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“You do that and you never walk out of here,” Pace said. “You never get the chance to rescue Anthem.” Court said nothing. Pace stepped up close to him. “Listen to me. Put the gun down now. You do that, and here’s what I’ll do. I’ll call DDO Watkins right now and tell him you helped us through this whole thing. I’ll tell him your friend was taken by the Chicoms, and I will persuade him to put the full force of Agency operations behind getting her back.
“I swear to God, Gentry. Put the gun down, and you are giving Anthem her best chance for survival.”
Slowly, reluctantly, Court lowered the weapon, let it hang by the trigger guard from his finger, and Jim Pace carefully took it away from him.
Travers lowered his own weapon, took Court by the shoulder, and said, “Come on, brother. Let’s go to the kitchen and get some coffee.”
Court just stood there, his eyes on Hinton still. He saw the relief wash all over the son of a bitch, and he wished like hell there were some way to stop him that wouldn’t also condemn Zoya.
A quick movement on his right, a shout of alarm, and then guns rose again all around, swiveling to that direction. Travers brought his gun back up to Gentry’s head, but Court wasn’t even moving, other than to turn and watch Zack Hightower as he snatched the SIG pistol out of the hand of Joe Takahashi, then spun it around and, with no hesitation whatsoever, shot Anton Hinton center mass.
After the report of the single gunshot faded, Zack dropped the pistol, threaded his hands behind his head, and said, “Do what you have to do, fellas. I just did.”
Hinton wheezed, and his eyes held a look of utter confusion as he peered down at the bullet hole right over his heart.
With a long, slow sigh, the multibillionaire died, sitting there on a chair in a farmhouse in central Cuba.
Fish checked him, looked up to Pace, and shook his head.
As Zack was forced to the ground, he bellowed with pain from his broken rib.
Pace cussed, looked at Court with anger, and then stormed back into the kitchen to tell Langley that Hinton was dead.
Zack shouted from the floor as he was being handcuffed. “That was all me, Jim. Your deal was with Violator. Keep your fucking promise.”
Court stood there in a daze; Travers lowered his weapon again and holstered it, and then he walked away.
EPILOGUE
Court Gentry stood on the second-story balcony of Matthew Hanley’s Bogotá apartment, watching a thick black thunderhead form over the Eastern Hills, indicating that late-afternoon storms were imminent. Flashes of lightning crackled in advance of the clouds, and the rumbles that followed grew in volume with each strike.
He’d arrived an hour earlier, after taking less than a day to get off the island of Cuba, and another day of circuitous travel to Colombia. His body hurt, his brain was exhausted, and the stress he felt was like nothing he’d ever known.
It had been two and a half days since the attack at the Lourdes SIGINT headquarters building, but it felt like a year, because all he could think about was what Zoya was going through right now.
The gate of the small enclosed parking lot below him opened automatically, an SUV pulled in, and Matt Hanley climbed out.
Instantly he stared up at the man on his balcony, then leaned down and said something to his driver, pulling his keys out of his raincoat to unlock the door.
The driver stayed where he was, and Court just stood there, watching darkness cover the hills.
A minute later the big man stepped out onto the balcony next to him, admiring the impressive light show himself. After a moment, he said, “ ’Bout ten minutes till it all goes to hell.”
“It’s already gone to hell.”
Hanley sighed. “Figured you’d show up. I talked to Jim this morning. He told me everything that happened. I’m sorry.”
A louder crack of thunder told both men Hanley’s weather prediction had been optimistic.
Hanley said, “Hell of a thing about Zack and Hinton.”
Court thought of Zack, wondered where he was, how he was being treated. “Buys us a few years till Armageddon, I guess.”
Hanley said, “I hear that’s what Zack keeps saying. As a sidebar, Pace told me that he agrees. Langley isn’t happy, of course. Not sure how it’s all going to shake out for Jim or for Zack, but I’d say both of them did a damn fine job, considering.”
Court said nothing.
Hanley changed the subject. “You want help getting Anthem back from the Chinese.”
