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Gunshots hammer my eardrums; Hamza’s men scream at each other in Arabic, their voices panicky.
“Get the missiles!” I shout back, making for the tables. The cases should be bullet-proof, if I can get one, I can use it as a shield.
However, when I’m steps from the table a shot thuds in the sand in front of me, and another bullet whips past my head. I drop to the ground, certain I’ve been hit. I run my hands over my neck and chest; they come back moist, but it’s only sweat.
I crawl for the Hummer and get in; Nick’s already starting the engine.
Bullets smack against the car’s windshield, forming tiny, circular indentations but failing to penetrate. Shots spark off the armor paneling as Nick floors the gas, propelling us away from the construction site and back to the road. A bullet hits the passenger side window, lodging in the pane at eye-level. In the distance, I can barely make out a muzzle flash from within a mound of sand, as if the desert itself was attacking, rather than a sniper.
In a few more seconds, we’re out of range. The gunfire ceases. I look behind us, but don’t see any of Hamza’s vehicles in pursuit.
“What the fuck?” I scream, pounding the window with my elbow. My heart thunders in my ears, louder than the guns. I howl, “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!”
I shouldn’t act out in front of an employee. I shouldn’t show weakness, but I’m beyond rational thought. What just happened was fucking impossible. Did Hamza fuck up? Did someone get to him, force him to lure me into a trap? There will be an investigation. Who could have set this up? Who would have dared?
An insane thought whispers to me.
Reaching in back, I grab my phone and pull up the surveillance app. Kate’s asleep on her mattress, smiling to herself. Is she dreaming about Ingram? Even when she moans his name, she doesn’t smile.
But if she knew how close to death I came…
Except, that’s pure insanity. She couldn’t possibly have anything to do with this.
You’re losing it, Anton.
Maybe so. Kate’s locked in her cell, cut off from everyone but me and my employees. I have no rational reason to suspect her. I’m likely in shock, not thinking straight.
Still, I’ll talk to her.
I have to be sure.
