“Yes.”
“Tell them it won’t be long now.” He looked at Orlando. “How about you? All ready?”
“Absolutely.”
He turned to Petra. “Time to lose the tail just long enough to drop Orlando off.”
Five minutes after Orlando had left the van, Quinn called the Ghost back.
“Are you in your car?” he asked.
“Of course.”
“Is my sister with you?”
“She’s here.”
“Let me talk to her.”
“No,” the Ghost said. “You can’t talk to her until our business is done.”
It was an empty threat, and they both knew it. “Put her on or our business is already done.”
“Jake?” Liz said a moment later.
“Liz. It’s going to be all right. It’ll all be over very soon. Tell me, how many people in the car, including you?”
She paused. “Four.”
“Four including you?”
“Yes.”
Quinn’s eyes narrowed. “Just stay strong and I’ll make sure everything is all right.”
“I’ll try,” she said.
Palavin came back on. “That’s enough. So where do you want us to go?”
“My instructions were one man, my sister, and you. No more.”
“Well, that’s just too bad, isn’t it?”
Quinn was silent for several moments. “Fine,” he said. “Should I assume, then, that you have other cars following behind somewhere? Ready to move in if necessary?”
The Ghost said, “Of course not. Just my two men and me. I want this over.”
“That makes two of us. Waterloo Station. Fifteen minutes.”
“Fifteen minutes is not enough—”
“Fifteen minutes,” Quinn repeated, then turned his phone completely off.
They headed first south across the Thames River, then west toward Waterloo Station, the sound of raindrops thumping against the roof of the van. Per Quinn’s instructions, Petra made sure not to shake their tail. He knew as long as the person behind them had them in sight, the Ghost would still think he had the upper hand.
“Anything?” he asked Mikhail.
“Not yet,” the Russian said, his phone held firmly to his ear.
“Does your friend speak English?”
“Of course.”
“Put him on speaker.”
Mikhail said something in Russian into the phone, then pushed a button and lowered it into his lap. “Can you hear me?” he said in English.
“Da,” a voice said on the other end. “A little noisy but I can hear you.”
“Nova, right?” Quinn said.
“Yes,” Nova said.
“This is Quinn. I appreciate your assistance.”
“Not necessary. The Ghost is no friend of mine.”
“He should be arriving soon,” Quinn said.
Nova was in a car near Waterloo. “Good. I have men all around the station. The moment they see him, I’ll know.”
“It’s important that he doesn’t realize he’s been spotted.”
“We understand,” Nova said.
“We’ll keep you on speaker. Let us know the moment there’s a change.”
“I will.”
Quinn pushed himself off the floor and shuffled into the front passenger seat. The rain was steady, but not hard, the windshield wipers more than a match for the storm so far. Quinn looked at the GPS device mounted on the dash, but it only showed a closeup of the road they were on. “Our friends?”
She glanced into her side-view mirror. “Still there.”
“Okay. Let’s do a little zigzagging.”
“Zigzag?”
“Take a few turns. Left-right?”
“Ah, yes. No problem.”
“But don’t lose them. Just make it look like we’re being cautious, and keep our basic direction the same. We want them to still think we’re headed for Waterloo.”
“Hold on,” she said, grinning.
Quinn grabbed the dash as Petra took the next turn, then leaned over enough so he could see the side mirror out her window. Nothing for several seconds, then a set of headlights made the turn behind them.
“Palavin’s men?” Quinn asked.
Petra gave the mirror a quick glance. “Yes.”
“Okay. Take the next turn. My guess is once we do, they’ll start to wonder if we know they’re there, and they’ll halve the distance between us.”
She turned again, and just as Quinn predicted, they were only a half block down when the trailing car showed up again.
“Keep it straight for a few blocks,” he said.
After several seconds of silence, Quinn looked over at Petra. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
He paused. “For Andrei.”
They sat in silence, both watching the road ahead. Suddenly Nova’s voice echoed over the speakerphone.
Quinn looked back at Mikhail. “What did he say?”
“Possible sighting,” Mikhail said.
Quinn glanced at the GPS unit. Waterloo Station was only a few blocks away now.
“Make it like you’re heading toward the station, but keep a block or two between it and us. If you have to, go all the way around. When I give you the word, break off and head toward point two.”
She nodded.
Quinn then made his way back to Mikhail, but remained in a standing crouch.
“Nova?” he said.
“I’m here,” Nova replied.
“Tell me exactly what your people saw.”
“A dark blue Mercedes. S600. Very nice.”
“How many inside?”
“Windows are tinted, so could only see the driver and a man in the passenger seat.”
“What makes you think it’s them?” Quinn asked.
“They circled the station once, then pulled off onto Spur Road and parked at the curb. No one’s gotten out.”
“Any following cars?”
“Yes,” Nova said. “Two so far. A black Audi and a silver Mercedes. Four people in each.”
Counting the car behind the van and the Ghost’s sedan, the total rose to fifteen people.
“There could be more, but two cars sounds about right,” Quinn said. Then in a voice loud enough for the whole van to hear, he said, “Time for the next phase. Is everyone ready?”
“Yes,” Petra said.
“Give my people two minutes to get to their cars,” Nova said.
“All right,” Quinn told them. “Two minutes and I make the call.”
Chapter 46
“Let me speak to my sister,” Quinn said.
“Where are you?” the Ghost asked.
“Let me speak to my sister.”
“You already spoke to her.”
“And you could have dumped her since then. Let me speak to her, or we abort.”
The phone exchanged hands.
“I’m here,” she said, strain still in her voice, but a little calmer than the last time.
“Still okay?”
“Yes.”
“Good. It won’t be long.”
“All right,” she said. “Jake, what about Nate? Is he—”
Quinn could hear the phone moving again.
“I’m at Waterloo,” the Ghost said. “Bring me the package now and you can have her back. Then we can both move on.”
Quinn’s phone vibrated, indicating a text, but he ignored it for the moment.
“Step two,” he told the Ghost. “Head toward Victoria Station. I’ll call you in five minutes with further instructions.”
“That is unaccep—”
Quinn disconnected the call, then looked at the screen. The text was from Orlando.
Arrived point 3. All clear.
Quinn sent her a quick message back.
Did you check on Nate?
While he waited for her reply, he leaned toward Mikhail’s phone. “Anything?”
“The Mercedes is moving,” Nova reported. “Hold on.”
Quinn heard Nova speaking in Russian. There was a muffled reply that sounded like it was coming over another phone. When he came back on, he said, “It’s heading west toward Westminster Bridge.”