Page 37 of The Angel and the Agent

The safest option was to take them two by two. If Amelia thought less of him after watching him work, he would deal with that later. For now, her safety was the priority.

The silencer was already on his gun. He slipped in the back of the compound and dropped the two guards without a sound, pausing only to check for a pulse once they were disabled. He didn’t want any nasty surprises springing up behind him once his back was turned. There wouldn’t be with these two, however; they were gone.

Silently, he slid down the hallway and opened the door to Amelia’s room. She was lying in the middle of the darkened room, curled in a ball. Her back was to him, and she was trembling. She hadn’t yet detected his presence. He eased forward and pressed his palm to her mouth. She twisted, kickingand fighting to get away from him. He pinned her and spoke in her ear.

“It’s me.”

She went so still so suddenly that he was afraid she’d passed out. “Ethan?” she mouthed. He nodded and remembered she couldn’t see him. In the blackness of her room, he was the only one wearing night vision goggles.

“Yes. I’m going to get you out of here. Don’t make a sound, follow my lead. There are two guards at the front.” He paused. “When we reach them, close your eyes. Don’t watch. Don’t listen.”

She nodded. He reached for her hands and found them bound with rope. He removed his knife and cut through the thick ropes like butter. Her feet were similarly bound, and he also made short work of those ropes. He started to pull her up, but she held back, shaking out her hands.

“Numb,” she mouthed.

Ethan ground his teeth. She had probably been bound the entire time, which, by his calculation, was more than twenty four hours. She winced as he rubbed her ankles and wrists, trying to force the blood back into them. After a minute she sat up and then, leaning on him, tentatively rose off the bed and took a tottering step. Her leg collapsed and he caught her, helping her take a few more steps until the circulation returned completely and she was able to stand and walk on her own. Ethan’s heart thundered with anxiety. Any minute the guards would discover their fallen partners and come for them. They would be boxed in this room like cows before slaughter.

He didn’t want to rush her, but he had to. “We have to go. Now.”

She nodded and straightened, trying not to wince as she fell into line behind him and followed him from the room. She was trying so hard to be brave and strong when he knew what shemost wanted to do was fall apart and weep while he held her.Later,he wanted to say. There would be time for tears and comfort later.

When they reached the guards, he gave her a light shove away from him and took them out. The first one didn’t see him coming, but the second one did, alerted by the thud of his partner’s body. He leapt for Ethan. They struggled a bit, but it was over quickly. He turned to retrieve Amelia and saw her eyes squeezed together, her hands over her ears, behaving exactly as he’d told her. Blocking her view as much as possible, he gathered her wrists and spoke.

“It’s over. Keep your eyes up as we go by, don’t look down. Promise me.”

“I promise,” she whispered, her voice croaky with sleep and disuse. She had likely never seen a dead body before; he wanted to keep it that way.

They made their way around the guards and outside to one of the Jeeps. Ethan hotwired the car and they took off toward the west, toward the embassy in Cameroon and safety.

Chapter 13

Conversation was impossible. What passed for roads in the country was nothing more than a glorified collection of mud and potholes. The Jeep lacked both shocks and power steering and bounced them around violently. Occasionally they saw people out and about, but Ethan didn’t stop, not until the Jeep sputtered and died, out of gas, did he bale and lift Amelia down.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“We’re in a country in the dead center of Africa, the Central African Republic.”

“But the people who took me are Russian,” Amelia said.

“There’s a big Russian presence in Africa. Long story short, you’re caught up in a war over conflict diamonds, blood diamonds.”

“Piedmont’s trying a case over diamonds,” she said.

“I know,” he said, teeth gritted.

“Oh,” she drawled, making the connection.

“Amelia, are you hurt? Did they hurt you?” He cupped her face in his hand, searching her eyes.

She shook her head.

“The truth. You can tell me anything, you know that.”

“They drugged me to knock me out when we reached the airport, and they tossed me around a bit. But other than that, they didn’t touch me.” She paused. “They didn’t rape me, if that’s what you’re asking.”

He hugged her, pressing her tight against his chest. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Iamokay,” she assured him. “It was scary, but it’s over now.”

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