Page 45 of The Ghost

“You’ll only make things worse for her,” Lukas replied, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I have the tracker.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a specimen jar. Inside were two miniature computer chips, one apparently from Clark and the other likely from Lukas himself.

“Ryan thinks it’s still in her,” I gasped, realizing the mistake that our arch enemy had just made.

I wasn’t sure if that would help or hurt Clark’s cause, but it certainly removed some of the objective threat. At least Ryan wouldn’t be able to deliver the digital key to Ashcroft. If that was, in fact, his plan.

After a moment, I discarded the idea of going after Clark. It took all my strength to turn my back on her when everything in my soul was screaming at me to find her. But I had to admit that I would probably be a greater liability than a help if I did circle back.

Hauling myself up into the copter, I helped Lukas up after me. The bird took off into the air, climbing until the base was just a speck beneath us. The driver pitched it forward, skimming the mountains until we reached a hidden runway.

The copter settled back down on the ground, and Lukas directed us to an airplane. I watched a second helicopter arrive, and the Dark Sparrow operatives inside hustled to a different jet.

“Where are they going?” I demanded. I was through operating in the dark. Whatever the plan was, I wanted in.

“They’re going after New Dawn,” Lukas said. “We’re going to a safehouse.”

I shook my head, unwilling to escape while the war was raging. Whether I was able to rescue Clark or not, I didn’t like the idea of saving myself first. Lukas grabbed my arm, pulling me toward the first aircraft.

“We’re going to attack,” he assured me. “We just have to reconvene.”

“I want to go in with the first wave,” I said, resisting his pressure.

“You need to debrief the team,” Lukas insisted.

I clamped my jaw shut. The further I got from Clark, the less sure I was of my decision to abandon her. We boarded the planes, against my better judgment. The quicker I could land and get the formalities out of the way, the better.

We were on our way back to Oslo, where the final battle would begin. I just had to hope that Clark would be able to extract herself from the base. It seemed likely that we would reconnect wherever Ashcroft had hidden himself. Since they still thought she held the key, that was the most likely place to find her.

Sitting down in a passenger seat, I strapped myself in. Luckily, the plane was cutting edge, and we reached our destination before much time elapsed. I found myself amped up, ready to charge into action by the time we touched down. It was now or never, and I was determined to see it through to the end. Clark and I were going to get past this and retire to our tropical island together. All I had to do was find her, and we would live happily ever after.

Chapter 20

Theo

––––––––

WE TOUCHED DOWN JUST outside of Oslo, on the same runway I’d used with the jet. It was a private runway designated for use by Dark Sparrow. We hustled out of the airplane and reconvened a moment later in the back of a truck.

The driver waited just long enough for all the troops to hop on before peeling out into the night. Time was of the essence. We had to reach the New Dawn stronghold before they knew we were coming. And if they were up to speed on the way things had gone down at the Dark Sparrow base, they would know that we were on our way.

Since Regg was dead, it was likely that the body had already been found. That meant that New Dawn suspected we had all the information that Regg had. I hadn’t tortured him, but if I was the enemy intelligence, that’s what I would assume.

The coordinates to the New Dawn building were punched into all of our devices. I pulled out my phone and watched the map in real time. Lukas sat next to me, a tablet in his hands. He was simultaneously watching the map as well as reading intercepted communications through artificial intelligence.

He looked concerned.

“Is everything all right?” I asked.

“I’m getting word that people are fleeing the compound,” he said tersely.

“What does that mean for our attack?”

“We’re still going to attack as soon as we can, but I’m unsure how many operatives we’ll be able to take out.”

“Is it worth it?” I asked. “I mean, if we’re going in there, guns blazing, are we walking into a trap?”

“I don’t think so,” Lukas replied.

I looked around and saw a number of other operatives listening closely. It was difficult to tell what New Dawn’s next move would be. Again, I could only put myself in their shoes and guess what I would do with the information I knew they had. One option would be setting the base to blow as soon as everyone evacuated.