Alicia walked right up to the edge of the crowd, ignoring the whispers and stares of the closest civilians and the new attention of the guards. One of the tour guides started to wander over.
“Look at me!” Alicia glowered at her victim — a large, hard-faced man of thirty or so, bulging muscles threatening to rip his shirt at the seams and pant legs riding up over his socks due to the width of his thighs.
Everyone saw the huge specimen mouth ‘me?’ and an anxious look fall across his face.
“Yeah, you. Don’t you remember?” She turned to a nearby older woman looking splendid in her jewels and finery. “Thick as a tree trunk, but rode me harder than John Wayne on full gallop.”
The older woman looked over with interest. Alicia held out her hands. “C’mere, Gavy-boy. C’mere. Let’s reacquaint.”
The merc looked ready to start pushing his way toward her until one of his comrades leaned over and whispered into his ear. Immediately, a cloud of doubt settled over his features.
“Yeah, my name ain’t Gavin.”
Alicia laughed. “Don’t be a goose. You have that tattoo, don’t you? The one on your ass?”
Now the man’s comrades were staring at him with more than just boredom.
“What?”
“You broke my heart!” Alicia pushed her way toward the man, largely to escape the attentions of the guide and the oncoming guards that just wanted to calm the scene. Alicia stood in front of the merc, looking up.
“Don’t you remember me?”
“Nah, girl, but I sure wish I did. You ain’t a bad looking bitch.”
“I’m a what now?”
“Get rid of the damn whore,” another merc spoke up, probably the leader of their little group. “We’re headed down.”
Alicia shook her head. “Excuse me? Just one sec.” She held a finger in front of the newly arrived tour guide and his guard. “You need to apologize.”
Laughter rang out from the mercs. Civilians all around looked embarrassed. Drake and the team were close now, ranged around Alicia and trying to look impartial.
“I demand an apology!” Alicia cried in a high voice.
The merc Alicia had picked on still looked uncertain, but the rest assumed their nastiest faces. Drake watched the spies in the crowd taking it all in without drawing attention.
“Fuck off, whore,” one said.
People gathered around gasped. Drake saw some of the men start to protest. This was about as far as they should go. Nobody wanted innocent civilians dragged into their mess.
Then, everything changed. One of the mercs, unable to restrain himself, pushed ‘Gavin’ aside and shouted a string of curses into Alicia’s face. She reacted predictably with a knee to the groin, a jab to the sternum and a punch to the throat. Her abuser said no more, but went down gurgling, clutching his neck, tottering on his knees.
Alicia placed a finger on his forehead. “There’s a free lesson for you,” she whispered and pushed him over. “Don’t treat women like that.”
His friends were coming now, barging the crowd aside, vision filled with nothing but red mist. Alicia backed off into a tour guide and one of the guards, and gave them a look of apology. “I’d call in backup,” she said.
Drake had been tracking the leader. Just before Alicia toppled the abuser he saw him make the tell-tale sign of an incoming communication — a finger placed to the ear. The leader then fixed Alicia with a clearer gaze before staring over at Drake.
Oh shit, that was quick. Someone knows their way around the Internet and facial recognition software.
Which begged the question: Why were they using such low-rent mercs?
Drake was moving even as each successive thought materialized, and so were the rest of the team. The guard, apparently unaware that he had any form of nearby backup, raised his gun and began to shout. The crowd panicked. Men and women started crying out and looking to flee. An air of panic quickly set in.
Dahl pulled the guard free and set him aside, yelling that he should call for backup. Drake didn’t know whether to be annoyed at Alicia or happy with what she’d done. The flow of people into the tomb had definitely been altered, but the outcome of tonight was still in jeopardy.
“Not good.” Crouch pointed at the tomb’s entrance. Many were still heading down.
“We can’t stop that,” Hayden said. “We need to leave. Now.”
The mercenaries reached Drake, Dahl and Alicia. A tussle broke out, with fists flying. The three tried to contain the advance of the mercs but found themselves forced back by weight of numbers. Civilians still cried and stood all around. Some fell to the floor, knocked aside by the mercs.
Drake saw guards formed of the Egyptian military beginning to assemble.
“Out,” he shouted.
They spun and ran, joined the bulk of their group and then hastened toward the edge of the stage. The mercs followed, sensing blood and victory rather than a sensible retreat and a chance to get to safety. They didn’t see the guards coming.
Plus they forgot their orders, Drake thought. Bonus for us.
Still, they had to assume other factions knew what they knew. He wanted to get hold of Crouch and extract the exact information but that would have to wait. He leapt from the stage amidst the SPEAR team at full flow, landing sprightly and turning it into a sprint. The guards wouldn’t pursue — they hadn’t done anything wrong.
But the mercs knew them.
For a moment he wondered if whoever was pulling their strings had now decided to deliberately send them after SPEAR, forgoing the tomb. But no, that just didn’t make sense. They left the stage area behind, pounding across a patch of desert now as they raced toward the parking areas. Here stood many coaches and private taxis used to ferry guests to and from the event. The road passed close by. Drake checked the rear whilst Hayden and Kinimaka scoped out the best exit.
“Cairo,” Crouch said.
“Yeah, already on it,” Hayden said. “Back to the safe house?”
“Yes, it will be good for a short while.”
Drake saw the mercs barging people off the stage, causing injuries as they neared its edge. The guards were in pursuit, coming around the side. Hayden urged them to a mini-van where the driver sat waiting, the engine ticking.
“Sorry,” he said in poor English. “I… have… already… fare…”
“Double.” Crouch stuck his head through the passenger window. “We’ll pay double. And make it quick, we have another party to get to!”
“Ah! What the hell are you waiting for? Get on in!” Suddenly, he understood English just fine.
Drake saw they barely had time, but didn’t want to draw attention to the pursuit. The team jumped in, told their driver to get a move on and then they were speeding across a flat piece of desert toward the main road. Drake, squashed in the back beside Smyth and Yorgi, stuck his nose against the rear pane of glass.
“They’re slow,” he said. “But, I think still coming.”
“Move it,” Crouch said.
“I am going as fast as she can,” the driver told them. “What’s the rush, man? Party can wait.”
“We’re hungry,” Alicia said bluntly. “Now speed her up before I start chomping on yer arm.”
Drake and Smyth were assessing the pursuit. “Looks like half the mercs made it away,” Smyth said. “The rest stopped by guards. I guess that’s still about eight though.”
“You think they’ll have weapons?” Yorgi asked.
Kenzie barked a laugh. “Mercs? They’re never more than a mile from their stash, my Russian friend. No doubt buried their guns in the desert. What’s our head start?”
Drake shrugged. “Five, six, minutes if they stop.”