Zane took a moment to steady himself, and then crossed to the other side of the street. The agent saw him coming and nodded at him, then turned, following a small tour group into the cemetery and breaking off to the right. Ty had told the FBI contact to meet them in the front of the cemetery.
“He’s heading in. It’s a trap,” Ty said in Zane’s ear. “Everybody bug out.”
“Negative,” Zane said, and he followed the man into the cemetery.
“Dammit, Garrett, the others can’t cover you in there!” Ty shouted.
Zane nodded. He’d spent most of his time undercover alone; he was more used to taking these types of risks than Ty was. And he had every confidence that Ty’s sniper rifle would cover him just fine.
Zane trailed through the maze of tombs, following the directions Ty whispered in his ear. He headed to the back where Ty said the Protestant section would be. It was a grassy area, devoid of vaults and mostly clear. It took Zane many twists and turns, and several dead ends with Ty’s voice in his ear telling him which way to go, before he found it.
The agent was sitting on an iron bench, waiting for him. He was possibly the most Federal-looking FBI agent Zane had ever seen: black suit, loafers, sunglasses, and a thick black tie. He’d unbuttoned his jacket and his shoulder holster was partially visible, and his pants leg rode up to reveal his backup holster and weapon. A field agent he was not.
Zane sighed and stepped out of the row of tombs he’d cut through. The man straightened when he caught sight of Zane, and he stood, buttoning his jacket.
“Special Agent Howard?” Zane asked.
“That’s right. Are you Garrett?”
Zane nodded.
“Where’s your CI?”
“My CI?”
“You said you were bringing in a CI. A Tyler Beaumont.”
“Oh, yeah. Yeah, he’s the one with that little red dot on your chest,” Zane said, pointing to Howard’s tie.
Howard looked down and jerked when he saw the laser sight dancing on his tie. His eyes were wide and scared when they met Zane’s. He reached for his gun, but his buttoned suit impeded him, so he brought his wrist to his mouth and ducked, as if that would save him from Ty’s sniper rifle.
“They’re onto us! They came armed!” he shouted to whoever was on the other end of his radio.
Zane cursed and turned to duck behind the nearest row of tombs. The telltale pops of a suppressed weapon echoed in the humidity. Marble chips flew as the rounds hit next to Zane’s head. He ducked and weaved left, covering his head. He could hear the others in his ear bud. None of them sounded panicked. In fact, Ty’s voice came over the frequency as calm as if he were ordering a sandwich at the local deli. Zane had heard more emotion from Ty as he watched a football game.
“Got five going over the northeast wall,” Ty said in Zane’s ear.
“Which one’s northeast?” Owen shouted.
“Not yours. Garrett’s hemmed in.”
“Aye aye, we’re going in,” Nick growled. More suppressed pops came from the wall, followed by the boom of Nick’s weapon.
“Five more through the main entrance,” Ty murmured. “These aren’t locals. Get out.”
Shots fired from the roof. Zane peered around the tomb to see Special Agent Howard scrabbling for cover. Bullets hit at his feet, kicking up earth and grass, making him dance back and forth. Ty was playing with him, pinning him down.
Tourists screamed in the distance. Horses whinnied. Sirens began to blare from the traffic station down the street. Zane lunged from his hiding spot and ran low, angling toward Howard, where he was trapped in the open by Ty’s covering fire. A bullet whizzed past his arm, so close it burned.
“Shit. Sorry,” Ty said in his ear.
“Watch it!” Zane snarled. He reached Howard and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, jerking him to his feet and pulling him toward the tombs. He saw Nick and Kelly scaling the gate on the back wall.
When he reached cover, Zane slammed Howard to the ground and held his gun to the man’s nose. He patted him down, taking all his weapons, his badge, and his car keys.
“Six, you got cops on your position in three,” Nick shouted.
Ty ignored the warning and fired more shots. Someone in the cemetery screamed.
“Two down. And a half. Seven live. Get your asses out of there!” Ty ordered. “Garrett, quit dancing with him and move!”
Zane didn’t release the man, instead gripping him hard by his collar and forcing him along with him.
“It’s too hot up here, I’m gone,” Ty said. “Clear out!”
Shots continued to echo through the cemetery, but the sniper rifle fell silent.
Zane craned his head to look up at the roof as he dragged Howard through the maze of vaults and tombs. Ty had finally abandoned his post, but Zane didn’t know how he planned to get out of that building now that all hell had broken loose.
There was more gunfire from the back of the cemetery. Zane couldn’t tell if Sidewinder was chasing the unfriendlies or if they were now being chased. Agent Howard fell to his knees, whimpering and tugging at Zane’s hand.
“Get up!” Zane shouted. He yanked him hard, slamming him against the crumbling exposed brick of an ancient vault. He shoved his gun under Howard’s chin. “Who’d you call?”
Howard began blubbering. Zane could barely make out his words. He yanked the ear bud from his ear to be rid of the chatter and shoved the gun harder against Howard’s neck. “Shut your damn mouth.”
Howard’s sniveling cut off with a gulp. “Please don’t kill me,” he whispered. “I have a family.”
Zane bared his teeth. “I don’t care. Who did you call?”
“Police commander. Gaudet.”
“This isn’t cop firepower; who else is involved?”
“He—he said he had help. Someone new in town.”
“Names.”
Howard jerked his head from side to side. He was trembling. “Spanish. I don’t know.”
“Colombian?”
“I don’t know! Please God, don’t hurt me.”
Zane released him. He peered over the vault. The gunfire continued. He stuck the ear bud back in, only to be greeted by garbled shouts and echoes of shots.
He stepped away from Howard and pointed the gun at the man’s leg.
“Oh, God no!”
“This is your final lesson in loyalty,” Zane growled. He put a bullet in the man’s kneecap and darted away.