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As if he can tell exactly how my body is reacting, he smiles. “Here we are, at the endgame.”
A low buzz assaults my ears as I catch the last word. “Yes, the endgame, where we catch the bad guy. So where is he? Where is Faez?”
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Yavuz shakes his head as if I am an imbecile. Perhaps I am. At any rate, stringing him along is keeping Cress alive. I’ll have to make a move soon. The sharpshooters can’t do anything with Cress positioned where she is.
I inhale a stuttering breath. “What am I supposed to get? You told me that you had contacts who knew where Faez was hiding. That he might be in Paris. The plan was to go after him once the dinner was over. Obviously you’re working with him instead. So where is he?”
I watch his body shake with mirth. “The joke’s on you, my friend. You’re the bad guy and you fell into the pit like an unwary tiger. There was never going to be a trap for Faez.” His eyes turn black and he pulls a 9 mm Turkish Canik 55 Luger from a shoulder holster under his jacket, tossing it from hand to hand, gazing at me with what looks like pity. “Faez is dead.”
This is one twist I wasn’t expecting. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“He burned up in the refinery fire.” Yavuz smirks again. “Identifying charred bodies is difficult. Despite what you see on TV, DNA results don’t come back in a day, or even months. The government will think he got away for a little while longer.”
I allow myself a small smile. “Of course we knew that,” I lie. “Just like we knew that you were the one after me.”
Yavuz face morphs from cold calculation to raw fury in a second. “Liar.” A flock of crows that had been resting the ruins scatter in the wind. His moods are on a hair trigger and I need to make sure I don’t set him off. Pitching my voice carefully, I say, “You were very clever to use the attack at the dinner to grab Cress.”
Satisfaction spreads over Yavuz’s face as he stares me down. “I planned to take her after the dinner, but they made it easier.”
He gives a little giggle and goose bumps pop up on my arms and neck. “When Faez died during the escape, I switched my identity with his so the authorities would think I was dead, and resumed my real name. I knew everyone would search for him. The security services have been running around, chasing their tails.”
I gasp, outrage roughening my voice. “You betrayed our group in 2003. Your sister died because of you, you piece of shit.”
Yavuz shrugs as Tanik scratches his cheek with his gun. “What are we waiting for, Yavuz? Let’s punish this murderer.”
My head juts forward, the muscles in my neck bulge and strain. Red mists over my eyes. I want to choke the life out of him.
Then I notice shadows, creeping along the ground. “I cared for your sister.” I can’t speak. Pain sears my chest from my sense of guilt over Zehra’s death. But Yavuz’s culpability is so much worse than mine. I wipe my sleeve across my cheek.
“We need to kill the murderer now, Yavuz. What are you waiting for?” Tanik’s eyes, black with loathing, bore into me.
Rage builds but my voice is cold. “That was your brother’s fault. He betrayed us.”
I stare them down, making them focus on me, letting the shadows move unseen. “I should have suspected something when you took another assignment that day, Yavuz. Leaving your sister to die in an alley.”
His mouth twists into a sneer. “I’ve dreamed of this day for ten years. Established my connections. Made sure Tanik and Emre never forgot Zehra.” He’s not looking at me now and his voice rolls on like the knell of death. “Just killing you is not enough. You need to understand, to suffer, confess.”
The hair on my arms and the back of my neck rises. “I understand that you’re delusional. Can’t admit your own guilt.”
His face reddens with fury. “Fuck you, Max. I arranged another assignment for Zehra. She should have been safe. But she refused to take it, wanted to be with you. Mend your quarrel. She cared more for you than for her own family. I tried to keep her safe. You killed her.”
He snarls and bares his teeth. “I have been waiting ten years. Now I will kill you. But first, I will make you watch your whore die. The way my angel sister died.”
Bile rises from my gut and chokes me. “I don’t care what you do to me. But let them go.” The sensation of ground glass scraping my gullet makes speech painful. I press my hand to my lips, expecting blood, but my fingers come away clean.
The shadows are now men, standing behind Tanik and Emre. Swiftly, silently, they strike, and the brothers’ bodies loosen their grip on Cress and thud to the ground.
Yavus turns at the sound and uttering a sharp cry, aims at Cress. I throw myself forward, tackling him around the ankles, all while yelling, “Run, Cress! Run! Run!”
We struggle for the gun. When it goes off, I’m not sure if either of us has been hit. A is a heavy weight presses down me. Then I feel wetness against my chest and I squeeze my eyes closed, prepared to die.
“Move him off,” a peremptory voice orders. Allan. Maybe I’m not dead after all.
I open my eyes as a hand reaches down. I grab on and am pulled up onto my feet. Inspector Poulliot grins.
“You did a great job, Dr. Grant. Distracted them just enough for us to get into place and take them down.” He unfastens the wire and puts it in his pocket.
“Where’s Cress?” I croak. I haven’t seen her.
