Temple of the Gods - Andy McDermott [57]
Scarber followed, coming closer to him. ‘There are two people. One of them is only interested in seeing your wife dead – you’re not even on his radar. It’s the other who has a personal grievance.’
‘Who?’
‘Victor Dalton.’
The name sent a shock running through him. Victor Dalton – the ex-President of the United States. The man who two years earlier had tried to have Eddie and Nina killed to cover up his involvement in a conspiracy, and in return had been forced to resign from office in utter humiliation when a video of him having sex with Eddie’s ex-wife Sophia Blackwood hit the Internet.
Which would explain his grudge, certainly.
‘Dalton?’ echoed Eddie, stunned.
Scarber took her hand from the bullet wound. ‘Hell of a thing, huh, kiddo?’
All kinds of questions sprang to his mind, but one was far and away at the head of the list. ‘So who’s the other per—’
A flat snick, and Scarber’s hand suddenly slashed at his throat. He instinctively whipped up his gun arm to block it – then jumped back with a pained yell as something stabbed into his forearm. Before he could recover, another swipe knocked the Smith & Wesson from his hand with a clack of metal against metal.
The former agent still had a trick up her sleeve – literally. A slender blade jutted out from beneath her wrist: a spring-loaded weapon strapped to her arm. She jabbed it at Eddie’s face again, forcing him to stumble back or be blinded.
The approaching train was now much nearer, racing towards them at full speed, but Scarber’s focus was entirely on the fallen gun. She bent to retrieve it, then whirled and pointed it at Eddie—
He drove a fearsome spin-kick into her stomach, sending her flying backwards – into the path of the oncoming train.
The whump as its pointed prow hit her at a hundred and eighty miles per hour was audible even over the thunder of motors and the scream of displaced air. The shinkansen’s white nose suddenly became a bright red.
Eddie dropped to the concrete, shielding his ears as the train blasted past. Even if the driver reacted instantly to the collision and slammed on the emergency brakes, it would still take a mile for the express to come to a stop. The moment the rearmost car passed, he hurried back to collect the bag, then ran for the end of the viaduct. With two bullet trains now halted and bodies littering the scene, a major police operation would soon begin, and he needed as big a head start as possible.
Once he was clear, though, he knew his next step. He had to get back to the United States.
And deal with Victor Dalton.
11
Rome
Returning to New York via Italy hadn’t been Nina’s plan, but she had been left with more than enough time while waiting to deal with the Japanese authorities to think about the full implications of the events in the Takashi building.
Foremost on her mind was her husband. Three months without even an attempt to communicate, then he appeared out of the blue? She didn’t know whether to be overjoyed or furious – though his accusing her of being in league with Stikes tipped her feelings a little towards the latter.
Stikes’s presence was itself a concern. She was sure Takashi had lied about the mercenary’s being a mere delivery boy; he was involved with whatever was going on. As for what that might be, though . . .
Could she believe Takashi’s claims about the goals of his mysterious organisation? That Stikes was connected to it at all made her doubt its true commitment to ending global conflict, for a start – as a gun for hire, his livelihood depended on that. But someone else was opposed enough to take action to stop him. Drastic action. The helicopter attack had been intended to kill her, Takashi and Stikes alike.
And Eddie. Somebody wanted him dead too. But why? What was the connection?
The statues were the key, she was sure.
Takashi had known what to expect when the figures were brought together. But nothing Nina knew of suggested even remotely that the statues could use the planet’s own energy fields to counter the force of gravity – to say nothing of her extraordinary mental experience.