Chapter 52

52

Braun flew around the table, his eyes glued to Teddy’s. As soon as he was in range, he sent a fist flying at Teddy’s cheek.

Anticipating it, Teddy leaned back and turned his head so that Braun’s hand only brushed his skin. Before Braun had a chance to pull his arm back, Teddy was on his feet.

He moved behind Braun, grabbed the man’s wrist, and yanked it behind Braun’s back.

Dieter, Rolf, and the other man pulled out their guns, but with their boss between them and Teddy, they didn’t have a shot.

“Let go of me!” Braun said, struggling to break free.

Teddy shoved the man’s arm higher, eliciting a shout of pain. “A little help, if you don’t mind,” he said.

“What?” Braun asked.

The request had not been directed at him.

The door was shoved inward and Vesna and several Strategic Services personnel swarmed in. Their guns swept the space and landed on Dieter and his colleagues, who were now pointing their pistols at the new arrivals.

“Drop your weapons!” Vesna ordered.

“You drop yours!” Dieter countered.

Knowing this was her chance to do the right thing, Jillian flung her clutch at Dieter’s head. He flinched to the side, bumping into the guy next to him, both of their pistols moving off their targets.

Vesna and three members of the Strategic Services team rushed them.

Two gunshots went off, the sound deafening in the small room.

Braun used the distraction to lurch out of Teddy’s grasp. Instead of running toward the entrance Vesna had used, he raced to the wall that had been at Teddy’s back and through a second door Teddy hadn’t realized was there.

Teddy sprinted after him.

Vesna went straight for Dieter and knocked the gun out of his hand.

A gunshot went off nearby, followed instantly by another.

Dieter took a swing at Vesna. She stepped back, out of the way, and pointed her weapon at him. “I will put a bullet in you if you try that again!”

The desperation on his face twisted into confusion. “Vesna?”

She hadn’t disguised her voice. “Hello, Dieter.”

“What are you—”

“On your knees, hands behind your head, or I’ll start putting holes in you. On second thought, that sounds like a better idea.”

Dieter dropped to his knees and laced his fingers behind his head. Once one of the Strategic Services people had zip-tied Dieter’s hands together, Vesna looked around.

The man with Dieter who she didn’t know was in a similar kneeling position. Dieter’s buddy Rolf was sprawled on the floor, however, with a hole in the center of his chest that hadn’t been there before.

That accounted for one of the bullets. The second had hit one of the Strategic Services team in the arm. He was being attended to by one of his colleagues and didn’t appear to be in serious distress.

“Where’s Teddy?” Stone asked.

Vesna spun around, looking through the room, but both Teddy and Braun were gone.

“Shit,” she muttered, seeing the second exit. She pointed at a man and a woman from Strategic Services. “You two with me. Stone, can you keep an eye on things here?”

“Of course.”

Vesna and the two agents she’d picked left in search of Teddy and Braun.

Teddy raced after Braun, down the narrow hallway that ran behind the interrogation cells.

Braun yanked open the door at the end and passed through seconds before Teddy did the same.

Beyond was a stairwell. Teddy followed Braun to the top and through a door that led out of the building.

As Teddy exited, a voice shouted, “Halt!” and three of the people on perimeter duty closed in on Braun, their rifles aimed at him.

One noticed Teddy and momentarily focused his weapon on him. When he realized who Teddy was, he moved his sights back to Braun and said, “Mr. Barnett, are you all right?”

“I am,” Teddy said.

The stairwell exit opened again and Vesna rushed out with two more security personnel. They brought their weapons to bear on Braun.

Teddy walked over to the man and smiled. “As I said, you were the one who didn’t know how this was going to turn out.”