“You okay, Meg?” I asked as I spun around.
I didn’t see her at first. She was lying on the ground, her left arm pressing against her right shoulder. Her eyes were wide as silver dollars, and her lips were quivering from the shock of rapid blood loss.
Fuck—the bullet must have hit an artery.
I hit the push-to-talk button on my vest. “Oliver, Meg’s down. Gunshot wound right shoulder. She’s going into shock. Need a medevac!”
“I’m one minute away, boss.”
“You’re gonna be okay, Meg. Hang in there, baby—I’ve got you.” I grabbed a bandanna from my pocket, balled it up, and pressed it to the wound.
I kept my eyes locked on hers as she looked up at me, struggling to stay conscious.
“Good news, Meg: It’s through and through. Just hang tight. You’re gonna be good. Quick ride on the Little Bird to get you patched up.”
I spoke in a soothing tone even as my concerns mounted. Despite my battlefield first aid, she was losing a lot of blood.
When I heard the buzz of the Little Bird, I checked my watch. We were minutes from downtown Baltimore and a trauma center where Meg could be stabilized. The Golden Hour was on our side.
CHAPTER 93
Baltimore Washington International Airport
The driver of the Town Car eased onto the Baltimore Beltway, then headed south on I-97 toward BWI Airport. There he would board an American Airlines flight to Dallas, then connect through Customs with a perfect passport and clean credentials for the fifteen-hour flight to Seoul, South Korea. His last leg would be a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong.
He would meet his contact at the airport and be taken directly to a safe house owned by the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong. There he would shower, change into fresh clothing, eat a large breakfast prepared by a private chef, then share everything he could remember about his last five years with Alexander Egorov, beginning with his assassination.
CHAPTER 94
Pavel Egorov rubbed his eyes and wished he had some coke. Now that they had collected the cash, he needed something to keep him going. The crash was coming fast and he was about to drop dead asleep. His brother, too. They had pulled into a deserted rest stop to wake themselves up.
“Another hour, man, and we are home free. In Philadelphia, we can sleep and chill till Papa comes. Have a smoke, it’ll help,” Taras said cheerfully, passing a lit Marlboro to his brother.
Pavel smiled and took the cigarette. The tobacco tasted good. He floated a blue smoke ring magically toward the windshield.
CHAPTER 95
The driver of the Town Car lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply as he drove down I-97 toward BWI.
He would miss American tobacco.The price I pay,he smiled to himself.
With his free hand, he withdrew a clamshell phone and dialed the number. The phone connected on the first ring. He punched in the five-digit code.
One-tenth of a second later, a fireball ignited from Natasha’s medical kit in the cargo hold of the moving truck.
He couldn’t see the Egorov brothers, but he was certain they’d been instantly incinerated, along with their millions of dollars’ worth of cash and works of art.
Too bad.
CHAPTER 96
Rowan Anderson’s apartment
Washington, DC
Rowan Anderson was drinking vodka and reviewing her kill list.
Elise Courville would be the easiest.
