Sergeant balanced on Toni as she pointed the pistol at Jay.
‘Sorry to disappoint you, Jay,’ she said. ‘Guess I wasn’t quite truthful to you.’
Jay shut his eyes as if to shake off a dream. The upside was he knew they needed him for a reason – the anthrax. The downside was the pain he undoubtedly would undergo in the not too distant future.
He opened his eyes as the assassin entered the beam of the headlights and stood by Sergeant and Toni. He too aimed a pistol at Jay.
‘As much as I’d like to kill him now, we have a rendezvous to make,’ Sergeant said.
‘My client would appreciate him alive,’ the assassin said.
‘He’ll be alive, just a little damaged. Tie him up and throw him in the trunk.’
Jay had figured the assassin was working for Sergeant. The reference to ‘my client’ explained otherwise. Either one of the other two patent owners. But then why would he want to save Sergeant and Toni?
After Jay had his hands bound behind his back, he caught the slightest nod of the head from Toni to Sergeant. Then, as the assassin finished his work and picked up the shotgun, more questions than answers entered Jay’s mind as a bullet from Toni’s pistol entered the assassin’s head.
The shotgun fell to the dirt a full second before the assassin followed. Jay didn’t hang around long enough to admire the wound. Toni’s reactions were slightly slower. But she had the advantage of not having her hands bound by zip ties behind her back.
The instinctive plan was simple enough. Two quick steps, a dive headfirst, last minute roll and come up with the shotgun held behind his back; quick turn and fire. Ambitious. Didn’t quite work out the way Jay would have liked. Two steps, dive and roll worked a treat. Just didn’t quite manage to pick up the shotgun in his bound hands. Instead of the quick turn and fire, he received a vicious boot to his chest. The momentum of coming out of the roll and the forward thrust of the boot from Toni felt like he’d been hit with a sledgehammer.
As he sucked for clean air, Jay curled into the foetal position and waited for the other boot.
It didn’t come.
Toni probably figured it wasn’t a good idea to get near a wounded Jay Ryan. She figured right. Jay was ready to lash out with his feet, bring her to the ground and snap her neck. Just like he had with a Mossad agent the previous year.
He caught his breath and took a wary peek.
Sergeant limped in behind Toni, who was holding the shotgun steady and a safe distance away. The pistol held firm in Sergeant’s oversized hand. A rage in his eyes as he went to go by Toni. She held out a hand to prevent him getting closer.
‘Keep your distance,’ she said.
Sergeant went to brush her hand aside, but she palmed his chest and shook her head.
Sergeant’s rage turned quickly to a look of disbelief. He gritted his teeth and said, ‘Get out of my way.’
‘You get any closer and he’ll damage you some more.’
‘I’ve got the gun.’
‘You’ve got an empty pistol and we need to get going.’
Sergeant looked at the pistol and appeared somewhat embarrassed. In his rage he hadn’t noticed the working parts of the pistol were to the rear and the chamber empty. Amazing what one could forget in a year out of the service. Without another word, Sergeant limped towards the passenger seat of the Chevy and got in, taking the long way around to avoid Jay.
Before they left the range, Toni made Jay move around to the trunk of the Chevy on his knees and then climb in. He made himself as comfortable as possible, thankful he owned a big vehicle.
About three-quarters of the way into the trip, Jay realised where they were headed – back to the same warehouse in the industrial estate. He followed the movements of the vehicle and crossed off the streets in his head. He was surprised Toni would take him back the exact same route as their journey to the range. Then again, he’d given up trying to figure her out and instead concentrated on escape.
The creaking of the roller door alerted Jay to the fact they’d arrived at their destination. He knew he had to buy time. Bill would figure it out quick enough when Jay missed making his call to him, and then the troops would arrive – hopefully.
The bright lights burned into him as he was roughly pulled from the trunk by the wounded Sergeant. Jay hit the concrete hard on a shoulder and only just managed to keep his head from bouncing on the floor. He started taking his time getting to his knees before the butt of the shotgun connected with the back of his head. Not hard enough to knock him out, just a few crazy spots jumping around before his eyes and a trickle of warm blood down his neck.
‘Enough!’ Toni called out. ‘We need him in one piece.’
‘What the fuck are you talking about? What’s this “we” business?’ Sergeant spat out.
‘We have a deal. I got Ryan. You get your can of aerosol anthrax for his exchange, and I get my cousin back. We all walk away happy.’
‘Except me, I suppose,’ Jay said.
‘You want another smack around the head?’ Sergeant tried his best menacing voice. Jay thought it sounded like a man battling plenty of blood loss and trying to save face by acting all tough. The shotgun in his hands was convincing, all the same.
‘You drew the short straw, Jay,’ Toni said. ‘Someone’s gotta lose. The others are dead. Only you and Mark left. Someone has to be the last interrogator. You know the saying – blood is thicker than water.’
Jay slowly got to his feet and continued to adjust to the lights. He cracked his neck and a shot of pain from the head wound refocused his need for survival.
He watched Toni as she came around to the trunk of the Chevy. Not a hint of trepidation. She checked her watch, looked over to Sergeant and said, ‘They should have been here by now.’
‘They’ll be here.’
‘Who?’ Jay probed.
‘You’ll see. An old acquaintance of yours wants to catch up.’ Sergeant finished the comment with a slight chuckle, and then a groan.
Jay still had his back to Sergeant, but he knew the wounds would be causing major discomfort by now. He watched Toni as she looked in Sergeant’s direction.
‘Give me the shotgun. I’ll keep an eye on him while you get some bandages for those wounds,’ she said.
‘You want me to pop into the hospital?’ Sarcasm oozed from Sergeant.
Unperturbed she said, ‘Use the first-aid kit in the car.’
‘That may have been handy to know about on the way here.’
‘Slipped my mind.’
‘Undo the zip ties and I’ll bandage you up, Sergeant,’ Jay said.
‘Fuck off, Ryan.’
‘Just trying to help.’
Before Sergeant could retort, Toni said, ‘Just give me the shotty.’ She held out a hand.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jay watched the shotty exchange hands. He then turned his attention to Sergeant, who hobbled past and entered the back of the vehicle for the medical kit. In a low voice, Jay said to Toni, ‘Something you’re not telling me?’
‘Plenty. Stay quiet and you’ll come out of this in one piece.’
Jay turned to face her and raised his eyebrows. He knew better than to ask a question. As it was, she literally held his life in her hands. A glimmer of hope had presented itself. Still, he couldn’t read her. Her expressions were carved in stone.
She glanced over his shoulder towards Sergeant, who Jay could hear still rummaging away in the back of the vehicle. She looked back at Jay and said, ‘In your left leg pocket is a small razor. Use it at the right moment. But not until after you leave here.’
Jay closed his eyes and shook his head. Who the hell is she? And how the hell did she manage to slip a razor in his pocket without him knowing?
Toni continued. ‘Roll with the punches and follow my lead. The lives of many depend on us. Don’t mess it up by doing something stupid.’
Jay bit his tongue. Toni was his only hope.
But could she be trusted?