Chapter 98

 

 

Nash pressed his boot in to Lascars’ neck whose hands flew to his throat to thrust the force away that was sucking air from his lungs. The elevator door dragged open and Alex burst into the hallway.

Nash swiveled round. “This ends here.” He eased his weight off Lascar.

Gasping for air, Lascar wiped caking blood from his jaw.

Still Nash remained vigilant.

Alex pouted. “Why do you bother yourself with things that don’t concern you?”

“Everything you do, has suddenly become my concern. You need to stop this nonsense,” Nash said.

“And become a government puppet like you?” she said raising an eyebrow.

Nash suddenly understood Alex’s intent. He’d succeeded where she’d failed. He was recruited and honored; she was dismissed from the KJ-20 Ops and not in a pretty way.

Alex held out her cellphone and tapped it onto speaker.

Nash’s ears caught the sound of groans from Alex’s phone. The voice was familiar.

Calla!

“Your friend doesn’t have much time. Really, Nash. If it was brunettes you wanted, you could’ve told me straight.”

Anger thundered in him as Calla’s moans grew. “It’s not every day you meet an NSA colleague at the Riviera,” Alex continued. “I take it you wanted a piece of my auction.”

“You’re Archimedes aren’t you? Clever, Alex, but it ends now.”

“Agent, you took something from me years ago and—”

“I’m giving you a chance to walk away now, Alex.”

His gruff voice made her shuffle back. She smirked as Calla’s screeches became more pronounced. “A bit confident, aren’t we?”

Nash’s anger continued to burn in him. “You came for her in Malta, didn’t you?”

“It was the best shot I ever took. One shot into those long thighs and tiny abdomen. Those were the instructions. I had my orders. Now I intend to find out exactly why those were the precise instructions. You see, I was told not to miss those two spots.”

“Who?”

Lascar suddenly became alert. The last choke had probably silenced him for the last several minutes. He drew in sharp breath. “You still don’t get it. Calla, will never be yours really. She’s one of us.”

“Yeah, I get it.”

He’d pissed off a military operative with a huge crush. How he’d escaped the MI5 detainment for kidnapping Calla, Nash wasn’t sure.

“Cress won’t matter any more,” Alex said. “I think that curator has about two minutes before the elevator does permanent damage to that pretty face.”

She tossed the smartphone at Nash’s feet and strode for the hotel exit followed by Lascar. “Don’t even think about following,” she called behind her.

Nash heard the screeches again. The sounds sent shivers down his spine. Calla had less than two minutes now. He had to get to her. He checked the location of the shaft and drew out his phone.

Jack picked up.

“Jack, do you have a signal from Calla’s ear piece?”

“She’s trapped in the elevator shaft,” Jack replied.

“Can you pull it up on your end?”

“It’s elevator F and is a level below you now.”

Nash sprinted for the staircase. “Can you stop it?”

Jack spoke, a pang of anxiety evident in his voice. “It’s jammed. All the hotel’s systems are jammed.”

“How much time, Jack?”

“Sixty seconds.”