The Eternity Project

54

HELL GATE, QUEENS, NEW YORK



Jarvis watched through the tinted windows of his vehicle as he drove slowly along 26th toward the shoreline. He was alone this time, knowing what was at stake and what he intended to do. If his own people saw that he was willing to sacrifice allies in order to achieve agency goals, it might bring their own loyalty into question.

Besides, this was personal. Jarvis wanted to finish this himself, not hide behind his men.

Despite the galling sense of betrayal that seethed like an infection in Jarvis’s guts, he knew that this was the safest way. If he let Wilson come alone then the agent would almost certainly take the opportunity to eliminate Ethan, Lopez and most probably Joanna Defoe and Tom Ross, too. But this way was safer, with Jarvis on the scene and ready to intervene should Wilson even think about taking down Jarvis’s people.

The plan was simple: Tom Ross into protective custody; Ethan and Lopez out of the city; Joanna Defoe into the hands of the CIA and Donovan under arrest.

He glanced at Ethan’s tracker. Moving north, toward Hell Gate.

Jarvis’s vehicle pulled into the abandoned lot, the nearby warehouse looming against a dark gray sky of scudding clouds, the afternoon light fading fast. A faint drizzle dusted the windshield. Another of New York’s vigorous nor’easters would hit the mainland within the hour and darkness would fall.

He pulled up discreetly alongside the warehouse, turning around so that the vehicle pointed back toward the exit but was out of sight of the main lot, and shut the engine off.

Jarvis watched the rain spill in ripples down the windshield and the wind rumble and gust past outside. Another vehicle turned into the lot, a low-slung sedan that swung around and parked out of Jarvis’s view. Jarvis wasn’t close enough to see the faces of the two men inside, but he guessed by their silhouettes that he was looking at Donovan and Glen Ryan.

Jarvis climbed out of his vehicle, pulled his collar up against the bitter wind gusting off the East River, and walked to the edge of the lot for a clearer view.

He saw the tiny, unmoving shape of a man standing amid small trees on one side of the lot. Invisible, unless you were looking for him. Wilson was taking no chances, remaining under cover until the last moment. His actions confirmed Jarvis’s suspicions. Apprehending Joanna Defoe was of prime importance to the CIA’s director, and yet here was Wilson all on his own. Instead of sending a small army of agents, one man was taking all the chances. William Steel was keeping the entire event off the books at the CIA, doing everything possible to cover his own ass. That put Wilson at a disadvantage, and he knew damned well how Wilson would deal with that. Shoot anybody who crossed his path, in order to achieve his objective. Then, this would all be over.

They waited.

Finally, a black suburban pulled into the lot. It advanced slowly, lights blinking out as it pulled up and the engine stopped.

He watched as the driver’s door of the vehicle opened and Karina Thorne climbed out. Jarvis waited for the others to climb out of her vehicle, but nobody appeared.

‘What the hell?’

Jarvis waited, staying out of sight as he watched Karina approach Donovan’s vehicle, and was plagued by the knowledge that Ethan had lied to him. Jarvis knew with utter finality that he had lost the trust of his most valuable asset.

Karina walked slowly toward the parked vehicle and saw Donovan and Glen sitting inside. The two men opened their doors and got out, both squinting against the gusts of drizzle sweeping the lot.

‘Where are they?’ Donovan demanded as he shut his door. ‘You said we would meet them all here.’

‘Change of plan!’ Karina snapped back. ‘We know, Donovan. We know everything that you’ve done.’

Donovan said nothing in reply. Karina switched her gaze to Glen, who shook his head.

‘You’ve got it all wrong, Karina,’ he said quickly. ‘This was all supposed to be . . .’

‘Shut up!’ Karina shouted. ‘We’re done, a*shole.’

Donovan chuckled bitterly and shook his head. ‘You can save the theatricals, Karina. We’re all done here now, so we might as well figure out a way to resolve this situation. What’s your cut?’

‘What?’

‘Your cut?’ Donovan repeated. ‘How much do you want?’

Karina shook her head. ‘That’s all this is about for you, isn’t it?’ she uttered. ‘Money and how much you can get out of it. I’d rather die than get a single dollar of your blood money, Donovan.’ She leaned closer to him, her eyes boring into his. ‘You’re done. Whatever happens now, there’s no way that you can get out of this. Warner and Lopez aren’t here because they’re already in police custody, having solved the mystery of what you did on that bridge. They’re filling in your superiors on how it was done.’

Donovan’s eyelid twitched as he ground his jaw in his skull.

‘Warner and Lopez are history,’ he murmured. ‘The CIA is hunting both of them. They’ll be apprehended within hours and that’s the last you’ll see of them.’

‘Their boss at the DIA is protecting them from . . .’

‘He’s protecting them from nothing!’ Donovan roared back. ‘There’s a CIA man who is operating outside his agency’s jurisdiction. He doesn’t give a damn about who lives and who dies, just as long as his mission is complete.’

Karina’s eyes narrowed as a chill ran down her spine. ‘How do you know that?’

Donovan smiled cruelly. ‘We had a little chat the other night.’

‘You sold them out,’ Karina whispered in horror. ‘Is there nothing that you won’t stoop to?’

‘Nothing,’ Donovan replied without remorse, ‘just as long as it keeps my back clear. So now, Karina, you need me because I’m the only one who can identify the agent before he strikes.’

‘Jarvis knows who he is,’ Karina shot back. ‘He’ll ensure that no harm comes—’

‘Jarvis is out of the loop and of no concern,’ Donovan interrupted her again, and jabbed a thumb in the direction of the black SUV parked across the lot. ‘They don’t give a damn about him or his two little helpers. As soon as this is resolved to their satisfaction, he’ll be out on his ear. This is already over, Karina. We’ve won. All the CIA wants is Tom Ross and some woman called Joanna Defoe, God knows why. We hand them over, then this is finished.’


Karina peered at Donovan. ‘And what happens when the sun goes down?’ she asked.

Donovan grinned again, a brittle smile that conveyed no hint of warmth. ‘I don’t give a damn, because the first thing I’m going to do is board a flight the hell out of here, until it all blows over.’

Karina looked at him for a moment longer and then shook her head.

‘We both know that won’t happen,’ she uttered. ‘You’re here to kill Tom, aren’t you?’

Donovan inhaled deeply, looked at Glen, and then shrugged. ‘Have it your way, Karina.’

Donovan yanked a pistol from beneath his jacket and whipped it toward Karina with incredible speed.

‘No!’

Glen whirled and stood between Karina and the pistol. Donovan glared down at the younger man.

‘Time to choose sides, Glen,’ he shouted. ‘This is it. Are you going to waste your time watching out for Karina or are you going to get a grip on your life and start looking out for yourself ?’

‘This isn’t the way to do it,’ Glen said, raising his hands. ‘We start shooting people, we’re screwed for life.’

‘We’re already screwed for life!’ Donovan yelled at him. ‘They know, Glen. We don’t make our way out of here, it’s twenty to life in a security-max facility. You made your choice, son, when you started working with the rest of us on this. You didn’t care about Karina then and you shouldn’t now.’

Glen’s features twisted in a fury of regret and indecision as he glanced over his shoulder at Karina.

The gunshot snapped out over the wind and Karina flinched in shock as she saw the back of Glen’s jacket flutter as the bullet whipped through trailing a fine spray of blood. Glen whirled and stared at Donovan in disbelief, and then his legs quivered as he fell sideways onto the cold, damp asphalt. Glen’s eyes flew wide and he looked down to see a thick, dark stain spread across his shirt as blood spilled from his fractured heart.

‘God, no!’ Karina shouted as she leaped forward and dropped to her knees alongside Glen.

Glen’s mouth hung loosely open and the light in his eyes flickered away. Karina felt tears spill from her eyes as she held him. A faint, breathless whisper fell from his lips.

‘I’m sorry.’

A rush of air spilled from Glen’s lungs and his body fell slack as he died.

Karina felt the hard, uncompromising barrel of Donovan’s pistol stab into her side, and turned to look up into his cold eyes as the chief glared at her. With his free hand, he pulled a cellphone from his pocket and dialed a number. When a scratchy voice answered, he spoke angrily.

‘It’s a bust,’ he said. ‘They’re not here.’

‘I know,’ came the response. ‘Use her to find out where they are.’

Donovan looked up, scanning the lonely parking lot for any sign of the CIA agent, but he could see nothing. He shut the line off and dropped the cell into his pocket, and then yanked Karina to her feet as he kept the pistol pressed against her side.

‘Get in your car, Karina!’ he snapped. ‘We’re going for a ride and you’re going to tell me where.’

‘You can go to hell,’ Karina snapped.

Donovan grinned cruelly down at her and jammed the pistol up underneath her jaw.

‘I’d say that’s for certain, so I’ve got nothing to lose. You going to join me, or are you going to lead me to where Warner and Lopez are hiding?’