If we have three more minutes, it’ll be a fucking miracle.
Shouts come from the other side of the overturned umbrella. “What the fuck is going on, Pritchard?” I ask.
“Leo’s providing…a diversion.”
The angry curses fade, replaced by the dull hum of a crowded market day, and Zephyr comes back online. “Okay. Here goes nothing. Clockwise from the top left, cut wire three, eight, two, six, and fivein that order. Fuck it up, and it’ll blow.”
Austin snorts over comms. “No pressure.”
I can’t tear my gaze away from the circuit board. “Get the hell out of here, Griff. Take the kid. And tell Lisette—”
He backs away and takes Philippe’s arm, helping him up and leading him back toward the market. “I’m not your answering service, Nomar. Tell her yourself.”
“I love you, Philippe,” Amelie says. “Always.”
The boy doesn’t want to go, and tugs against Griff’s hold, but disappears around the umbrella with a shrieked, “Maman!”
“It’s going to be okay, Amelie.” Fuck, I wish I believed my own words. Nothing will ever be okay again until Lisette and Mateen are safe. “Deep breath in with me. Good. Let it out slowly. Here we go.”
The scissors are both too bigandtoo small, but I maneuver them around the shielded wire.
Lisette, I’m coming for you. I promise.
The subtleclickis one of the sweetest sounds I’ve ever heard. “Three. Check. Moving onto eight.”
Two, six, and five fall without incident, and the glowing light on the circuit board winks out. My ass hits the ground. The multi-tool clatters across the concrete. “Zephyr? What now?”
“Cut the belt and get to the transpo,” she says. “If it didn’t blow by now…”
“Holy shit. Did you haveanyidea if that was going to work?” Austin asks.
“Nope. But it did. I’ll send you the bill for those two new servers I’ve had my eye on. Or is Nomar paying for this one?”
I retrieve the tool, slice through the black nylon cinched tight around Amelie’s waist, and offer her my hand. “All done. Let’s get out of here.”
* * *
Lisette
A bead of sweat rolls down my back. I force my heavy lids open, but the sun burns my eyes, and I clamp them shut again.
Why is it so hot?
Fabric rustles as I shift my legs. Something is different. Wrong. I try opening my eyes again—only to slits—but do not see the light blue of my burka.
Panic tightens my chest. Someone…undressed me. Rough pants cling to my legs. I can feel my bra. But I have no shirt under the heavy black burka. The mesh over my eyes is askew. My entire body is soaked with sweat. Raziq’s men did this. After they drugged me.
How long has it been? Where is Nomar?
My eyes are adjusting, and I raise a hand to shield them.
“I hope you enjoy the view,” Raziq says. “From this far up, you can see all the way to the mountains.”
Up?
I scramble to my feet. The world spins around me. I am too dizzy to remain upright. Stumbling away from Raziq—or where I think he is, as my vision is still blurry—I slam into a railing and start to fall forward. The metal burns my hands.
With a scream, I stare at the ground far below.
