Deadly States (Seaforth Files by Nicholas P Clark Book 2) (56 page)

The exploding factory, as remote as it was, was soon witnessed, and
news quickly madeit through to the city. Thethought that Deeley was
dead and cremated filled Jack with a
morbid contentment. It would
take some explaining when he got back to London to make certain that
he didn’t spend the rest of his life behind bars, but in that moment he
felt remarkably upbeat about meeting that challenge. The mild euphoria vanished when they joined a long queue of traffic on the road into
the city. Jack edged forwards nervously as the cars in front of him permitted. Traffic chaos was not unusual for the city—gang violence and
terrorist attacks
often brought much of the metropolis to a stand-still,
and to begin with Jack didn’t even consider what had just happened at
the chemical plant as the reason for the long line of cars stretched out
before him. Police cars and unmarked cars
of an
official
disposition
drove past on the hard shoulder unimpeded.

As they
drew closer towards the cause of the hold-up Jack was at
once alarmed. He looked
over his shoulder
nervously in an attempt
to find a way
of avoiding the police checkpoint ahead. Barry grabbed
Jack’s arm firmly and he smiled.

“Turn around now and we will be stopped and brought in for
questioning,” Barry said. “Trust me, I have been in this position many
times before.
As have you, Jack. They will either arrest us
or let us
through. Either way, our fate is now beyond our control. Calm yourself down and stop looking so damn guilty.”

Barry released Jack’s arm.
As much as he hated to admit it, Barry
was right. There was nothing that he could do, though that
didn’t help
calm the real concern racing around inside his head that if they
didn’t
get
back to the embassy
quickly to receive treatment, they would all
be dead.

As they
drew closer towards the check-point a
police officer with
an automatic rifle approached them. He ignored the other cars in the
line and his focus was fixed on the three fugitives. The officer raised
the barrel of his weapon slowly and Jack placed a hand on the gun that
was tucked into his waistband.

The policeman pointed with his weapon that Jack should pull the
car
onto the hard shoulder. Jack slowly
complied. The
officer turned
to the men at the checkpoint and he signalled to them. He then indicated that Jack should drive on. Jack was certain that the policemen
at the checkpoint were going to instruct him to pull
over, but as the
car got closer one of the officers waved him on through. Jack looked at
Barry with confusion.

“You have to learn to relax, Jack,” Barry
said, then added.
“And
when you are stealing a car it is always a good idea to steal one with
diplomatic plates.”

Barry grinned widely.
“You could have bloody told me,” Jack snapped. “And
spoil the fun?” replied Barry.
Jack gunned the car in case the policemen changed their
minds.

The high speed also distracted him and alleviated the urge to pull out
his gun and put a bullet in one of Barry’s legs.
Ahead of the checkpoint
the traffic was a lot lighter than usual and that helped them to make
up some of the time that had been lost. When they got to the embassy
and located the safe containing the medicine they all realised that they
had not made up enough time. The safe was already open.

There was
only
one
person who knew about the
medicine.
One
person who could not have been there ahead of them, yet the evidence
was clear and they all reached the same conclusion at once. Deeley was
still alive.

“How in the holy
hell
did that bastard escape?” Barry said, with
mild anger.
“That bastard has spent his whole life preparing for the worst case
scenarios,” Jack added.
As the two men fumed over Deeley and his duplicity
Alexa went
up to the safe. She searched for a short time before turning to face
them with a broad grin.
“What’s with you?” Barry asked.
She threw him a syringe.
“Looks like Deeley isn’t a complete bastard after all,” she said.
Barry looked at the syringe filled with a colourless liquid with understandable suspicion. He handed it to Jack.
“I’ll be damned if I’m going first,” Barry said. “Christ alone knows
what he’s put in there.”
Jack looked annoyed for a
moment. They were out
of
options. He
rolled up his sleeve and stuck the needle into his left arm, depressing
the
plunger as
he did so that
he could not
change his
mind. Barry
looked at him for a few
moments. If it was filled with poison then it
wasn’t fast acting.
“You’re next,” said Alexa.
She threw a syringe to Barry. Slowly Barry medicated himself. His
eyes
kept flicking
between Jack and the needle. Too late—the liquid
was in his veins and coursing through his
body. The men turned to
Alexa.
“Now that the guinea pigs have gone first, it’s your turn,” Jack said
to her.
She smiled.
“What are you waiting for, love?” Barry asked.
A pause.
“Then again,” she began,
“maybe he is a
complete bastard after
all.”
The remark completely
perplexed both men for a moment, but as
Jack shifted his gaze down to her
empty
hands the reality
hit home.
He rushed over to her and grasped her in a frantic embrace.
“My
god. What
have you
done?” Jack asked. “What
have you
done?” a second time; his voice breaking under a simmering grief.
“What I had to do,” she said. “You have to stop him Jack. You are
the only one who can.”
“What the hell is going on?” Barry asked.
Jack
broke away from the
embrace and he spun around to face
Barry with anger on his face and frustration in his voice.
“Deeley
only left us with two treatments,” Jack said. “The bastard
only left two treatments.”
Barry backed down once the truth had been revealed to him.
“Jack,”
Alexa said, calmly but with determination. “You have to
get out of here now and stop him before he leaves the country. If he
gets away then he could end up killing millions. Barry can take me to
the nearest hospital.”
“No, Barry can go to the airport. I will take you to the hospital,”
Jack protested.
She smiled at him with understanding. “You
know it has to be you, Jack,” she said.
He prepared to protest but he knew that she was correct. Barry had
proved himself time and again but he was no secret agent. Barry knew
how to shoot his way into a place or how to blow somewhere to bits
with a
bomb, but when it came to the subtle instincts
of the profession, he was utterly useless. Jack hugged her one last time.
“I will be back for you later,” Jack said.
“And I intend to hold you to that,” she said, with a smile.
They
kissed and then Jack left the room. With thoughts
of that
sweet kiss and the deadly situation she was now facing at the forefront
of his mind, the rest
of his body shifted into autopilot as he made his
way through the embassy, and then into the car. He was almost at the
airport before the sharply focused man of action who he needed to be
finally took control.
The entire airport was ringed by army vehicles and personnel. Jack
hoped
that a
mixture
of
blatant
brass
neck and the
diplomatic
plates on the
car would get him inside. He was out of luck. The soldier
who stopped him instantly ordered Jack out of the car.