66 Metres (28 page)

He'd searched her roughly as soon as they'd arrived, then tied her and sat her in the chair. Since then – hours ago – he'd moved about but said nothing. A Luger sat on a small coffee table to Danton's right. An antique, but it looked functional. It was getting dark outside. He got up and went through to a back room, opened a door. Nadia heard a small scream, a defiant one quickly muffled.

Elise
.

He dragged her into the room, her wrists tied behind her back, a scarf around her jaw keeping a gag inside her mouth. Her t-shirt was torn, her creased skirt had spatters of mud and dirt on it. Danton shoved Elise onto the sofa where he'd been sitting moments before, opposite Nadia.

Elise's face was tear-streaked, and a dark bruise the size of Danton's big knuckle was coming up on her right cheek. There were marks on her throat. She glared raw anger at Nadia, barely holding back tears. Her face was an accusation, and Nadia guessed what Danton had done to her. But it was the last thing in the world Nadia would have wished on anyone. She felt a surge of guilt. She'd dragged these innocent people from their ordinary lives into a sorry world of pain.

‘I'm so sorry,' Nadia said to Elise.

Elise's eyes spat daggers.

Danton parked himself next to Elise, and laid a hand on her thigh. She winced, but that only made him grip her harder.

‘The Rose, tomorrow,' he said. ‘You come straight here after the dive. If Adamson approaches you, you kill him with your little toy Beretta.'

He's been in my room!
But there again was the power thing, him showing her what he could do. Unprofessional. She'd been right to try to talk to Bill – Adamson, apparently – rather than Danton. This bastard needed to be put down with a hole straight through one of those garish eyes.

Of course, if she delivered the Rose there was no way he'd let either of them live. If they were lucky he'd make it quick. But Nadia and luck weren't on speaking terms. What she needed was more time. Rather, Jake needed more time, it all depended on him now. Would he let her down? No, she decided. Because of Sean. All right, then focus. Thank God it was nearly dark. She needed to sink a hook into Danton, to skewer him by his Achilles' heel, which was undoubtedly a different part of his anatomy.

‘Deal,' Nadia said. ‘But you don't touch her any more.'

Elise's eyes flared, and she tried to speak, but whatever she said was muted by the gag. Nadia knew she had to remain cool, and so stared only at Danton, ignoring Elise as if she was an object, nothing more. The way Danton viewed women.

He smirked. ‘And why would I do that?'

Elise tried to get up. Danton struck her face with the back of his hand, and she quietened. Still no tears.
Good for you, girl
. Nadia kept her features calm. Distraction. That was the key. Just enough to keep his eyes away from the window.

‘Because,' Nadia said, ‘I can offer you something better.'

Danton's leer diminished. Nadia held his gaze, but could also see Elise staring at her.

He gave a short laugh. ‘Promises, promises. I've had more pussy than I care to remember, better than you. And blondie here,' he squeezed Elise's thigh again, ‘she's prettier than you are.'

Nadia ignored the jibe. The hook was in. She twisted it. ‘Sure, you've paid for it, or you've taken it. Fear can be a kick, but that's not love-making, not what a real man does. And you can kid yourself with hookers, but they always hold something back, don't they? You see it in their eyes. You're just another trick.'

His face was suddenly ugly. But he wasn't checking the window any more.

Jake, you'd better be out there
.

She reeled him in. ‘So, what if, for once in your life, a girl actually gave to you, gave you everything? Could you handle that, Danton? A girl you didn't bully or pay for? Not a fuck-object, not just another pussy to masturbate inside while you imagine yourself fucking like a tiger in your own live porn video.'

He was on his feet, standing above her. ‘You think you can trick me, little Russian bitch?'

‘I'm tied up, remember? So is she. This is probably your one and only chance.'

She didn't want to give him time to think, she needed his balls to take over. Nadia pushed herself forward off the chair, so that she ended up on her knees, her face level with his crotch.

‘I'm not talking about tomorrow, Danton, I'm talking about right now.'

His chest heaved above her. She held his gaze. She knew he was unsure, because he wanted what she was offering, but it meant she had power over him. She tried to nudge him over the edge.

‘Please,' she said. ‘I want you to.'

He smirked, then folded his arms. ‘Nice try, cunt. Maybe tomorrow, if you're a good girl.' He pushed his forefinger through her lips, forced it inside her mouth. She thought seriously about biting it off.
Jake, where the hell –

The bay window exploded, showering her with shards of glass that skittered to the floor. Danton was punched backwards onto the sofa, while Nadia fell sideways to the floor. She kicked the legs of the coffee table, sent the Luger flying. She tried to get up, but a piece of glass cut into her arm just below the elbow, making her fall back down.

Jake barged through the door, Beretta level in his right hand. He ran into the room, then froze. Nadia looked up to see Danton with his hands around the front and back of Elise's head, ready to snap her neck. Blood dribbled from a wound in his chest.

‘Put the gun down, boy, or say goodbye to little girlie here.'

Elise made a noise, tried to shake her head inside his grip.

Nadia still couldn't get up, glass all around her. ‘Do NOT put the gun down, Jake. He'll kill us all.'

Danton's voice was ragged. ‘Put the gun down, Jakey. You have three seconds.'

‘Don't,' Nadia shouted. ‘He won't kill her, because if he does, you'll kill him.'

‘Hole in my chest, bitch,' he said, coughing. ‘What have I got to lose? One.'

Nadia struggled onto her knees. ‘Jake, he's one evil sonofabitch, don't you dare put the gun down!'

‘Two.'

Jake put the gun down.

She couldn't believe it. This wasn't happening! Elise began to sob.

Jake spoke, his voice oddly calm. ‘I killed a bull shark, once. Know how I did it?'

Nadia glanced at him.
What?
But he was staring straight at Danton.

‘You talking to me, boy?' Danton sneered, a real cheese-grater grin, evidently feeling back in control. He released his grip on Elise. Nadia guessed the bullet hadn't penetrated deep enough, slowed down by the glass. Maybe he had something in his chest pocket as well. He was acting as if he only had a flesh-wound. No blood when he coughed. The bullet hadn't reached his lung.

‘Actually,' Jake continued, ‘I never told anyone how I did it.'

Nadia noticed Jake's left hand, his fingers slightly curled. Was he holding something?

Danton's upper lip twisted. He began to get up, glanced at the coffee table, saw it was kicked over, spotted the Luger, then his eyes tracked back to Jake.

‘A bull shark's eyes are black,' Jake continued, ‘no pity, nothing, just death staring right at you. Then, as their jaws open impossibly wide, their eyes roll back. It's the last chance to kill them. You have to be quick. No hesitation. The knife goes straight through the eye, into the brain, and then you twist hard with both hands.' He pointed at Danton. ‘You're the shark. I'm going to kill you.'

Nadia stared at Jake.
Shit!
He means it, he really means to try it. Danton no longer looked for the Luger. Of course, it was all about power. Jake had challenged him. Now Danton would want to kill him with his bare hands.

Danton attacked faster than she would have given him credit for. He rushed Jake like a bull, yelling, arms outstretched, shoving them both back against the wall, his hands finding Jake's throat. But then his shout turned into a groan. He staggered away from Jake, a dive knife buried into his gut up to the hilt. Jake took a pace forward, grabbed the hilt, and twisted it hard. Danton cried out, and began to fall backwards. Jake hung onto the knife. It slipped back out of Danton with a sucking sound, its blade soaked in blood and gore. Jake set Elise free, then Nadia.

Nadia got to her feet, walked over to her Beretta and aimed it at Danton.
This time
. She was ready to pull the trigger. For Sammy, and for what Danton had done to Elise, and who knew how many others over the years. Her breathing came under control. She could make this monster go away, never take another breath, never think another thought, never give him a chance to repent, because he didn't deserve forgiveness. Danton needed to be put down. She aimed. The left eye. Her finger flexed.

‘Wait,' Elise said, coughing, her gag removed.

She came to Nadia's side, with Jake's help.

Danton was curled up like a baby, nursing the stomach wound. Nadia knew they could let him bleed out on the floor, it wouldn't take long, and he'd get to feel a fraction of the pain he'd dealt out over the years.

‘F-fucking whore,' Danton stammered, blood on his lips, his face covered with beads of sweat. ‘You don't have it in you. Just another pussy!'

Elise held out her right hand. It shook violently.

‘Not a good idea,' Nadia said. But then again, maybe it was. If Nadia had been able to kill Pox and Slick five years ago, things might have been different.

In any case, Elise's hand remained where it was.

Nadia moulded Elise's trembling fingers around the Beretta. Elise aimed towards Danton's trunk.

‘No,' Nadia said. ‘The Russian way.' She angled the gun towards Danton's face. He looked up at that moment, the skin around his eyes wrinkled with pain, blood trickling from his mouth.

‘Fuck you, bitches, I'll see you in hell,' he said. He spat blood on the floor.

‘No you won't,' Elise said. Her hand steadied. She pulled the trigger.

Danton's skull exploded, spattering the floor with blood and brains.

‘Jesus Christ,' Jake said. He reached out for Elise. ‘Are you –?'

‘Don't touch me,' she said, her voice full of venom. Jake withdrew his hand as if he'd received an electric shock.

Nadia eased the gun from Elise's grip, and stared at the gore. She found the Luger, picked it up with a handkerchief, then put it in Danton's right hand, placing his index finger around the trigger. It wasn't much of a cover. Her and Elise's prints were everywhere, and the police would quickly discover the bullet in Danton's head wasn't from the Luger. But it might buy her a day or two, after which it wouldn't matter.

She watched Jake and Elise as they stared, rooted to the moment, guessed the damage it was doing. She checked to see if Jake was used to this. He wasn't. He looked like he was about to throw up. Good. Definitely not an agent. Still, her plan was awry now. Elise would go to the police for sure.

Which meant she was screwed, soon to be arrested. No chance to retrieve the Rose. And she'd now passed Kadinsky's deadline. The most likely outcome was that she'd be locked up for years, tormented by visions of Katya's last moments. She imagined Katya's terrified breaths, crushed under the soil, trying to scream, no one able to hear.

No.

There was still time. She sprung the clip from the Beretta, counted the bullets inside, though she knew how many were there, and re-inserted the magazine.

‘Hey,' she shouted, to snap them out of it. They both turned to her.

‘Let's get out of here.'

As they marched back to Hugh Town in the drizzle, she considered the line she'd just crossed. She hadn't had her finger on the trigger, but she'd aimed the weapon, and if Elise hadn't needed to do it, then Nadia herself would have terminated Danton. So, finally, she had joined the ranks of her father. But the Rose was out there, and she had to believe Katya was, too. Adamson was still out there as well, with his Navy SEAL buddies. In her book, she'd killed once. That meant she could kill again.

Adamson had better not get in her way.

Chapter Seventeen

Adamson clutched his mobile and made a supreme effort not to shout. His neat little retirement plan – a last chance to give the world the finger for slowly draining away his life – was coming apart. Jorgenson's near panic on the other end of the line didn't help.

Adamson paced his words. ‘How did they find out?'

‘A Russian, someone from one of their Mafia gangs. I wasn't there for the call, only heard about it when I saw Peters in the washroom. He let slip that one of our own had maybe gone rogue.'

It took only a few seconds to backward-chain the events.
Danton
. He should have been caught by the police but he got out… with the help of the Russians… he must have told them about him. And now they'd leaked his name back to the CIA.
Bastards
.

‘Go pick up Sandy, right now,' Adamson said. ‘Get them on the boat to the Keys, then take the charter plane.'

‘Do you have it yet? And what about this MI6 blackout? Is that related?'

Adamson could practically smell his CIA partner's fear down the line. ‘No, pretty sure it's something separate.' He doubted that, but he needed Jorgenson to stay focused. ‘The Rose is in the bag. Look, it's three am here. By tonight I'll be back on the mainland. I'm going to head to Ireland, less heat there. Then I'll fly to Lisbon, then on to Bogota for the trade. I'll call you in twelve hours from Dublin.'

There was a pause. Adamson didn't like pauses. ‘Listen, we're almost there,' he said. ‘We knew this could happen. It just moves us up the schedule.' He took a breath. ‘I'll double your share.'

No pause this time. ‘Okay. I'll hit the road, pick up Sandy and Arnie. Get the device, Bill, or else we're all screwed.' Jorgenson hung up.