The silence erupted into a volley of shots as guns on both sides of the rear seat opened fire on the crouching assailants who returned rounds of their own at the silver SUV. The sudden shooting sent the pursuers diving for cover. Sean glanced at the other two as if questioning whether they knew what was going on. Both women shook their heads confused. “Get us out of here then,” he said to Villa. He didn’t have to say it twice.
Adriana bolted towards her car, using the fray behind the other row of vehicles as a moment of distraction. The parking lights of the car beeped, signaling that she had unlocked the black Audi. Emily and Sean ran after her and all three reached her ride in mere seconds.
James watched the chaos unfold. Two of Angela’s men had already been downed. She and the others were pinned back, only able to sneak a few shots from behind a few cars. The diversion had given Wyatt enough time to escape.
But who was in the Escalade? Did Wyatt have someone helping him? Surely not. He was in Vegas on vacation. Bullets ricocheted off the concrete and steel around him. He had to help Weaver. Sean Wyatt and his two accomplices would have to wait.
James jumped out of his position and darted towards the Escalade from the side, pounding the driver’s window and door with rounds from his Glock. Before the man in the back could react another two bullets were sent into the dark interior. The dark hand holding the gun lurched backwards violently as bullets found their target. James assumed one of his shots had found their mark and emptied the rest of his magazine into the silhouette of the driver and the remaining man in the back seat.
Adriana revved the engine, backing her Q7 out quickly then wheeling the car around the row. The tires squealed as they peeled around the drive and down into the exit tunnel.
“Who were those people chasing us?” Sean asked, panting for breath from the passenger’s seat in the back. He looked at Emily who was also breathing heavily in the front.
Adriana whipped the car out of the parking garage and past the valet area outside of the Venetian. “I’m guessing the Order of the Golden Dawn.”
James continued firing on the Escalade until his Glock began to click, signaling that it was empty. Angela and the few men left from her team stopped firing as well. No more shots came from the bullet riddled SUV. Just to be safe, James ducked low as he approached the vehicle and reloaded a fresh magazine into his gun.
He stepped close to the rear door first, weapon trained on the open window. Inside the back were two dead African-American men. In the front, a larger black man sat in the driver’s seat. Bullet holes dotted the windshield. Some of the rounds that pierced the glass had also found the driver. He was alive, but barely. James could hear his labored breathing turning into a gurgle. The man’s lungs were filling with blood, a particularly strenuous way to die from his experience with it. He’d killed many adversaries that suffered the same way. Every time it appeared like the person was going through hell just before they got there.
At least, that’s where James assumed they’d gone.
Weaver moved closer to the SUV, gun trained on the lone survivor. James opened driver’s door. The huge beast of a man held one hand to a chest wound as blood seeped through his fingers. “Who are you?” James asked raising his gun to the man’s head.
A look of disdain crossed the dark skinned face. The hand holding his chest clenched, extending only one finger in defiance. With the other, he tried to raise his gun one last time. James squeezed the trigger. The suppressed barrel popped sending a new splash of blood and various red fragments all over the passenger’s side of the front of the SUV. The body slumped over sideways.
Angela and the rest of her men stood close by. “Who were those guys?”
“Nobody.” He eyed the excessive jewelry on the man’s fingers and neck. “Too much bling for these guys to be pros.”
She eased her weapon into a holster concealed by her jacket. “Who were the other two with Wyatt?”
He looked in the direction the black Audi had gone. “I’m fairly certain the woman in the gray dress was Emily Starks.”
“Axis? What was she doing here?” Weaver looked concerned.
“Maybe they were having a secret rendezvous. They did work together for a few years at the agency.” Even he didn’t agree with his assessment, though.
“What about the other woman?” she asked.
“I have no idea. But whoever she is just complicated things.” He touched the small gash in his shoulder. “That means there’s another player involved.”
“You don’t think she’s Axis, too?”
James looked down at his left shoulder. Blood still oozed slowly from the bullet’s damage. “No. I think she’s something else entirely.”
Chapter 13
A black iPhone vibrated angrily on top of the dark, wooden nightstand. After ten seconds of ringing, a tanned, masculine hand reached out and grabbed the device, lifting it so his eyes could make out the caller’s ID. He wondered who had the gall to interrupt his sleep at this hour of the morning.
Eric Jennings had been somewhere between a sandy beach and the 18th hole in his dreams. Now the call he was receiving interrupted that.
In the soft glow of the phone’s face he noticed the slender feminine body lying next to him. Money may not be able to buy happiness but it can sure buy a lot of other stuff.
He answered the call gruffly, “This better be good.”
The voice on the other end paused. “It’s not, sir.”
“What do you mean?” he sat up in the bed and looked back over at the sleeping escort. The phone call hadn’t awakened her.
“Wyatt had help,” there was another moment of silence. “He got away.”
Jennings was not a man to be taken lightly. He’d ascended in the Justice Department by being ruthless and direct. He’d always careful not to piss off the wrong people but cunning enough to know when to cut throats. Surely, his agent on the other line knew this.
His eyes were tired. For someone in his mid-fifties he seemed to carry the burdens of man thirty years older. “Then go get him,” he answered, annoyed.
“We aren’t certain where they went, sir.”
Jennings rubbed his eyes. “Who was with him?”
“Agent Starks was one of them. We didn’t recognize the other woman. We’ll have to run a check once we get connected to the system. Shouldn’t take too long.”
Jennings thought for a moment. So Emily was there. Why? What was Axis up to? Perhaps he had a leak. That was something he’d have to attend to later. Although, it could have been a coincidence.
“What should we do sir?” The voice on the other end of the line asked.
“I already said, go get him. Wyatt can become a thorn very quickly. We cannot risk letting him find out what we’re up to.”
“Understood, sir.”