Tessa handed the captain and lieutenant bulletproof combat vests and donned one herself. All three filled the pockets with guns, knives, ammunition, and flash-bang grenades, and Tessa lifted a loaded rocket launcher to her shoulder, pointed at the entryway.
Her determination and competence were even more extraordinary than I had guessed. But I knew this wouldn’t be enough. Not against fifteen of China’s most elite soldiers.
I had arrogantly decided to play with fire. And not only had I managed to scorch myself into ashes, I was responsible for the death of innocents and would soon be responsible for the death of the woman I loved.
11
Tessa lowered the rocket launcher and rushed over to me, having calculated the odds and having found them wanting. She and the two SAPS mercenaries may have excelled at combat, but even with their arsenal they couldn’t prevail.
She must have realized the same thing I had, that the commandos outside were probably already pinging Chen, suspicious of his extended silence. When he didn’t respond, they’d know they were walking into an ambush. They’d send in drones to recon first, greatly diminishing the impact of our attack.
I stopped my filibustering as Tessa leaned in and whispered hurriedly into my ear, handing me a bulletproof combat vest as she did so.
Wow! I had been told she was master strategist and tactician, but in just a few sentences she was able to get across a plan that Sun Tsu would applaud. She had at least given us a chance to get out of this alive.
“I love you,” I whispered, slipping the combat vest over my head and Velcroing it tight around my torso. A lone tear escaped my left eye and crawled down my cheek.
What had I been thinking? If we did get out of this alive, I vowed to never be this reckless again. I’d marry her and cover us both in bubble wrap.
Tessa looked as though she might tear up again, but only for a moment, as she quickly shook it off. The resolve now etched on her face was truly impressive. She shot quick glances at Dombkowski and Connelly, who both nodded their readiness.
She faced me and blew out a long breath. Let’s do this, she mouthed.
I nodded at her and began. “South China Sword commandos outside this building!” I shouted, loudly enough to be sure a corpse’s open comm channel would convey my words. “This is Jason Ramsey. Your spy is dead! We killed him! We have this place booby-trapped like you wouldn’t believe. Attempt to breach and you’re looking at a bloodbath!”
I paused a moment to let that sink in.
“Still,” I added, “I can’t deny that we’re outnumbered. And mutually assured destruction doesn’t work for us. So I propose a deal. Let me and my friends walk out of here and surrender. If you promise not to hurt any of us, ever, I’ll be the picture of cooperation. And I do know the final steps you need to reverse engineer a UAV, by the way. So that’s on the table as well.”
Tessa nodded and shot me an encouraging smile. Perfect, she mouthed.
“If you agree to my terms,” I bellowed, “fire a non-silenced gun into the air.” I paused for several seconds. “If not, come on in and take your chances!”
Connelly and Dombkowski each shouldered a rocket launcher, with their business ends pointed toward the door, while Tessa whispered last-minute instructions into our ears.
After less than a minute, the crack of a gunshot from outside slapped gently against our ears, the roar having been diminished by the building’s walls.
Our terms had been accepted.
I heaved a sigh of relief as the captain and lieutenant set their rocket launchers on the ground and Tessa passed me a flash-bang grenade. I made a fist around it with my right hand and pulled the pin with my left, while my three allies did the same with flash-bangs of their own.
“We’re coming out now,” I bellowed. “I’ll come out first, with my friends behind me. All of us will have our hands up. I need you to back up twenty feet to give us space. Try anything—hurt anyone—and I’ll take my own life, just to be sure you never learn what I know.”
We walked in formation to the warehouse’s steel door. I closed my eyes tight and winced. Please God, I pleaded silently. I’m the reckless idiot who insisted on playing with fire. Please don’t punish any more innocents because of my stupidity.
I wasn’t a prayer kind of guy, but it had been said that there were no atheists in a foxhole, and this was turning out to be true in my own case.
I exited the warehouse with my three allies close behind, our arms extended over our heads as promised. All four of us hastily took mental snapshots of our surroundings, racing to get our bearings in the two seconds Tessa had allowed.
It was getting late and dusk would be arriving within the hour. The building and lot were surrounded by brush, cacti, and overgrown succulents. Beyond was a two-lane street that got little traffic, even during the busiest of times, which this was decidedly not.
In fact, this small industrial district seemed as quiet as a ghost town, not surprisingly, given that it was isolated and somewhat run-down, and that the workday had ended hours earlier. I noted with relief that the fifteen soldiers facing us, all dressed in plain clothing, had given us the space I’d asked for.
Impressively, they had somehow found the wherewithal to park two massive semi-tractor-trailers lengthwise in the empty lot, near our Amazon van, blocking their elite team from the view of most anyone driving nearby.
This all flashed into my mind in an instant, which is all the time I could afford. The elite military unit would note that we were each holding something in one of our extended hands and react at any moment.
I dropped the flash-bang at my feet and squeezed my eyes closed as hard as I could, knowing I couldn’t cover my ears in time to muffle the deafening thunder.