One Rough Man - Brad Taylor [151]
Jennifer picked up a loose follow as soon as Carlos left the Internet café, staying on the opposite side of the street. When he increased his pace to a fast walk, closing in on the entrance to his hotel, Jennifer felt the anxiety in her stomach begin to skyrocket. Why hasn’t Pike called? What’s he doing? Carlos was one block away and about thirty seconds from getting so close that Pike couldn’t possibly leave without being seen. She kept his pace, almost forced to break into a trot, the speed of events ratcheting up her anxiety even further. She pulled out her cell phone, preparing to call Pike again, when she saw Carlos abruptly stop. She paused, watching closely. She saw Carlos spin around and take off running the way he had come.
Stunned, Jennifer looked down the street, trying to identify what had caused the reaction. She saw Pike standing next to his car talking to two other men, a second car idling next to him. She turned back to the terrorist, seeing him in a wild run, his pack flopping crazily on his back as he dodged through the foot traffic.
She watched him for a split second longer, then returned to Pike and the two strangers. She saw Pike drop his keys out of view of the men, then move toward the sedan in the middle of the street.
She felt light-headed, the crowds around her fading into the background, the pressure to make the right decision crushing her like a physical thing. Pike had said he hadn’t found the WMD, which meant that Carlos must be carrying it. And Carlos has seen Pike. He knows we’re after him. He was now running to parts unknown with a massive deathtrap on his back, under pressure to use it sooner rather than later.
She saw Pike get in the back of the sedan. She knew that the men who had him intended to kill him. Would kill him, possibly in the next few minutes. She watched the door close, frozen in place. What can I do about that? Nothing. In fact, they wanted her as well. Showing herself now, attempting some pathetic action to stop three trained killers from driving away with Pike, would only guarantee both their deaths. She felt a burning sense of helplessness.
She ran the choices through her mind, her brain working at the speed of light. What would Pike do? He wouldn’t dither back and forth. He’d make a decision and execute.
She began a fast walk in the direction of Carlos, knowing what Pike would tell her to do. Go after the terrorist. Save the many. Screw the few. Do what was best overall, not what you would like to do. She broke into a run, going through in her mind what she should do next, evaluating options for the surveillance and tracking of Carlos. She looked back the way she had come, watching the car make a U-turn and begin driving away from her.
She continued running, straining for a glimpse of Carlos to her front. She glanced back one more time, seeing the taillights of the car flash, watching it make a right turn out of sight. Her conviction faltered. Unbidden, she had a vision of Pike lying in a roadside ditch. Her mind superimposed the graphic violence she had witnessed in Guatemala over Pike’s visage, a nightmare flash in her mind of Pike’s head exploded open, brain matter and bone splattered on the ground, his eyes looking skyward, unseeing.
The image hit her with a physical blow, causing her vision to blur, her breath to catch in her chest. She slowed to a walk, the image burning into her soul. She turned around and began sprinting toward the Pajero. Fuck the terrorist. Someone else can stop him. She knew the decision might mean hundreds of people died, but there was only one death she cared about, and she would do what she could to stop it, no matter how insurmountable the odds.
Pike had talked of saving the many as the best course of action, that numbers alone decided the value of the effort, but that didn’t seem right anymore. It wasn’t just about numbers. Jennifer knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone would die today. Probably a great many people, including her. If Pike was standing when the smoke cleared, the sacrifice would be worth it.
BAKR PAUSED