“I know that, Agent Jaye. I know that.”
Drake hovered at Hayden’s shoulder, listening, the remainder of the team chafing at the bit close by. Dahl was studying the nearby area, reeling off the best places for an ambush and then checking each one out with his field glasses. Odd, but at least it kept him busy. Drake nudged him.
“Where’s the sledge?”
“Left it behind.” Dahl did look a little unhappy. “Bloody fine weapon that.”
Kenzie butted in. “I reminded him that I still don’t have my favored weapon. If he gets a sledgehammer, I should get a katana.”
Drake watched the Swede. “Sounds like a deal.”
“Oh, come on, stop giving her ammunition. And where would I pick up a katana around here anyway?”
A voice broke in: “They’re out near Staten Island, Hayden.”
Drake’s head whirled around so fast he winced. “What was that?”
Hayden asked Moore to repeat and then turned to the team. “We have a sighting, guys. Phoned in by a civilian, just like Moore predicted, and confirmed by camera. Move your asses!”
Head down, the team sprinted over the sidewalk and into the clear, barricaded road, jumped through the open chopper doors and buckled into their seats. Two birds rose, rotors clipping leaves off nearby trees and shooting garbage across the street. Drake removed handguns and a rifle, a military blade and Taser, checking all were in working order and fully prepped. Dahl checked the communiquės.
The pilot cleared the rooftops and then veered sharply toward the south, piling on the speed. Alicia ran through her own weapons, discarding one she had taken from a legionnaire and keeping another. Kinimaka stole glances at Hayden, which she tried to ignore, still taking in information from Moore and his agents. Beau was quiet, in a corner, as he had been since Drake and Alicia kissed. For her part Mai sat serenely, unreadable Japanese features fixed firmly on their goal. The rest of the team double checked everything, all except Kenzie who complained about the helicopter’s ride, the buffeting winds, the smell of sweat and the fact that she’d ever laid eyes on the SPEAR team.
“Nobody asked you to stay with us,” Alicia said quietly.
“What else would I do? Run away like a frightened church mouse?”
“So this is about proving you’re brave?”
Kenzie glared. “I don’t want to see Armageddon. Do you?”
“I’ve already seen it. Ben Affleck’s surprisingly gay and Bruce Willis rocks it harder than the damn asteroid. But hell, is this you trying to tell us that you actually have a heart?”
Kenzie stared out the window.
“The archaeological-artefact-thief has a heart. Who would’ve known?”
“I’m just trying to get back to my business in the Middle East. Alone. Helping you fools will go a long way to doing that. Fuck your goddamn heart.”
The chopper swooped above the rooftops of Manhattan as Hayden received clarification that Ramses and Gator had not left the island yet, having been sighted close to the Staten Island Ferry.
“The bits that get lost in translation could kill us all,” Hayden sighed, and Drake recognized the truth in that. From the youngest schoolyard spat to a war between presidents and prime ministers — nuance was everything.
Their destination came closer as buildings flashed by. The pilot dove between two skyscrapers to maintain velocity, arrowing in on their target. Drake held on with grim purpose. The bay’s rolling gray waters lay ahead. Down below they could see a cluster of landing choppers, all battling for space.
“There!” Hayden cried.
But the pilot was already plummeting, making the chopper land hard to get the primary space before a row of planters and a bus stop. Drake felt his stomach heave up through his mouth. Hayden shouted into her cell.
“Of course the terminal’s closed,” she said. “If Ramses is here what’s he hoping to accomplish?”
“There should be some railings behind you and a line of cars parked under the trees. The cops have a woman there who was the last one to see him.”
“Great. So now we—”
“Wait!” Alicia’s ears caught the sounds before anyone else’s. “I hear gunfire.”
“Go.”
Piling out, the team headed for the terminal, sprinting alongside the building. Drake spied that, behind the sweeping curve of the main entrance, a long concrete slip led out to the docking area. The shots were resounding from there, fired through an open space, not muffled as if by walls.
“Back there,” he said. “It’s coming from the slipway.”
Choppers filled the skies behind them. A groaning body lay in their way, a policeman, but he waved them ahead, exhibiting no signs of injury. More shots exploded through the air. The team drew weapons, ran in tandem, and searched the areas ahead. Another cop knelt before them, head hanging, holding his arm.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Go. Just a flesh wound. We need you guys. They’re… they’re getting away.”
“Not today,” Hayden said and ran past.
Drake spied the end of the slipway, and the protrusions to his left, all concrete slipways used for the ferries. Waves lapped at their bases. “You hear that?” he said as more gunfire broke out. “Ramses has got himself a Squad Automatic.”
Lauren was the only one who shook her head. “Which is?”
“More rounds per minute than an AK. Six to eight hundred round mag. Interchangeable barrels for when it gets too hot. Not accurate, but intimidating as hell.”
“I hope the fucker melts in his hands,” Alicia said.
A group of cops knelt up ahead, constantly ducking for cover as the SAW spat forth its rounds. A tracery of bullets raced overhead. Two cops returned fire, aiming down at the slipway’s far end where a ferry was docked.
“Do not tell me…” Dahl said.
“We think he’s taking a ferry right there, from one of the maintenance slips,” one of the cops said. “Two guys. One trained on us, the other starting up the boat.”
“He can’t escape this way,” Hayden protested. “It… it’s… game over.” Her eyes glistened with terror.
“For him,” Alicia said smugly.
“No, no,” Hayden whispered. “For us. We got it wrong. Ramses is literally going out with a bang. Sealing his legacy. Guys, he’s gonna detonate that nuke.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. Best guess? He’s headed for Liberty Island and the statue, and he’s about to plaster it all over social media. Oh God, oh God, imagine—” she choked up. “I can’t… just can’t…”
Kinimaka hauled her to her feet, the big man growling with purpose. “We’re not going to let this happen. We have to do something. Now.”
And Drake saw the flash of the SAW about fifty feet away, the deadliness of its rounds, the one thing standing between them and Ramses, and the nuke.
“Who wants to live forever, right?”
“Nah,” Alicia said quietly. “Forever would be boring as fuck.”
And Dahl gave the team one final look. “I’ll take lead.”
In that last split-second the heroes of New York made ready; the SPEAR team and then every single cop and agent within earshot. Everyone rose to their feet, faced the spitting weapon, and made the last choice of their life.
Dahl started it. “Charge!”
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
Drake ran at the center of his friends, right where he wanted to be, gun up and firing hard. Bullets discharged from every single running gun at two thousand five hundred feet per second, multiple blasts echoing around the slipways. Windows shattered all along the ferry.
In seconds they had halved the gap, still shooting hard. The SAW user modified immediately, shocked by the ferocity of the assault. Not that he stopped firing; his bullets stitched a trail across the slipways and out to sea as he quite possibly staggered back. Drake fitted the scope to his eyes, finger on the trigger, and made out the features of the man holding the SAW.