Nighthawk (NUMA Files 14)

“No,” he said. “You will explain what is occurring to your friends and then you’ll drive in a vehicle that I possess.”

“How can I drive when the bridge is out?”

“There’s another route,” he said. “A shorter route that goes to the south and then through the pass. It avoids the highest of the mountains. It has its own steep cliffs, yes . . . but I trust you’ll drive with the requisite caution.”

She glanced to the north as the sound of a helicopter approaching became audible.

“That will be the Chinese agents,” he said. “I require your answer.”

She looked him in the eye once more. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll do as you ask. I have no other choice.”

49

The sound of the helicopter drifted across the open beach.

“Airborne tow truck to haul away our Nighthawk?” Paul suggested.

Joe scanned the horizon for the source of the clatter; he spied a black speck in the distance. “Not a heavy-lifter, by the sound of it. Something faster and more maneuverable.”

“Help maybe?”

“Even less likely,” Joe said. He could hear Urco’s men running around and making preparations. “But if it preoccupies our captors, I’ll take it.”

Joe considered whether this might be the moment to break free, but Emma’s return with two guards at her side quashed the idea.

“On your feet,” one of the guards said, waving a pistol.

Joe stood wearily. Paul did likewise.

The black speck continued to grow larger, and descend, as it came closer. It crossed the lake at two hundred feet and passed over the beach, whipping the tall grasses behind them into a swirling frenzy. It continued on, landing higher up on the plateau, several hundred feet away.

“Are we done standing at attention,” Paul asked, “or are we going to do something?”

Surprisingly, Emma replied, “Urco wants you and Joe to carry the containment units up to the plateau.”

“And if we go on strike?” Joe said.

“Please,” Emma said. “Just do as he asks.”

Joe could see the strain on her face. He also noticed that she stood behind the two guards, not in front of them. As if they were taking orders from her.

Reluctantly, Joe held out his hands. The man pulled a knife, slid it between Joe’s wrists and pulled upward. The zip tie broke with a sharp snap. So much for all his work weakening the plastic. No doubt, he’d have to start again.

Paul’s restraints were cut free as well and the two men followed Emma into the grass and up toward the Nighthawk. Urco’s men followed a few steps behind.

“You’ve earned their trust pretty quickly,” Joe whispered. “Tell me there’s a reason for that.”

“There is,” she said. “I’m doing whatever I can to avoid disaster.”

She went on to explain the situation as quickly as possible.

“You know it’s going to end badly,” Joe said.

“There are degrees of badly,” she said. “But it’s the lesser of two evils at this point.”

Joe understood her reasoning, but he wasn’t buying in. The lesser of all evils would be if they could escape, subdue or kill this madman and secure the mixed-state matter. A long shot, bu

t he still intended to pull it off.