Shadow Zone (32 page)

Kirov struck him in the throat with the handgun’s butt, and the man doubled over, struggling to breathe. Kirov reached inside the man’s jacket and pulled out a semiautomatic. Kirov lightly kicked the man’s calves. “Any more down there?”

The man shook his head, then suddenly barreled into Kirov with his shoulder. Kirov spun the man around and rammed his face against the brick wall.

“You’re annoying me,” he said.

The man’s mouth was still pressed against the brick wall, and his answer was unintelligible.

Kirov reached into his pocket and drew out his wallet and flipped it open. “Paul Mendoza, carpet salesman.”

“That’s right,” the man managed to say.

“I don’t think so. Somehow you don’t look like a salesman to me. First, I hear you’ve been stalking my friends all over Athens, now you’re creeping after a defenseless woman in a deserted alley. I’d be well within my rights to pulverize you.”

Mendoza angled his mouth away from the wall. “Then call the cops.”

“That would be okay with you?”

“Yes, I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“That shoulder roll is something they’ve been teaching at Langley for a few years. I never thought it was very effective. You might want to pass that on to the higher-ups.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kirov turned to Hannah as she approached them. “I’d bet he’s one of Baker’s U.S. government agents.”

She made a face. “That’s scary, considering the fact that his cover was blown by a twelve-year-old.”

“Let me go or have me arrested,” Mendoza said. “Your choice.”

“There’s a third option we haven’t explored. Tell me who you are and why you’re following her.”

Mendoza didn’t answer.

“Let me assist you. You’re looking for me, and you work for Agent Elijah Baker.”

“He just wants to talk to you.”

“I don’t have a problem with talking. It’s the ‘detained indefinitely’ part that bothers me.”

“Baker is only trying to do his job. I was only supposed to watch and report.”

“As a first step. Once he zeroed in on both of us, you might have been given other orders.”

“We’re not hit men. He might have told us to keep you confined, but that would be the extent of—”

A Humvee turned into the alley from the end of the block.

“I think we’re about to run out of breathing room here,” Kirov said. “If you promise to behave, we can find someplace to discuss this like—”

A gunshot! A chunk of plaster exploded next to Hannah’s head.

“Get down!” Kirov shouted.

A hail of bullets sprayed the building wall as they ducked into an alcove.

“Friends of yours?” Hannah asked.

“No.” Mendoza stared at her with glassy eyes.

“Are you okay?”

With shaking hands, he pulled open his jacket. A bloodstain spread across the front of his shirt.

“Kirov!” Hannah gasped.

Kirov folded the man’s jacket over the stain. “Keep pressure on it.” He turned back toward the Humvee as it drew closer. Kirov raised the gun he’d taken from Mendoza, but another hail of bullets pushed him down before he could fire. “Trapped,” he murmured. He glanced around, trying to find an out. He suddenly noticed a tub of animal fat beside them. He felt the outside of the tub. “Warm.”

“So what?” Hannah said.

“Stand back.” Kirov pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit it. He jerked off the tub’s lid and tossed the lighter inside. The fat ignited and flames shot high from the container’s rim. He turned back to Hannah and Agent Mendoza. “Get ready to run.”

Kirov kicked the tub over. The grease fire roared over the alley, the flames shooting higher as they hit patches of water around the Humvee’s front tires.

Shielded by the flames, Kirov, Hannah, and Mendoza bolted from the alcove to a passageway between the buildings that would take them back to the street. Kirov crouched and aimed his gun back toward the alley. “Keep going!”

Mendoza collapsed in the narrow passageway.

Hannah leaned over him, trying to pull him up. “Come on. Just a little farther.”

He shook his head. “I can’t. Go . . .”

“Like hell. Come on!”

As Kirov knelt with the gun extended before him, the Humvee peeled out and sped away. The grease fire burned and crackled as tenants from the other buildings started to appear in the alley.

Kirov put the gun away and leaned over the agent. “We’ll get you help.”

Mendoza’s breathing grew shallow. “You have to stop,” he whispered. “You’re helping Gadaire.”

Kirov’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

“We’re trying to get him . . . but . . . you’re screwing it up.”

“He shouldn’t be talking,” Hannah said.

Kirov crouched beside the man. “What do you mean?”

Mendoza tried to speak, but no words came. He tried again. “Gadaire . . . the scientist . . . Trinity. India. Stay out of . . . it. We’ll get . . . him. It’ll be okay . . .”

“Just relax,” Hannah said. She looked at Kirov. “I’m going to get him help. Stay here with him, and I’ll run to one of the—”

“He’s dead.”

Hannah’s gaze flew back to Mendoza. The agent’s eyes were still open, his face frozen in that last tense, urgent expression. Shit. This was no way for a person to leave the world.

Kirov stood up and took her forearm. “Let’s go.”

“Shouldn’t we stay and—”

“No. Quickly.”

Before Hannah could process what had happened, she was on her feet and moving through the passageway. They emerged on the sidewalk and passed the dozens of excited pedestrians who had heard the noise and seen the smoke rising from behind the row of shops and restaurants.

Kirov nodded toward the crosswalk. “This way.”

Hannah and Kirov walked to the next block, rounded the corner, and made their way to his rental car. They climbed in and drove off as the sirens wailed in the distance.

Kirov checked the rearview mirror. “I think we’re okay now.”

Hanna drew a deep breath as she leaned back in the seat. “Who just tried to kill us? Gadaire?”

“I’m guessing it was his people. They must have figured out that we’re here in Greece.”

“Then what was the agent saying about your helping Gadaire?”

“Maybe just that I’m interfering with his and Baker’s investigation. I’m not sure. I was more interested by what he was saying about Gadaire’s working with the Trinity College scientist.”

“Lampman? But we knew he was doing research for Gadaire.”

“But it sounded like he wasn’t working
for
but
with
Gadaire. A subtle change in status. And what was Mendoza trying to say about India?”

Hannah shook his head. “We can try to figure that out later. What disturbs me most is that apparently everybody in the world seems to know we’re here.”

“Yes. Evidently our red herring has played out. We’ve got to leave Athens right away.”

“That opens up a hell of a can of worms,” Hannah said. “We can’t just walk away. It must be fairly obvious to Gadaire what we’re doing here. Melis’s people in the lab are still working on those samples, and we have to guarantee their safety.” She bit her lip. “Ronnie. That’s what scares me the most. I want to send him home on the next flight, but if Gadaire’s people have been watching us, that might be the worst thing to do. By now they know who he is and what he means to me.”

“Then what do you propose we do?” Kirov asked.

Hannah thought for a long moment. Every solution had dangers. Just try to pick the one that had the least number of threats.

“We leave right away. All of us.”

“All of us?”

“Yes, we take the lab with us.”

“How do you think we’ll do that?”

“We take Melis’s boat. Melis and the lab guys can take whatever they need from here and move it to the lab on
Fair Winds
. It’s one of the most advanced laboratories anywhere. We move fast and hope that those men who attacked us in the alley will be slowed down by having to wait for orders. With luck, we can be hundreds of miles away before nightfall.”

“Where do we go?”

“Nowhere. The middle of the ocean. The one place we can go and not be found.”

Kirov shook his head. “Technology is too good for you to say that. You know that.”

“I know it’s not a perfect solution. But we can move if we see a threat. Planes can search areas for days without spotting boats in distress on the ocean. And would Gadaire really waste time to go after us if it proved that difficult? He appears to have other more urgent plans in mind.”

“It could be the safest bet for the time being,” Kirov said slowly.

“If you can think of any way that would be safer, tell me. I’ll listen. But we can’t keep looking over our shoulders, and that’s what will happen if we stay here.”

“India . . .”

“You want to go to India? You don’t even know what Mendoza meant.”

“No, but Lampman might know. Lampman might know a lot.”

“You idiot. Dammit, you promised me. That’s right, go back to Dublin. They’ll be waiting to cut your throat.”

“Probably.” He thought about it. “No, I’ll go with you on the
Fair Winds
. I can always helicopter out later. I want to make sure that Gadaire’s people aren’t trailing you. But I have another idea about Ireland . . .”

“I’m sure you do.” She was just grateful he was going to stay out of danger for the time being. Hannah reached for her phone. “I’ve got to have Melis call the lab and get them moving down to the ship. I want to be out of the harbor within the hour.”

Kirov nodded. “Good plan. I have a few calls to make myself . . .”

CHAPTER
16

The deck of the
Fair Winds
was already teeming with activity when Kirov and Hannah pulled up to the dock. The crew was preparing to weigh anchor, and Aziz was speaking animatedly to Melis. He turned to Hannah as she boarded the boat. “There you are. You appear and I lose my beautiful civilized lab and I’m thrown back into the primitive.”

“Primitive, my foot,” Hannah said. “I’ve seen the facilities on board, and they’re awesome. You’ll do just fine, Aziz.”

He grinned. “I know I will. I’m far enough along so that I don’t require all the sophisticated testing equipment. I can bring along what I need.”

“How fast can you move?”

“I have my assistant packing up right now. I told him that if he didn’t have everything on board in an hour, I’d get a new assistant.” His eyes were twinkling. “That’s a fate worse than death for an eager young scientist. I know just how he’d feel. This project is the job of a lifetime.” He turned back to Melis. “It will work out. I’m so close. Give me another day or two, and I’ll have your answer.”

“You’ll have the time. As long as those days are on the briny deep.” She turned and walked toward the captain, who was motioning to her.

“You’re that near to an answer?” Hannah asked Aziz.

He nodded. “I wouldn’t con Melis. I’ll hand it to her on a silver platter.” He turned and strode down the gangplank. “But now I’ve got to go back to the lab and help pack up.”

She turned back to Kirov and found him talking to Eugenia and Charlie, who had just come on board.

Eugenia smiled as Hannah came toward them. “It seems I missed some excitement. How disappointing. But to make up for it, Kirov has promised me that I won’t have to go on another boring boat ride. I do hate boats.”

“So you told me,” Charlie said. “You were stinging me with that tongue so much that I hardly noticed the journey.”

“Just a little to wake you up a bit.”

Kirov glanced at Hannah. “Eugenia and I are going to do a little reconnoitering. We’ll be back before it’s time to leave.”

“Reconnoitering?”

“The boat is probably being watched. We need to find Gadaire’s man and take him out before he can report any activity.”

“I’m going with you,” Charlie said.

“No.” Eugenia’s voice was firm. “This isn’t a learning exercise. Kirov and I are experienced and know what we’re doing. You’re an amateur. We can’t risk mistakes.”

Charlie’s face flushed. “I won’t make—”

“No.” Eugenia said again. “Stay here and keep an eye on Hannah.” She smiled. “You’ll get enough action in Dublin.” She turned and walked down the gangplank with Kirov. “I think I spotted a possible near the office of the marina,” she told him. “I’ll go there, and you head for the museum. It would be logical that they keep an eye on the lab.”

Two of a kind.

Hannah watched them walk down the dock and felt the same frustration that Charlie must be experiencing. Dammit, she wanted to run after them and try to help.

No, her place was here. She had to make sure that Melis and Ronnie were safe.

“You’re going back to Ireland?” she asked him.

“According to Kirov.” Charlie’s hands clenched on the rail. “I’m surprised Eugenia is letting me trail along. After all, I’m just an ‘amateur.’ ”

And Hannah was surprised that Charlie was obeying Eugenia’s orders when he obviously wanted desperately to join them. Charlie was changing, she realized. He was more mature, a little less egocentric. “We could use help setting up Aziz’ lab. Unless you’d prefer to stand here and glower at Eugenia as she goes about her business.”

He grimaced and turned away. “You sound just like Eugenia.”

“That’s not bad. I respect her.”

“So do I. Where is this lab I’m supposed to set up?”

“Go see Melis. She’s in charge.” She gave one last glance at the direction in which Kirov and Eugenia had disappeared and turned away. She had her own work to do.

But first she had to find Ronnie. She hadn’t seen him since she’d come on board, and it wasn’t like him not to be in the middle of things. She went to look for him.

She found him alone at the rail on the starboard side of the ship.

“Ronnie?”

He didn’t look at her. “You lied to me.”

She had half expected that reaction. He was too smart not to have realized what was going on after she had called Melis. “Yes, I did. I’m sorry. I just wanted to get you out of there so I could find out what was going on.”

“You should have told me. How can I protect you if you don’t let me know what’s happening?”