Fight Fire With Fire. Amy J. Fetzer

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СКАЧАТЬ some fire under it, buddy,” Max said into the mic. “He’s got a ride.”

       Seletar Airstrip

      He knew her by no other name than Odette.

      “What I don’t understand is why you aren’t handling it yourself,” she said, then sipped warm tea.

      He couldn’t place her accent and wondered if, like him, she strove to cover it. The less people knew of him the better. It was something they had in common. “Like your employer, I can delegate.”

      “We have warned you.” She set her cup down with a click. “He’s immature and a genius. Those are qualities not easily handled, neh?”

      “I’m due a measure of trust.”

      She scoffed, her smile tinged with patience delivered to the mentally incapable. Barasa felt his shoulders tighten. The pretty little bitch would learn not to dare more than that with him.

      “Trust is not a commodity in business. Any business.”

      At least they agreed on that and planned for it. “When will he show himself?”

      “When we have completed the next phase.”

      “He promised the perfect delivery system.”

      Something skated across her flawless face just then, and he didn’t try to decipher it. The woman was not the force in this dangerous bargain, but merely the messenger.

      “You will have it.” She made a show of checking the time. “We will expect to hear from you within the deadlines you set.”

      “You came all this way to say that?”

      “No. I’m here to demonstrate that, should you betray us, we will find you.”

      “If he wishes to fold”—he shrugged—“I won’t oppose.”

      Her smile was slow and thin, her blue eyes taking on a victorious gleam he’d seen only in the pump of sex.

      “And you’re prepared to return the money he has already fronted? Won’t that be difficult when you’ve already spent most of your share?”

      His features stretched tight. How did they know anything? No one knew…his gaze immediately scanned his surroundings. Their position was in the open, yes, but also far enough to see anyone approach. He saw nothing unusual.

      “No one has betrayed you, Barasa.”

      He looked at her and she tilted her head, the move coy yet somehow ill-fitting on this woman. He offered the truth. “Had they, they would be dead.”

      She nodded once, regally. “Sometimes loyalty accompanies strict rules of self-preservation. Your clever discretion and influence has earned his admiration.”

      His brows knit as he considered what would bend her loyalty.

      He stood with her.

      “It’s in your best interest to keep the genius alive and out of Western hands.” She tossed the napkin on the table. “Bring him to us.” She turned away, starting toward the plane.

      He called to her, but she didn’t stop, and he rushed to grasp her arm. He heard the click of bullets chambered and looked at the plane. From under the open staircase, two men advanced from either side and aimed rifles with infrared scopes. The gaping entrance in the fuselage remained empty, yet a gun barrel slid from hiding.

      She didn’t have to tell him to let go. He put his hands up, stepping back.

      “Again you have underestimated, Cale.”

      His gaze narrowed. He didn’t like anyone calling him that.

      “Anticipating your enemy is necessary for success,” she said.

      “I’m not your enemy. We are equal partners.”

      “Equal?”

      “I am risking everything while your boss hides in the shadows giving orders,” he snarled at her, taking a step closer and ignoring the men with weapons.

      “Are you not capable of the task?”

      “Do not insult me, woman. Of course I—”

      “Then enough.”

      The words weren’t sharply spoken, but he felt their bite. Something shifted between them and not in his favor.

      “Do you want more money, is that it? Or simply to see a face when it’s shown to you several times already?” She flicked her hand at the jet and men. “We have step one. Now stop this… whining and fulfill your obligations.” She spun away and mounted the steps. “Succeed, and the rewards will be many, Barasa.” She paused to look back at him, smile, and add, “And I don’t mean in virgins.”

      Barasa chuckled under his breath, admiring her ass shifting inside the gray cloth as she took the stairs. She never once looked back as she was swallowed inside the jet. The guards filed in, the door raising on a hydraulic hush and the locks clamped it seamlessly. Barasa hurried away as the engine powered up for takeoff.

      “Hey,” someone said and he looked at the guard standing near his car.

      “Address me as sir and nothing else. What do I pay you for?”

      “Answering your phones.” The beefy man held out a clean one.

      He suddenly realized that the woman couldn’t have arrived so quickly if she hadn’t known where he was first. He stared at the phone. She must have tracked it and while removing the GPS would end her watchful eye, the phone wouldn’t work without it. Disposable cells were easier. He put the phone to his ear.

      “We have the package,” the gravely voice said.

      Barasa snickered. Of that, he did not doubt. “Bring him to me, and take away his phone.”

      “Yes sir.”

      He waited till the jet banked off the runway and into the sky, then slid into the back of the town car. He wasn’t without influence and scrolled through his phone numbers for just the right advantage. He didn’t doubt Odette and her mysterious master were doing the same to him. He hadn’t survived in this business by being careless.

      Max’s words pushed Riley, his arms pumping as he ran. He darted into the street, around people and cyclists, then jumped a cart, spilling baskets to the ground. A hunched man shouted at him in Mandarin, and his new kneecaps held up as he sprinted out of the dreary projects onto a newly paved street. Cars raced dangerously close together. He stopped, catching his breath. A traffic circle was packed with little cars like bugs marching to a nest. It led off in three directions but not anywhere he wanted to go. He watched the cars, then stepped into traffic. Horns honked, drivers shouted. A cab came so close he felt it brush and he figured it was now or get killed standing here. He darted between cars, then hopped on the back of a pint sized Carmen Gia, holding on as it took him around the curve. The driver shouted at him and Riley felt the bumper give under his weight. СКАЧАТЬ