we’re keeping our guns and we’re busting through that security checkpoint. You got it?”
“Damn straight.”
Chris and Sonny walked to the security gate and took seats close by. Chris kept an eye on the clock, but it only made the time go slower, so he tried not to think about it.
When more than half an hour passed, he couldn’t bear it anymore. “One of us should—”
“Shh,” Sonny said, cutting him off.
Chris wanted to call her, but he knew the sound of her cell might alert Animus or Xander. Then Chris’s phone rang. The caller ID read Hannah.
“I’m okay,” she said immediately. “The line at security was long, but I got through and found Xander, Animus, and Evelina in the same lobby for the flight to Paris, but Xander is sitting separately, like he doesn’t know them. Obviously, they’re up to something, so I called Langley and requested some of our guys in Paris put surveillance on the three when they arrive.”
Knowing she was safe, Chris heaved a sigh of relief.
“What?” she asked.
Chris didn’t say anything.
“You were worried about me,” she said.
He swallowed. “Yes.”
“See you in a minute,” she said, and he could almost hear the smile in her voice.
Chris wasn’t completely worry-free until she finally reunited with them in the arrivals area.
“Can we have the Gulfstream meet us here and take us to Paris?” Sonny asked.
“The Agency is going to fly us,” Hannah said. “The Gulfstream will have to catch up with us later.”
9
Four hours later, they were in an Agency plane flying over France. “What do we do if our mission to kill-or-capture Xander is denied?” Hannah asked.
“He kidnapped and murdered a US citizen,” Chris said, anger heating his face. “Michael was our responsibility, and a US citizen’s murder can’t go unpunished. If we receive a message denying the op, we can just pretend we didn’t receive the message. Ask for forgiveness later, like Sonny said.”
Sonny was silent.
“Are you still okay with that?” Hannah asked him. “Pretending we didn’t receive the message?”
“Yeah, I’m okay with that,” Sonny said. “Xander took out our hostage, and he’s got to pay for it.”
“How about you, Hannah?” Chris asked.
“I’m fine with continuing the op now. But if we get explicit instructions to back off… I don’t know. Disobeying direct orders from on high bit me in the butt once, and I’m not too roused about getting bit again.”
Sonny raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “What orders did you disobey?”
“I’m going to check radio traffic,” she said, leaving the question unanswered, and headed to the cockpit.
Chris had almost dozed off in his seat when Hannah returned. “We received a digitally formatted Flash Precedence message,” she said. “I decrypted it, authenticating Langley’s digital signature. The message was short and direct: Kill or capture Xander Metaxas.”
“Now we won’t have to ask for forgiveness,” Chris said, relieved their op was now sanctioned. Now he was following orders.
“It’s time to bring the hate,” Sonny said.
Their jet descended below the clouds over Paris, and the quilt of farms surrounding the Charles de Gaulle airport became visible. After they landed, French customs and immigration officers boarded and checked their diplomatic passports.
“What is the purpose of your visit?” one of the officers asked.
Sonny’s words echoed in Chris’s brain. It’s time to bring the hate.
“To visit the US embassy,” Hannah answered for them.
“Business?” the officer asked.
Hannah nodded. “Yes.” Her phone rang, but she paid it no attention.
The officers honored the diplomatic passports, not searching the diplomats or their plane. They seemed to have more pressing matters to attend to. After they left, Hannah checked her phone and returned the call. When her conversation ended, she said, “The Paris surveillance team picked up Xander. He was driving northward on the Autoroute du Nord.”
Chris peered out the plane window and spotted a driver sitting in a silver Renault with the engine running. “Who’s he?”
“Silver Renault, guy in a brown suit?” she asked before looking out the window.
“Yeah,” Chris said.
“Our driver from the Agency,” she said. “His name is Don. If it isn’t, we’re in trouble.”
They exited the plane, and their driver met them on the tarmac. He introduced himself as Don.
Hannah offered her hand. “Hannah.”
He shook it. “Welcome to Paris.”
“Happy to be here.”
It seemed like a casual exchange, but it was an exchange of predetermined bona fides, including their appearances, so each knew that the other was whom he or she was supposed to be. She nodded at Chris and Sonny, signaling that Don was legit.