CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Cade waited to make eye contact with one of the men who were following him and then, when he had, he quickly crossed the hallway and pushed through the entrance to the Employees Only restroom that he’d chosen for the coming confrontation.

It was a large restroom, as restrooms go, with sinks on one side and a row of six urinals followed by an equal numbers of stalls on the other. He got down on his hands and knees and looked beneath the row of stalls, noting that they were all empty. The sight made him grin; he’d gambled that the employee restroom would be far less frequented than the public one and his gamble had paid off. A little privacy was going to make what was to come much easier.

Cade moved to the fourth stall and slipped inside. Closing the door behind him, he stepped up onto the toilet seat and then squatted down so that his head wouldn’t be visible over the top of the stall.

He was just in time. He heard the door to the bathroom open and then close, followed by the sound of footsteps approaching. For a moment Cade wondered if it might just be a random employee, but then the door to the first stall was kicked in with a bang and he knew his pursuers had taken the bait.

The second stall door went the way of the first and Cade carefully made note of the time that passed between the first and second doors being kicked in. When the third door followed right on schedule, he knew he had them.

He counted it down in his head, then grabbed the side of the stall and lashed out with both legs simultaneously. The stall door slammed open and struck the man on the other side just as he raised his foot to kick it open, taking him completely by surprise. He flew over backward, striking his head on the sink behind him as he went down.

Cade charged out of the stall, ready to continue the attack, only to find his opponent already on the floor unconscious.

One down, he thought.

A glance to his right showed the other man headed in Cade’s direction from where he’d been standing guarding the door. His opponent was younger, stronger, and quite possibly faster than he was, but the former Echo Team commander had the benefit of experience on his side. Never mind the inclination to end this as quickly as possible.

He let the other man close the distance between them and then, at the very last second, dropped below the knife strike aimed at his throat, letting it pass harmlessly over his head as he fell to his knees directly in front of the other man.

It was a move his opponent hadn’t anticipated and as a result it left him momentarily open to counter attack as his brain tried to catch up with what was going on in front of him.

Those split seconds felt like all the time in the world to Cade. He drove his fist upward in a savage upper cut that started near the floor and ended right in the middle of the guy’s groin, twisting his fist sharply as the blow struck in order to deliver as much damage as possible.

The man mewled like a wet kitten and folded over to crash to the floor next to Cade. A sharp blow to the temple to put him out of his misery and it was all over.

The entire fight lasted less than a minute.

Cade climbed to his feet and searched the two unconscious men. He took the money and IDs from their wallets, but left the wallets themselves to make it seem as though the two men had been robbed. He didn’t find any weapons, which was actually a relief; he wouldn’t have felt right leaving them behind but getting caught with them would have been even worse. This way, he didn’t have to worry about it.

He dragged the unconscious men into the handicapped stall at the end of the row and he dumped them in the corner beside the toilet. He locked the stall door and then slipped out beneath it. The men would be immediately obvious if anyone bent over to look into the stall, but he was betting that wouldn’t happen for a little while at least. No one wanted to be caught looking under stalls in an airport restroom, not even the employees.

There was a “Closed for Maintenance” sign standing near the door and he took that with him as he exited the restroom. He shut the door and stood the sign in front of it, then turned to leave...

Only to find Riley standing there waiting for him.

“I’m on your side,” Riley said quickly, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

Cade scowled. “Put your hands down, you idiot, before you attract attention!”

He grabbed Riley’s upper arm and led him around the nearest corner.

“What are you doing here?”

“Saving your ass,” Riley replied, “Again.”

Cade glanced around, making sure no one was paying them any more attention than usual. “I have the situation perfectly under control.”

“Oh, really? So tell me, how were you planning on getting through security? Or getting on a flight, for that matter?”

Cade stared at him but didn’t say anything.

“Right. Just as I thought,” Riley said. He reached into his pocket, took out an envelope, and handed it to Cade. “Here. Take this.”

Cade opened it and poured the contents – a passport and ticket, complete with baggage claim stub – out into his hand.

“Where’d you get these?” he asked, as he opened up the passport and stared at his own picture on the inside. The name on the document – Gerald Swanson – was an alias that he had used for Templar operations in the past.

“Courtesy of the Seneschal. Seems the old man has a soft spot for you. He was the one who told me where Johannson was keeping you.”

Cade nodded, then caught his friend’s gaze. “Look, I’m sorry I hit you. I wasn’t sure...”

Riley waved it off, then pointed at the ticket. “That flight will get you into Heathrow. You’ll have to make arrangements to wherever you’re going from there. The less I know the better, so I’m not even going to ask.”

“You heard about the charges then, I take it?”

“Yes, and before you say anything I know that they’re bullshit. If you stick around to fight them, I’m confident that you’d win, especially with the Seneschal on your side. But something tells me that you aren’t going to do that.”

“I can’t,” Cade said.

“Figured you’d say that.”

Cade shrugged. “The truth is, I don’t have a choice,” he said wearily. “Something’s coming; something really bad. I can feel it down in my very bones. If I don’t rescue Gabrielle soon, it’s going to be too late. I know it.”

Riley shook his head. “What if it’s already too late, man? What then?”

“I have to try. She’s always been there for me, each and every time. She helped us recover the Spear. She got us out of Eden. Hell, she even led us right to the Adversary on the Isle of Sorrows! How could I possibly forsake her now when she needs me the most?”

“You can’t,” Riley said quietly. “I understand that now. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Yes, yes you are. And I appreciate that more than you know.”

They were both silent for a moment, thinking about all that had happened to lead them to this point. Cade was suddenly overwhelmed with the sense that he would never seen his friend again. Through all the time they’d known each other, through all the dangers they’d faced together, he’d never been struck with such a feeling before. He found the timing to be unnerving, to say the least, and he shook it off, not wanting the negativity to impact what was ahead of him. He needed his A game and couldn’t allow doubt to creep in.

You’ll both be fine, he told himself.

Riley broke the silence first.

“Three of you walked into that bathroom and only one of you came out. My guess is those two idiots aren’t going to stay unconscious forever, so you’d best get going. And don’t forget to pick up your luggage; it seems you have a friend in the packing department.”

“I owe you, man.”

Echo’s current leader smiled. “That you do. And don’t think I won’t collect.”

The two men embraced and then Cade walked off, headed for the security checkpoint and his flight to London.