Page 81 of No Going Back

At gunpoint, Tim was putting the phone to his ear again. A moment later, the display on Maddie’s phone, fortunately still on silent, lit up. She dived back to the place where she’d had the previous conversation, Guy and Ryan right behind her. Once again, Guy was impressed by her sangfroid under pressure.

“Look, Tim, the hands-free kit in my car’s playing up, so I’ve had to pull over. If you keep calling me, I’ll never get there. I’ve only just set off, and the traffic’s heavier than I thought. It’s a public holiday tomorrow, remember? It could be half an hour or more before I arrive.”

It was only when she put her phone away again that Guy realised exactly how much her hands were shaking. When she turned back to him, however, it wasn’t fear in her expression, but anger. She pivoted towards Ryan. “Got another one of those?” She lifted her chin at the commandeered weapon.

“No, but I’ve got this.” Ryan reached for the small of his back and produced a Glock 19 pistol.

Resolutely ignoring Maddie’s look of indignation, Guy closed his hand around the muzzle. “I’ll take that. Where’s Cam? Is he armed too?”

“Checking the grounds for stragglers, and that’ll be a yes.” Ryan grinned as he followed up the pistol with an extra clip of ammunition. “Let’s just say these guys’ll need three fewer seats on the bus home.”

“Good,” Guy acknowledged with forbidding determination. “We just need to keep Maddie safe until the cavalry gets here.”

“Excuse me, don’t talk about me as if I’m not here. What if the cavalry doesn’t arrive in time?” Maddie bit the words out. “What about the hostages? What if they carry on and more people start dying?”

“Maybe I could get myself caught?” Ryan offered. “Could be useful to have someone on the inside.”

Guy shook his head. “Too risky.”

“Look, if help’s on the way, why don’t you two get out?” the former Royal Navy officer suggested. “Someone needs to meet them and provide a sitrep. I can keep an eye on the situation here. And if it comes down to the wire, it’ll be easier for you to fake Maddie returning to the hotel if you go now.”

Ryan was right. Guy catalogued possible options, but none of them provided better odds. “All right, but no unnecessary heroics. You do something stupid, and I’ll give your Mistress a dozen new ways to put you through hell the next time she takes you to the Spanish Inquisition room at the club.”

Ryan grunted. “Like I never expected that. Fine by me. Now get out of here.”

Guy grabbed Maddie’s hand. “You know the hotel better than I do—lead the way.”

“Wait a minute. Ryan, do you know how to get out of the hotel without being seen?”

“Don’t worry, Maddie, darlin’—I’ll find a way. Get going.”

“Okay. Take care.” Maddie gave him an impulsive peck on the cheek, and then switched her attention to Guy. “This way.”

Large as the hotel was, there were several potential exits. Some were too close to the centre of the action, but they found one that was blessedly free. The route was riskier than the tunnel to the ice house, but they stood a better chance of keeping an eye on the enemy. Staying low, Guy and Maddie zigzagged through the hotel grounds, their goal the entrance at the main road.

“What if they’ve got someone patrolling there, too?”

Guy swore under his breath. “Let’s hope they haven’t thought of that. How’s your leg?” She’d been putting an awful lot of strain on it, and he was worried.

“It’s fine—keep going.”

Exactly what she’d say if it was giving her hell.

They never made it to the main gate. As they approached the bend in the hotel’s long drive, more armed, dark-clad individuals erupted from the bushes. Weapons aimed squarely at Guy and Maddie, they shouted orders for them to drop their firearms and lie face down on the ground. There was one big and very welcome difference between these men and the ones they’d left behind. Rank and insignia markings, along with their very clear identification patches, said these were the good guys.

Knowing how this worked, Guy and Maddie obeyed without hesitation. Before Guy could identify himself, a belligerent voice boomed out.

“Somerton, what the hell have you got yourself into now? Let them up, you fecking idiots! Didn’t you listen to the briefing?”

Guy recognised the belligerent roar in an instant. The operative who’d been about to apply cable ties to his wrists melted away as the owner of the roar helped Maddie to her feet. With a good deal less grace, he grabbed Guy’s hand and hauled him upright.

“Mac.” He acknowledged the other man. “I’d say it’s good to see you, but we’ve got a bit of a sticky situation here.”

Jack “Mac” McDonald, commander of the organised crime task force and a long-time friend of Guy’s, gave a short bark of humourless laughter. “In the shit again, eh? Come with me—you can bring me up to speed on the way to the staging area.”

“How did you know we were here?”

Mac pointed upwards. “Drone surveillance. Except the message didn’t get to the idiots in time.”