They were barred from the airport while the government executed a manhunt for the president’s killer—and while Niall’s killers were likely still targeting them.
“What do we do?” Winter asked. His head had turned back in the direction they’d come.
Sydney realized right away that he was looking for the police car to reappear. It was this gesture that snapped her mind back into focus. She touched Tems once on his shoulder. “We need a place to hide,” she said, “and make contact with Sauda.”
“Thought Panacea phones had an encrypted booster?” Tems said.
“They do.” She waved the phone once impatiently. “This isn’t a standard blackout.”
Tems nodded as he glanced over his shoulder. “Hold tight,” he muttered.
Sydney braced herself right as Tems slammed his foot down on thepedal. The car screamed in reverse out of the airfield’s narrow entrance road, spinning in a tight circle before jerking forward down the street.
“Where can we go?” Winter asked.
“We stay in the car for now,” Sydney said as she tried once again to dial out on her phone. “Comeon!”
At last, an incoming message popped up on her screen from an unknown source.
Name?it said.
Jackal, Sydney typed back.
The message disappeared, and a second later, a hologram appeared of Sauda. The woman looked like she was deep in conversation with someone out of frame—until the call connected, and her eyes snapped over to Sydney as if the woman were sitting in the car between her and Tems.
With a sinking feeling, Sydney realized that Sauda hadn’t heard about Niall yet.
The first thing Sauda did was swivel her gaze to Tems. “Oh, good,” she said coolly, annoyed. “I’m glad you got ahold of the Arsonist, so that we can scold him properly once we get you all back to the States. We can’t land your plane. Working on an alternative. Is Niall driving? Put him on.”
Tems had no retort. They all answered with silence—and in that silence, Sauda’s expression changed, sobered. She looked at Sydney. “What’s happened?” she said.
“It’s Niall,” Sydney said. The rest of her sentence halted as her voice choked off, and she had to swallow hard to get past the tears rising in her eyes. “It’s Niall, ma’am,” she could only manage.
She didn’t need to say the details. She didn’t need to tell Sauda exactly what had happened. Sauda knew immediately what she meant.
For a moment, her expression froze. Her eyes flickered from Sydney to Tems, as if searching for confirmation, or perhaps some hint that Niall was alive, that she had misunderstood.
But they said nothing.
“How?” Sauda finally said, her voice low and still.
“Car explosion,” Tems replied as Sydney struggled for more words. “As we were trying to escape.”
Their answers sounded so disjointed, so messy. “Another car smashed into Niall’s as he tried to pick us up,” Sydney finally managed to say. “We couldn’t get him out.”
Sauda nodded, more to herself than to them. Her lips had straightened into a thin line. Sydney could see a gloss against her eyes, although the woman didn’t cry. “Okay,” she murmured. “Okay.”
“I’m sorry, Sauda,” Sydney whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
Sauda glanced around the car again, her eyes settling on Winter. She nodded, acknowledging that all three of them were together, before turning back to Sydney with a sober expression.
“Asset’s down,” Sydney added. She knew Sauda would understand her real meaning.President Rosen was dead.
Sauda nodded. “We can’t land the plane,” she repeated. “We reached Singapore’s airspace right as the assassination happened. They’re scrambling phone towers. We’d actually gone into descent before we were forced back into the skies. All passports are currently suspended. No timeline on when airports will reopen.”
“What about in the US?” Winter asked.
“News just went public about the president’s assassination,” Sauda replied. The woman seemed to be speaking in a daze, as if she hadn’t quite processed Niall’s death. Maybe none of them had. “We’ll work on making sure the American government doesn’t have you on their hit list—but we can’t help you in Singapore, not yet. Singapore will suspect any US intelligence agent right now, given the political nature of this attack.”
