Chapter 93

CHAPTER 93

I FELT LIKE my heart was about to explode through my chest. Bullets slammed against the dumpsters as Kira launched herself into my arms. It was really her!

At that moment, nothing else mattered. Not pain. Not exhaustion. Not even gunfire. "My God!" Kira shouted into my ear. "Where the hell have you been?"

I lowered her to the ground and wrapped myself around her. "I've been looking for a demon with copper-colored hair," I said. "Seen one?"

The others had stopped shooting. They were just staring.

"Aladdin?" said Fenwick, squinting. "Is that you?"

"I'll be damned," said Tagaloa.

Kira looked up at me. "Wait. You know these guys?"

"We went to the same school," I said.

Kira looked bewildered. "University of Chicago?"

I shook my head. "Foreign study."

Suddenly an RPG round hit the dumpster at the far end, lifting it two feet off the ground. Tagaloa and Harper were blown back across the dirt, weapons flying. They both shook off the impact and crawled back to their positions.

Then everything was quiet from the other side.

I huddled with Kira next to my old comrades. "What's happening?" asked Fenwick.

"Maybe they gave up," said Harper.

"They're getting into position for a final assault," said Kira. She plucked another clip from Fenwick's pocket and reloaded the .45.

"Anybody got some extra nine-mil ammo?" A female voice.

I swung my gun around. I saw a petite woman with a ponytail holding up a Glock. Kira jumped up to grab her and pulled her down with the rest of us. The woman looked over and stared at me. She squinted in the darkness. "Wait. You're Doc Savage!"

"Right," I said. "And who the hell are you?"

"This is Lial," said Kira. "She saved my life. She used to work for Cal Savage."

Cal Savage? The only Cal Savage I'd ever heard of was my ancestor's twin brother. He'd been dead for decades. "Who the hell are you talking about?"

Kira realized that I had some catching up to do. I thought I was the only Savage left in the world.

"Listen to me," she said. "I'm talking about Cal Savage the Fourth —your third cousin."

"I didn't know I had a cousin!"

"That's because he's been living in the shadows his whole life. And now he's your worst nightmare. The world's worst nightmare. He's the one who sent the assassins to kill us in Chicago. He's the one who had the boys on the island murdered. He's the one who kidnapped me." She pointed her pistol toward the invaders on the other side of the dumpsters. "And he's the one who sent the army out there. They came for us. You and me."

"And after you're both out of the way," said Lial, "he plans to take over the world, one failed country at a time."

Marley was looking at me with a furrowed forehead. I could see that he was trying to follow the thread, but he was a few steps behind. "Doc Savage?" he said. "Like from those old books?"

There was a loud sizzle and a pop overhead. A flare ignited, casting an eerie red glow over the entire compound. Blodgett looked out between two dumpsters and stuck his rifle through the gap. "Lock and load, boys and girls—here they come!"