part0102

And it had only done so twice since the call had been made.

It would be thirteen minutes until his well-paid-off Moroccan military backup arrived.

There was no way anyone was getting in this room. Not in thirteen minutes.

He closed his eyes and drew a slow, deep breath, calming his nerves.

His burner phone rang, startling him, and sending his pulse racing once again. He checked the call display and didn’t recognize the number, so he let it ring. It rang again a moment later, this time the call display not showing a number, instead showing a message.

CIA. PICK UP OR ELSE.

His heart slammed into overdrive with visions of Predator drones launching missiles at his compound. He took the call. “Hello?”

“Hello, Mr. Richter. I trust you are secure in your saferoom.”

He looked about the room. “How do you know where I am?”

“Mr. Richter, the fact that I’m calling you by your name, should tell you that I know everything about you. I know where you are, I know where your assets are hidden, about your efforts to influence various causes using fake social media accounts. My people are the ones who identified all your fake accounts that are being deleted as we speak. I’m the one with all the evidence that you bankrolled the Brigade, and I’m the one who has the proof that you had no idea what they were planning, and that you had no idea those people were going to die. And let me be clear, I’m the only one with that proof, and unless you let the professors go immediately, that proof will never see the light of day. The authorities are coming for you, you will be arrested, you will be charged with murder and terrorism, and you will go to prison for the rest of your life with cameras watching you twenty-four-seven. All you need to do to avoid all that is release the professors, with the Bible, and then my people will leave.”

Richter stared at the security displays, then the clock. He had a decision to make. Wait to be saved, only to be arrested again, or trust a man claiming to be from the CIA, an organization that represented pure evil. “They won’t arrest me?”

“You’re not my concern. I’m not the police. My concern is for the professors and the item you stole. Open the door, let them out, and you can close the door again to wait for your friends from the Moroccan military to arrive.”

“You know about them?”

“I know everything, Mr. Richter. Do we have a deal?”

He again checked the clock.

11 minutes .

He could stall, but rescue was no longer relevant. This man had the proof that could show he had no idea those people were going to be murdered. He had no choice but to cooperate. His shoulders slumped. “Yes, we have an agreement.”

“Very good. My people are outside the door. I expect it to be opened within the next sixty seconds.”

“Understood.” He ended the call and rose. He tapped a code on a panel and a hidden doorway opened, giving him access to the viewing room. Mr. Kriel spun toward him.

“Sir, what’s going on?”

Richter held up a calming hand. “I’ve come to an agreement with the people outside.”

“You have?”

“Yes. They’re CIA, and they have the evidence that can prove I didn’t have anything to do with the murders at the Guggenheim. All I have to do is release the professors with the Bible, and they’ll leave. As soon as they’re out of here, the evidence will be released, proving my innocence.”

“Sir, I assume the contingency is in place?”

Kriel was subtly referring to their Moroccan military failsafe. “It is.”

“And they’re how many minutes out?”

“Less than ten.”

“Then I recommend we just stay here and wait.”

“Yes, that might mean we win the battle, but I’ll lose the war. The world will think I’m guilty of committing mass murder, and I can’t have that stain on my reputation. I believe all life is precious, whether it is an insect, an animal, or a human being. I cannot go to prison with the world thinking I killed over sixty innocent people in cold blood.”

The buyer stared at him, his eyes wide, shaking his head.

“Sir, we can protect you,” said Kriel, clearly not in agreement with the plan.

“How? All of your men are dead.”

“I have more men. We just need to survive the day. I can get you out of here to a secure location where they’ll never find you.”

Richter nodded. “Yes, that may be, but my reputation will be destroyed, and that’s more important to me than my life. I’m supposed to be a force of good in this world, not evil.”

Kriel frowned but bowed his head. “Very well, sir, it’s your decision to make.”

“Unlock the door.”

Suddenly the buyer screamed. “No!”

“Nobody is going anywhere!” he cried as he drew the weapon. The South African reached for his own, but the buyer spun, squeezing off two rounds into the man’s chest, sending him collapsing into the corner. As the weapon swung back toward her and James, she leaped forward and reached out with both hands, smacking his wrist and the top of his hand in opposing directions, causing him to drop his weapon with a scream of agony. She caught it in midair and spun it around, aiming it at him.

“Everybody in the corner, now!” She flicked the weapon toward the moaning guard, gasping for breath, the two rounds to his chest stopped by what appeared to be body armor. The buyer and Richter, their hands up, obeyed. “Now, how do we open this door?”

Richter shrugged. “Just open it. There’s no code to get out.

James headed for the door. “Let me try.”

“Hold your fire!” He recognized Dawson’s voice and smiled. He pushed the door open a little more and peered through the sliver of an opening, sighing at the sight of the Bravo Team members that had become friends over the years, as well as his former student Dylan Kane.

“Hiya, Doc,” waved Niner.

Suddenly the door was hauled open and Kane reached forward, yanking him into the hallway by the shirt as the others surged through the doorway, shouting for everyone to get down.

“It’s secure!” he yelled as he tore away from Kane, concerned for Laura. He rushed into the room as shouts of “Clear!” sounded, no shots thankfully fired. Laura lowered her weapon as Niner and Atlas covered the prisoners.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you guys,” she said, not handing over her weapon, but instead stuffing it in her belt.

“Ditto,” agreed Acton.

“What happened here?” asked Kane.

“Like I tried to tell you, it’s secure.” He wrapped an arm around his wife. “Once again, Laura saved the day.”

She shrugged. “I guess we didn’t really need you. You guys can go home now.”

The team laughed as Dawson walked over to the prisoners. “So, who do we have here?”

Acton made the introductions from left to right. “This is Mr. Richter, this is the buyer for the Bible, though I get the impression he’s just a middleman, and this is Mr. Richter’s head of security.”

Dawson glanced at Laura. “Did you shoot him?”

She shook her head. “No, the buyer did when Mr. Richter said he was going to let us go with the Bible.”

Dawson regarded Richter. “And was he going to let you go?”

“Yes, he was.”

“Mr. Richter, I’ve been informed of the deal you made. We’ll honor our end of the bargain, however, I need you to call off those troops that are on their way here.”

Richter’s eyes widened. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Dawson put a hand on his holstered Glock. “Why not?”

“It’s part of the failsafe. Once the call is made, they come here, no matter what, until they confirm in person that I’m secure. All calls, including from me, are ignored.”

“Is there a way out of here that we’re not aware of that could bypass them?”

“No, there’s only one road. The only way to avoid them is to leave by helicopter, and I don’t have one here at the moment. I’m afraid you’re trapped here.”

Dawson cursed, turning for the door. “Okay, people, we’ve only got five minutes to get the hell out of here.”

Acton grabbed the Bible and followed Dawson as they sprinted down several hallways then out the front door, his heart pounding, the concern on the Delta team’s faces enough for his relief at seeing them to be forgotten.

They had a closed gate, and it would take too long to climb the wall, then descend to the other side. Those troops were only minutes away, and he had no intention of ending up in a Moroccan prison cell.

He climbed in, happy to see the keys still inside. He started it up then put it in reverse and hammered on the gas. The tires chirped and he backed up into the center of the courtyard then cranked the wheel hard to the left, guiding the rear end of the car toward the gate. He had read these cars had a safety feature that would apply the brakes if it detected an obstacle ahead.

He was betting they never assumed you’d intentionally ram something in reverse.

He slammed hard into the gates, the metal and wood doors breaking off the hinges, never designed for an actual assault. The impact cut off the engine, though it no longer mattered. He jumped out and followed the others.

Acton pointed at the car. “Why aren’t we taking that?”

“Besides the automatic fuel shutoff?” Kane pointed at the road. “That’s the only road out of here, and a mess of Moroccan regulars is about to arrive.”

Dawson led them into the rock-strewn landscape when he pointed. “There they are! Everyone down.”

Kane hit the ground as a dozen camouflaged army vehicles rushed past and into the compound, the lead vehicle shoving the dead Mercedes out of the way as if it were nothing. Dawson held up a fist, indicating everyone should hold position, then leaped to his feet as the last vehicle disappeared behind the walls of the compound.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

Everyone was on their feet, picking their way through the rough landscape, Dawson on point. Acton glanced at Kane.

“Please tell me we’re not running all the way back to Marrakesh.”

Kane grinned then pointed ahead at an SUV parked behind a rock outcropping. “You’re welcome to, but I’ll take that.”

Acton smiled then came to a halt next to one of the vehicles, sucking in air. “Is it okay to say I’m getting too old for this shit?”

“No, but if you’re going to bitch about your age, do it inside the truck.”

Acton would have flipped Kane the bird if it weren’t for the 75 pound Bible that had his arms feeling like lead.

“Zero-One, Control. The Moroccan units are inside the compound. It looks like they’re securing the area with a large number of troops going inside the main building. At the moment, there’s no evidence of pursuit, but that’s just a radio call away.”

“Copy that. Monitor for any units in front of us, and let our man in Marrakesh know that we’re going to need an emergency exfil.”

“Copy that.”

Dawson adjusted his rearview mirror to see the professors. “Are you two okay?”

Acton nodded. “Yeah, we’re fine, though I could use a shower. How did you guys find us?

“We just followed our noses,” said Niner, waving a hand in front of his.

Acton gave him a look. “Ha-ha. Seriously, how did you find us?”

Dawson readjusted his mirror to see the road. “It’s a long story that involves too much ass-sitting in a hotel in Bilbao with Niner exposing his cheeks all too frequently.”

“Niner!” admonished Laura.

He grinned. “It’s a nice ass.”

Kane finally filled them in. “Let’s just say a whole lot of your friends came together to get you out of there.”

Laura squeezed Acton’s hand. “We’re going to thank every one of them personally.”

Niner looked at her. “To hell with thanking us, how about paying for our plane tickets?”

Acton’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean? The US Army doesn’t fly the friendly skies anymore?”

Dawson chuckled. “We weren’t sanctioned until they found out you were in Morocco. This was an entirely volunteer operation.”

Laura teared up. “You mean you guys all did this for us? With your own money?”

Niner shrugged. “Well, I’ve got no woman to spend my money on, so I might as well spend it saving you, darlin’.”

Acton hugged Laura. “We appreciate everything you’ve all done for us, and I promise you’ll get every penny of it back.”

Dawson grunted. “Well, don’t be paying us too soon. We’re not out of this yet.”