“Kilo-seven-nine-three-one-four-delta-three,” the man from the car replied, his voice deep, with an Akkadian accent.
Sean was still about ten yards from the vehicle, moving slowly forward, but he stopped as Bash darted forward, a blur of motion in the dark, and tackled the driver to the ground.
He didn’t know if the driver was caught by surprise, but the man didn’t struggle as Bash rammed into him, then rolled, coming up in a kneeling position on the man’s back. The lights of the SUV showed a grim expression on Bash’s face as he wrenched the man’s arms behind his back, and Sean hurried up.
“What’s happened?” Sean asked. “Did he give the wrong code?”
“Right code, wrong man,” Bash replied harshly. He yanked back hard on the man’s arms, and Sean heard the prisoner gasp in pain. “We’ve been compromised, but I’m sure my employer will be interested in finding out how it happened.”
Sean was confused, and he stepped closer. “How can you be sure?” he wanted to know, then his eyes widened as the man on the ground raised his head, and Sean was looking into the face of none other than Mansur bin Faisal.
Bash smiled grimly. “Understand now?” He tugged Mansur’s arms up again, and this time, Mansur muttered grimly in Akkadian, something about stupid grunts that Sean didn’t completely catch. Then Mansur looked at Sean.
“I am not your enemy, Mishaan, despite what Mr. Chase seems to believe,” he said. “I came to help you — both of you.”
Sean was trying to wrap his mind around Mansur’s claim when he noticed Bash had gone still.
“How do you know my name?” Bash demanded. There was a harsh edge to his voice that made the question itself a threat. “Tell me right now or I will put you down.”
Mansur’s lips twisted. “I knew your name before you were even captured, Sebastian. Nick sends his greetings, and the bastard owes me a hundred dollars. I told him you would be unreasonable, but he said he thought you’d matured enough that you’d listen before attacking.”
Sean watched Bash’s lips twist, but he didn’t let Mansur up. “You could have intercepted the phone call I made for extraction or gotten the information some other way.”
Mansur rolled his eyes. “The emergency code is alpha-nine-nine-six-omega-seven-one,” he said. “Do you believe me now?”
For a moment, Sean wondered if Bash had turned to stone, but then he released Mansur’s arms and slowly rose to his feet, taking several wary steps back.
“No sudden moves,” Bash said darkly. “I’m reserving judgement until you tell me what the fuck is going on.”
Sean hurried to Bash’s side; he felt safer having Bash close. He could feel the coiled tension in Bash’s posture, as though Bash was poised to attack Mansur again at the slightest provocation.
“I’d like an explanation as well,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I don’t see how you aren’t my enemy when you helped my grandfather hold me hostage for the last four months!”
Mansur rose to his feet, wincing as he brushed sand from his palms. “A full explanation will need to wait for another time, but suffice to say, I am well acquainted with Sebastian’s employer.” Mansur smiled grimly. “Or do you perhaps wonder how Nick knew the terrorists were holding a man and his family in a house in the middle of nowhere?”
Bash was silent for a time. “You’re going to explain, but I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you.” He looked at Sean. “You’re going to drive us to Turkey. Mansur and I will take the back seat so I can keep him from hurting you. Can you do that?”
“Of course,” Sean replied. He, too, had no trust for Mansur, but he didn’t want Bash to feel forced to kill the man in cold blood. There was no doubt in his mind that despite Mansur’s size and reputation, Bash — short for Sebastian, he realized — could deal with any threat Mansur presented. After the things he’d see Bash do, Sean thought there were few situations in the world Bash couldn’t handle.
“I’m going to search you,” Bash said, stepping toward Mansur, who nodded. Bash patted him down thoroughly. “There’s not much I can do if he has an implanted GPS tracker, but I’m going to hope we can be across the border before anyone could catch up.”
“If I wanted you dead or recaptured, I would hardly have come alone,” Mansur pointed out.
“Yeah, and there could be an entire division of your army lying in wait for us over the hill,” Bash retorted. “You would know we aren’t armed, and you probably think you could kill me before I kill you. You’d be wrong about that, but I’m sure you don’t believe it.”
“I believe it,” Mansur said. “Your reputation precedes you, Sebastian.”
Bash didn’t answer, but he motioned Mansur to the car. “Head northwest and keep driving,” he said to Sean. Reaching out, Bash gave Sean’s shoulder a supportive squeeze. “We’ll be safe soon, whether or not Mansur is telling the truth. No matter what, you aren’t going back to your grandfather’s clutches.”
“Thank you,” Sean said softly. He watched as Mansur got into the rear seat and Bash slipped in next to him. Then he slid into the driver’s seat, fastened the seatbelt, then put the SUV in gear. There was a compass on the rear-view mirror, and he set off in the direction Bash had indicated, wondering if they’d make it to safety, or if things could get any stranger than they already were.
Given everything that had happened since Bash had come into his life, Sean figured he would be smart to bet on stranger — and to his surprise, he found he didn’t mind.
9
For several minutes after Sean took the wheel, Bash stared at Mansur, wondering if the man was trying to put something over on him. While Bash knew Fortress had contacts in high places all over the world, it seemed strange that Nick wouldn’t have said something to him about Mansur before sending Bash into the country. He understood operational security, and it was standard practice not to tell operators more than what they needed for their immediate mission, but things would have been a hell of a lot easier if he’d known that one of the men closest to the King was a Fortress asset.
If, in fact, Mansurwasan asset.
