the jaw with no fuss at all.
“No matter how he finally managed to find out who she was,”
Adam said, “he did find out and then he set up this elaborate
scheme.”
“Krimakov was always so straightforward,” Thomas said, “back
then. No deep, murky games for him.” Then he sighed. “People
change. It’s frightening in this case. He’s taken more turns than a
byzantine maze.”
Hatch, just a bit of mozzarella cheese clinging to his chin, rose
and said, “I’m going to go out and see what our guys are doing.
They were eating their way through three large pizzas the last time
I saw them.” His pepperoni pizza box was empty, not even a cold
thread of cheese left.
“If you smoke out there, Hatch, I’ll smell it on you and I’ll fire
your butt. I don’t care what you’ve found out, your butt’s on the line
here.”
“No, Adam, I swear I won’t smoke.”Then Hatch sighed and sat
down again.
Adam, satisfied, turned to Becca. “As for you, Becca, eat. Here’s
my last piece of pizza. I even left three olives on it. I didn’t want to,
but I looked at your skinny little neck and restrained myself. Eat.”
She took the pizza slice and sat there holding it, even as the
cheese cooled and hardened. She picked off an olive.
Savich said, smiling at everyone, perhaps preening a bit, “Oh, yeah, I’ve got something that’s not supposition. MAX found Krimakov’s
apartment. It’s just a small place in Iraklion. Mr. Woodhouse
knows about it. He’s sent agents in.”
Everyone stared at him a moment, gape-mouthed.
Savich laughed. He was still laughing when the phone rang
minutes later. “That’s on my public line,” Thomas said as he rose.
“The tape recorder will automatically kick on and it will tell me
who’s calling.” He saw Becca blink and smiled. “Just habit,” he said
as he picked up the phone.
He didn’t say a word, just stood there, listening. He was pale as
death when he nodded and said to the person on the other end of
the line, “Thank you for calling.” Becca jumped to her feet to go to
him. He held up a hand and said in a very low, contained voice,
“The two agents guarding Becca’s room are dead. Agent Marlane
is dead. The agent posing as me is dead, shot through the head,
three times. I shot Krimakov’s wife through the head,” he added
unemotionally. “The security cameras are smashed. There’s pandemonium
at the hospital. He got away.”
Chapter 23
Adam came into Becca’s bedroom at just after midnight to see
her sitting up in bed, her arms wrapped around her knees, staring
blankly at the wall. A single lamp was turned on and in the dim
light he could see that she was pale, her face strained. She looked
over at him and said, guilt weighing her down, heavy in her voice,
“I still can’t believe it, Adam. Four people dead and it’s because of
me.”
He quietly closed the bedroom door and leaned back against it,
his arms crossed over his chest. Her feelings weren’t unexpected
but it still made him angry. “Don’t be a damned fool, Becca. I’m
the one who carries most of the blame because it was my fucking
plan in the first place. What no one can figure out is how the bastard
managed to walk right up to the guards outside the room,
close enough to see the color of their eyes, and shoot them. Of
course he used a silencer. Then he waltzed into the hospital room
and kills the other two agents before they can react. To top it all off,
he shot out the security camera. And poof–he’s gone, escaped, and
no one can figure it out.
“Jesus, everyone knew he was coming, it was a trap, contingencies
all covered, and sure enough he walked right into it, only it
didn’t stop him. We lost. Whatever his disguise, it must have been
something. My God, four people are dead.” He snapped his fingers.
“Just like that, they’re gone. Damn him, how did he do it? What did
he look like to make them lower their guard?”