Brett Battles - The Silenced

Neither of them said a thing for several seconds.

“What is it you want?” Palavin said.

Quinn smiled at Orlando and nodded.

“I assume you still want his body,” Quinn said. “If you don’t, I’m pretty sure I can think of some alternate places to leave it. Only, I’d probably have to leave an explanation, too.”

“Do I have to remind you about your sister?”

Despite himself, Quinn tensed. But he refrained from responding.

“This is completely unnecessary,” Palavin said, trying to sound conciliatory. “We were calling you with the drop-off location.”

“No.”

“No?”

“That’s not the way it’s going to work.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We’re doing this my way,” Quinn said. “Step one. You’re allowed one car. One. And in that car will be one of your men, my sister, and you. No more.”

“You can’t be serious. I might as well kill her now.”

“And I’ll turn over Trevor Robb to someone who will be more than happy to find out the backstory on this guy.”

“You mean you’d risk your sister’s life on some unknown interest in this dead person?”

“No,” Quinn said. “You’re not seeing this clearly. You’re the one taking the risk. As long as I have the body, you won’t do anything to my sister.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because according to my sources in British intelligence, Trevor Robb is still alive and well. And around your age.”

Silence.

“This can go very simply,” Quinn said. “What you have for what I have. No problems. Be in your car with my sister in ten minutes. I will call you back.”

He hung up.

“Are your people in position?” Quinn asked Mikhail.

“Yes.”

“Tell them it won’t be long now.” He looked at Orlando. “How about you? All ready?”

“Absolutely.”

He turned to Petra. “Time to lose the tail just long enough to drop Orlando off.”

Five minutes after Orlando had left the van, Quinn called the Ghost back.

“Are you in your car?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“Is my sister with you?”

“She’s here.”

“Let me talk to her.”

“No,” the Ghost said. “You can’t talk to her until our business is done.”

It was an empty threat, and they both knew it. “Put her on or our business is already done.”

“Jake?” Liz said a moment later.

“Liz. It’s going to be all right. It’ll all be over very soon. Tell me, how many people in the car, including you?”

She paused. “Four.”

“Four including you?”

“Yes.”

Quinn’s eyes narrowed. “Just stay strong and I’ll make sure everything is all right.”

“I’ll try,” she said.

Palavin came back on. “That’s enough. So where do you want us to go?”

“My instructions were one man, my sister, and you. No more.”

“Well, that’s just too bad, isn’t it?”

Quinn was silent for several moments. “Fine,” he said. “Should I assume, then, that you have other cars following behind somewhere? Ready to move in if necessary?”

The Ghost said, “Of course not. Just my two men and me. I want this over.”

“That makes two of us. Waterloo Station. Fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes is not enough-”

“Fifteen minutes,” Quinn repeated, then turned his phone completely off.

• • •

They headed first south across the Thames River, then west toward Waterloo Station, the sound of raindrops thumping against the roof of the van. Per Quinn’s instructions, Petra made sure not to shake their tail. He knew as long as the person behind them had them in sight, the Ghost would still think he had the upper hand.

“Anything?” he asked Mikhail.

“Not yet,” the Russian said, his phone held firmly to his ear.

“Does your friend speak English?”

“Of course.”

“Put him on speaker.”

Mikhail said something in Russian into the phone, then pushed a button and lowered it into his lap. “Can you hear me?” he said in English.

“Da,” a voice said on the other end. “A little noisy but I can hear you.”

“Nova, right?” Quinn said.

“Yes,” Nova said.

“This is Quinn. I appreciate your assistance.”

“Not necessary. The Ghost is no friend of mine.”

“He should be arriving soon,” Quinn said.

Nova was in a car near Waterloo. “Good. I have men all around the station. The moment they see him, I’ll know.”

“It’s important that he doesn’t realize he’s been spotted.”

“We understand,” Nova said.

“We’ll keep you on speaker. Let us know the moment there’s a change.”

“I will.”

Quinn pushed himself off the floor and shuffled into the front passenger seat. The rain was steady, but not hard, the windshield wipers more than a match for the storm so far. Quinn looked at the GPS device mounted on the dash, but it only showed a closeup of the road they were on. “Our friends?”

She glanced into her side-view mirror. “Still there.”

“Okay. Let’s do a little zigzagging.”

“Zigzag?”

“Take a few turns. Left-right?”

“Ah, yes. No problem.”

“But don’t lose them. Just make it look like we’re being cautious, and keep our basic direction the same. We want them to still think we’re headed for Waterloo.”

“Hold on,” she said, grinning.

Quinn grabbed the dash as Petra took the next turn, then leaned over enough so he could see the side mirror out her window. Nothing for several seconds, then a set of headlights made the turn behind them.

“Palavin’s men?” Quinn asked.

Petra gave the mirror a quick glance. “Yes.”

“Okay. Take the next turn. My guess is once we do, they’ll start to wonder if we know they’re there, and they’ll halve the distance between us.”

She turned again, and just as Quinn predicted, they were only a half block down when the trailing car showed up again.

“Keep it straight for a few blocks,” he said.

After several seconds of silence, Quinn looked over at Petra. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

He paused. “For Andrei.”

They sat in silence, both watching the road ahead. Suddenly Nova’s voice echoed over the speakerphone.

Quinn looked back at Mikhail. “What did he say?”

“Possible sighting,” Mikhail said.

Quinn glanced at the GPS unit. Waterloo Station was only a few blocks away now.

“Make it like you’re heading toward the station, but keep a block or two between it and us. If you have to, go all the way around. When I give you the word, break off and head toward point two.”

She nodded.

Quinn then made his way back to Mikhail, but remained in a standing crouch.

“Nova?” he said.

“I’m here,” Nova replied.

“Tell me exactly what your people saw.”

“A dark blue Mercedes. S600. Very nice.”

“How many inside?”

“Windows are tinted, so could only see the driver and a man in the passenger seat.”

“What makes you think it’s them?” Quinn asked.

“They circled the station once, then pulled off onto Spur Road and parked at the curb. No one’s gotten out.”

“Any following cars?”

“Yes,” Nova said. “Two so far. A black Audi and a silver Mercedes. Four people in each.”

Counting the car behind the van and the Ghost’s sedan, the total rose to fifteen people.

“There could be more, but two cars sounds about right,” Quinn said. Then in a voice loud enough for the whole van to hear, he said, “Time for the next phase. Is everyone ready?”

“Yes,” Petra said.

“Give my people two minutes to get to their cars,” Nova said.