He sped back the way they’d come, blowing through another stoplight.
“Make a right!” she shouted at him. “Right!” She’d studied the map long enough before they came this way—if Tems didn’t make a turn soon,he’d take them too far from the airfield. But he must not have heard her, because he kept going.
Then, suddenly, he braked hard.
Down the road from them came two more soldiers on motorbikes, rifles pointed in their direction.
Without warning, Tems swung down from the motorbike. He gave Sydney a hard look, then motioned for her to scoot forward on the bike. For her to go on.
“Go!” he shouted.
Sydney froze for a fraction of a second, watching in disbelief as Tems walked out to the middle of the road and held his hands up. He met her hesitation with another glare, one full of fire. Ahead of him, the two soldiers began to slow. As one of them swung off his bike, Tems broke his façade of surrender. He rushed at the soldier, knocking him off his feet with a well-placed blow to the neck. As the man fell, Tems grabbed his rifle.
“Do me a favor, sweetheart,” he called over his shoulder. “And get the hell out of here!”
In a flash, she recalled when he’d told her what had happened in Stockholm.
A friend of mine on the mission was killed that night.
Was she going to lose someone else today?
Sydney couldn’t afford to waste any more of the time that Tems was buying her. She scooted forward on the bike, then revved the engine hard and jerked forward. She had to get to Winter, make sure he was secure. Behind her, Tems raced for the second police motorbike.
Sydney veered the bike sharply around and, with the two soldiers distracted, zoomed down the road in the direction that they had come. She glanced over her shoulder one more time, expecting to see Tems on the bike behind her—
But he wasn’t. Instead, his head was turned in the direction of twomore soldiers blocking his path. He hadn’t reached the motorbike, and now he was surrounded.
Sydney was about to turn the bike around for him when she saw him give her an angry shake of his head. A second later, one of the soldiers struck him in the chin with the butt of his rifle. She saw Tems go down.
Every ounce of her screamed to go back for him. But she gritted her teeth and turned to face the road again. They would take Tems in alive, for questioning. And it would do neither of them any good if she were to get arrested with him.
So she hardened her heart, and fled alone.
27Those Who Know Us Best
By the time Winter arrived at the airfield, the jet that Claire had commissioned to pick him up was already waiting and idling on the tarmac.
“Are you sure you can be here alone?” the officer asked as he rushed out of the car.
Winter nodded and pointed his head toward the plane. “Yes,” he replied. “I’ll do customs on board the plane. Thank you so much for the ride.” He frowned in concern. “Will you be okay heading back? It was a firestorm back there.”
“Part of our job,” the officer said, but fear was written across his face. He looked at his car. “I don’t know how you ended up in this mess, but get out of here as soon as you can.”
Winter let out a long breath. “Yes, sir.”
The officer seemed like he was already regretting leaving his team for so long. He looked at him a second longer. “Your manager meeting you here?” he asked.
“No. Claire’s still in Singapore. She wants me out first. She’s staying at the embassy for now.”
“Right.” Still, the officer wouldn’t leave. Instead, he lingered.
Winter felt the tension building in his chest. He gave the man as polite a smile as he could. “I’ll be all right,” he reassured him. “Truly.”
The officer shook his head. “I’m not about to be on the news for leaving you here on your own. Hurry up and get on board.”
Winter silently cursed the man’s sense of responsibility. He glanced quickly around the airfield, looking for any evidence of Sydney and Tems approaching. But he saw nothing.
Then, to his surprise, the plane’s door swung open, and Dameon poked his head out. He caught sight of Winter and came hurrying down the steps.
