“And Luntz is afraid you’re going to reveal what happened to the rest of the team.”
Cash laughed, and it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “He could have killed me right away if that were all he wanted. He was going to do that—to shut me up. But I got out of there with the money and the treasure. He wants to know where I hid it.”
“How could you hide it when you were badly injured?”
“I dumped it into an old well.”
A babble of voices broke out in the room. When it calmed down, Sophia said. “You know where the loot is?”
“Yeah. I do,” he said with satisfaction. Then he realized the victory wouldn’t do him much good. “He’s going to hunt me down. And kill me. And kill Sophia,” he said in a strangled voice.
“No,” she answered.
“He’s desperate, and he’s got a private army working for him. Guys who were in the military. Badass guys. I’ll bet a lot of them were dishonorably discharged. But he offered them a job because he valued their skills.”
“Why didn’t he send his own men to pick up Al Feisal?” Hunter asked.
“Because he couldn’t get them certified. Remember, they were already known troublemakers. So Luntz had to work through official channels.”
“Couldn’t they use false names?” Sophia asked.
“Not with their fingerprints on record.”
“He thinks he’s got the upper hand. But we’ve got the resources to stop him,” Frank Decorah said in a hard voice. “I’ve already sent some of our agents on a visit to his house.”
Cash looked around at the others in the room, seeing the determination on their faces. He remembered that he had been afraid to trust them. Now he understood that they were his allies and the key to whether or not he could rescue Sophia from the nightmare he’d dragged her into.
Knox Marshall and some of the other Decorah agents were already on a covert mission to Luntz’s house.
“But how are they going to get close?” Cash asked. “He has to have brought in a ton of security now.”
Jonah Raider laughed. “I’m not the only Decorah agent with special talents.”
“What?”
“Enough revelations for one day. We’ll tell you later.”
###
The bad news came back when Knox and the team returned by helicopter. “He’s gone. Cleared out.”
As Sophia and Cash exchanged glances, Knox continued talking. “The place is empty. We got inside, and there’s no indication of where he went.”
“Great,” Cash muttered.
“My guess is that you shook him up with that invasion into his turf. And then the helo crash when he tried to get you back. He’s obviously terrified that you’ll come after him again. And the next time, you won’t bother with talking.”
“Funny thing,” Cash answered. “It sounds like a Mexican standoff. I can’t find him as long as he’s hiding. And as long as I hole up here, he can’t find me.” He glanced at Sophia, who was sitting beside him on the sofa. “Or you either.”
She nodded tightly, waiting for Knox to finish his report. When he was done, she cleared her throat.
“What?” Cash asked.
“I have an idea.”
“You mean like when you thought of strolling into his house and telling him you were a psychologist working with me?”
She kept her gaze steady. “No. This time you’re the one who has the major role.”