“Thinking the same thing I’m thinking?” Sean asked, already knowing the answer from the gun in his friend’s hand.
“They’re sending someone to the room?”
“Mmmhmm,” Sean confirmed and rose up on one knee, carefully holding his weapon at the ready.
“I thought you said they swept the room,” Tommy interjected. “Why would they come back?”
Sean didn’t like the answer, but he was strangely comfortable with it. There was only one possible reason the men who had taken Adriana would come after him. They didn’t know about the key. If they had, they’d have already taken it and been gone. Whoever was shooting at them needed information, information they believed Sean possessed.
“They’re here for me,” he said in a grim tone.
Yarbrough frowned. “I thought you said you didn’t know anything about what your girlfriend was looking for.”
“I don’t.” He shook his head slowly. “But they don’t know that. I’m betting they think I know something she doesn’t. Or at the very least, they might want to take me to coerce one of us to talk.”
Tommy pressed his ear to the door, listening for any movement outside. He jerked his thumb at the door. “They’re outside,” he mouthed in an attempt to stay silent.
“How many?” Sean whispered, almost inaudibly.
“Not sure. At least three or four.”
“The second we turn that doorknob, they’re going to open fire,” Sean hissed. The other two nodded.
An idea hit him.
“Yarbrough, get in the bathroom and wait.” Sean pointed behind where Tommy squatted. The bathroom was immediately to the right of the doorway. Sean got up and stepped into the toilet. A rack of fresh towels hovered over the water closet. He grabbed one of the towels and moved back to the coat closet slightly behind the point of entry. His hands worked quickly, tying a knot around the handle of the door’s latch, making sure there was enough slack to reach into the edge of the closet.
“Tommy, hide in here. When I give you the signal, open the door with this.” Sean handed him the towel, which his friend took reluctantly.
Tommy lowered his eyebrows. “What are you going to do?”
“Create a diversion, and then kill everyone in our way.”
The other two cast a questioning glance at each other, wondering what diversion he was going to create.
Sean moved as fast and as quietly as he could to the desk near the television. He stayed low, aware that the sniper could unleash another volley at any second. When he reached the desk, he slid open the top drawer and found what he needed. He removed the small box of matches and a note pad, and then proceeded to the center of the room, squatting down at the foot of the bed. Tommy watched from the closet, realizing what Sean had in mind.
With a quick strike of a match, Sean held the tiny flame to the notepaper and raised his hand beyond the top edge of the bed. Bluish smoke began to drift up to the ceiling and the fire alarm situated over the bed.
The door latch shimmied for a second. The attackers were trying to get in. Sean figured they would gain access in less than a minute. He waved his makeshift torch around a little, causing the paper to burn faster and produce more smoke. The door’s latch continued to jiggle, harder this time. It stopped for a moment, bathing the room in an eerie silence. Suddenly, a loud crash pounded the door, startling Tommy and Yarbrough, but Sean’s hand remained steady, holding the burning paper in the air, his other calmly gripping the Sig.
The alarm began to sound, beeping repeatedly in quick succession. The irritating noise was a welcome relief to Sean, but he didn’t relax. Water began to pour out of the sprinkler system overhead, soaking the entire room in a matter of a few seconds. It was the diversion he’d needed. “Now!” he yelled at Tommy.
His friend yanked the towel down and back, jerking the door wide open in one sudden movement. The three men outside were caught off guard, looking around at the deluge and stunned by the piercing alarm in the hallway. Sean squeezed the trigger, plunging two rounds directly into the abdomen and chest of the man closest to the doorway. He moved the barrel to the second, missing the man’s neck with the first shot, but landing the next two in the throat and shoulder. The initial two targets had been easy due to the fact that they were distracted. The third, however, dove out of the way as soon as Sean’s third bullet had been fired.
He yelled something in another language, telling Sean that there was at least one other guy in the hallway. Sean noticed a barrel poking around the right side of the doorframe. He fired another shot, causing the man on the right to pull back. A moment later, the barrel began to creep its way back into sight. Sean sent another round at his target, sending it harmlessly into the interior wall the room. This time the man on the left retorted, using his partner on the right as a diversion. It was clever, and Sean wished he’d considered the attackers might try something like that.
His only move was a quick dive to the side of the bed nearest the window, narrowly missing a barrage of bullets ripping into the floor and drywall.
One of the men said something in Greek. Sean wasn’t entirely sure of the translation, but from his vague recollection, he thought it meant they were coming in the room.
There were a few seconds of silence that caused Sean’s anxiety to heighten. He lay on his back with his head against the wall, gun firmly clutched in both hands, ready if the intruders came around the bed or over it.
His finger remained loose on the trigger, a habit he’d developed through the years. Sean considered it more of a safety precaution than anything else. Too many people were willing to shoot first and apologize later. He’d always preferred to just not have to deal with it. His motto was to always make sure the target was the enemy, and he’d gotten extremely quick at it.
Three loud pops blasted from the entryway followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor, then a second. There was another precipitous moment of silence before Sean heard a familiar voice.
“All clear at the door,” Tommy said in a firm voice.
Sean slid around and peeked by the edge of the bed. The two assailants were on the floor, one piled on the other. A thin line of smoke seeped out of Tommy’s weapon.
“You can come out now, Sean.” His barb was accompanied by a snide grin.
“Nice job, buddy. You’re really getting the hang of this sort of thing.”
Tommy stared down at the two corpses. “That’s not necessarily a good thing. Means I’m finding myself in sticky situations way too often.”
“Would you two mind if we left now?” Yarbrough interjected from just inside the bathroom. Blood was soaking through his jacket, mingling with the water from the sprinklers.
“Good call. I just hope our ride is back,” Sean said with a hint of uncertainty.
He and Tommy helped Agent Yarbrough to his feet. Sean grabbed a washcloth from the sink and pressed it hard into the agent’s wound. “Keep this pressed against it,” he said.
“Yeah, I know the drill,” Yarbrough nodded.
Sean passed him a sly grin, and then moved back over to the door. He checked his magazine, confirming there were only a few rounds left. That small supply plus the one extra clip he had in his belt wouldn’t last long if they had to shoot their way out of the building.
Outside, sirens began sounding as fire trucks and police arrived in response to the alarm. Sean knew the chaos in front of the building would be the perfect cover for their getaway. The sniper would likely not have a clear shot, but they’d need to move fast.
He stepped into the hall and checked down both sides of the corridor, making sure the coast was clear. “It’s good,” he said to Tommy. “Head to the elevators. I’ll stay in front. Keep Yarbrough between us.”