Page 47 of Belgian Betrayal

The man ducked his head low and rolled behind a post.

Jasmine made it to the corner on the opposite side of the street from Fearghas.

“This is taking too long,” Dmytro said. “Be ready to take them out.”

“I’ll take the man on the corner ahead of Fearghas,” Jasmine said. “And then I’ll go after the man behind the tree.”

“I’ve got wagon guy,” Fearghas said.

“Going.” Dmytro burst from his position, yelling like a demented fiend.

All three of their opponents leaned out at once.

Fearghas nailed the man by the wagon.

Jasmine got the guy on the corner and turned on the guy leaning out from the tree at the same time Fearghas pulled his trigger.

The man dropped.

Dmytro slowed to a stop as he came abreast of Fearghas, and Jasmine and clutched his side.

Jasmine went to him. “Dmytro, are you okay? Where were you hit?”

“Not hit,” Dmytro wheezed and planted his hands on his knees. “Out of shape.”

A shot rang out behind them.

All three of them dropped to the ground.

“It’s okay,” Ace said into Fearghas’s headset. “I got the sniper.” He jogged up to where they were. “Where’s Atkins?”

Fearghas scrambled to his feet. “They left guys behind to stall us. Three of them kept going with Atkins.” He took off running.

Jasmine, Ace and Dmytro hurried to catch up.

Fearghas ran to the street where he’d last seen them turn.

The street was empty. He kept running, trying to remember the way to the train station and out of the old city. As he neared the roundabout he recalled was close to the train station, he heard a low moan from a shadowy corner beside an old house.

As he neared the sound, he slowed to find a dark lump lying on the sidewalk. When he saw bare feet, his heart slipped into the pit of his belly. “I found Atkins,” he said, knelt beside the man and rolled him over. “He’s in bad shape. Shot in the belly.” He pressed a hand to the wound to stem the flow of blood at the same time as he pressed two fingers to the base of the man’s throat.

Ace caught up to him first. “Is he dead?”

Fearghas found a pulse. “It’s faint, but there. “No, but we need to get him to a hospital as soon as possible.”

Jasmine arrived with her cell phone pressed to her ear. She spoke in a language Fearghas didn’t know. After a moment, she ended the call and slipped her cell phone into her pocket. “An ambulance is on the way. I suggest one of us gathers our weapons and gets out of here, before the ambulance and police arrive.”

“Let me,” Ace said. “I need to go back to the church and collect my duffel bag and extra ammo.” He took the handguns from Fearghas and Jasmine, tucking them into his jacket.

“I’ll keep mine and go with you,” Dmytro said.

“I’m going with you, too,” Jasmine said.

Ace nodded. “Once I’ve retrieved my gear, we’ll go back and collect Catya and Madison.”

“You don’t have to,” Catya’s voice said into Fearghas’s ear. “We’re here.”

“Oh my God!” a voice called out. Madison Atkins ran toward them and dropped to her knees beside her father, tears running down her cheeks. “Oh, Father,” she lifted his hand and pressed it to her cheek. “Please, don’t die.”

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