Page 29 of Belgian Betrayal

“Some decisions aren’t yours to make,” Fearghas said. “If she had the choice, would she want you to kill yourself or allow yourself to be killed just to make her life easier? What if she chooses to live with the risk if it means having you in her life?”

Catya frowned. Was Fearghas making these statements for Atkins…or her?

The MI6 agent shook his head. “She deserves a normal life.”

His words echoed in Catya’s head. Hadn’t she had the very same thoughts? She shook her head and focused on more urgent matters.

“We have until midnight to get that disk to Bruges,” Catya said. “We have fourteen hours until we have to be there to make the trade. It takes about three hours by train or by car. That gives us a little time to figure out what’s on the disk that’s making everyone homicidal.”

Atkins shook his head. “I’ve tried to get into it. It's password-protected and probably encrypted. It would take some serious computing power to get in. They have computers at MI6 headquarters that might break through.”

Catya shook her head. “I don’t trust anyone at MI6, including you. Sykes sent us in to kill Gia Rosolino. If he didn’t know about the disk, whoever directed him to make that hit knew.”

Atkins’s eyes narrowed. “Which leads me to believe there are people at higher echelons who don’t want the information on that disk to get out.”

“Exactly,” Catya said. “If we knew what information that disk contained, it might lead us to whoever has the power or money to send out MI6 and all the mercenaries we’ve encountered thus far.”

“We need technical support,” Atkins said.

Fearghas reached for the satellite phone. “I might be able to help with that.” He entered numbers on the phone and held it to his ear. “Call off the search for Atkins. We have him and the disk.”

Catya couldn’t hear what the person on the other end of the call was saying, but she had a good idea of who it was: Fearghas’s go-to guy, Dmytro.

Fearghas continued, “The disk is password protected and possibly encrypted.” He listened, then shook his head. “Not possible. We have to be in Bruges at midnight to trade the disk for Atkins’s daughter. That only gives us fourteen hours. Exactly.”

Catya leaned close to Fearghas in an attempt to hear what Dmytro was saying. Something about a plane was all she got out of their conversation. She stood back and waited for Fearghas to complete the call and share the outcome.

“Roger,” Fearghas said. “My cell phone is working. You can send the location to me via text. See you in three hours.” He ended the call and met Catya’s gaze. “We need to get to the train station.”

The doorknob on the heavy wooden door jiggled.

Catya spun toward the door.

Metal scraped against metal.

“Someone’s trying to pick the lock,” Catya whispered.

Atkins said, his eyes widening. “We can’t let anyone take the disk. My daughter’s life depends on us getting it to Bruges.”

Catya grabbed her backpack. “We’re not letting anyone get that disk.” She crossed to the bed, stepped onto the mattress and pushed against the wooden slats of the ceiling paneling. “Give me a hand.”

Fearghas stepped up beside her and shoved the slats upward, exposing a square hole.

The metal scraping sounds stopped.

Catya shot a glance toward the door.

A loud thud rattled the heavy door.

“They’re trying to break down the door,” Atkins said.

“It should hold long enough for us to get out of here,” Catya said. “If we hurry.” She tossed her backpack into the hole and reached for the framing around the access, pulling herself up.

Fearghas’s hands planted on her ass and gave her a push, sending her up into the crawl space.

Catya slid her arms into the straps of the backpack, settling it against her chest instead of her back. She crawled several feet away, making room for Fearghas and Atkins as they climbed up into the space over her apartment.

The pounding continued below. Catya eased the wooden panel back in place, banking on it hiding their exit route long enough for them to get away. Another loud bang was followed by the sound of wood splitting.

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