The Devil's Triangle (A Brit in the FBI 4)

Ajax laughed. “Go ahead, do your best, but you can’t stop it. You can’t stop anything, you don’t know how. I was worried there for a minute, but I see I fixed it—the hurricane is still headed where I set it to go. There’s no stopping it now, particularly by a stupid cop like you.” He pointed at the screen, where the huge storm spun, gathering more and more force. “The outer bands will hit the coast in a little over an hour. Two hours and Washington, D.C., will be leveled by the hurricane, your government will cease to exist, all your people will be killed. And you think you can stop it? You can’t, all you can do is watch it happen. How does that make you feel, Agent Drummond?”

Mike laughed. “You don’t realize who you’re taunting, Ajax. Nicholas is as much a computer expert as your grandfather. He can do anything.”

Nicholas wanted to smile at her incredible show of confidence in him, or bravado, he didn’t know which, but he didn’t, he kept eye contact with Ajax. Ajax was coming closer, and he let him. When Ajax was ten feet away, Nicholas knew he couldn’t let him get any closer. Even with that old Colt, it was possible he’d shoot him dead. He turned and slammed his hands down onto the main computer keyboard. The lights went out and the screens went blank and Nicholas was typing as fast as he could, shutting down the generator.

But the darkness only lasted another second. The lights came sputtering back on. Yeah, he was a real computer expert.

Cassandra came running into the control center as Ajax charged toward Nicholas, firing wildly. “No!”

Mike shot once, twice, at Ajax, missed him. Cassandra yelled and Mike turned and shot at her, but Cassandra ducked away. Nicholas yelled to Mike, “I’ve got this, get her.”

Before she ran after Cassandra, Mike turned and very deliberately aimed her Glock and caressed the trigger. Ajax’s Colt went flying out of his hand, hitting against a computer screen and spinning across the floor, nearly to Amos’s side. “I’ve got it!” Amos shouted.

Ajax cursed in English, then in Italian, and he was running toward Nicholas. Nicholas jumped to his left as Ajax came at him, beyond himself now with rage. Nicholas saw blood dripping from his hand. Mike had gotten more than the Colt.

Nicholas ducked and weaved and got himself to the other side of the main computer station and into the open room. Ajax drew up and grinned. “I won boxing matches, I could have gone pro. You think you’re so big and strong—you’re nothing to me.” He ran toward Nicholas, fists up, swerving, dancing lightly on his feet. Nicholas ducked a sharp punch.

“Sorry, mate, there are no Queensbury rules here.” Nicholas was on him, hit him with a left, a right, two forearm blocks, and a hard kick to the leg just above Ajax’s knee, then he spun to the left, his hands a blur as he rained blows upon Ajax’s face and neck. Ajax stumbled but he didn’t give up. He grabbed Jason’s chair, threw it at Nicholas. Nicholas moved quickly to his left, and the chair spun away, crashed into the bank of computer consoles.

“You’ll have to do better than that.” Nicholas wiggled his fingers at him. “Well, come on, you puking little nutter, let’s get this over with.”

>

Ajax moved fast, and Nicholas saw a glint of silver. He had a knife and wasn’t that a nice surprise? Nicholas hated knives, nearly impossible to come away uncut.

He let Ajax come closer, closer, let him jab out with the knife, and once, twice, three times, he managed to jump back at the last second. When Ajax stabbed out again, his arm fully extended, Nicholas leaped forward, caught his wrist between his hands, and twisted, hard. Ajax’s forearm snapped, the knife clattered to the floor. Nicholas kicked it away, then landed a hard right to Ajax’s face, splitting his cheek open. Then a spinning kick to the broken forearm. Ajax went down, hard, and hit his shoulder on the computer console. Nicholas kicked him in the head as he fell. The younger man’s head snapped back, his neck at an odd angle, and when he landed on his back, his eyes stared unseeing up at Nicholas. The fight had lasted only a minute or two, and he’d managed not to get cut. Nicholas straightened. “Amos, he’s dead. How is Kohath?”

Amos was staring at him. “I’ve never seen anyone fight like that outside of a movie.”

“Yes, well. You’d be surprised what you can do when your life’s threatened. How’s he doing?”

“Holding on, but we need to get him out of here soon.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” And he ran toward the hall where he’d seen Mike disappear after Cassandra just as Grant Thornton came running into the control center. Nicholas recognized him instantly.

Grant took in Ajax’s dead body on the floor. “You’re Drummond. Follow me, we have to hurry. It’s Kitsune. Oh, yes, I’m Grant Thornton, and I know who you are, Nicholas Drummond.” He turned and ran back into the dark passageway, Nicholas on his heels. He saw Grant helping Mike back onto her feet.

Nicholas grabbed her arms, shook her. “Mike, are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m okay, really. Cassandra was hidden around a corner with a big block of wood in her hand. She clocked me when I got into range. Are we secure? Did you stop the hurricane?”

“I did all I could, but I don’t know. Ajax is dead. Grant, where’s Kitsune?”

“Up ahead. She’s still trying to open the vault. Cassandra will be nearby. I took out the guards and followed the fight. Thanks for coming for us. I was worried no one would ever find us, but Kitsune never doubted you’d come to us in time.”

Mike said, “We’ll pray we’re in time. Now we have to stop Cassandra.”

“The vault, it’s lined with explosives and Kitsune is trying to get it open with a bloody stethoscope. If she doesn’t open it”—he stared down at his watch—“in four and a half minutes, she’ll be dead. I’m going to kill that crazy bitch, then we’ll get Kitsune and get out of this death trap.”

Grant took off down the passageway, Nicholas and Mike behind him. Mike called out, “Why didn’t Kitsune run? Cassandra and Ajax were both in the control room.”

Grant shouted over his shoulder, “Cassandra told her she’d kill me if Kitsune didn’t get the vault open. Kitsune believed her. You know Cassandra will be in there, probably with a gun on my wife.

“Before I clocked my guards, I overheard Kitsune shouting out she’d already dialed in the first two numbers. There’s four to the combination, she’s halfway there.”

Nicholas said with absolute conviction. “She’ll do it.”

Grant turned then, grinned widely. “She told me about you two, told me how you managed to bring her down. And it’s obvious you know how talented she is. I don’t think there’s a vault in the world that can keep her out.”