Shiva (61 page)

Rebecca complied. The die was cast. Brandt couldn
’
t do anything to stop her. What was her plan? She had one, right? She had to have one
.
One that was better than a shoot
-
out in an enclosed stone church.

“
The girl,
”
Walt said, his hand out.

Talli
,
though
,
wouldn
’
t let go of the girl.
“
Talli…
”
Brandt warned.
“
Give her over.
”

“
No,
”
the man said
,
shaking his head vigorously.

Great. Perfect time for Talli to get all brave.

“
I
’
m done,
”
the sniper said
,
still ducked down under the window.

“
Just give me the girl,
”
Walt warned.

But Talli just kept shaking his head.
“
I want out.
”

Wha
t the hell was he talking about?
“
Out of what?
”
Brandt asked.

Surprisingly
,
Talli turned to Walt.
“
I want out.
”
Talli pointed to Brandt and Rebecca.
“
They are insane. You said you would pull me whenever I asked.
”

“
Pull you?
”
Brandt growled, a bitter realization growing. One he didn
’
t want to admit, but one that made a whole lot of sense.
“
Talli, you fucking traitor.
”

Walt sighed.
“
If it is any consolation
,
that is not
Talli
.
”

Brandt nearly got clipped by a bullet as he just stood there. Re
becca tugged Brandt back, jarring
him out of his shock.

“
Then who the fuck is he?
”
Brandt demanded.

“
It is a long story, chap, told over a warm beer.
”

“
Try me,
now
,
”
Brandt said
,
clutching his gun as the Disciples
’
bullets
began chipping away at another window. Damn
,
how he wanted to
take Talli down
right about now. Consequences be damned. You would think after being betrayed so often it would take the sting out of it. Think again.

Walt sighed.
“
Ibel here was SRR on a joint mission with Talli
’
s unit in Dakuh.
”

“
SRR?
”
Brandt repeated.
“
You
’
ve got to be fucking kidding me. They are surveillance personnel. You sent me out into the field with a
fake
sniper?
”

“
Honestly, chap
,
I didn
’
t mean to. Ibel was just there. Talli and the rest were killed. Talli had no family
.
”
The Brit sounded almost remorseful.
Almost
.
“
We had
the perfect opportunity to insert one of ours into the American Special Forces. You would have done the same.
”

Brandt snorted.
“
Send you out without perimeter support?
Have you fucking lost your mind?
”
And here he thought he knew Vanderwalt.

“
Now,
wait,
”
Walt retorted.
“
We were going to have him fake an injury to get him off sniper duty, but
you
requested him.
”

“
Because he was
graded an A-
one
sniper, you jack
ass.
”

“
Yes, well…
”
Walt conceded.
“
That was unfortunate.
”

All of the various
scenarios played out in Brandt
’
s mind. How fucking frequently Talli
’
s lack of skills
had
endangered their lives. Rebecca
’
s life. Vakasa
’
s life. Walt had played Russian roulette with them all.

“
But now we must be off,
”
Vanderwalt announced
,
waving Talli and Vakasa over to him.
“
My men will have shoot
-
on
-
sight orders
,
so give us a two minute head start
.
T
hen you can blend in with the crowd.
”

What crowd?

Before Brandt could
ask
, Levont chimed in.
“
But wait. I don
’
t get it.
”
The beefy point man turned to Talli.
“
Why do you want to leave the team?
”

“
Levont…
”

“
What?
I mean
,
really
,
why
?
”

Walt waved the question away and ushered Talli and Vakasa down the hallway. Rebecca took a step forward. Brandt grabbed her by the wrist
,
but it turned out he didn
’
t need to.

“
Vakasa,
”
she said
,
“
w
e are right behind you.
”

The girl smiled, holding Talli
’
s hand.
“
Ta-ta.
”

She then skipped on after Vanderwalt
, heedless of the danger she was in.

This was going to be the longest
120
seconds of his fucking life.

* * *

Rebecca ducked her head as the sniper punched through another window. He peppered the wall with shots. Although
,
none seemed necessarily aimed at them. Weird.

“
One hundred fifteen,
”
Levont counted down.

You could te
ll each second was eating at the point man
.
H
e itched to move out
. But not more than Brandt. He wouldn
’
t look at her. Wouldn
’
t hold her hand. Wouldn
’
t talk about it. He
’
d gone full-
on caveman mode. There was his job
,
and then there was
“
making things right.
”
She didn
’
t care about any of that. She only cared about that little girl she
’
d made a promise to.

“
One hundred twenty,
”
Levont announced
as he burst through the door
and headed down the hallway Vanderwalt had taken. Three of the team,
now
down from five. It didn
’
t feel right
,
yet they rapidly found what must have been a storage room. A trapdoor was propped open. At the least
,
Vanderwalt hadn
’
t been lying about that.

Levont shone his light down the rickety staircase.
“
Looks a little sketchy.
”

Rebecca shook her head, urging him down.
“
It was built during World War
Two
,
”
she explained
,
but Brandt still frowned.
“
While Spain was essentially neutral, it became a massive underground for Jews escaping from Eastern Europe.
”
When neither man seemed to get it, she continued.
“
And while the Vatican was also supposedly neutral, Catholic churches were a major sanctuary and transfer stations. Now
,
can we go?
”

Brandt gave the nod
,
and Levont headed down.
“
Clear, at least as far as I can see.
”

Rebecca hurried down the rickety stairs
,
with Brandt on her heel
s
. The tunnel stretched out
into the distance
. Levont started at a quick walk, then picked it up to a trot. Rebecca breathed in the stale air through her nose and out through her mouth. It seemed like they were running into oblivion
,
as the tunnel just kept stretching out f
a
rther and f
a
rther away from the church. Exactly how far was the exit? Then as light could be seen f
a
rther down
,
Levont kicked them up into an all
-
out run, only slowing as they reached a door, cracked open an inch.

Even though the men barely seemed taxed, Rebecca was winded, trying to catch her breath as Levont tested the door. A strange roar came from the other side. The point man jerked open the door
,
revealing…well
,
the crowd that Vanderwalt
had
promised them.

All of the missing people were
here
, at the center of the town. They were shouting and waving Spanish flags in
the air. Like she had guessed. I
t must
have
be
en
some Spanish holiday. Which clea
rly everyone and his brother were
attending.

“
Time to get lost in the crowd,
”
Brandt stated
,
urging her toward the revelers. He then whispered in her ear.
“
Tell me you know where they are taking her.
”

Rebecca just nodded. There was no time to explain. Just to escape.

CHAPTER 24

═══════════
═══════

Cuellar, Spain

6:4
1
p
.
m
.
(
CEST
)

Davidson watched through his scope as the sniper took shot after shot
at the rounded church
. Sure
,
the guy was good, but he certainly wasn
’
t the only thing keeping Brandt and the others
inside
. Davidson would have bet money, even if they couldn
’
t find the matching cross with the map,
that
Brand
t wouldn
’
t have stayed inside the church for
more than a few minutes.

Something was wrong. Unfortunately
,
Davidson had no idea what it was or how to help. Instead
,
he had concentrated on the conundrum in front of him. The Disciples
’
sniper hadn
’
t bothered with Davidson at all. Of course
,
Davidson hadn
’
t fired at him
,
either. Mainly because it seemed that
the other sniper wanted him to, almost baiting him to take a shot.

And there it was. Davidson found the tiniest glint of metal in a tree across the way. That wasn
’
t a sniper up there. A sniper
’
s scope had antireflective
gel
and the rifle itself a black matte coating
. Nope, that was just a plain old
mercenary out in those woods. Probably more than one. Probably more like four or five.