‘Go, get help!’
Alan, unsteady on his feet and pale now from the sight of so much blood, staggered past them and ran for the exit. He got as far as the stairwell and then Mary heard a deep thump. She looked up and saw Alan collapse, his eyes rolled up into their sockets.
Moments later a dark skinned, Middle Eastern looking man ascended the steps to the tower, a pistol in one hand as he walked out into the chamber and saw Mary.
XLII
‘This is it!’
Ethan drove onto the parking lot and raced past the rows of vehicles there as he aimed directly for the nearest track that led toward the tower.
‘Enemy front!’
Lopez’s shout alerted Ethan and he swerved as several agents emerged from a parked SUV and aimed their pistols at them. A crackle of gunfire rattled out and Ethan hunched down in his seat alongside Lopez as bullets smashed through the windows and sprinkled glass chips across them.
The gunfire swept past them and the car lurched to one side as a round punctured a tire. Ethan heaved on the wheel to keep the vehicle straight as he came up again and saw a dark, tall figure leap out of the way of his vehicle. Ethan got a brief glimpse of the man’s face, his dark skin and angry eyes, the salt and pepper hair cropped close to his scalp.
‘That was Mitchell!’ Lopez gasped as they raced by.
‘Majestic Twelve are already here,’ Ethan said. ‘We don’t have much time.’
The engine of their car coughed and spluttered as a cloud of gray steam billowed from beneath the hood. The vehicle slowed and Ethan instinctively slipped the car into neutral and let it coast toward the tower.
‘There’s somebody up there,’ he said as he leaned forward and peered up at the dizzying heights.
The car rolled to a halt a hundred yards from the tower and Ethan climbed out to see Aaron Mitchell close behind them.
‘Go,’ Ethan said to Lopez as he backed up. ‘Get to Mary and cover her until we can find a way out of here.’
‘We’re in the desert, Ethan,’ Lopez said cautiously as Mitchell advanced, his guards in their vehicle close behind him.
‘Get inside the tower and keep moving,’ Ethan insisted. ‘I’ll hold them off as long as I can.’
Lopez glanced behind them at the soaring tower. ‘Is this because you don’t like heights?’
‘Will you get on with it?!’ Ethan snapped.
Lopez turned and dashed through the tower entrance, and Ethan slammed the doors shut and searched for something to seal them with. Huge overhead pipes hissed and hummed with energy, but he could find nothing suitable to protect Lopez inside the tower with. He grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and turned to face Aaron Mitchell.
Ethan stood in silence in front of the tower entrance as Mitchell approached, his dark coat billowing in the rising desert wind, his skin dark and his eyes concealed behind glossy black sunglasses, one hand casually tucked into the pocket of his coat. He looked every inch the avenging angel of death as he moved to stand within a couple of yards of the entrance and then raised a hand behind him. The SUV containing his men slowed and pulled up a hundred yards away, covering the escape route.
Mitchell turned back to Ethan and regarded him silently for a moment.
‘Mister Warner. Once again you have placed yourself in a position of great jeopardy.’
‘Bad luck and trouble seems to be my forte.’
‘Stand aside, and I will let you live.’
No preamble, no threat, just a statement of fact. Ethan tensed. He saw no weapon on Mitchell, no sign of any intention to attack, and yet Mitchell was clearly under no doubts of his ability to crush Ethan. Mitchell probably had forty pounds on Ethan and a good three inches in height, likely a longer reach and, given the man’s formidable size and confidence, a Special Forces background that Ethan lacked.
‘No can do,’ Ethan replied.
Mitchell’s shoulders sagged slightly. ‘So be it.’
Aaron was fast, incredibly so. The hand in the pocket of his jacket was not there at all, only the sleeve tucked in place, his arm instead behind his back with a pistol in his grip. It flashed around to aim at Ethan, who instantly tossed the handful of sand he held in his left palm and dropped into a forward roll.
Mitchell’s shot cracked out, his rising arm countered by Ethan’s rapid drop as the bullet zipped over Ethan’s head and smacked into the tower with a metallic clang. Ethan threw his shoulder down as he rolled through and struck out with his right boot.
The hefty size ten slammed into Aaron’s groin even as the sand stuck in his eyes, and Aaron groaned and folded over the blow. Ethan scrambled to his feet and reached up to slap one hand across Aaron’s wrist to push the gun away and prevent him from taking a second shot while with the other he swung a bunched fist. The blow struck Aaron across the cheek with a crack but the agent was already making the only play that he could.
Aaron rushed in and let his entire body weight plummet into Ethan. Ethan hurtled backwards and down, turned his head aside in the direction of the gun just before Aaron’s muscular chest crashed down onto his face, but even blinded and winded Aaron was quick enough to stretch the pistol out beyond Ethan’s reach, pinning him in place with his weight.
Ethan heaved against the agent’s huge body but he knew already that he would not be able to dislodge him. Aaron widened his legs to keep Ethan from toppling him off to either side, giving him the chance to recover from the devastating blow Ethan had delivered. Ethan forced one leg between Aaron’s and jerked it up, driving his knee upward in an attempt to deliver more blows to the bigger man’s groin, but despite groans of pain Aaron remained in place and folded his arms around Ethan’s head as he pressed his chest down.
Ethan struggled against Mitchell’s immense weight and strength but he quickly felt the bigger man regaining himself. Mitchell’s wrist turned as he tried to aim the pistol at Ethan’s head, only Ethan’s grip on his wrist preventing him from fully bringing the weapon to bear. Pain bolted through Ethan’s hand as he tried to keep the pistol at bay, his breathing laboured and his head pinned against the dusty desert.
Ethan reached down with his free hand and fumbled in his pocket and a moment later he found what he was looking for. Ethan flicked the Zippo lighter into life and held it against Aaron’s coat, and moments later the stench of smoke and the heat of flames billowed from between them.
Aaron let out a roar of pain and hurled himself up and away from Ethan, his coat in flames as he tried to throw it off and aim at Ethan at the same time. Ethan shot to his feet, one hand still on Aaron’s wrist and blocking the pistol, and he hopped off his right boot and onto his left as he then slammed his right knee up into Aarons’ flank.
Aaron’s ribs crackled beneath the impact and Ethan saw the agent double over in sympathy with the pain. Ethan turned in the opposite direction, twisting the pistol over in his grip and tearing it from Aaron’s grasp. Aaron cried out in pain as he dropped to one knee, and Ethan grabbed the pistol and stepped back, aiming at Aaron.
‘Hands behind your back, face down on the floor and I’ll let you live,’ Ethan gasped, short of breath.
Aaron did not look up, until a sudden gunshot echoed from within the tower and a scream followed. Ethan whirled without hesitation and dashed into the tower, Lopez on his mind as he tore up the steps.
Amber blinked and her heart raced in her chest as she saw Mary collapse beside Huck Seavers’ body, and with some terrible certainty Amber knew that she had made a mistake. Through the telescopic sights she could see Mary trying to stem the flow of blood from Huck’s wounds, his body no longer visible where it had collapsed, only Mary’s grief stricken face.