“Nice job,” Mack murmured. “Looks like you’ve got two shadows.”
“I spotted one,” Sergeant Major snapped.
“Don’t respond.”
Griffen cursed again and picked up his pace, his coat over his soaked sleeve.
Mack felt bad for him. The man was a legend, reduced to playing a puppet on a string because of his love for his son. He was a man of action, not someone to let others manipulate him. Mack would bet his life he was armed and willing to use his weapons. Sergeant Major entered the men’s store, disappearing inside.
I’ve got him, Ethan said. He’s stripping to the skin. I’m placing everything in a plastic bag. It’s safer to get rid of everything, then take it to Jaimie. I don’t want them tracing anything back to her. We’ll have to rely on the trace. She’ll have the cell phone.
Hurry, Ethan, you’re on the clock, Mack advised. Get that tracking chip out of his hip.
Scanner picked up a second one. Ethan’s voice was grim.
Mack swore. Can you get it?
It will be tough. It’s deep. Sergeant Major says to cut the damn thing out of him regardless. Ethan let the admiration for the sergeant major show in his voice. “Sir, we have very little time. Can you stitch up your hip while I try digging for this thing?”
“Whatever gets me out of here fast,” Theodore Griffen snapped briskly. Ethan shot him full of painkillers and deadened the area before cutting out the first small chip, but still, it hurt like hell. Griffen didn’t care. He wanted the vultures off his back and he wanted to retaliate.
Ethan slipped the knife into Griffen’s side, trying to ease the chip out. It seemed elusive, embedded deeper than necessary. Griffen never moved, stoically putting in two stitches at his hip while Ethan extracted the second chip.
“Destroy them,” Griffen ordered.
“I’m sorry, sir, I can’t do that,” Ethan said. “You have to follow this through. You have to dress and go out the front door. I’ll be right behind you with the chips. If they know the chips are gone, they’ll kill you or reacquire you immediately.”
Griffen swore again. “Let’s do it, then.”
Ethan studied him. The sergeant major’s face was pale, but they’d cleaned him up fast. He had stitches in his side as well as his hip, but he walked without a limp even in the stiff new shoes. He walked out just ahead of Ethan. Ethan carried the garment bag with Sergeant Major’s clothes in it. The two chips were in his pockets, still transmitting.
Boss, the woman is coming right up on Sergeant Major, the one from Union Square, Marc reported. She’s been in and out of shops, but suddenly she’s moving fast and I think her intention is to intercept Sergeant Major. She’s a pro, the way she moves through the crowd, very hard to spot.
As Sergeant Major stepped through the doorway, Ethan pushed him to one side and collided with the woman.
“Go now, fast,” Mack instructed in Griffen’s ear. “Head for the bistro. Go in and all the way to the back and down the stairs. Move it.”
Griffen heard the sound of air rushing out of Ethan’s lungs, but he didn’t turn, moving fast away from the man in the direction of the bistro as Mack had ordered.
Behind him there was a commotion.
Ethan’s down, Gideon reported. I’ve got the shot.
Take it, Mack commanded.
Gideon squeezed the trigger and the woman with the knife in Ethan’s side went down. Blood splattered across the window, but if there was sound, it was drowned out by the traffic on the street. Javier burst through the crowd, wrapped his arm around Ethan, and half carried him back inside and straight through the store to the back entrance.
“Leave the knife in,” he advised.
“I’m crashing,” Ethan said, his voice calm.
Javier simply turned, bending his knees, lifting his partner over his shoulder, and hauling him out of the store. Bring up the van. Hurry up. Paul, where the hell are you?
How bad? Mack asked.
He’s out, boss, I can’t examine him. I should have killed that bitch again.
Once was enough. The van’s in front of you, Javier. Get rid of the tracking devices and dump the clothes. There’s a burn barrel just a few blocks up.
Javier carefully laid Ethan across the backseat in front of Paul, who was already looking for a vein. “I’ve got him,” Paul assured. “Get us out of here.”
Pack it in, boys, we’ve got Sergeant Major. Let’s go home, Mack said.
CHAPTER 15
“How is he?” Mack demanded, striding into the room, Sergeant Major on his heels. “Paul. Talk to me. Tell me Ethan’s alive.”
“He’s lost a lot of blood. Jaimie’s giving him a transfusion, boss,” Gideon said.
“You’ve got to let Paul work.”
Mack shot a hard glance at Sergeant Major. “You left out a few pertinent facts in Paul’s file. In fact, you left out a few facts altogether. The next time you decide you’re going to send two of my men on suicide missions, expect a f**king bullet in your head, because that’s what you’ll get. Are we clear?”
Silence fell instantly. The tension stretched until the room seemed brittle enough to shatter. Sergeant Major carefully removed his jacket and walked across the room to stare down into Ethan’s pale face. Paul didn’t even look up. His hands covered in blood, he worked fast to repair the body, using mainly healing energy. Griffen watched his son, a look of awe on his face.
“Look at him, Mack. My son. Worth more than I ever was. The things he can do, the miracle that he is. I would have risked everything for him. You want to put a bullet in my head for that, then you do it.”
Mack’s breath hissed out in the room, a coiled snake winding tighter. He actually pulled his gun and laid it along his thigh, finger on the trigger. “You son of a bitch.
Everyone in this room matters to me. Your son as well as every other man. These people are my family and they’re all extraordinary. None of them are expendable, you hear me?”
“You might want to remember who you’re talking to,” Griffen said.
Mack’s eyes blazed fire. He heard the collective gasp go around the room. His team knew him well and they all realized that was the last thing Griffen should have said.
“I don’t give a shit about my career, not when you’re so willing to sell us all down the river, so if you believe for a minute that threatening me will save you, think again.”
Babe. Jaimie’s voice was soothing. Loving. Calm down.