When Pratt reached the bend in the trail, he took it with speed. That was a mistake. As he came around the corner, a long branch swung toward his head. He lifted his right hand in defense. That reduced the impact of the blow, but the impact was still hard enough to send him crashing into a mound of bushes. As he scrambled to get deeper into the vegetation, shots were fired in his direction, ripping through the leaves around him. Pratt drew his pistol and returned fire, then he rolled to his left.
Two more shots were fired at the place where he had been lying moments before. Pratt remained perfectly still, giving the woman reason to believe her shots had found their mark. Seconds later, he felt a wave of relief when he heard footsteps running off down the trail.
After waiting a few seconds, Pratt finally stood and stepped out of the cluster of plants. He returned to the trail in time to see the woman’s silhouette jogging downhill. He snapped in a fresh magazine and ran after her, only this time, he made sure he stayed some distance back. He wouldn’t be fooled again.
Minutes later, he saw a break in the trees ahead. Slowing, he slipped behind the trunk of a palm and looked out into the clearing. The woman was crouched about fifty yards out, looking up at the sky. Moments later, he heard the distinct thump of helicopter blades approaching. This was their rendezvous point.
Pratt knew he had been careless before, but now she was making the same mistake. She probably thought he was either dead or bleeding out. At first, he had wondered why she hadn’t stayed to make sure the job was done, but now he realized it was likely because she had a short window of time to meet her ride. Intelligence operations were often timed to the minute, which meant if she wasn’t at the clearing on time, the helicopter might be forced to fly off to avoid detection.
The thump of the blades grew louder as the dark bird appeared over the trees and began its descent into the clearing.
With time running out, Pratt raised his pistol and fired twice at the helicopter. He knew he couldn’t bring down a large craft with a pistol, but that wasn’t his intent. He just wanted to make it pull back.
The bird hovered in place after the rounds hit its exterior. Turning, the woman fired in Pratt’s direction. She knew only his general location, so her shots were well off the mark.
Pratt shifted his gaze up to the hovering bird. Something was moving underneath its belly. He strained to see what it was, but it was too far away.
A moment later, the chopper began to rise. As it lifted above the trees, Pratt was able to see what he couldn’t see before: the woman was dangling below it. Fast rope. They had dropped a rope and harness and were pulling her up.
Once at a sufficient height, the chopper began to move toward the ocean. Pratt emerged from the trees, lifted his pistol, and fired at the retreating target. He was an expert marksman, but hitting someone on a swinging rope would take a miracle shot.
Seconds later, the woman disappeared into the craft’s underside as it shot out of view.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CARMEN WATCHED AS Dr. Noah Lind approached the bed and leaned over David Holland, the man also known as DH10. After parting Holland’s eyelids with two fingers, Lind clicked on a penlight and aimed the beam directly at the pupil. “Excellent,” he said a few seconds later. “The constriction was quick and strong. His brain is still functioning.”
“How long do you think it will take for him to wake up?” Danielle asked from a chair at the foot of the bed.
Lind slid the penlight into his shirt pocket. “I gave him a strong sedative. It’s going to be a while. Two, three hours, maybe.”
Carmen studied the patient. David Holland was lying still on the bed, a white sheet pulled up over his bare chest. His face was hideously swollen, its skin marbled with various shades of black and gray. His eyes were a mess; the right eye was blood red, and the left eye was swollen shut.
It looked as though the poor man’s face had been hit with a sledgehammer, and in one sense, it had. Even though Holland was the more powerful of the two fighters, his opponent was strong enough to deliver blows that would’ve crushed the average man to a pulp.
Danielle dabbed her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve. “Why is it going to take so long? You shouldn’t have given him a dose that strong.”
“I gave him that dose in an attempt to save his life. Your brother went through a beating that brought him close to death. His brain is still functioning, but we won’t know the extent of any damage until medical help arrives. If he has even a small amount of damage, then the worst thing we can do is get him up and moving around.” He paused for a moment. “I’ve done what I can. For now, we need to let him rest.” He looked at Danielle. “You need some rest as well. There’s another bed in the next—”
“The only rest I’m going to get is in this chair. I’m not going anywhere.”
As Danielle closed her eyes, Carmen thought back on all that had happened. After she and Dr. Lind discovered Danielle, the three traveled to the back of the building to find a way out. They eventually found themselves on the platform overlooking the loading bay, where a bizarre scene played out in the distance. Carmen had insisted they slip away to find an alternate route, but after seeing something that grabbed her attention, Danielle ran down the stairs and across the room. Fearing for Danielle’s safety, Carmen sprinted after her, arriving just in time to hear Danielle call out her brother’s name. David seemed to realize it was someone he knew, but seconds later, the injuries overwhelmed him, and he fell to the floor.
Carmen, Danielle, and Lind rushed over to help him, but there was little they could do other than make him comfortable. Minutes later, they were all shocked to see Zane coming toward them out of the darkness. Carmen hadn’t even known he was there. But she was also surprised to see that he was holding Jonas Brehmer by the collar of his shirt. Apparently, the Pallas CEO had managed to slip away during all the excitement.
After tying Brehmer up, Zane radioed Brett, who gave Skinner and Mortensen their approximate location. Zane also asked Brett to call in Terre-de-Haut law enforcement and medical personnel. At this point, it was no longer a clandestine operation. Many of the guests had been badly injured and needed immediate medical attention.
Skinner and Mortensen arrived five minutes later. All of the operatives joined in constructing a makeshift stretcher using items they found in the loading bay. Once David Holland was securely on top of it, they transported him to one of Brehmer’s patient examination rooms. Danielle had seen it when searching through the rooms near the front of the building.
Carmen was about to sit down next to Danielle when she heard the door open.
Zane stuck his head inside. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sì, naturalmente,” Carmen replied. Yes, of course.
Once she was outside, Zane closed the door for privacy. “The medics are on the way. I’m told the helicopter will land in less than five and the boats soon after that.”
“That’s great news.”
Zane nodded at the door. “How is he?”
“Hard to say. Lind said his brain is functioning, so that’s good news. But there’s no doubt about it. He’s in rough shape.”
“I saw his face,” Zane said. “It looked like Rocky times ten.”
Carmen nodded down the hall. “So what’s going on out there?”
“The gendarmes are still doing everything they can to help until the medical staff gets here.”
“Did you tell them who we were?”