brush.
A shame, Zavlin thought, but necessary. The others were out of range, so there was nothing he could do about them. But he couldn't take a chance of his own man being caught by American authorities. Nor did he want him to tell KGB officials what had happened.
It would reflect badly on Zavlin that some American agent had outguessed the KGB's top assassin, beating him to the target.
No. Zavlin would take care of the matter himself.
He would find out more about Dodge Reed and the man in prison who had befriended him, Damon Blue.
In the meantime, he would think about the man in black.
Replay the humiliation he suffered today at that man's hands. And think of how he would kill him next time they met.
16
"I don't know anything. I swear!"
"Think harder," Bolan said.
Dodge Reed shook his head. "I don't know what you want."
"I want to know what information you have. The kind the KGB would be interested in."
"I don't have any information. Not for the KGB or anyone else."
Bolan blew an exasperated sigh and stamped harder on the gas pedal. The Toyota zipped around another curb on the way to the secluded cabin. Next to Bolan sat Dodge Reed, nervous, fidgeting with a loose piece of paper sticking out of the glove compartment. In the back seat, Rita kept watch out the rear window while Shawnee practiced her nursing on Lynn's arm.
"How is she?" Bolan asked Shawnee, watching her in the rearview mirror. "Not too bad. Some blood loss, but nothing serious."
"That's easy for you to say," Lynn deadpanned.
Shawnee smiled. "I thought you Orientals are supposed to be strong silent types. No complaints. You lose face or something."
"Hey, losing face is one thing, but losing six inches of skin and half a pint of blood, even we Asians draw the line there."
Bolan watched Shawnee finish taping the bandage around Lynn's forearm. Some blood was already seeping through, but Shawnee had done a first-rate job and the bleeding would stop soon. He turned his attention back to Dodge Reed.
"Listen, son. By now you must know we saved you from the people who killed the guards back there."
"Maybe," Reed said, "but maybe you got the wrong guy. There were a bunch of other fellas in that van. Maybe you want one of them."
Bolan caught a glimpse of Shawnee's expression in the mirror. She looked doubtful, as though she wondered if maybe the kid was right, and he had made a mistake. The thing was, Dodge Reed was convincing. Bolan tended to believe him. But the KGB didn't make mistakes like that.
If they wanted him dead, he knew something, something very important. Even if he didn't know that he knew.
"Let's take it from the top, kid."
Dodge Reed groaned. "Listen, Mr. Blue, I wanna help, I truly do. I appreciate you getting me away from those assassins and all, and if I knew what you wanted, I'd surely tell you. Out of sheer gratitude."
"Turn left up here," Shawnee interrupted.
"Where?"
She reached her arm over his shoulder and pointed to a narrow dirt road almost hidden by brush. It was an unmarked route that looked as if it had been hacked out of the brush with a butter knife.
Branches scraped along the sides of the car as Bolan geared down to negotiate the trail. "Go on, kid," Bolan said to Reed.
"Like I said, I'd tell you anything you wanted to know. But I honestly think you got the wrong guy. I'm just some college student studying computers at night and working in a record store during the day."
"In jail for embezzlement," Bolan reminded him.
"A mistake. Honest. I don't know why they got so damned upset. Sure I used their computer when I shouldn't have. But I had all this homework to do from my computer science class, and it was during my lunchtime anyway and the computer wasn't being used. I was just experimenting with this program I had to write. I dunno, it was weird."
"How so?"
"Well, first of all, I had to use their system disk. I didn't want to screw it up, so I just made a copy of their system disk and used that to work on my
A shame, Zavlin thought, but necessary. The others were out of range, so there was nothing he could do about them. But he couldn't take a chance of his own man being caught by American authorities. Nor did he want him to tell KGB officials what had happened.
It would reflect badly on Zavlin that some American agent had outguessed the KGB's top assassin, beating him to the target.
No. Zavlin would take care of the matter himself.
He would find out more about Dodge Reed and the man in prison who had befriended him, Damon Blue.
In the meantime, he would think about the man in black.
Replay the humiliation he suffered today at that man's hands. And think of how he would kill him next time they met.
16
"I don't know anything. I swear!"
"Think harder," Bolan said.
Dodge Reed shook his head. "I don't know what you want."
"I want to know what information you have. The kind the KGB would be interested in."
"I don't have any information. Not for the KGB or anyone else."
Bolan blew an exasperated sigh and stamped harder on the gas pedal. The Toyota zipped around another curb on the way to the secluded cabin. Next to Bolan sat Dodge Reed, nervous, fidgeting with a loose piece of paper sticking out of the glove compartment. In the back seat, Rita kept watch out the rear window while Shawnee practiced her nursing on Lynn's arm.
"How is she?" Bolan asked Shawnee, watching her in the rearview mirror. "Not too bad. Some blood loss, but nothing serious."
"That's easy for you to say," Lynn deadpanned.
Shawnee smiled. "I thought you Orientals are supposed to be strong silent types. No complaints. You lose face or something."
"Hey, losing face is one thing, but losing six inches of skin and half a pint of blood, even we Asians draw the line there."
Bolan watched Shawnee finish taping the bandage around Lynn's forearm. Some blood was already seeping through, but Shawnee had done a first-rate job and the bleeding would stop soon. He turned his attention back to Dodge Reed.
"Listen, son. By now you must know we saved you from the people who killed the guards back there."
"Maybe," Reed said, "but maybe you got the wrong guy. There were a bunch of other fellas in that van. Maybe you want one of them."
Bolan caught a glimpse of Shawnee's expression in the mirror. She looked doubtful, as though she wondered if maybe the kid was right, and he had made a mistake. The thing was, Dodge Reed was convincing. Bolan tended to believe him. But the KGB didn't make mistakes like that.
If they wanted him dead, he knew something, something very important. Even if he didn't know that he knew.
"Let's take it from the top, kid."
Dodge Reed groaned. "Listen, Mr. Blue, I wanna help, I truly do. I appreciate you getting me away from those assassins and all, and if I knew what you wanted, I'd surely tell you. Out of sheer gratitude."
"Turn left up here," Shawnee interrupted.
"Where?"
She reached her arm over his shoulder and pointed to a narrow dirt road almost hidden by brush. It was an unmarked route that looked as if it had been hacked out of the brush with a butter knife.
Branches scraped along the sides of the car as Bolan geared down to negotiate the trail. "Go on, kid," Bolan said to Reed.
"Like I said, I'd tell you anything you wanted to know. But I honestly think you got the wrong guy. I'm just some college student studying computers at night and working in a record store during the day."
"In jail for embezzlement," Bolan reminded him.
"A mistake. Honest. I don't know why they got so damned upset. Sure I used their computer when I shouldn't have. But I had all this homework to do from my computer science class, and it was during my lunchtime anyway and the computer wasn't being used. I was just experimenting with this program I had to write. I dunno, it was weird."
"How so?"
"Well, first of all, I had to use their system disk. I didn't want to screw it up, so I just made a copy of their system disk and used that to work on my
Similar Books
![[Shadowed Path 01] - A Woman Worth Ten Coppers](/res/aob/book1.jpg)
