Councilor Three and Merritt spoke at the same time. Alex answered only the Councilor.
“Sir, we may have exposed a larger plot. I can’t risk that she’s part of a sophisticated group intent on removing you. We’ll make camp here tonight to ensure we are off schedule. We don’t want to be where we’re expected to be.” He returned his attention to Jackson. “Why are you still here, Agent Lee?”
Jackson slipped out, hurrying away to the front of the caravan and the electric vehicles meant for speed and tactical response.
Alex turned his gaze to Merritt. “At this point, Councilor, the entire security plan is suspect.” And Merritt had been the one to create it.
Merritt blinked. “You’re not pinning this on me.”
“Oh, no?” Alex just needed to buy time as he focused on releasing his block.
It was time to disable the collar. Lena needed to be a part of this. She had earned it. He had to give her that, after taking so much from her.
“No.”
Before Alex could do more than pull his attention back from the collar, Merritt turned and slammed the door back into its track and jumped from the car. As a Spark in security, albeit a homegrown, locally educated Spark, Merritt was rated for a weapon, if barely. The man jumped away, pulling his gun and shouting for Agent Lee to come back.
Alex brushed past the powerful frame of the Councilor, telling the man to stay inside. He unholstered his own weapon as he went after Merritt.
“Stop right there, Merritt, or I will shoot you.” He threw his already deep voice so it could be heard clearly not only by Merritt, but by anyone in the surrounding cars.
Merritt stopped moving forward, but he kept his weapon in his hand as he turned. “You’re making a big mistake, Reyes.”
“No, you made the mistake. Where are they?”
“Where are who?”
“The assassins you’ve set up to take the Councilor.”
“You are not pinning this on me!”
“It was your security plan.”
“Plenty of people had access. You had access.”
“But not motive. It was your security plan, Lew!” Alex shifted to the left so the agent crawling beneath the car behind Merritt was no longer in his line of fire. He could sense the hovering presence of the Councilor in the door of the car. “Drop your weapon.”
“Fuck you.”
“Drop your weapon so we can go back inside and discuss this. You can still salvage things.”
Merritt’s hand tightened around the grip of his gun.
C’mon, Merritt, do me a favor. Lift it.
“If you think I’m going to let that play out, you’re a fool.” Merritt swung the weapon up.
Alex sparked the round as he fired the gun. A red hole appeared in the center of the man’s chest. He judged it a little high. A second red hole appeared, bigger, tearing out, making the first irrelevant. The bullet came from the agent on the ground who had slithered into position under the car behind Merritt.
He barely registered the few scattered screams from those hiding in the cars around them. In the silence afterward, he crossed to Merritt’s body, kicked away his gun, and then bent to check the man’s vitals. He looked back at the Councilor. When he shook his head, Three disappeared back into the car. The agent rolled out from under the car and trotted over to him. They were shortly joined by two more.
He gave them their grim instructions: stow the body. Instruct everyone to hunker down in their cars until told otherwise. Create a perimeter, and confine the Councilor’s senior staff to the forward car. He and the Councilor needed to be free to discover what they could from their surviving prisoner. The men nodded.
He picked up Merritt’s gun on his way back to the Councilor.
Lena still lay in her heap on the floor.
The Councilor had crossed the room to make himself a drink with shaking hands.
“Sir?”
Three slashed his shaking hand through the air. He wasn’t ready to discuss it yet. He raised the glass of amber liquid to his mouth with his other hand and began drinking noisily. That was fine with Alex.
With the Councilor’s back turned, Alex crouched by Lena, reached around her neck and released the Council collar. He pulled it open.
Her eyes cleared, and her body went rigid with rage.
From one moment to the next, with the first blink of those beautiful blue-green eyes, he felt fear. Cold gripped him at the base of his spine and squeezed. Would anything be the same between them? He’d made the choice he’d had to. If he believed the hurt and fury on her face, the answer was no.
Please, Lena….
The Councilor slammed the glass on the counter in front of him and poured more whiskey.
“So there really is a plot? There’s a conspiracy to assassinate me? Me!” He turned, drink in hand. His resonant voice dropped in shock. “What are you doing?”
“Collaborating,” he told Three. He pulled the collar from her and tossed it across the room to the couch.
She sat up, moving slowly. Her recovery would be too slow.