The upscale office smelled of iron. Blood. He saw his mother first. Her eyes looked to the heavens, but he doubted she found the absolution she wanted. He cared nothing for her. She had birthed him. That was all. She was weak. She had let her own ambition cloud her judgment. Were they not Moshe's descendants? Did they not have an obligation to fulfill his legacy?
He walked past her without another glance. Then he noted the other body.
His father.
Frellan sank to his knees, cradling his father's head. "No," he moaned. "No."
How could God do this? Punish the righteous and let the likes of Brandt still walk this earth? His father had sacrificed everything for the Disciples. He had left with his wife. Not because he had lost his faith, but because it had been redoubled by her betrayal. His father had kept track of Nori to be sure she did not tread too close to the Messiah.
All of those years living with that witch to die in a foreign office building?
Movement caught his attention. Monnie picked up his mother's burka. The revulsion on her face matched his own. In this, the watcher and he were united. The time for grief would be later. His father would understand.
His death must not be in vain.
His death must lead to the Messiah.
It was the path God had chosen.
"We must be sure they receive a proper burial," Monnie said.
"For him," Frellan nodded. "Not for her."
"What do you want done, then?"
Frellan did not hesitate. "Feed her to the street dogs." Rising, he turned to Ugudo. "I want on that roof."
His second-in-command nodded curtly and rushed from the room.
His mother could be blamed for much, but one man, the man who had the Messiah, the man who had precipitated Frellan's father's death, was wholly to blame.
And Brandt would pay.
This is taking too long, Brandt thought.
Even though Lopez banked as hard and as sharp as he could, the turnaround time was killing them. That roof door just wasn't going to hold much longer. Sure, they had Davidson in position, but the kid wouldn't reveal himself until the absolute last second.
His first priority, though, was Rebecca. He checked the wire around her wrists.
"It is going to hurt like a mother when you catch that hook."
"If I catch that hook," Rebecca responded.
"So maybe somebody should stay stateside next time," Brandt chided as he tightened the wire. He didn't want her slender wrists slipping through.
Another explosion at the door made her frown waver despite her retort. "The next time you get snatched from the altar, I will seriously consider it."
No matter her words, Brandt knew she'd do no such thing. Even knowing everything she'd have to go through, he felt pretty damned confident she'd come after him again. Even if she had to hook a plane to do it.
"I've got a safety line around your waist...in case..."
Rebecca nodded. "And that would hurt like a mother too."
"Yes," he chuckled. "I suggest you catch that hook."
She nodded as he guided her up onto the side of the building.
"It's just like at the carnival," Brandt reassured her. Rebecca's glare told him she really didn't appreciate his analogy right about now.
As she stood above him, he stabilized her with his hands on her outer thighs. He could feel her muscles shaking under his touch. That's what made him love her all the more. Not that she was all that brave. Don't get him wrong, she was freaking brave. But the fact she would do anything to follow him to hell and back, even when she was scared out of her mind.
That was his Rebecca.
Making sure he had a tight hold of the safety line, Brandt murmured to her, "You can do this." As the plane came in low and slow, Brandt patted her leg. "Just visualize your loop sliding over the hook."
"Then the pain in my shoulders when it catches..." she finished. He knew Rebecca wasn't complaining. She was truly visualizing a successful maneuver.
"That's right," Brandt encouraged, then realized Lopez was coming in really, really, closely. "Duck!"
Rebecca crouched down as the wings sailed overhead. It seemed Lopez didn't want Rebecca to have to jump too far. The body of the plane slid by.
"Now!" Brandt yelled.
Under his palms, her muscles bunched and propelled her up and out. But it wouldn't be enough. She had too shallow an angle. Brandt wrapped another loop of wire around his wrist, ready to catch her. But Lopez was all over it, tilting the plane's belly and therefore the hook toward Rebecca.
It wasn't pretty, but the loop snagged the hook. The corporal nearly turned ninety degrees to make sure that loop stayed on. Levont scrambled out of the plane and down the fuselage to secure Rebecca.
Only then did Brandt release not only the safety line, but also a breath he'd held way too long. Whistling between his teeth, he refashioned the safety line into his own loop.
Now it was just Talli and him.
Of course, that was right around the time the roof door exploded off its hinges.
Fuck.
Talli laid down gunfire while Brandt's mind whirred.
He raised his hand, circling it overhead, then pointing to the other side of the roof. There was no way Lopez would have time to come all the way around. They were just going to have to catch him on the other side.
Lopez banked immediately, bringing the plan around.
"Go!" Brandt yelled to Talli.
As the man ran, Brandt fired to the door. So far, the Disciples hadn't been quite brave enough to poke their heads out, but it wouldn't be long. Talli didn't even have time to set up properly. He just hauled ass, jumped on the ledge, and flung himself at the plane. Thank goodness he had better aim with his loop than he did with a rifle. He snagged the hook square on.
Brandt couldn't watch any longer. He had about a dozen gunmen deciding right about now they were brave. Quickly, he scanned the horizon. It was pretty much getting to the absolutely last second. Why the hell wasn't Davidson firing?
Um, probably because the sniper had already figured out that there was no way Brandt could hold them off until the plane came back around. It was now or never.
Why was it always now?
Gritting his teeth, firing behind him, Brandt sprinted for the ledge. Talli was still trying to get his sorry ass off the hook and onto the plane. Brandt tossed aside the wire. There would be no hook in his future.
Lopez must have realized what Brandt was about to do as he cut the engines. Completely. The plane slowed, dropping altitude. Which was a damned good thing since Brandt ran straight off the roof.
Hitting air, his legs still pumped as if they could get him those last few inches. Then he, too, fell. Chest first...right on top of the wings.
Fuck...That hurt. He couldn't even breathe, but his finger latched hold of the forward edge of the wings.
He was safe. Well, that was if Lopez could get the plane's engines started again.
Davidson watched as the biplane's engines finally caught and lifted his team out of their rapid descent. He hadn't been too worried. He knew Lopez would get out and flap if he had to. As the night descended quickly, Talli finally, with Levont's help, hauled himself onto the plane. It appeared that Brandt had decided the wings were just fine by him.
The Disciples were firing at will from the rooftop, but the plane quickly flew out of range. Turned out Davidson's services weren't needed. But that was the role of a perimeter specialist. Ninety-nine percent of the time you cooled your heels. Unless, of course, you were on Brandt's team, then you were green-lit most of the time.
Davidson took one last survey of the area just to make sure that his egress was clear. His scope glided past the building where that couple had been...well...
Wait. He went back to the office. Not to be a perv or anything, but something was wrong. The couple was gone. Like, not there. The way those two had been going at it? There was no way they would have just closed up shop.
They had been a distraction. The watch. The sex. Everything had been meant to keep his attention diverted to the south.
Which meant something that really deserved his attention was happening not to the south. He brought his scope around to the north, checking those buildings. Most were dark this late at night. Only a few had lights flickering on.
If the sniper were here, he would not set up in the lighted offices.
He would be in the dark. Watching. Waiting for his shot.
And the best shot? Right at Brandt's back.
Quelling panic, Davidson scoured the area for any sign of the sniper. If Davidson waited for the guy to take a shot to find out where he was, Brandt would be dead.
There! The faintest-green reflection from a night scope. Davidson didn't have time to set up a kill shot. He only had time to prevent one.
Davidson fired, shattering the window. He fired again and again in no particular pattern. He just needed the sniper unable to aim as the plane moved out of range, even for a sniper rifle.
Then a bullet whizzed past his head.
Good, Davidson thought as he rolled over onto his back, lying flat against the roof's ledge. The sniper must have given up on the plane and decided to take out his frustration on another sniper. Fine by Davidson.
Now to get out of here and head to the rally point in Sudan, where they wouldn't exactly need travel papers. Cash, American cash, would get them off the continent without a paper trail.
He was good to go, until he heard the rev of a jet engine. Not one jet engine, but two.
Crap.
Davidson took a chance and brought his scope over the ledge. Sure enough, two F-16 fighters were streaking in their direction. They must have launched from the Abu Suwayr Air Force Base. Whether the Disciples had tipped the Egyptians off or the government assumed this assault on the German building was the result of political unrest, their plane was in trouble.
Real trouble.
Rebecca ignored Vakasa as the little girl tugged on her jibab. She was too busy worrying about Brandt still up on the wings. Why the hell didn't he just get into the plane like any other sane person?
"Damn, I wish I had access to the Internet," Lopez grumbled next to her. Rebecca really didn't want to know why. However, the corporal told her anyway. "I really, really, really need to know the world's longest flight with a guy on your wings. Come on, somebody figure it out."
"No matter what it is," Talli stated, "we will not be able to challenge it."
"What do you-"
Lopez's protest was drowned out by two jets streaking overhead. Their turbulence rattled the plane down to its bolts.
"That is not good," Lopez said with an actual straight face. He wasn't kidding. Lopez was actually worried.
Rebecca's stomach plummeted. They were being hunted by the Eygptian Air Force and Brandt was on the wings. There was not time to worry or throw a tantrum or anything. There was only time to plan.
"What are our options?" Rebecca asked.
None of the men answered.
"Guys?" Rebecca urged. "There are always options. Right? I mean, that's what you always say."
"Oh, we've got an option," Lopez said.
"What?"
Lopez didn't answer, though. Levont did. "We land."
"And?"
Talli was the one who finished the thought. "We surrender ourselves."
"You have got to be kidding me?" Rebecca shook her head. After the shoot-out at the building? And what about Vakasa? After what happened to that reporter during the riots? Rebecca shuddered, she physically shuddered, pulling the girl tight next to her.
"No, sorry, that isn't good enough."
"Chica, give me some ideas here," Lopez said as the jets made another pass, this time lower. They hadn't shot yet, but the radio was squawking with orders. They were in Arabic, but it was pretty clear they were saying. "Land or get shot down." The only reason they hadn't fired already was to wait until they got out over the desert to avoid civilian casualties. However how rather callous to civilian deaths the government had become, Rebecca wasn't sure how long they could count on that to protect them.
This was what Brandt was so damned good at. Seeing an impossible situation, then figuring out a way to thread the needle through it. Unfortunately, Brandt was on the wings.
Next to her, Vakasa clapped, pointing to the east. "Valo dango!"
"Light show? Is that what she said?" Levont asked. Rebecca wasn't sure, since she was pretty certain Vakasa was speaking in Welsh and Finnish.
Almost against her will, Rebecca followed the girl's arm. In the distance, the Great Pyramid and Sphinx were illuminated in bright greens and reds. It was the nightly laser light show that played out against two of the greatest historic monuments ever built. However, it really didn't help them.