Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [76]
They headed out into the corridor. Cole looked down at the dead guard and scowled. “I wanted to kill that guy myself. Talk about a sadist.”
“No need now. We’ve got to get out of here. I’ve taken out three guards so far and my actions won’t stay hidden for long.”
“You got three of them? You’ve been busy.”
They headed toward the lower level of the cavern. Annja led the way. “I saw a submarine from the catwalk. And there are two sharks. They must be submarines, as well.”
“Of a type,” Cole said. “But I think they’re here specifically to scare the hell out of anyone who stays in this area.”
“You have any idea what’s going on?”
Cole shook his head. “Not a clue. For some reason, though, the gas they used didn’t completely knock me out, so I was pretty aware when they unloaded me from the shark.”
“You must have been surprised when the shark swallowed you up only to find that it wasn’t real.”
Cole almost chuckled. “You could say that. I imagine you were the same way, obviously.” He frowned. “But how the hell did you get swallowed up?”
“Long story,” Annja said. “Let’s just say that after I saw you presumably killed, I was more than a little bit upset with that shark. The next time it came around, I decided to take it on and that’s when it happened.”
“Take it on?” Cole shook his head. “You make it sound like it was some back-alley fight.”
“Yeah, I know. Pretty insane, right?”
“Sounds like it.” Cole smiled. “I’m glad you’re here, though.”
“Well, we’re not out of the woods just yet. We need to get one of those submarines and disappear before someone finds out that we didn’t think too highly of our accommodations.”
They passed the second guard Annja had killed with the kick to the head and Cole whistled. “Impressive.”
“Necessary,” Annja said. “Let’s leave it at that if we could. I’m not what I would consider a bloodthirsty woman. But if need be I can do the deed.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Cole said.
“Done.”
They ran down the slope toward the lower level. Annja thought she heard noises behind them, but she couldn’t risk looking back.
“Something tells me that our advantage of surprise may be up,” Cole said.
“You might be right.” Annja felt certain she heard footsteps pounding the stone corridor behind them. No doubt reinforcements had come in from the catwalk. “Dammit,” she said.
“What?”
She stopped running. “Your cell.”
“What about it?” Cole asked.
Annja shook her head. “I can’t believe I forgot. You were probably under surveillance just like I was. They had a camera in there. And the light was on. They know you’re out and they know I’m out, too.”
“That’s not good.” Cole looked behind them. The sounds were growing louder. “How do you want to handle this?”
Annja checked the magazine on her gun and saw that it was full. She slapped it back and pulled the charging handle. “Only one way to play it as far as I’m concerned. I wasn’t born to be someone’s prisoner.”
Cole nodded. “Good. Let’s do this.”
Annja pointed behind them. “We’ll be sandwiched between two sides if we keep going to the lower level.”
Cole nodded. “Then let’s do what they don’t expect. Let’s meet these guys head-on and hit them before they can do the same to us.”
“Good plan,” Annja agreed.
They turned and ran back up the slope. The sound of boots tramping down the corridor was clear. Annja saw shadows coming at them. Three by the look of it.
She waved Cole to her side and they both dropped to their stomachs. From the prone position, they would at least have a small advantage.
The guards rounded the corner.
“Now!” Annja said.
She and Cole opened fire.
30
The bullets struck the three guards running down the sloped corridor. By the time they recognized the ambush, it was already too late. Annja fired tight, controlled bursts the way she’d been taught by an old friend who had served in special operations. She raked the three guards and noticed that Cole seemed equally adept with his gun.
The guards went down under the hail of gunfire.
Annja was up and checking them to make