Kidnap and Ransom by Michelle Gagnon Page A

“Syd Clement. Should have known.”
    “Miss me?”
    Jake turned slightly. Syd was edging out from the side of the building. Despite the odds her gun was drawn, zeroed in on Brown’s chest. She approached slowly, placing her feet like she was walking a tightrope.
    “She with you?” the guy asked, talking to Jake but keeping his focus on Syd.
    “That depends,” Jake replied. “How do you two know each other?”
    “Kiev. She nearly got my client’s kid killed.”
    “The girl was fine, Brown. I can’t believe you still even remember that.”
    “No thanks to you,” Brown retorted. “Syd nearly blew the whole raid. Told the head guy about it in advance, just so he’d let her at his hard drive.”
    “National security was at stake.” Syd shrugged.
    “Yeah, so to hell with everyone else. They had five hostages, including our girl,” Brown told Jake. “If I hadn’t moved up the start time of the operation, they all would have died. Fucking CIA.”
    “Never been a big fan of them myself,” Jake said. “I was FBI.”
    “They’re even worse,” Brown said. “Even you can do the math, Syd. Drop the gun.”
    “I got a whole unit ready to pick you off.” Syd jerked her head toward the nearest building. Jake looked up and saw Fribush aiming down at them. He lifted his free hand in a wave.
    “Great,” Jake muttered under his breath.
    “There are five more just like him,” Syd said. “You won’t even be able to tell where the shots are coming from.”
    “They start firing, you’re out a CEO,” Brown said.
    Syd shrugged. “They grow on trees, especially in this economy.”
    “We’re looking for Mark Riley,” Kelly called out. She’d lifted her head, but her hands remained on the roof of the car. “And we know you are, too.”
    “So?” Brown said after a minute.
    “So we should help each other.”
    Brown tilted his head back and laughed openly. “Then we can all join hands and sing a song. This ain’t the Scouts, honey. You should leave this to the people who know what the fuck they’re doing.”
    “Good point. Any advice on how to lose a whole unit?” Syd said.
    Brown looked pained. “Wouldn’t have happened on my watch.”
    “Sure it wouldn’t. Sounds to me like someone at Tyr sold them out. Maybe you’re next.”
    A van turned down the street. They all shifted their attention to it. Jake waited for the to pull a one-eighty when he saw the firepower on display. When the van continued forward, he frowned. “What the—”
    The street in front of them was suddenly torn up, bullets ricocheting off the pavement.
    “Kelly!” Jake yelled, scanning the chaos for her red hair.
    Everyone had scattered, breaking for cover. A member of the Tyr unit had taken a hit. He writhed on the ground, clutching his leg. Brown charged forward and grabbed him under the armpits, dragging him off the road.
    Jake finally spotted Kelly cowering beside the nearest rental car, Maltz beside her. He bent over and said something in her ear, then grabbed her hand. Maltz slid open the car door and shoved her inside.
    Jake paused for a second, deliberating. For the moment, Kelly was as safe as any of them. Safer, maybe, if they could get to the backup weapons in the car. Syd had raced behind the closest building. He followed her, wishing he’d held on to his gun.
    The van was approaching fast, gaining speed. When it was less than a hundred yards away, Fribush and Jagerson returned fire from their rooftop sniper nests. Their bullets tore gaping holes in the van. The windshield shattered, but the occupants didn’t stop firing. Worse yet, the van continued accelerating.
    Jake watched as the van suddenly veered crazily from side to side. It was going nearly fifty miles an hour when it hit the car Kelly and Maltz were in, climbing onto the trunk before flipping over and crushing the roof.
    Jake was on his feet and running before the tires stopped spinning.
    “Jake!” Syd yelled from behind him, but he didn’t stop. The