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He waited, listened, stroking Arlington’s head. Normally he would hood her, but he wanted her ready, needed her keen senses to alert him.
It didn’t take long. He heard them coming, heard the voices, the calls, and readied himself. He’d blocked all other egress points from outside with drones. They had no choice but to come to him, from the Commons Chamber where they huddled to the small waiting room for guests that connected to the library and into the great hall.
He slowed his breathing, calmed his pounding heart. Once he killed the PM, his prime target, he wanted to kill Nicholas Drummond. He’d led the team that killed Radu.
They were coming closer, the voices louder now. He pulled two Night Hawks from his vest, set them on the floor, set the needles in place, and started their engines. They whirred into life, rose into the air. He used his wrist to position them, one above him, one on the opposite side of the entrance.
This was almost too easy.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
That was a bomb! What’s Ardelean doing?”
Nicholas said to his father, “He’s driving them. He thinks security is following protocol and taking the president, the Queen, and the P.M. to the river.”
Harry said, “So if he came in the Terrace Pavilion, he might still be there. Let’s go. I’ll follow you.”
Nicholas hit his comms. “Ben, you have Melinda safe?”
“I do. Go ahead. We’re fine here. The drones are still attacking, but the worst is over. There are some inside buzzing around, but we’ve been shooting them down. It’s like the Wild West in here. Sounds like the response outside is knocking those back, too.”
“Copy. Adam?”
“I’m watching the terrace, but I don’t see him. Parliament’s internal security system isn’t working—he’s jammed the cameras. Oh yeah, Ardelean punched in a program that’s halted the subway cars in their tracks. The entire tube system grid is offline.”
Nicholas closed his eyes at that news, imagined the chaos underground. Nothing he could do about it. “Okay, Ardelean’s here, I can feel him.”
They started off at a jog. Mike was limping, couldn’t help it, and Nicholas pulled up short.
She said, “Let’s go, it’s nothing. I twisted it back in the tunnel. Go, Nicholas, we don’t have time to waste.”
His warrior. They set off again, Mike on his heels, gritting her teeth against the pain.
The terrace pavilion was on the opposite side of the building. Security was thick, but, with Harry, they quickly passed through every checkpoint. It took ten minutes to get to the terrace with its stunning view of the river. They saw falcons and drones still swooping and diving, but not attacking.
“You’re right. He’s here. The birds are waiting for him.”
Nicholas took them to a door tucked away in the corner of the Commons library. “If I’m right, he’s going to be on the other side of this door.”
Harry said, “He’ll have those small drones with him.”
They heard the loud voices of people coming. Nicholas quickly called Ben. “Keep everyone back. Stay in the Commons Chamber.”
“Too much smoke, people are freaking out. We need to get them out.”
“Then don’t come toward the river. Lead people south, toward the House of Lords. And watch out for drones.”
“Copy that.”
“Okay. Now, we need a diversion.”
Mike pulled a thick book from the nearest shelf. “Sir, is this one really important?”
Harry shrugged. “They’re all important, but it’s better than sticking our heads in.”
The terrace river entrance was on the bottom floor. They crept down the library stairs, into a kitchen that fed onto the terrace, Mike with the book in her hand. At the door to the terrace, Nicholas raised his hand. He took the book from Mike, waited for her to get into position with her Glock, her back against the wall. An M4 would be better, but it would be too unwieldy in the tight space. He motioned his father to stay back.
Nicholas put a hand on the door handle, signaled with his fingers three, two, one, then threw the door open and tossed the book into the dark space beyond.
