Black Widow. Cliff Ryder

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СКАЧАТЬ truck roared across the pier. Ajza continued to lean on the horn. One man abandoned a forklift and left it in her path. She swerved and tried not to hit it full on.

      The impact strained Ajza’s seat belt. The stiff material bit into the flesh of her hips and upper body. Crates in the back rushed forward and smashed against the cab.

      Ajza screamed a curse. The forklift slid away in pieces and she continued down the pier. The right front tire pulled at the steering. The wobble told her that the collision had deflated the tire or ripped it to shreds. Her arms ached with the effort of holding the truck on course.

      She aimed for the end of the pier and never lifted her foot from the accelerator. The image in the rearview mirror of Mustafa and the others bearing down on her guaranteed the lack of choice.

      Ajza unfastened the seat belt and kept her foot on the accelerator. She prayed that God still watched over fools as the sounds of gunfire and police sirens filled her ears.

      10

      London

      “She did not just do that,” tech support said in Samantha’s ear.

      Samantha couldn’t believe the woman survived the collision with all the munitions in the back of the truck.

      “That is one gutsy bird,” the head computer programmer said as he stared at the screen with a big grin. “I think I’m in love.”

      They all stared at the screen as the truck and Ajza disappeared into the ocean.

      “My God,” Samantha breathed.

      “What?” Kate asked.

      Knowing Kate lacked visual access while she left the apartment in New York, Samantha ignored the request for information for the moment.

      “Later,” she said. “Red Team?”

      “We’re here, Indigo.”

      “Are you mobile?”

      “Since the convoy started up.”

      That was good, Samantha told herself. She looked at the lead computer operator. He nodded and tapped on a keyboard.

      Almost immediately the satellite view split on the wall screen. One side stayed with the white-capped wake that remained from the truck’s plunge into the sea. The other shifted to a street scene. A yellow spotlight circled an SUV.

      “Hold your position,” Samantha said.

      “Did she make it?” the Red Team Leader asked.

      “So far. Are you prepared for an exfiltration?”

      “Affirmative. Red Team is ready to rock and roll. Especially for that hard-driving lady.”

      Yanks, Samantha thought. All of them had showoff tendencies.

      “If she survived, I’d like to try to get her home in one piece,” she said.

      On the wall screen, she saw Mustafa’s men bring their vehicles to a halt. The police car slid in behind them, then realized their mistake when Mustafa’s gunners opened fire on them. The driver of the police car reversed and hastily backed away.

      “The harbor roads stretch in two directions,” Samantha told the Red Team leader. “Once I see which direction she’s going to choose, I’ll let you know. We’ll coordinate the rendezvous from here.” Out of habit, she checked the time. Their window of opportunity was closing quickly.

      “We can get out fast,” the lead computer tech said.

      Samantha nodded and quickly brought Kate up to speed. “I’ve asked Red Team to try to pull her out of there.”

      “I heard,” Kate replied. “I would have done the same thing.”

      Samantha felt a little better about that. Room 59’s policies emphasized maintaining a low profile. At this point they hadn’t been exposed, but her decision would press that possibility.

      But letting the brave young woman die needlessly put her off.

      Come on, she thought, staring at the water as Mustafa’s men spread out along the pier and searched.

      “How deep is the harbor?” Samantha asked.

      “At this time of year in that location, twenty-seven feet,” tech support said.

      More than enough depth to sink a truck, Samantha decided. She admired the young agent’s strategy. The chance of recovering some of the weapons intact remained, but not without getting caught by the local police.

      The water remained relatively smooth. No one surfaced.

      Come on, Samantha urged.

      “I have her,” one of the female computer techs announced.

      “Where?” Samantha shifted her gaze to the screen.

      “That’s my girl,” the male computer operator said enthusiastically. “I really gotta give her props. You don’t meet many like her.”

      “Don’t wee all over yourself in your excitement,” the other female said sarcastically.

      “She’s here,” the first woman said.

      On the screen, Samantha spotted Ajza Manaev hauling herself from the water. Unfortunately Mustafa’s men did, too. Ajza threw herself to the ground as bullets chopped into the ground only a few feet from her. Immediately Mustafa’s men took up pursuit, some of them on foot and others taking time to get back into the cars.

      “Red leader,” Samantha said.

      “Here,” the man replied.

      “I’ve found her. So has the competition.”

      “That’ll just make it more interesting.”

      Samantha smiled slightly. She knew British soldiers who spoke just as cheekily, as if they were invincible. But there was something about that Yank accent that just sounded so certain.

      “We’ll bring you to her,” he said.

      Istanbul

      BENT OVER and staying low to the ground, her fingertips grazing the hot pavement, Ajza ran. Bullets cut the air overhead and smashed into a vendor’s cart next to her. Spicy beef kebabs flew into the air and splattered to the ground. The young vendor screamed and ran for cover.

      Ajza glanced over her shoulder. Mustafa’s gunmen—all of whom she knew by name—seemed split between chasing her on foot and climbing into cars. In her present shape, hurting and winded, eluding even the ones on foot might prove impossible.

      She dashed through an opening in a chain-link fence and ran across the hot tarmac. She stayed behind vehicles and heavy equipment.

      “Get down! Get down!” she ordered the dockworkers. When they didn’t СКАЧАТЬ