Dasyueshan Mountain Forest, Taiwan
REMORSE, LUKE FOUND, tended to be something that happened to other people. Remorse meant you had made a mistake, that faced with that choice again you would have chosen a different course of action. Glancing down at the contorted, groaning Tad Kreutzer, Luke had no regrets. He had assessed the American to be an integral part of the threat they faced; Kreutzer had stood between them and their path to freedom. But it was the mention of ‘the cage’ that had driven Luke to do what he’d done. He had seen too many hideous terror videos from his time in Special Forces to take a chance on something like that.
He wiped his hand, still slick with Kreutzer’s blood, on the side of his trousers, then pressed the muzzle of the Heckler & Koch once more into Bo’s ribcage. ‘Not a word from you,’ he told him.
Seeing what Luke had just done to his bodyguard had a somewhat chilling effect on Bo. He complied, but his eyes were still darting around the room. That animal cunning again, Luke thought, looking for an opportunity to turn the tables and seize his moment. Lose control of the situation now, and his revenge is going to be off-the-scale. And any minute now someone is going to come through that door to investigate and I’m going to have to shoot them. So I need every second I’ve got.
Jenny was already kneeling beside the bleeding Kreutzer, pressing a rolled-up scarf she’d found against his wound as he gripped his legs in pain. Hannah stood back from the whole scene, her face a mask of horror.
‘OK.’ Luke turned to them, the MP7 now firmly in his hands. ‘This is what’s going to happen. Jenny, Hannah, we’re going to walk out of here, all four of us, and use one of those vehicles out there to get ourselves off this mountain.’
‘All four of us?’ Jenny questioned, looking up from attending to Kreutzer.
‘That’s right. Not him. Our man Bo is coming too. He’s our insurance.’
‘You mean he’s our hostage,’ she corrected.
‘Exactly. So, Hannah, I need you to look around this room and find something to tie him up with. Can you do this?’
Hannah Slade nodded silently and gave him a wan smile. She started to search along the shelf that ran next to Bo’s desk. ‘Will this do?’ She held up a length of cord, frayed at one end.
‘Perfect,’ Luke said. ‘Now I need you to tie his wrists together behind his back – like this.’ Gripping the machine-pistol with one hand, Luke yanked Bo’s hands down with the other, placing them where he wanted them. ‘Make it tight but not so tight it cuts off the blood flow.’
Bo suddenly broke his silence, opening his mouth for the first time since he had watched his bodyguard topple to the floor. ‘Listen,’ he rasped. ‘I have eight armed men on the other side of that door. You have no chance, no chance at all. You know, I was even going to let one of you go. Maybe I still will. So, give up now and I promise you a quick and painless death. Otherwise …’
‘Shut it,’ Luke told him, ramming the barrel of the weapon hard against one of Bo’s kidneys, hard enough to make him wince. The triad boss’s wrists were now securely tied behind his back but Luke had one more detail to attend to before he was ready.
‘Jen – can you grab the knife?’ He jerked his head towards the floor where he had dropped the blood-stained Yarborough knife, close to where she knelt.
Jenny placed both of Kreutzer’s hands on the scarf she had been pressing against his wound. His eyes were squeezed tight shut but he was still conscious. Gingerly, she retrieved the knife and stood up, holding it as if it were a filthy object to be urgently disposed of. Luke could hardly blame her. MI6 case officers tended to spend more time in front of a computer screen than picking up bloodied hunting knives. But if they were going to get out of here alive, he needed her to be ready to use it. He knew the odds were stacked against them – this was a game of chess where your opponent has taken your queen and you’re down to your last few pieces. They needed every weapon they could lay their hands on.
‘When we walk out of here, Jenny,’ he said, ‘I want you to keep close behind him like this.’ He lifted her left hand and put it on Bo’s shoulder. ‘Now I need you to grip the knife … Yup, that’s it. Hold it tight and keep the tip of the blade resting right up against the small of his back … like this.’ Bo flinched as the blade tip pierced his robe. ‘If he tries to escape, just drive it in. Hard. You OK with this?’ Jenny swallowed and nodded.
‘Is this going to work?’ Hannah Slade interjected, her voice hoarse. She looked petrified.
‘Definitely,’ Luke replied, with a confidence he didn’t feel. ‘Come on,’ he said, and moved towards the door that opened out to the rest of the temple complex. He had no idea what to expect but knew full well it might be the last door he ever walked through.