The Judas Strain - James Rollins [113]
“He said…one of his students…”
“He was lying. Nasser told him. The bastard followed the same trail I did. Used Balthazar to recruit you into solving the riddle.”
Vigor sank to the stairs, covering his face.
Seichan turned to Gray. He stood a step away, eyes glazed, reconfiguring all the morning’s events in light of the revelation. He must have sensed Seichan’s attention.
“Then Nasser knew we were trying to betray him,” Gray said. “He knew we had the first key. He knows everything.”
“Not necessarily.” Seichan pulled Vigor up by the shoulder and shoved Gray toward the church. “It was why I had to take him out. I don’t think he had the time to call Nasser after he left you. I took him out before he got the chance and made things worse.”
“Worse?” Gray stopped, refusing to move, his eyes furious. “You could have captured him. We could have used him against Nasser. There were a thousand options!”
“All of them too risky!” Seichan stepped closer, walking into the fire. “Get this through your thick skull, Gray. Nasser’s plan, our plans…they’re all screwed. It’s clean slate time here. And we have to act now.”
His face darkened as anger boiled up. Even his eyes turned stormy. “When the bastard finds out what you did…what we did…you just got my parents killed!”
She cut him off with a resounding slap to the face, knocking him back a step. Stunned, he lunged at her. She didn’t resist. He collared her. His other hand a fist.
She kept her voice calm against his storm. “With that bastard dead, we have a small window of confusion here. We must take advantage of it.”
“But my folks—”
She kept her voice even. “Gray, they’re already dead.”
The fist tangled in her shirt trembled. His face constricted tight, red and agonized. His eyes searched her, needing someone to blame.
“And if they’re not dead,” she continued, “if he’s keeping them alive as extra insurance, then we have only one hope here.”
Gray’s hand dropped from her throat but remained clenched.
“We’ll need a big bargaining chip,” she continued. “Equal to the weight of your parents’ lives.”
In his eyes, she could see the rage beginning to subside, the tide going out, the words finally sinking in. “And the second key alone won’t do it.”
She shook her head. “We need to go silent. Have Vigor pull his cell phone battery so that it’s not tracked.”
“But how will Nasser reach us?”
“It’s time we took that control from him.”
“But when he tries to call us…?”
“Nasser will be furious. He may hurt one or both of your folks, maybe even kill one. But until he finds us, he’ll keep one alive. He’s not a fool. And that is our only hope.”
Vigor’s phone began to ring. Everyone froze a breath. Then Vigor slipped it out of his pocket. He glanced to the caller ID, swallowed, and passed it to Gray.
He took it. “Nasser,” he confirmed.
“Speak of the devil,” Seichan hissed. “One of the snipers must have called him. Needing to get further instructions. It’s probably the only reason they haven’t stormed the place already. Killing Balthazar caught them off guard. This is the only window we have.”
Gray stared down at the phone.
Seichan waited.
How strong was this man?
2:04 P.M.
GRAY’S FINGERS REFUSED to move, clamped around the phone.
It vibrated and rang again.
He could almost feel the fury emanating out of it, an anger ready to be unleashed against his mother and father. He wanted desperately to answer it: to scream, to beg, to curse, to bargain.
But he had no leverage.
Not yet.
“Nasser must still be in midflight,” Gray finally mumbled to the phone.
“Due to touch down in five hours,” Seichan agreed.
Gray let a coldness wash through him, but his fingers tightened harder. “Up in the air, he’ll hesitate to make any major decisions. He’ll wait until his feet are on the ground before making a final assessment.”
“And if he hasn’t heard from you by then…”
Gray couldn’t say the words. He only nodded his confirmation. Nasser would kill his parents. He won’t wait any longer than that. He’ll punish Gray and move on to a new strategy.