Page 134 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

“Oh, shit,” he muttered, then yelled, “everybody out!”

Before anyone had the chance to obey, black-clad soldiers slipped from the trees and surrounded the vehicles, their automatic rifles trained on the sedans.

Andreas turned on his radio. “Dieter! Abort! It’s a trap!”

Unbeknownst to him, the armed force encircling them had deployed a signal disrupter, preventing any signal from getting through.

All Andreas knew was that the radio was as silent as the sedan’s engine.

Teddy washed his hands anddried them.

“Walking out,” he whispered.

“Have them in my sights,” Vesna replied over the comm.

“I know Dieter’s a tempting sight, but don’t get trigger happy.”

“You really know how to ruin my mood.”

Teddy checked himself in the mirror, made sure everything looked as it should, and exited the restroom.

Dieter and his colleague were standing nearby when he entered the hall.

As he started walking past them, Dieter said, “Teddy Fay?”

Teddy purposely put a slight hitch in his step as he continued moving.

“Mr. Barnett,” Dieter called. “A moment of your time, please.”

Teddy picked up his pace. As soon as he heard the two men rushing after him, he began to run.

Moments later, Dieter’s buddy grabbed him from behind to stop him, then swung in front to block the way out. Teddy tried to get by on the right, but the man mirrored the movement.

“Hold on,” the man said. “My friend just wants to talk to you.”

“I’m afraid I’m rather busy at the moment,” Teddy said. “Perhaps we can set up an appointment for another time.”

Behind him, Dieter said, “Now works better for me.”

As Teddy started turning toward him, Dieter plunged a needle into the prosthetic covering the back of Teddy’s neck.

“What are you doing?” Teddy said.

“What do you think we’re doing, Mr. Fay?”

“Let me…” Teddy staggered toward the man in front of him, as if the drug were taking effect.

“Why are you…doing this?” he asked.

Whether Dieter answered or not didn’t matter. The question was a code phrase to let Vesna know that the prosthetic had kept the needle from entering his skin.

“You can thank me later,” Vesna whispered in his ear.

Teddy’s eyes fluttered, then closed as he collapsed onto Dieter’s companion.

“Mr. Fay?” Dieter said.

“He’s out,” the other man said.

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