Without hesitation, he fired at the rear doors. A figure fell, groaning, followed by another mercenary, that he shot through the chest. Nodding at the policeman he lay the gun on the floor.
“Thank you,” he said.
The others did the same, recognizing they had little use for the weapons now. Doukas had been carrying the chain, but now Kenzie took it off him and hurried him out through the station’s rear parking area, back toward the gates. Drake used the same keypad as earlier and then they were squeezing through.
They ran left between buildings and threaded a path back toward their waiting car.
To meet up with Luther.
And get the hell out of town.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Drake’s heart sank when he heard Hayden and the others were on the run, trying desperately to escape America before they were caught. Even Secretary Crowe and Lauren, who were relatively close by, couldn’t help them. Lauren continued to be blocked in her efforts to meet President Coburn, and Crowe had been forced into hiding. For now, they were only able to pull covert, invisible strings as they tried to make a difference.
Similarly on the run, driving down a road somewhere in Greece, Drake’s team checked the Chain of Aphrodite and then dropped off Doukas. Drake made a call to Whitehall.
“We’re sitting in a rented Merc C class, following a B-road through some form of flat purgatory to be honest. I have no clue where we are.”
Alicia pointed at the satnav. “Tells you right there.”
“It does, but I’m so pissed off I can’t be bothered to look. Cambridge, can you track us?”
“Got your phone triangulated right now. We’ll collect the chain. Just keep going.”
“How do these bastards keep on tracking us, mate?”
Cambridge wasn’t slow to answer. “It’s not you, it’s the law of averages converging. It’s a worldwide web of facts and details stacked against you. They have instruments to track the weapons which are better than ours. Crowe found out there are many more weapons than we first thought, over twice as many. Tempest have a wide net, using terrorists and mercs. The chain gives us four weapons, and I’m betting they have double that. They’re jumping all over the world from job to job. One of the bigger problems is this terrorist camp. We don’t know where it is and Tempest will have a small army pretty soon.”
“Understood.” Drake took in the mood of the people in the car. Still taut, they lived by the minute knowing they were fugitives and that Tempest had put a kill order on their heads. Of course they were fractious. Of course they were on edge. But over a dozen other estranged Special Forces teams were out there too — living every day under threat.
“What can you tell us about the chain?” Alicia asked. “Doukas seemed to think it was Aphrodite’s sex toy.”
Cambridge snorted. “By all accounts she was a bit of a minx, but I doubt she needed to resort to chains. It was fashioned for and given to her by a potential suitor, something about it symbolizing the way his heart felt every time he saw her.”
Alicia choked. “Yeah, Drakey says that all the time.”
Cambridge went on: “It wasn’t quite that easy. Aphrodite was married of course, and as her adulteries went on so her husband grew wiser. She grew bolder. The only way men could court her was to send gifts, the more heartfelt the more chance they stood of a midnight tryst.”
The length of chain felt light to Drake as he handled it. Small links and slender metal made it suitable for any hands.
“Makes more sense,” he said. “These wouldn’t even restrain Alicia, and she’s a wimp.”
The Englishwoman made him groan with a punch to the shoulder, no doubt raising a new bruise. “Add that to your assortment,” she said.
“Whilst we’re waiting for the collection,” Luther said. “We’re wasting time. Where are we headed next, Dartmoor?”
Drake knew it was a nickname referencing Cambridge’s SAS background and smiled.
“Well, we have that in hand too. The next weapon that we know of in your vicinity also happens to be in Greece, and you’re headed right toward it.”
“We are? That’s great. What is it?”
“We have a problem with this one—” Cambridge waited as the chorus of groans and “again” settled down. “I’m sorry, nobody said this was going to be easy. Next up is an artifact called The Waters of Neptune. Basically, it’s in Thessaloniki, a large Greek city, and we have a very good idea of where it is.”
Drake scratched his stubble. “I’m guessing there’s a but.”
“Name me a day when there isn’t. But… a man named Mattheus has it.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t bring to my mind the image of an aging archaeologist,” Luther said.
“It isn’t. Mattheus and Doukas don’t even live in the same universe. Mattheus is a criminal that runs a nightclub in a police no-go area of the city, a particularly violent type. He’s aware that the artifact is being sought and has surrounded himself with a small army. To be fair, the army is business as usual for him.”
“There must be a story about how he came to own the artifact.” Kenzie sounded interested.
Alicia leaned across to Drake and cracked a one-liner: “She’s hoping she didn’t sell it to him.”
Kenzie turned, face serious. “In all honesty I have been wondering for some time if any of these artifacts might have crossed my path. Doubtful, but…” She shrugged.
“You didn’t sell this to Mattheus,” Cambridge said. “He murdered an entire line of succession until it passed down to him.”
Drake wished he could be surprised at the news, but wasn’t. “So, his father purchased it?”
“Father to big brother to him, yes. Black market. Possibly even purchased at the last Bazaar of Ramses. You remember that?”
“Oh, yeah. A lot of shit went down that day. Can you send us all the information you have on Mattheus and his nightclub?”
“On its way. Mattheus’s father bought this at the last bazaar and then kept it hidden inside his home for some time. Mattheus saw it one day and coveted it, then brought it to his own home, which is this bloody nightclub. It’s a four-story building and we believe Mattheus has apartments comprised out of the top two. And I mean, a proper, ritzy abode. None of your cheap crap. Underground parking garage, dedicated elevator, the usual stuff that criminals love. No doubt a slew of disposable bodyguards. You really do have your work cut out for you here, Drake.”
The Yorkshireman rolled his eyes. “I’m wondering if Tempest are cherry-picking their jobs. Leaving the hardest until last.”
“Probably,” Cambridge affirmed. “They could be waiting for their terrorist camp to come fully online.”
Mai sat upright in her seat. “And that’s something else we can’t allow to happen.”
“Any luck contacting any of the other teams that have been left out in the cold?” Luther asked.
“Ongoing,” Cambridge answered. “You can imagine the logistical problems involved with approaching a dug-in, hyper-wary Special Forces team in enemy territory. Let’s say, we’re working carefully on it.”
Luther tapped the satnav screen. “We’re approaching Thessaloniki, guys. Where is this nightclub?”
Cambridge reeled off the coordinates, which Luther tapped into the vehicle’s navigation system. “Twenty three minutes,” he said. “We should find a hotel close by.”
“Not too close,” Mai said. “In case you’re all wrong and Tempest are here already.”
“Not a problem,” Alicia said. “We’ll kill anyone that gets in our way.”
“That’s not always the answer,” Mai said obstinately.
“Works for me,” Alicia said. “They’d do as much or worse to us. And besides, I still have a demon in my soul that needs appeasing.”