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Nate rolled his eyes and they dismounted from the snowmobiles, each of them holding their Glocks down by their sides. As they moved closer to the coordinates on their watches the vibrating on their wrists increased. The snow was deeper in some areas than others, but the ground was different here.
“We’re right on top of it,” Eden said. “We can’t get any closer.”
“There’s some type of voice activation code, but it’s not anything I recognize,” Cal said. “It’s not a voice command. The frequency is wrong. But it’s some kind of sound. It’s a high frequency and pitch. I’m filtering it through the system now to see if I can come up with a match.”
“You think it’s electronic?” Nate asked.
“That could be a possibility,” Cal said.
“No,” Eden said. “It won’t be electronic.”
And then she started to whistle. “Pop Goes the Weasel.” Just like Salt had whistled before shooting at her earlier. It was another part of his game.
The ground trembled beneath their feet and the snow shifted as stairs that led into the earth seemed to appear from nowhere. Eden and Nate both moved back out of the way and spread out from each other, trying to keep their balance as the ground continued to shake.
She heard the answering whistle as Salt appeared at the top of the stairs, and she raised her gun.
“I wondered if you’d figure it out,” he said, his smile sending chills down her spine. He ignored Nate completely. His eyes were only for her. “You were always a bright student. Hard to kill. But very bright.”
“Jonah Salt,” Eden said. “You’re to be transported to Langley on charges of treason and terrorism.”
“No, I don’t think so. You forget the little matter of the oil tankers that are set to blow. In fact,” he said, checking his watch, “if I don’t type in the codes to disarm them in the next eight minutes… Boom.” He spread his hands in a gesture to indicate an explosion. “It’ll be bad, love. It’s best if you and your friend find a safe place to hide.”
Salt finally looked over at Nate and his smile faded. “Oh, wait. Never mind. I’ve decided to kill you instead. Six feet under is as safe a place as any, I guess.”
Nate let Eden do the talking. The connection between the two of them was obvious, and he didn’t want to set Salt off by interrupting.
“I’ve got bad news for you, Jonah. Your little devices have been deactivated. It turns out you’re not quite as good at covering your tracks as you think you are.”
“Don’t con me, Eden. There are less than a handful of people who could decipher those codes to deactivate the entire system.”
“Good thing one of those people is on our team,” she said. “But if you don’t want to believe me that’s fine. We can stand here for the next six and a half minutes and see what happens when you don’t check in. I’ve got nowhere to be at the moment.”
Cal hissed through the earpiece. “Are you crazy? Don’t antagonize him.”
Salt stared Eden down, trying to decide if she was bluffing or not, and he finally sent her a knowing smile that had ice forming in Nate’s gut.
“So we’re at an impasse, it seems,” he said. The corners of his mouth quirked and his eyes were stone cold. “I have other projects, though this one has been very lucrative so far. Ruling the world comes with its setbacks from time to time. And I’ve been ruling the world for a while now. If I’d known how tenacious you were going to be, love, I might have brought you in on it. You did have—” he looked her up and down with a sneer on his face, “—certain attributes that I found very enjoyable. Oh, by the way, is this a bad time to tell you I want a divorce?”
It took everything Nate had not to give in to the temptation and unload his weapon into the pompous jerk. His arm jerked in reflex, but he kept the gun down by his side. But it was enough movement for Salt to notice.
“Ahh, that bothers you does it, Agent Locke? Our Eden likes to spread her favors around, so it seems.”
Nate let the rage rush through him only to be replaced by ice. There was no use for anger in a volatile situation. Jonah was a master at playing games. That’s all he was doing now.
“You might be wondering how I know your name, but it wasn’t difficult to figure out. I know all about Nate Locke and who you’re working for. I apologize for making you cut your vacation short with your daughter. I’ll make sure to send flowers for your funeral.”
Salt put his hand in his pocket and Nate tensed, bringing up his weapon, but Salt only pulled out a small silver remote, no bigger than a finger.
“Relax, Agent Locke. Or should I call you Warlock. I remember you from some years back. You had quite the reputation in the CIA. Though I’d heard rumors you’d died quite horribly.”
“You know what they say about rumors,” Nate said.
“So it seems. Today is just as good a day for that horrible death.”
“And how do you hope to accomplish that?” Eden asked. “Last I checked there were two of us and one of you.”
“Well, first I am going to put a bullet in you. Right here,” he said, pointing at his forehead. “You won’t be able to walk away from that one, and I think it’s important for Agent Locke to watch you die. He cares for you, though he’s trying not to show it. Really, it’s very sweet.” Salt’s smile was a cruel slash across his face.
